For October 2, 2026
The Apostle Of Love by Greg Holmes, D.MIN – Director of Missions serving 17 churches
JOHN’S LETTERS were probably written very near the end of the first century A.D., and very near the end of his life. It was a time of rising persecution against Christians by various forces, but specifically Rome, under the ruler Domitian. John’s driven purpose in writing his first letter is singular, but three-fold. He is teaching Christians how to discern true teachers by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and their love. All three are important, even inseparable, but his stress is placed on love. For John, “God is love.” (1 John 4:16b) John uses the word love—“agapao,” also, “agape”—fifty-seven times in his lengthy gospel, and forty-six times in this short letter. He uses it in both verb and noun forms sixteen times in the 1 John 14:7-17 passage. The translation from the Greek word renders love as “unconditional love.” This, in fact and deed, is a love letter by the Apostle of Love, and it comes to us across two thousand years of Christian history.