A rhetorical repetition (vs. 1, 2) for emphasis and by way of recapitulating all that has previously been said. The importance of this stress on the writer’s personal knowledge of Jesus can hardly be exaggerated in the light of the epistle’s opposition to early forms of Gnosticism (see on pp. 625, 626).

 See above under “shew” (v. 2).

 Gr. koinōnia (see on Acts 2:42). The word implies mutual sharing, whether the partnership be equal, as among brethren, or unequal, as between God and ourselves (cf. Acts 2:42; 2 Cor. 8:4; Gal. 2:9; Phil. 2:1; etc.). In this instance the apostle wishes his readers to share the same spiritual blessings that he enjoys through a knowledge of the Father and the Son. That others may share in this partnership is one of the main objectives of the epistle. The word “fellowship” strikes one of the keynotes of the first chapter. He who truly knows Christ will always want others to share in that blessed companionship. “No sooner does one come to Christ, than there is born in his heart a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus” (SC 78). Those who thus work for others will participate in answering the Saviour’s prayer, “that they may be one, even as we [the Father and the Son] are one” (John 17:22).

Literally, “the fellowship, the [one that is] ours,” that is, our kind of fellowship, the fellowship that exists between John and the Godhead. The Christian becomes a connecting link between heaven and earth. With one hand he lays hold on his knowledge of God through Christ, and with the other he takes hold of those who know not God, thus providing a living link between the Father and His wayward children.

 Here John identifies the Word with Christ. The double title, “Jesus Christ,” shows that John is considering the human and the divine aspects of the Son’s life (see on Matt. 1:1; Phil. 2:5; cf. on 1 John 3:23). Fellowship with the Father is possible only through the Son, who is uniquely qualified to reveal God to men (cf. on John 1:18).