1529 and 1530.
From D. Martin Luther's own Latin manuscript translated into German by Friederich Eberhard Rambach, Diaconus of the Hauptkirche zur L. Frauen in Halle.
Preface.
The main content of this first letter of John is about love, just as this apostle's gospel had primarily the independent word as its final purpose. He had begun this gospel of his almost with the very words with which he concludes this letter. There his beginning had been: "In the beginning was the Word", and here he concludes: "Let JEsus be the true God and the eternal life".
2 This letter of John has some special characteristics before other letters of the apostles. He constantly uses the words: life, light, hate, love, grace, death, darkness, Satan; and what is most distinguished, the word: proclamation. For this is the short epitome of what he wants to write. For he teaches, first of all, that repentance is not of a right kind if it does not bear its righteous fruits. Light and darkness
*This interpretation is different from the previous interpretation and later than the same. In the determination of the time we followed Köstlin (Martin Luther, 3rd ed., vol. II, p. 157). Several facts mentioned in the interpretation, e.g. Hetzer's death [Cap. 3, ? 29), Feb. 4, 1529, the reference to his "Heerpredigt wider den Türken" [Cap. 4, s 4), which went out at the end of Octobers 1529 2c., clearly indicate that these lectures cannot belong to an earlier time. Köstlin (II, 272) expresses the assumption that Luther had read this letter until the year 1531. Since this writing (according to Luther's own manuscript s?^, as Walch says) is found only in Walch, we must limit ourselves to the reprint of it. Rambach made his translation in the year 1743.
niss do not send themselves together. God loved us first in order to be loved by us again. To whom this reason does not touch the heart, all other reasons may not move him. Reason, law and worldly wisdom also teach that morals must be changed, but they cannot give us the power to change them, only the word of this proclamation can do that.
3. John, as thought above, had dealt with the word in his gospel; but here
it deals with the love with which we serve our brothers. Both books are now to be diligently taken to hand, although they are different in their final purpose. This epistle is a magnificent treasury of many spiritual and heavenly truths. Just as in his Gospel he told the story of the life, teaching, words and deeds of Christ our Lord and Savior, so now in this booklet he tells how one should follow him in his life, teaching, words and deeds.