What Books Of The Bible Did John Write?

Which books of the Bible did the Apostle John write exactly?

The Gospel of John

This one is a no-brainer. The Gospel of John is called such because it is the account of John’s experience with Jesus Christ while He was in His earthly ministry. This gospel is a first-hand, eye-witness account of the life and experiences of John in relation to Jesus while He was here on earth. John wrote that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Perhaps the glory John saw included the transfiguration which was also witnessed by Peter and James (Matt 17:1-9) or the many which Christ raised from the dead, or the blind made to see again, the lame made to walk, and the sick and infirmed all healed. In fact John wrote that “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25) so obviously there was so much more that he could have included but it would have been impossible for him to write them all down in one book because he says “the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

First John

The Apostle John wrote this letter to the church in general and not a specific church in the Roman Empire. And his intent was to give another eye-witness testimony or account to that “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched” (1st John 1:1) and says why he wrote this book; “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (1st John 1:3). Part of the purpose was also given by his writing, “We write this to make our joy complete” (1st John 1:4). In 1st John chapter three we can see the litmus test of whether someone is actually a Christian or not.

Second John

The second letter of John starts out by being specific to who this was written to, “The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth” (2nd John 1:1). Whether this “lady” was the bride of Christ, which the church is often referred to as, or whether it was written to a specific lady in the church, we cannot know for sure. Regardless of who it is written to, in the end, it is written for all believers and that’s all that matters in the end.

Third John

John’s third and final letter was written to “The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth” (3rd John 1:1ab) who he referred to as a “dear friend” (3rd John 1:1c, 3rd John 1:5a). John addresses Gaius by writing “I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it” (3rd John 1:2-3).

The Book of Revelation

This book is the last writing of the Apostle John but interestingly, it’s not his book because he was not the inspiration behind it. We read in Revelation 1:1 about Who the real author is; it is “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.” John is only the one “who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:2). John is like a reporter who writes down everything that he sees. The events are not his own, they are about the events that he was taken up into a vision by the Lord and writes, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches” (Rev 1:10-11). Jesus told John to “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later” (Rev 1:19) so the Book of Revelation is not the revelation of John but the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1) that was written down by the Apostle John. It’s like he was dictating what he was told and recording what he saw.

Conclusion

The Gospel of John is far and away my favorite gospel. It contains writings about the divinity of Christ, the love of Christ, the life of Christ, the suffering of Christ, the high priestly prayer of Christ (John 17), and the death and resurrection of Christ. It has more about Jesus’ divinity than any of the other gospel and epistles in the New Testament. It is one that gives believers reassurance (John 6:37, 39, 10:28-29) and about having joy (John 16) and that is what I pray it does for you.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.