I. INTRODUCTION (1:1–4) [1]
II. GOD IS LIGHT AND THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN HIM (1:5—3:10)
A. How to Have Fellowship with God (1:5—2:2)
1. Fellowship with God Is Fellowship in Light (1:5–7)
2. Fellowship with God is Fellowship Absent from Sin (1:8—2:2)
B. How We Have Intimate Knowledge of God (2:3–11)
1. By Keeping His Word (vv. 3–5)
2. By Walking as Jesus Walked in His Light (vv. 6–8)
3. By Loving His Brothers (vv. 9–11)
C. How We Have a Relationship with God (2:12–17)
1. By Being God’s Children, Not Children of the Evil One (vv. 12–14)
2. By Loving His Father, and Not the World (vv. 15–17)
D. How to Maintain that Relationship in the Future (2:18–27)
1. An Anti-Christ is Coming (vv. 18–19)
2. An Anointing Has Occurred (vv. 20–23)
3. An Abiding to What Was Taught (vv. 24–26)
4. An Appeal to Continue in What Was Taught (v. 27)
E. How to Be Prepared for the Coming of Christ (2:28—3:10)
1. Abide in Him and Practice Righteousness (2:28–29)
2. Purify Yourselves in Preparation for Purity (3:1–3)
3. Practice Righteousness While Purging Evil from Your Life (3:4–8)
4. Born of God Means Being a Good Person (3:9–10)
III. WE ARE GODLY AND THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN US (3:11—5:12)
A. Commands for Love (3:11–24)
1. Love One Another Thoughtfully (vv. 11–12)
2. Love One Another Tangibly by Sacrificing and Giving (vv. 13–17)
3. Love One Another Tenaciously by Keeping God’s Commands (vv. 18–24)
B. Cautions for Life (4:1–6)
1. How to Test Spirits (vv. 1–3)
2. How to Listen to God (vv. 4–6)
C. Conditions for Godliness (4:7—5:4a)
1. God’s Character of Love (4:7–10)
2. God’s Command of Love (4:11–16a)
3. God’s Continual Love (4:16b–19)
4. God’s Children of Love (4:20—5:4a)
D. Characteristics of God (5:4b–12)
1. Task and the Work on Christ (vv. 4b–8)
2. Testimony and The Witness of God Concerning the Son (vv. 9–12)
IV. CONCLUSION (5:13–21)
A. Assurance of Christian Life that Is Eternal (5:13)
B. Applications of Christian Life That Is Eternal (5:14–21)
1. Consistent Prayer and Omission of Sin (vv. 14–17)
2. Birth of God and Distance from Evil (vv. 18–21)
[1] This outlined is based on the structure of 1 John articulated in W. Hall Harris’s commentary, 1, 2, 3 John: Comfort and Counsel for a Church in Crisis, 2nd edition (Biblical Studies Press, 2003).