Written to believers in Jesus Christ in the first century AD, the three letters of the apostle John in the New Testament address issues that have a contemporary ring about them today:

• What is the truth of God?
• Are there right ways to live, or doesn't it matter?
• Is it possible to discern between false and true teaching?
• Can we remain in relationship with one another?

These are not just theoretical questions. They arose from actual people in real situations. The answers John gave have a relevance that lasts to our own day.

In giving them, John went far beyond the immediate situation to enunciate truths that are eternal:

• 'God is light and in him there is no darkness'
• 'God is love'
• 'In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us'
• 'This is the true God and eternal life'

This handy commentary relates the Letters of John to their context in the rest of the Bible and opens them up for us today.