Four Pillars of Discipleship in Epistles of John

Similar to the Gospel of John the Epistles of John catalogues a variety of themes on discipleship. However, four main qualities of discipleship are highlighted in his letters, these are witness, obedience, chosen, and indwelling. These four qualities are announced in the first four verses of 1 John 1 by the apostle explaining how disciples of Christ are witnesses to the glory of Christ through their experiences of sight, sound, and touch (1John 1:1). While being able to experience the greatness of Christ is important to the reality of disciples, John exclaims that experience is not enough and one must publicly “testify to it” (1John1:2) and “proclaim to [the world] the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us” (1John1:2). Witnessing to the faith is an important quality also presented in 3

In this letter, the author expresses the importance of the recipient to continue testifying his love for Christ and the Church by his actions (3John1:5-8). The author asks the recipient to witness his love to travelers who are coming through his town by helping “them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey” (3John 1:6). John’s third letter highlights the importance of witness by showing those who “imitate good” (3John 1:11) are disciples, because “whoever does what is good is of God” (3John 1:11). The eternal life of Christ is not a fact that the disciple must only announce but also live their lives in a manner which reflects Christ to all they encounter. John calls all disciples to witness the eternal life by “walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father” (2John 1:4). The disciple does not simply tell people of eternal life, but explains the source of this divine life; the disciple is called to witness to Jesus Christ as the source and summit of