This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
The heresy of antinomianism is in view as John writes the next few verses. Antinomianism simply means "against law." Some promoted the idea, and many do today, that the Christian is not amenable to law in any sense. Since he is not accountable to law, they say, sin does not affect him. These Gnostics "knew" that sin does not affect the spirit of man regardless of what the body does; therefore, law did not apply to them. Napoleon is reported to have said that laws were made for ordinary people but were not meant for the likes of him. The Gnostics felt that their position was so elevated that law was not made for the likes of them.