For those who try and make 1 john fit the exagerated hyper grace theology--here's parts of a helpful article.
1 John 2:19, if taken at face value, strongly suggests that the false teachers were originally members of the Christian community to which the author is writing. They appear to have “gone out” from among this community “into the world” (4:1). Thus the author is addressing a community which has undergone a schism or split in which a substantial part of the community – maybe even a numerical majority – has withdrawn from fellowship. This is a key point which affects the interpretation of almost every part of 1, 2, and 3 John.30
(6) A DOCTRINAL CONTROVERSY
The root of this split or division appears to be a doctrinal controversy, although there are ethical issues involved too (i.e., attitude toward sin, love for the brethren). The prologue (1 John 1:1-4) reminds the readers of the apostolic testimony about who Jesus is, and lays down adherence to this testimony as a condition for “fellowship” (1:4). Presumably those who have departed from the apostolic teaching about Jesus (2:18-19) would not share this “fellowship.” (There will be more to say about the views of the opponents later.)
(7) AN ADVERSARIAL STANCE
In writing 1 John the author adopts a “we–they” stance (cf. the pronoun switches [“you – they – we”] in 4:4-6), which implies that the people to whom he is writing have not yet embraced the teaching of the schismatics (who have withdrawn from the community but are still seeking to influence it from outside, perhaps to win adherents for their own views). However, some of the recipients of 1 John may be under pressure to side with the opponents, and one major reason for the letter would be to convince them not to do so.
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CONCLUSIONS:
What we can discern about the setting of the Johannine Epistles from the letters themselves is limited and fragmentary, but it appears that 1 and 2 John, at least, are rooted in controversy.31 The author of 1 John appears to be writing to a community to which he himself is well-known (and to which he himself may belong). He attempts to reassure those to whom he writes, because their Christian community has undergone a serious split whereby a substantial part of the community has withdrawn from fellowship over doctrinal issues. The author of 1 John describes the group which has left as made up of ‘antichrists’ and ‘false prophets’ (strong language by any account).
This group (which has split off and withdrawn from fellowship with the community to which the author writes) is continuing to propagate its own beliefs. The secessionists are seeking to win converts for their own views, even from among the community to which they formerly belonged. In light of this threat, the author of 1 John is writing both to reassure and strengthen the faithful members of that community, and to warn them to continue to resist the proselytizing efforts of the false teachers who have gone out from among them. In 2 John the author is writing to a particular congregation to warn the believers there against giving aid or shelter to the false teachers in their ongoing missionary efforts.
https://bible.org/seriespage/2-background-and-setting-1-john
You see 1 John always was written to believers.
ts the hyper grace guys with their NEW teaching that have to prove otherwise.. And yet even their scholarly advocates can't even do that with any credance and credibility.