1 John 2
OGC1 John 2:1-6
HEREBY WE KNOW PART II
God Is Light. To Walk In The Light Is To Have Fellowship With Him Fellowship Is Tested By Our Sharing of God’s Attitude Toward:
Personal Guilt
Our Brothers
His Son
CHAPTER IV
TO WALK IN THE LIGHT IS TO SHARE GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN AND OBEDIENCE
(The First Test. The First Time)
A.
The Text
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 2:1) My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. (3) And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep His commandments. (4) He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; (5) but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: (6) he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.
B.
Try to Discover
Is it possible for a child of God to sin?
What should a Christian do if he does sin?
What are the consequences of claiming we do not sin?
What is the relationship of Jesus now to a Christian who does sin?
What does it mean to know God?
Does the claim to know God in any way obligate the one making the claim?
What is the intended end of God’s love to man?
C.
Paraphrase
(1 John 1:8) If we saySin have we none! we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we are confessing our sins faithful is he and righteous that he should forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous, (10) If we sayWe have not sinned! false are we making him and his word is not in us. (1 John 2:1) My dear children! these things am I writing unto you in order that ye may not be committing sin, And if anyone should commit sin An Advocate have we with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous; (2) and he is a propitiation concerning our sins, and not concerning our own only but also concerning those of the whole world. (3) And hereby perceive we that we understand him, if his commandments we are keeping. (4) He that saithI understand him! and his commandments is not keeping is false, and in him the truth is not! (5) But whosoever may be keeping his word of a truth in this man the love of God hath been made perfect. Hereby perceive we that in him we are, (6) He that saith that in him he abideth ought just as He walked himself also to be walking.
D.
Comments
Preliminary Remarks
Eternal life is here considered as fellowship with God. To walk in the light as God is in the light is first to share God’s attitude toward sin. This is the initial test of life presented by John after he has established the base (God is light) from which the tests are to be set forth. To share God’s attitude toward sin is to face reality. To deny it is to participate in that which is unreal and therefore to act our as well as speak a lie.
Translation and Comments
a.
Sin denied as guilt. 1 John 1:8
(1 John 1:8) If we should say that we are not having sin we are deceiving ourselves and sincerity is not in us.
Sharing the attitude of God toward sin begins with the realization of personal guilt. If we should claim that we personally have no guilt we are deceiving ourselves.
We cannot deceive God in whom is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5) To deceive man is ultimately pointless. In the vast beyond that is eternity it will not matter that we have been able to hide our guilt from men behind a facade of sophistication, social propriety, or pseudo-intellectual-ism. Fundamentally, it is the deceiver himself who is deceived.
The colossal ignorance which prompts the denial of personal guilt is measured by the fact that it removes the one who denies his guilt from all that is real. The sine qua non of God’s entire approach to man in the person of Jesus is the basic reality of human guilt! This is born out by virtually every writer of divine scripture.
For example, in Genesis 42:21, the brothers of Joseph recognized their guilt in the mistreatment of him. In Numbers 21:7, the people of Israel came before Moses to confess their guilt in that they had spoken against the Lord. In Ezra 9:6, the prophet blushes to lift his face before the Lord because of the guilt of the people. Psalms 40:12, records David’s recognition of his own guilt as being so great he is not able to look up. In Acts 2:37, those who had cried out for the blood of Jesus were cut to their heart by the guilt of what they had done and cried out for some means of deliverance. In Acts 24:25, Felix, the Roman governor, trembled in terror at the awareness of his guilt.
The last word on the matter is recorded by Paul in Romans 3:9-22. The passage begins with a quotation from Psalms 14:1-7 to the effect that none are righteous and ends with … there is no distinction; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Therefore, to deny the personal guilt of sin is to speak that which is contrary to the primary revelation of God. When men have attempted to discover the truth about guilt in their own wisdom, they have called it complexes. They have explained away the guilt of it on the basis of environmental handicaps, and they have tried to treat it by blasting it out of memory with electrotherapy and insulin shock. God’s solution to the problem begins with facing the reality of personal guilt by bringing it into the strong light of revealed truth. b.
Sin confessed as guilt. 1 John 1:9
(1 John 1:9) If we are confessing the sins that are ours, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The recognition of guilt by the Christian results immediately and constantly in the divine therapeutic of forgiveness. It is for just this purpose that Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)
The tense of John’s verb confess indicates that the confessing of sin is not a mechanical ceremony or ritual. Rather, this confessing is a constant attitude toward self before God, which faces the reality of personal guilt in the light of divine revelation.
Homologeo, here translated confess, means literally to speak as one. When our attitude toward ourselves is one of recognition of guilt; we are speaking as one, or agreeing with God about our sin.
The result of this attitude toward guilt is not, in the life of a Christian, a guilt complex or manic-depression, but rather the realization of forgiveness. God, through Isaiah, wrote: Come now, let us reason together. though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
There is no greater blessing in the Christian life than that of realized forgiveness! It can only come to one who will stop rationalizing and realize his own personal responsibility, his own guilt, for his own misdeeds.
The realization of forgiveness depends upon personal confidence in the incarnate Word. It is through His blood that we have cleansing from sin. Just as we constantly maintain an attitude of personal responsibility for our guilt, so God, by Jesus-’ blood, is constantly cleansing us from all unrighteousness. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
When the fact of this forgiveness is realized, it brings peace that nothing else can give, and a boldness to stand straight and tall as a child of God. c.
Sin denied as fact. 1 John 1:10
(1 John 1:10) If we should say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
From the consideration of sin as guilt, John turns our attention to sin as fact. Again we are to test the honesty of our claim to walk in the light, this time by our attitude toward the fact of sin.
If we deny the fact of sin (expressed here by the Greek aorist tense) we make God a liar! This challenges the imagination. For the creature to dispute the Creator’s knowledge of reality to the extent that he actually makes God out as acting according to that which is not real staggers the faculties of perception! Yet this, says John, is precisely what one does say when he claims to know God and at the same time to deny that he does in fact commit sins. In such an attitude, the word of God simply does not exist. His word is not in us, when we deny the fact that we sin. Whether we take this to mean the written word or the incarnate Word, the end result is the same. The written word is the record of God’s revelation of truth. This revelation reaches its zenity in the person of Jesus, the incarnate Word. Everything God has revealed about man in his present environment indicates that man does not do as God would have him do; that man does what God would not have him do. This is perhaps the primary truth of human experience. To deny this is true in the individual life is to remove from that life the entire revelation of God concerning human behavior.
d.
Sin confessed as fact. 1 John 2:1-2
(1 John 2:1) My little children, I am writing these things in order that you may stop committing sins. But if one should sin, we have one called to our side toward the Father, Jesus as righteous Christ (2) and He is a covering on account of the sins which are ours and not just concerning ours, but also concerning those of the whole world.
It is only in the recognition of sin and the sinfullness of it that there is any hope of eliminating it from ones life. So, says John to those he considers as dear little ones in God’s family, I am writing this to you in order that you may stop committing sins. If we will recognize that there is such a thing as acting contrary to God’s will, and that when we do so act, we are personally guilty, we will have come a long way toward the expelling of sinful activity from our daily lives. This stands out in contrast to the modern popular idea that there is no moral absolute. God has revealed right. The opposite of right is wrong. If we will recognize the cost of our guilt by remembering that only Calvary is equal to it, we will have come close to seeing the tremendous seriousness of the matter. To know that the blood of God’s only Son is required each day to cleanse us from the normal daily guilt of well-adjusted lives, is to realize the phenomenal deadliness of sin. This will go far toward changing the pattern of our behavior and the sinful acts will become less and less frequent. But let us not be so blind as to believe that we will ever reach the point of perfection at which we do not need the blood. If we do sin, we have an Advocate. The English word Advocate is used here to translate the Greek paraklete. Paraklete means literally, one who is called along side. The reason for calling is the primary concern. The idea seems to be one who lends his presence to assist His friends.
The most precious idea of Jesus to be found in the Bible is that He is simply our friend! A great deal is made, in Hebrews chapter two, of the fact that Jesus shared flesh and blood with those he came to save. He has felt the tug of temptation as only a human being can feel it. While He does not approve of sin in the life of any child of God, he does understand the pressures of life which often bring it about.
It is just here that the real meaning of Jesus-’ incarnation experience begins to be seen in the life of a Christian. To the person who has committed his life to God on this ground, who constantly accepts not only the fact of his own sin but also its guilt, there is the blessed comfort of knowing that an understanding Friend intercedes for him before God. There is no need to make excuses. There is no need to deny or explain away sin. One who knows Jesus as a personal. Friend can face up to his guilt in the awareness that … He ever liveth and maketh intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
The word, hilasmos, (propitiation) in verse two is deserving of special attention. This friend who is our advocate or paraklete is also our propitiation for sins.
Hilasmos, (propitiation) has at its root the idea of appeasing and conciliation. The fundamental problem in any religion is that of personal relationship to God. The difficulty is brought about by sin.
To solve this problem of divine-human relationship, the idea of sacrifice is introduced. Every sacrifice ever offered by every human religion has been for the purpose of appeasing the wrath and currying the favor of a god or gods. The idea of restoring divine-human relationships broken by sin is not strange to the Christian Gospel. We have already seen, in I John, chapter one, that the whole purpose of the incarnation is to establish fellowship between man and God, and consequently, between man and man. What makes the Christian sacrifice unique among sacrifices is that God has offered the sacrifice to man! In 2 Corinthians 5:19, we learn that … God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Thus, while we would contradict scripture should we deny the wrath of God is released against sin, we gain in Christ a much deeper insight into both the wrath and the mercy of God. God’s wrath is not appeased by sacrifices of human origin. It is rather conciliated through our acceptance of the sacrifice which He Himself has provided!
In brief, we are brought back into fellowship with God, not because we desire it to the point of offering sacrifices, but because He desires it to the point of sending His only Son as the propitiation, the covering for our guilt. It is, therefore, impossible to even discuss, much less to comprehend the love of God apart from the fact of sin and His sacrifice of Jesus for it. (John 3:16)
John further adds that this sacrifice is not only a sin covering for us, but for the whole world also. Hebrews 2:9 tells us Christ tasted death for every man. The Gnostic fancied himself to be part of an exclusive few in whom God took special interest. This interest included endowment with special knowledge, and the knowledge revealed in Jesus was the choicest of it all. Not so, says John! Jesus is not the means whereby a few are brought into a special relationship with God; He is the propitiation of the entire world.
This ought not be construed as supporting universalism, or the doctrine that all men are automatically saved by Christ, and that, therefore, none will be lost. The tests being presented by John are evidence that those who do not meet the tests do not have life, much less fellowship with God. e.
Hereby we know we know Him. 1 John 1:3
(1 John 1:3) And in this we are knowing that we come to know and still do know Him, if we are keeping His commandments.
Know is the favorite word of the gnostic. John here turns their own word on them, and will do so many times throughout the remainder of the epistle. Hereby we know!
There is a play on the tenses in verse three which is not apparent in the English versions. John, quite literally, says, In this we are knowing that we got to know, and still do know, Him; that we are keeping His commandments. Here is a challenge to the claim of special knowledge by an appeal to experimental knowledge. The person, who really got acquainted with God and to whom knowing Him is the way of life, has the habit of keeping God’s commandments. Not my will, thine be done is more than poetry, it is the touch stone of practical Christian life.
James says, … faith apart from works is barren. (James 2:20) John here makes virtually the same claim for knowledge. Knowledge apart from obedience is no knowledge at all! Perhaps a timely application of the truth can be made by saying that a knowledge of God’s word is meaningless in the life of one who does not practice obeying it. Such a person may really know the Bible, and not know the God of the Bible at all!
What commandments does John have in mind? The moral precepts of the ten commandments? Perhaps. Certainly, John includes obedience to that which Jesus identifies as the first and second commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Upon these depend all God’s commandments. (Matthew 22:40) He who does not love does not know God, no matter what his claim to special enlightenment.
Safely, we may assume that John’s test includes the willingness, and the effort to obey all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20) When love meets command, the result is obedience.
f.
To say we know God, but not keep His commandments. 1 John 1:4
(4) whoever is saying, I know Him, and is not keeping His commandments, is a liar, and reality is not in him.
Here is a terrible indictment. It is but the negative side of the test presented in verse three. If keeping His commandments proves we do know God, failing to keep His commandments proves we do not know Him.
Perhaps a word should be said just here about the meaning of the word ginosko (know). A synonym is oida, and it is in the contrast between the two that the real meaning becomes apparent. Oida, also translated know, means to know through reflected study, and mental deduction. Ginosko (know) means to know by observation and experience. Ginosko is properly called experimental knowledge.
It is only the constant day by day experience of keeping God’s commandments that gives one this experimental knowledge. The claim to know God aside from this day by day experience is unreal. Consequently, John says whoever makes the claim is lying and the truth (reality) is not in him! If failure to keep His commandments proves we do not know Him, it is also evidence we do not have life. He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)
g.
The intended end of divine love. 1 John 1:5 (a)
(1 John 1:5) But whoever goes on keeping His word, truly in that one the love of God has reached its intended end.
The love of God toward man reaches the completeness of its purpose when an individual habitually keeps God’s word. To keep His word is to obey Him faithfully, not by loud claims contradicted by lives inconsistent with the claim. Rather such obedience becomes more and more habitual in the life of one who lives daily in the awareness that Christ is Lord.
Everyone is familiar with John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. It was the love of God from the beginning which brought Jesus into the world. The long years of preparation recorded in the Old Testament were overtures of this divine love.
In Luke 24:44-ff, Jesus pointed out to His apostles; it stands written in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms that the Christ must suffer and be slain and be raised again the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached to the whole world in His name. God did not begin to love the world the night Jesus was born. He loved the world when he called Abram and made with him a covenant through which He would bless all the nations of the earth. Everything that went before the birth of Jesus was preparation for the manifestation of His love on Calvary.
One cannot read the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion without being moved by the demonstration of God’s love for a world which was deserving of anything but love. The insults, the shame, the humiliation, the pain of the cross, bespeak a love beyond human comprehension. The controlling factor of this love in God’s people is that Christ died for all. (2 Corinthians 5:14) The aim of this love is that … repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all the nations. (Luke 24:47)
All the plan of God, all the call of the covenant, all the ages of preparation, all the agony of the cross are meaningless until they produce in the individual heart the obedience of faith. (Romans 16:26) So, John writes, … whoever goes on keeping His word, truly in that one the love of God has reached its intended end.
h.
Hereby we know we are in Him. 1 John 1:5 (b)
(1 John 1:5) In this we are knowing from experience that we are in Him:
It is not hereby we know, as though this were the only test necessary. John will present two other tests equally significant in testing eternal life as fellowship with God. Rather, in this we are knowing. (See on 1 John 2:4 concerning know) The habitual keeping of His commandments is an experience had only by those who walk in the light as He is in the light. Thus keeping His commandments becomes to the individual evidence that he is indeed in Him.
i.
Moral obligation and proof of the claim to know God. 1 John 1:6
(1 John 1:6) The one claiming to remain in Him is morally obligated himself to keep on walking just as that one walked.
In His prayer, recorded in John 17:1-26, Jesus identifies eternal life as knowledge of God and His Son, And this is eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Him whom thou didst send, Jesus Christ. (John 17:3)
The word translated know in John 17:3 is the word ginosko (experiential knowledgesee on John 17:4 above) This knowledge which results from experience is here presented as resulting from fulfilling the moral obligation which comes from claiming such knowledge of God. Whoever says he knows God is morally obligated to walk as Jesus walked. It was His commitment to God’s will which substantiated His claim to know the Father! (John 6:38) Here is the practical meaning of walking in the light. (1 John 1:7)
This entire passage (1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 2:1-6) deals in phrases familiar to the ancient world. As is typical of John’s style, he takes well known phrases and pours them full of Christian meaning. The one of these with which we are especially concerned here is knowing God.
The Ancient Greeks of the pre-Christian era were convinced that they could arrive at the knowledge of God by the sheer process of intellectual reasoning, argument, and thought. This concept is reminiscent of the modern liberal theologian who believes he can deduce the nature of God (whom he prefers to call the Ground of Being) through dialogue, counsel, and the sharing of various religious traditions. Obviously, such an academic approach to God has no essential bearing at all on human behaviour. It is not necessarily ethical. A man may know God in this sense, if indeed God can be known in this way at all, and it makes no difference in his life. The later Greeks, who were contemporary with John and Jesus, sought to find God through an emotional experience. They re-enacted the myths of martyred gods in public services in such a way that the worshiper identified himself emotionally with the suffering god. Special lighting effects, sensual music and such were used to bring about this emotional experience. Once the desired emotion was produced, the worshiper believed that he shared the victory and immortality of his slain deity. This practice at once calls to mind many of the devices used by some present day revivalists to produce a Christian experience. The purpose of such revivalism, whether it be practiced in a marble hall in Greece or in a tent on Main Street, U.S.A., is to produce a knowledge of God through emotional experience. The emotional approach to God shares, at its base, the same failure as does the intellectual. It does not carry with it any necessary change in the moral and ethical life of the individual. The Christian experience which proves salvation is obedience! John’s contention here is that the test of validity for the claim to know God is that the one making the claim must necessarily act as Jesus acted. Whether it be based on academic deduction or revivalistic emotion, the failure to produce a new life puts the lie to the claim. There is no knowledge of God that does not issue in obedience to Him! It is by the experience of obedience that we know we know Him, and thereby, we know we have life eternal. for eternal life is to know Him!
E.
Review Questions
What does the claim not to sin reveal about the sincerity of the one making the claim? (1 John 1:8)
What is meant by If we confess our sins? (1 John 1:9)
What is the attitude toward God of one who claims he has not sinned? (1 John 1:10)
Why does John say he is writing these things? (1 John 2:1)
If one should sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Explain. (1 John 2:1)
Jesus is our propitiation for our sin. Explain. (1 John 2:2)
In what sense is Jesus also a propitiation for the sins of the whole world? (1 John 2:2, compare 1 John 2:5)
How does 1 John 2:3 challenge the claim of the gnostic to special knowledge of God?
How is keeping God’s commandments evidence that we know Him? (1 John 2:4)
How does the love of God reach its intended end in the life of the individual believer? (1 John 2:5)
What does it mean to walk as That One walked? (1 John 2:6)
What is the moral obligation of one who claims to know God? (1 John 2:6)
State in your own words, in a single sentence, the first test presented in I John whereby we may assure ourselves that we have eternal life.
1 John 2:7-17
CHAPTER V
TO WALK IN THE LIGHT IS TO SHARE GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARD OUR BROTHERS IN CHRIST
(The Second Test. The First Time)
A.
The Text
Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard. (8) Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth, (9) He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. (10) He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. (11) But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. (12) I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. (13) I write unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have written unto you, little children, because ye know the Father. (14) I have written unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one. (15) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
B.
Try to Discover
The relationship between spiritual darkness and hatred.
The relationship between light and love.
How a commandment can be both new and old.
How our relationship to our brothers in Christ indicates our relationship to God.
How the proper direction of love is essential to life.
Why one cannot love God and the world at once.
C.
Paraphrase
Beloved! -no new commandment am I writing unto you; but an old commandment which ye have been holding from the beginning; The old commandment is the word which ye have heard. (8) Again a new commandment am I writing unto you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the real light already is shining. (9) He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brothers is in the darkness until even now! (10) He that loveth his brother is abiding in the light, and cause of stumbling in him is there none! (11) Whereas he that hateth his brother in the darkness dwelleth and in the darkness walketh; and knoweth not whither he is drifting, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. (12) I write unto you, dear children, Because your sins have been forgiven you for the sake of his name: (13) I write unto you, fathers, Because ye understand him who was from the beginning: I write unto you, young men, Because ye have overcome the wicked one. I have written unto you, little children, Because ye understand the Father: (14) I have written unto you, fathers, Because ye understand him who was from the beginning: I have written you, young men, Because ye are strong and the word of God within you abideth and ye have overcome the wicked one. (15) Be not loving the world Nor yet the things that are in the world: If anyone be loving the world The love of the Father is not in him. (16) Because all that is in the worldThe coveting of the flesh, The coveting of the eyes, And the vain grandeur of lifeIs not of the Father, but is of the world; (17) And the world passeth away and the coveting thereof, But he that doeth the will of God endureth unto times age-abiding.
D.
Comments and Translation
The new commandment is old. 1 John 2:7
(1 John 2:7) Beloved, I am writing no new kind of commandment to you but an ancient commandment which you were having from the beginning: the ancient commandment is the word which you heard.
John’s language reveals his motive in writing. He addresses his readers as Beloved. I John is written as a test and a warning. It contains much criticism and harsh language concerning the gnostics; those who were denying the faith, But John had learned the lesson many present day preachers and teachers have not learned. While he detested the false teaching, he loved those being misled by it. While his denunciation of error is pointed and at times scathing and blunt, there is no, You-’re wrong and you-’re lost and I-’m glad!
The commandment which this loving apostle is about to pen is not new. His readers have heard it from the very first. It stands written in the law of Moses. Jesus made it part of the eternal triangle, upon which hang all the law and the prophets and the psalms. (Matthew 22:34-ff) Love of God, love of man and love of self are the entire burden of everything God requires of His children.
The command, or at least the human necessity which calls it forth, is as old as life itself. Jesus taught that His act of love was the message of the Old Testament. (Luke 24:44-ff) He also taught that love of fellowman is second only in importance to love of God. (Matthew 22:39) We know also from Him that upon this eternal triangle hang all the law and the prophets and the psalms, which take their meaning from Him. (Matthew 22:40) In the preceding verses John has said that the perfection of this love is reached when men obey God’s commandments. Now he will spell it out. The commandment, which is both old and new, is that we love!
The paradox of love. 1 John 2:8
(1 John 2:8) Paradoxically, I am writing to you a new kind of commandment, which is real in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the genuine light already is shining.
Paradoxically, the commandment which is old is also new. It is old in that it is the beginning of the old covenant. It is new in that it is the perfection of the new covenant. To appreciate what John is saying about the newness of this commandment, attention must be given to the word which is translated new. It is a synonym, and, as with most synonyms, its meaning stands out most sharply in contrast. The word is kainos. Its synonym is neos. Both are translated new in our English versions. Kainos (used here) means new in reference to quality while neos means new in reference to time.
This year’s automobile is new in reference to time. This is expressed in the Greek by neos. When the automobile replaced the horse, it was revolutionary newness; a completely new kind or quality of transportation. This newness of kind is the meaning of kainos (new) in this verse.
John, by his use of kainos (new), indicates that love, as a way of life, is revolutionary. It is old, in that it was commanded long ago, but it is new in Jesus and in those who walk as He walked because it has never been seen in practice before. The Jews, who had love as a commandment, spoke of the Samaritans as dogs, and considered the Gentiles as unfit for social intercourse. The Christian, whose life is controlled by love, knows no man after the flesh. (2 Corinthians 5:16)
It is the light in which we walk that reveals love as the essential stuff of life. Therefore, whoever loves as He loved walks in the light as He is in the light. It is the light of God in Christ as Calvary which made love known. Whoever would order his life in the light of the cross must do so by loving. 3.
The light focused in love. 1 John 2:9-11
(1 John 2:9) The one claiming to be in the light and hating his brother is still in darkness. (10) The one loving his brother is remaining in the light, and in him is no cause of stumbling. (11) However, the one hating his brother is in darkness and is walking in the darkness and is not knowing where he is going, because the darkness blinded his eyes.
The light of God reaches its sharpest focus in the Christian’s love for his brother in Christ. It is true that Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, but is equally true that the reason we love an enemy is in order that he may become our brother! Hence, the end perfection of both God’s love for the world and our love for our enemies is reached, when we love as a brother, him who was previously our enemy. This truth is revealed by God’s light in Jesus, and he, who does not love one who becomes a child of God, is himself not a child of God, but is still in darkness. B. F. Wescott has said this very succinctly, A man is either walking in the light of love or the darkness of hatred. This is the application of John’s second test by which we know we are in fellowship with God and have eternal life. Love is the result of walking in the light. Consequently, the presence of love is evidence that one is so walking. In such a person’s life there is no occasion of stumbling. The root idea of the word skandalon, here translated occasion of stumbling, is two-fold. It can refer to either a stumbling block or a snare trap. In either case it is made effective by darkness.
There is some question in this passage as to whether John means that darkness causes one to stumble, or that one in darkness has in his life that which causes others to stumble. A good case can be made for either interpretation. Consider first that darkness causes one to stumble: What could be more true? Who is not familiar with the pathetic sight of a blind man tapping his way along the curb with his red-ripped cane to avoid stumbling. A blind man lives in perpetual darkness. So also does the one who is spiritually blind live in darkness and in danger of stumbling. That over which such a person most frequently stumbles is human relations! Hence the absence of love is evidence of walking in darkness.
Paul’s entreaty in Romans 14:1-23 that we do nothing whereby we cause one another to stumble, and other such passages, may be quoted to support the alternative interpretation of 1 John 2:10. He who walks in the light of God’s truth has as his first concern the spiritual welfare of others. Such a person does not have in his life that over which his brother may stumble.
Actually, both the danger of stumbling, and of being the occasion by which others stumble are in the life of one who walks in darkness, ignorant of or ignoring the truth of life revealed in Christ. No matter how sound his doctrine, nor how accurate his theological speculations, the person who does not love his brother is blinded by darkness and has no idea where he is going. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4)Those who live as Christ, who love as He loved, have, according to 1 John 2:5, already reached the boarders of Canaan!
A parenthetical aside. 1 John 2:12-14
(1 John 2:12) I am writing to you, dear children, because you are forgiven sins through His name. (1 John 2:13) I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know from experience the one who was from the beginning. I am writing you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:14) I wrote to you, little children, because you have come to know the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you have come to know from experience the one who was from the beginning. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God is remaining in you and you have overcome the evil one.
a.
Children. 1 John 2:12; 1 John 2:14 (a)
It has been suggested that the repetition in these verses is perhaps due to John’s being interrupted as he wrote. There is no way to know this certainly, but to one who has done any writing it seems very plausible. In any event, John addresses three age groups in the church with a personal message for each, and in each case the message is in two sections. The forgiveness of sin in the name of Christ is the common experience of all Christians. It is the overwhelming awareness of one who is a child in Christ, either by virtue of age or recent conversion. Indeed, forgiveness is many times the only blessing of which a new born babe in Christ is aware. But it is enough.
The companion awareness, accompanying that of forgiven sin, is Divine Sonship. To the new-fledged Christian, this, too, is an overpowering realization. The Almighty Creator and Sustainor of all is my Father! I-’m a child of the King!
While the time ought never come when any Christian forgets the forgiveness of his sins or his sonship to God, these are the special blessings of those who are new in the faith.
b.
Fathers. 1 John 2:13 (a) & 1 John 2:14 (b)
In contrast to the neophyte Christian and his blessings are those whose years with the Master are many and whose realized blessings are even more profound. John writes to the fathers because they have, through years of experience, come to a personal acquaintance with the eternal logos!
In Chapter one, John speaks of life as abstract and impersonal. Here, as in the prologue of the fourth gospel, he speaks of the eternal word, The One Who was from the beginning.
Personal intimate knowledge of this One Who sticketh closer than a brother, (Proverbs 18:24) increases and deepens with the passage of years.
c.
Young Men. 1 John 2:13(b) & 1 John 2:14(c)
In addressing the young adults, John is aware of their vigor and consecrated energy. He is also aware of the temptations that are strongest in early adulthood. His motive in addressing them with the tests of life is his awareness of their strength, the presence of the Word in their lives and their conquest of Satan, the evil one.
It seems perhaps more appropriate to young adulthood than any other age that a Christian be able to conquer evil and resist youthful temptations (Cf. 2 Timothy 2:22) by the consciousness of the Word in his life. Paul’s claim, I can do all things through Him that strengtheneth me, (Philippians 4:13) seems particularly applicable to young men.
Incompatibility of love for the world and love of the Father. 1 John 2:15
(1 John 2:15) Do not have the habit of loving the world nor the things in the world. If one should be loving the things of the world, the love of the Father is not in him:
Love is essentially the giving of self. In the Greek language there are three synonyms, all of which are translated love. They do not represent three kinds of love, but three motives for self-giving. The first, eros, is the giving of self for the sake of what one gets in return. The second, phileo, is the giving of self to that which is attractive, as to a person with whom we are personally, naturally compatible. In modern parlance, this word is more accurately represented with like than love. The third, agape, is the love of the will. It gives self because it decides to do so, regardless of what it may or may not get in return and regardless of whether it is personally attracted to its object.
This third motive, agape, is the only one of the three that can be commanded. Indeed it is the only one that, in the Bible, is commanded! The other motives, eros and phileo, are only controlled by the willful direction of *agape.
Agape* is the word translated love in this present text. It is also the love of Joh 3:16 and of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. It is the love of 1 John 4:8 which says God is love.
Since God is love, and man is made in the image of God, man can not but love something.
Since love is essentially the giving of self, I give myself to that which I decide to love. It is impossible to give self to two opposing masters. Therefore, if I love the world, I cannot love the Father. This conclusion is supported by such statements as James!. friendship with the world is enmity with God, (James 4:4) and Jesus-’ … No man can serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24) Service is love in action.
John makes no claim that the things of the world are in and of themselves sinful. Indeed, Paul claims such is not the case. (Romans 14:14)
Human reason supports the sinlessness of the things of the world per se. As we look more closely at John’s identification of them, it becomes apparent that they are important, and often even essential to life in this time and space set up of ours.
John’s plea is not to condemn the things of the world, or to pretend that we do not need or ought not to use them. His entreaty is Do not have the habit of loving, (of giving yourself regardless of the consequences) to these things. It is rather startling to realize that love, which is the very essence of life when directed properly, is also the cause of death when misdirected!
Things of the world identified. they are not of the Father. 1 John 2:16
(1 John 2:16) because everything in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the empty boastfulness of this temporal life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The things of the world fall into three categories; the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the empty boastfulness of this temporal life. In the first two instances, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes, our English versions read lust. This is unfortunate. The word lust, while it literally means merely a desire to gratify the senses and appetites, has fallen into bad usage. It has come to be associated, in modern parlance, almost exclusively with excessive and unrestrained sexual gratification. The word, epithumia, which John uses and which I have translated desires does not denote that which is of itself wrong, nor is it particularly concerned with sex per se. Rather, the word describes all natural, God-given drives that are common to man.
Desires, in this sense, includes sex, but it also includes the other normal appetites. When applied to the flesh, it includes the appetite for food, for sleep, for drink,for those things generally called the necessities of life. There is nothing essentially wrong with any of these normal desires of the flesh. On the contrary, it is doubtful if one can remain physically healthy for long without them. But. John insists we must not have the habit, that is it must not be the course of our lives, to give ourselves regardless of the consequences to these desires of the flesh.
Many illustrations of such excessive concern with the desires of the flesh could be cited. The corruption of the English word lust is itself a case in point. It is the result of over-attention, by our English speaking society, to sex. A similar illustration can be made of the deterioration of the Greek eros, which in classic times described the love of beauty and was used in marriage ceremonies. The word now has come to such vulgar usage as to be unspeakable in mixed company in modern Greek.
The so-called New Morality of our day also illustrates the way in which non-Christian society gives itself to the desires of the flesh, And lest those who are older take this as an indictment of the younger generation, we might also mention the motto of the roaring Twenties, Obey that impulse!
When applied, as John applies it in 1 John 2:16, to the desires of the eyes, the word epithumia shifts in emphasis from those appetites and drives associated with the physical body to the externals of which we are aware by the use of our perceptive senses. C. H. Dodd calls this the tendency to be captivated by outward show. It would seem that we are confronted here with those things which usually answer to the name culture.
Culture is many things to many people. To some it is the acquiring of polish and graciousness. One important facet of education, beyond the acquiring of knowledge, is the process of becoming which takes place while one is learning. This is good. If we can take His hasty manufacture of clothing for Adam and Eve as an indication, the desire for culture is a God-given instinct which makes our living together here a little more pleasant than it might otherwise be. (Genesis 3:21)
To others, culture may be the avoidance of those very things which seem so desirable to polite society. Who does not know some individual who spends a great deal of time convincing his fellows that he has not become a dude or a sissy or whatever else he may call those who have acquired the niceties of social grace? In either case, the one as much as the other, it is possible to spend one’s entire life in search of culture, of one form or another, for its own sake. This, John would have us not do. His plea again is that we Do not have the habit of loving (of giving ourselves to) these normal desires.
In the third instance, John changes his terminology in defining the things of the world. The final appeal is to not love or give self to the empty boastfulness of this temporal life. The word which our English versions render vainglory or pride is aladzoneia. Its literal meaning is derived from aladzon, meaning a purposeless wanderer or imposter and hence a boaster. One who pretends to be that which he is not! One who loves, or gives himself to such emptiness has not the love of the Father.
It is not surprising to find Paul using a derivative of this same word to describe one who does not love with Christian love. Paul says that one without Christian love is become sounding brass or a clanging symbol. The word rendered symbol in 1 Corinthians 13:1 is alaladzon, a form of aladzoneia which is used in 1 John 2:16. It was originally a Greek battle cry, shouted at the enemy to strike fear during a charge. It was a hollow boastful noise which meant absolutely nothing!
There are those who love, who give themselves to the nothingness, the boastful noise, of this world. Vance Packard’S, The Status Seekers is an indictment of a people who all their lives claw and scratch after the baubles which will set them just one notch above their neighbors. It is the old cliche of keeping up with the Joneses.
There are multiplied illustrations of such pretentious egoism. There is the man whose car is the very best model of the best make, no matter what he happens to be driving at the moment. And when he trades, no matter what he gets, it will then be the best model of the best make.
There are the young people whose energies are spent in the purposeless pursuit of a hot rod Ford and a two dollar bill. You-’ll find them risking their lives and the lives of others in the desperate attempt to leave a strip of rubber on the road every time they drive away, or in the equally desperate attempt to get to the next stop light ahead of another purposeless vagabond. There are those mothers whose children grow up undisciplined because they must hold an extra job. Not that their husbands are unable to provide the necessities, but because of their own insatiable craving for status symbols. Christians are to have a more meaningful set of values. Right love, the love of the Father, is for people; not for appetites, desires, or things! John entreats us not to give ourselves to these empty pursuits. Those who live for the things of the world are not of the Father, but are of the world.
Contrasting results of contrasting loves. 1 John 2:17
(1 John 2:17) And the world is passing away and the desires of it; but the one doing the will of God is remaining into eternity.
The misdirection of love against which we are warned in this paragraph is the negative side of the same test which is presented in the preceding verses. If we do love our brothers, we are of God, If we love the things of the world, we are not of God.
In 1 John 2:17, we are confronted with the contrasting results of these two opposing loves. One becomes more and more like that which he loves, If he loves the world, he takes on more and more the nature of the world. If he loves the Father, and expresses that love in love of his brothers, he becomes more and more like the Father.
The consequences are eternal. The world is passing away, and the things of it, The one who loves the world becomes temporal as the world is temporal, and so will also pass away. In contrast, the Father is eternal. The one who loves as He loves becomes more and more like Him, and so will remain into eternity. One of the most pathetic utterances in modern language is that which says some Christian person has passed away. This is very apt at the death of one who has loved the things of the world, but it is nothing short of dishonest at the funeral of one who has directed his love toward his brothers in Christ. Christians do not pass away. the world passes away and those who love it!
E.
Questions for Review
a.
To what commandment does John refer in 1 John 2:7-8?
b.
How can this commandment be both new and old?
c.
What is the significance of beloved in 1 John 2:7?
d.
Explain why John here commands to love our brothers rather than our enemies. (Compare 1 John 2:5)
e.
What is the source of brotherhood?
f.
How is the absence of love proof that one is walking in darkness?
g.
What are the two possible interpretations of 1 John 2:10?
h.
Which of these two seems most likely to be John’s real meaning? Support your answer.
a.
What is one possible explanation of John’s repetition in these verses?
b.
Of what blessing is the new Christian likely to be most aware?
c.
What is the significance of John’s writing to the older men of the church because you know Him Who is from the beginning?
d.
Why does John address the young men, Because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the evil one?
a.
What is the meaning of love as John uses it here?
b.
What is the basis of the conclusion, Man cannot but love something?
c.
What three classifications does John use for the things of the world?
d.
What is the meaning of the word for lust. 1 John 2:16-17
e.
What is the meaning of the lusts of the flesh?
f.
What is the meaning of the lusts of the eyes?
g.
What is the meaning of the vainglory of life?
h.
If there is nothing essentially wrong with these things, why does John demand that we not love them?
i.
What is the result of loving God?
j.
What is the result of loving the things of the world?
k.
How does the statement that a Christian has passed away
reflect fuzzy thinking about the results of love?
1 John 2:18-28
CHAPTER VI
TO WALK IN THE LIGHT IS TO SHARE GOD’S ATTITUDE TOWARD JESUS
(The Third Test. The First Time)
A.
The Text
Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that anti-christ cometh, even now have there arisen many anti-christs; whereby we know that it is the last hour, (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us. (20) And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (21) I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the anti-christ, even he that denieth the Father and the Son. (23) Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he than confessed! the Son hath the Father also. (24) As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. (25) And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal. (26) These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray. (27) And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him. (28) And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
B.
Try to Discover
How our faith in Jesus as God’s only begotten Son is evidence that we are in fellowship with God.
What is the meaning of anti-christ.
What does our anointing from the Holy Spirit have to do with the truth that Jesus is the Christ.
Who are those who went out from us.
How does the promise of eternal life relate to our holding fast the message of the Gospel.
How does being mindful of our anointing keep us from denying Jesus.
C.
Paraphrase
Little children! it is the last hour; And just as you have heard that an antichrist is coming. Even now antichrists have become many, Whence we perceive that it is the last hour: (19) From among us they went out, But they were not of us; For if of us they had been they would in that case have abode with us; But it came to pass in order that they might be made manifest, because all are not of us. (20) And ye have an anointing from The Holy One, Ye all know: (21)1 have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, But because ye know it, And because no falsehood is of the truth. (22) Who is the False One; Save he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? The same is the anti-christ. He that denieth the Father and the Son. (23) Whosoever denieth the Son neither hath he the Father: he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. (24) As for you what ye have heard from the beginning in you let it abide. If in you shall abide that which from the beginning ye have heard ye also in the Son and in the Father shall abide. (25) And this is the promise which he hath promised unto us, the age-abiding life. (26) These things have I written unto you concerning them who would lead you astray. (27) And as for you the anointing which ye have received from him abideth in you, and ye have no need that anyone be teaching you; but as his anointing is teaching you, and is true and is no falsehood even just as it hath taught you abide ye in him. (28) And now dear children abide ye in him, in order that if he be made manifest we may have boldness and not be shamed away from him by his presence.
D.
Comments
Preliminary Remarks
The argument of John in this passage was a simple one to himself and his first century audience. It is not so simple to us in the twentieth century. We have lost much of the theological background against which it was presented. Briefly stated, John’s logic is this; we know it is the last hour. We know this because many antichrists have come. The reason the presence of the antichrists proves it is the last hour is that the antichrists are against Christ. Had He not come, they could not oppose Him. Their presence is proof He has come, and therefore, proof it is the last hour.
The Jews divided all time into two ages. The present age, which preceded the coming of the Messiah, and the last time or Day of the Lord, which would be ushered in with the coming of the Messiah. John here contends that the fact of the last hour is proven by the presence of antichrists. What he does not say, but what was, nevertheless, inherent in his use of the term last hour is that the presence of the last hour is proof that Christ has come. This is the fact denied by the gnostics. It was their denial that Jesus is the Christ that made them antichrists. The third test by which one may know that he has eternal life and is in fellowship with the Father is his attitude toward the Christ. To deny that He has come in the person of Jesus is to demonstrate an attitude that is antichrist. To confess that He has indeed come marks one as a child of God and in His fellowship.
Translation and comments
- a. Evidence of a last hour. 1 John 2:18
(1 John 2:18) Little children, it is a last hour, and just as you heard that an antichrist is coming, so also now many antichrists have become: whereby we know it is a last hour.
Today, no subject presented in the entire Bible is the object of more confusion than the last hour. To avoid becoming embroiled in this chaos, we must set aside all preconceptions and remember the historical purpose of John’s writing of this letter. We must let the author say, in his own language, what he would have us hear. There is no the with last hour here. John describes that which has the nature of a last hour, rather than a particular last hour.
The terms last hour and last days seem to be closely related, sometimes interchangeable, throughout the Bible. In the early part of the Old Testament, they referred to the time when Israel would enter the Promised Land. In the prophets, these same terms are used for the time of the coming of the Messiah. In Acts 2:16-ff, Peter applies this language, as employed by the prophet Joel, to the birthday of the church. This theme is repeated frequently through the Old Testament, and was a chief topic of speculation during the four hundred silent years between the Old and New Testaments.
Over the years of these usages, the phrase last hour came to have significance which was familiar to those who first read John’s letter. It is another of those well-known terms which John delights in pouring full of Christian meaning. Last hour indicated, to them, the end of one era and the beginning of another. A last hour marked more than the time of annihilation. Destruction was followed by re-creating. A last hour denoted a time of consummation. It was the time when an epoch of history reached that end toward which the providence of God had been moving it. The accomplishment of the one was also the beginning of another.
It is in this same vein that the Hebrew writer says, God. hath at the end of these days, spoken unto us in His Son. These days are the days when God spoke unto the fathers by the prophets. The consummation, the intended end of these days, was reached when, at the end of these days, God spoke to us in His Son. This also marked the beginning of the new age of grace as well as the end of the old age of law.
Paul says much the same things in Galatians 3:6-29. What God began in Abraham reached its intended end in the coming of the Christ. His coming, at the same time, marked the beginning of the new covenant age.
Luke 24:44-47 leaves no doubt that Jesus saw His crucifixion and resurrection as the end of the Law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms. At the same time He saw it as the beginning of a new era when repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
The crux of John’s letter is: will an individual, in this last hour identify himself with that which is passing away or that which is new and eternal? 1 John 2:15-17, which immediately precedes this statement concerning the last hour, sets the choice clearly before us.
In recent years a great deal has been made of the assumption that the first century Christians, including the writers of the New Testament, were mistakenly anxious about the second coming of Christ. It has been said that their insistence upon preparation for His momentary return indicates they did not know whereof they spoke on the matter. This is not a necessary conclusion. It is true that the New Testament writers had much to say about the second coming of Christ. It is equally true, however, that they saw this life as a period of preparation for that which would be ushered in in its fullness by His second coming. Since this preparation ends for the individual, either at the second coming or at his own death (depending entirely upon which comes first), it is just as important for one to be ready for the second coming now (in case of his own death) as then when He actually does come. This life of preparation is also the beginning of eternal life.
The passage of more than eighteen hundred years since John wrote it is a last hour, does not alter the necessity to realize that the final word of God concerning life and death has been spoken in Christ. John’s intention is that we treat every hour of the Christian age as a last hour. It has been five minutes until midnight since Pentecost! As proof that it is last hour, John calls attention to the presence of many antichrists. Be alert here for a play on words: Christ, antichrist and christma (the anointing of believers.) Some have supposed that The Antichrist is to be expected in the closing days of the Christian Era. Perhaps so. However, it is more reasonable to conclude from Scripture that the presence of antichrist indicates the Christian Era itself is a last hour. It is the end toward which God’s providence in human history has moved, It will issue in the beginning of whatever lies beyond in the age of ages.
It is significant that the designation antichrist is used only in the epistles of John; and nowhere else in the entire Bible. John mentions it in this passage twice, in 1 John 4:3 once and in 2 John 1:7 once. Some have identified Antichrist as an individual person with the Man of Sin, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, and the Beast of Rev 13:1-18. The Bible does not make this identification!
There are those who believe that the Antichrist is to be expected in the time just preceding the second coming of Christ. Perhaps so. John does not use the term in this way. On the contrary, it would seem he calls attention to the many antichrists so as to correct a false teaching which made an individual Antichrist some sort of super monster. John says You have heard that Antichrist is coming, and immediately adds, … many antichrists have come. Historically, the term antichristos in pre-Christian language meant either an opponent or adversary of Christ, or one who sought to put himself in Christ’s place. In the latter sense, the opposition is not open and clear cut. Rather, as in the case of the Gnostics against whose influence John wrote, it was insidious and subtle.
It has been the hallmark of devoted Protestantism from its inception to identify The Antichrist with the Pope. During, and just prior to, World War II, a number of Fundamentalist radio preachers were able to support their programs on the air by playing to the appetites of their listeners for the sensational satisfaction of their curiosity. This was done by identifying first Mussolini and then Hitler as The Antichrist. This they presented as proof that the last hour was upon us and the end of the world was imminent. Many popes, as well as Hitler and Mussolini have long since passed from the scene. The end is not yet, but the subtle, insidious attempt of false teachers to lead astray the disciples of the Christ is still with us. Hereby we know that it is still a last hour!
To John, the subtle denial of the deity of Jesus, the false teaching which separated the human from the divine in Him and so opened the way to all sorts of sensualism in those who claimed to follow Him, was antichrist. Today’s liberalism, and new morality fit perfectly John’s understanding of antichrist. They are not new, but are present, in varied forms, in every age.
Antichrist is the subtle but deadly denial of His deity by those who claim to follow Him. It is the removal of all moral absolutes, the opening of the gates of licentiousness for those who dare to wear His name!
b.
The antichrists and the anointed ones. 1 John 2:19
(19) They went out of us, but they were not of us: for if they were of us they would have remained with us: but (they went out) in order that they might be manifest that they all are not of us.
The gnostics, with their claim to superior enlightenment, were not really Christians. No one can be who denies Jesus as Christ.
The antichrists left the Christians fellowship because they were not all to be found in the ranks of the church. John’s statement is that even those who had been in the fellowship had left, which was proof that all of them were not of us. (We would have said none of them are of us.) Neither the gnostic in the church nor the gnostic outside the church is really of us. The physical presence of a false teacher in the assembly does not make him a Christian! The proof is that those who have been in the fellowship are leaving. They have not been excommunicated. They are simply not at home among people who believe in the deity of Jesus.
How timely this is for our day! We live in times which are historically the most significant for the church since the beginning of the Reformation. Old denominational lines are fading. Cutting across them all is the modern spirit of antichrist, which denies the inspiration of scripture, the deity of Christ and His Lordship. It is not necessary to excommunicate these radicals of the left. It takes but little serious thought to recognize that they are not of us. Perhaps it is time for those who do believe the Gospel to simply acknowledge the situation which exists. Some who claim to be Christians, simply aren-’t!
c.
The anointed ones know they are anointed. 1 John 2:20
(1 John 2:20) And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know it.
The most prominent concept of the church presented in the New Testament is that it is the continuing presence of Christ, the Anointed One, on earth. The church is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23) As such, it is to continue that which Jesus began, both to do and to teach. (Acts 1:1)
Individually, what we church members endure for His sake is to fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ. for His body’s sake, which is the church, (Colossians 1:24) It is the church to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory. (Colossians 1:27) All that God has revealed or hopes to accomplish in Human history is now the stewardship of the church which John considers as the fellowship of anointed ones.
This conviction is in John’s reminder: You have an anointing. The word Christos, translated Christ, means Anointed One. It is not strange that those who are in fellowship with Him, who are the fulfilling fellowship (Ephesians 1:23) called His body, should also share the anointing! Christians also are anointed ones! The word chrisma (anointed) has the same root as Christos (Christ).
Peter recognized this truth when, on Pentecost, he applied the prophecy of Joe 2:28-ff to the church. And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth my Spirit upon all flesh. is fulfilled in … ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Him. (Acts 2:17-ff) As A. T. Robertson puts it, This anointing is open to all Christians, not just a select few. Antichrists are against those anointed, both Jesus and His disciples! Saul of Tarsus learned this on the Damascus road.
The English version is misleading when it says ye know all things. The preferred reading is you all know it. That is, you all know (and this is the knowledge of experience) that you have the anointing. It is impossible to persuade one, who shares the anointing, that Jesus is not the Anointed One!
d.
The anointing is associated with truth. 1 John 2:21 (1 John 2:21) I did not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because every lie is not of the truth.
Paul intimates that John here affirms, Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things. (1 Corinthians 2:14-15)
John is not writing because his readers do not know the truth but because they do know it. No matter that self-acclaimed intellectuals make lofty claims to special knowledge. Those who share the anointing of Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit have done so because they first accepted the truth. They have known it from the beginning. The most unlettered Christian need not shrink before the self-proclaimed scholarship of anyone who denies the deity of Jesus! The knowledge of experience is more reliable than that gained by philosophical deduction.
e.
The decisive proof of falsehood. 1 John 2:22-23
(1 John 2:22) Who is the liar if not the one denying, Jesus is not the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:23) Everyone denying the Son is not having the Father.
When John says, Who is the liar if not the one denying, -Jesus is not the Christ?-’ He has not stooped to name calling. The question is vastly more profound than that! Whoever denies the deity of the man, Jesus, has denied the fundamental reality of the universe. (Cf. John 1:1-4)
Anyone making this denial is antichrist! (See on 1 John 2:18-19 above) Whoever denies the deity of Jesus denies the Father also! Jesus said as much Himself, as John records in His Gospel. (John 5:19-ff)
There are those today, as there were in John’s day, who believe they can share the Christian belief in God as Father without acknowledging that Jesus is His Son. not just a Son but the Only Begotten Son. John’s contention is that this is impossible.
Men know God, as Father, only through Jesus (John 14:6-9). If Jesus is no more than a sort of super-philosopher, then men do not really know that God is Father at all. The idea that God even wanted to be Father came from Him.
Take away the divine Sonship of Jesus and you have destroyed Christianity at its base. The entire concept of brotherhood between men begins with the Fatherhood of God. If God is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is not the Father of anyone!
f.
The test of eternal life. 1 John 2:24-25
(1 John 2:24) As for you, what you heard from the beginning, let it remain in you. If in you is remaining what you heard from the beginning, you are also in the Son and are remaining in the Father.
What you heard from the beginning. The author calls us back beyond the rise of false teachers. He entreats us to set aside the confusion introduced by falsehood. We are to allow that to remain in us which was the original message. God is Light (See above on 1 John 1:5).
Since God is light, and all truth comes from Him, darkness and falsehood are dispelled from the one who holds firm this message. The messenger was the Son. We cannot hold fast the message without holding fast the messenger, Whosoever receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me. (Luke 9:48) These are Jesus-’ words, and they are part of that which we have heard. (1 John 1:1) This is the standard by which truth is determined. Anyone denying it denies truth, and so is a liar.
To know God is to have eternal life. (John 17:3) The promise is conditioned by the knowledge of Him whom the Son revealed. To deny Jesus is God’s Son is to forfeit all claim to the promise.
g.
Reminder of the anointing. 1 John 2:26-27
(1 John 2:26) These things I wrote to you concerning the ones leading you astray. (1 John 2:27) And the anointing which you received from Him is remaining you, (and you have no need that one keep on teaching you: but as His anointing is teaching you concerning all things, and it is true and is not a lie), and just as He taught you, you remain in Him.
Those who hold fast the message which they heard before the rise of the antichrists still have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. They are still the continuing presence of the Christ (the Anointed One) in the world of men. If this real presence of the Holy Spirit is kept in mind, it is the earnest of our inheritance. (Ephesians 1:14) It is the down payment. In receiving this anointing we have already received the first installment of the eternal life which God has promised. With this in mind it becomes extremely difficult to reject the promise itself. So the anointing becomes a point of appeal by John for his readers to hold fast the truth that Jesus is the Christ.
Again, parenthetically, John underscores his claim that the consciousness of what they have already experienced is theirs. They have no real need to be reminded. h.
Recurrent plea for persistence. 1 John 2:28
(1 John 2:28) And now, dear children, remain in Him, in order that if He should be manifest we may achieve boldness from before Him and not be shamed off from Him.
John’s convictions about Jesus are real. He is God’s Son. He is alive. He is coming again. Soon or late, and every eye shall see Him. (Revelation 1:7)
There will be no greater shame at His coming than that of those who once knew Him and then denied Him. There will be no greater joy than that experienced by the faithful at His coming.
E.
Questions for Review
What is the significance of the fact that there is no the with last hour?. 1 John 2:18
What is the purpose of I John?
What do the terms last hour and last day seem to indicate in pre-Christian usage?
In what sense may the entire Christian era be considered a last hour?
What light do Acts 2:16-ff and Galatians 3:6-29 throw on John’s discussion of a last hour in connection with the Christian’s anointing of the Holy Spirit?
What is the literal meaning of the word Christ?
If one is against Christ, is he not opposed to all those who are anointed of God?
Who, besides Jesus, may be called anointed ones?
Does the Bible anywhere identify antichrist with the Man of Sin?
If the coming of Christ is the beginning of a last hour, is not the coming of those who oppose Him and His anointed ones also proof of the same?
Are there antichrists in the world today? Explain.
What proves that the antichrists were not of us?. 1 John 2:19
What is the relationship of the church to the presence of Christ on earth today?. 1 John 2:20
Who receives the anointing of the Holy Spirit?
Is scholarship to be feared by the uneducated Christian? Explain. 1 John 2:21
What is the decisive proof of falsehood?. 1 John 2:22-23
Can one claim honestly to know God as Father while denying the deity of Jesus?
Who first presented the idea that God is Father?
What is the condition of eternal life presented by John in this passage?. 1 John 2:24-25
What is the standard by which all truth is determined?
What is the relationship between knowledge of God and presence of eternal life?
How does the awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit make the denial of Christ less likely?
Who has most reason to be afraid and ashamed in the presence of Jesus?. 1 John 2:28
1 John 2:29
HEREBY WE KNOW PART III
1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:1-24; 1 John 4:1-6
Fellowship With God Considered As Divine Sonship Tested by The Outward Demonstration In Us Of God’s Attitude Toward:
The Guiltless Life
Love For His Children
His Son
CHAPTER VII
DIVINE SONSHIP INTRODUCED
A.
The Text
If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him.
B.
Try to Discover
The meaning of righteous and righteousness.
The relationship of divine sonship to personal righteousness in terms of cause and effect.
How righteousness is an unavoidable test of truth for the claim to be a son of God.
C.
Paraphrase
If ye know that he is righteous Ye perceive thatWhosoever doeth righteousness he hath been born.
D.
Comments
Preliminary Remarks
The fellowship which John has tested as walking in the light, he now tests as divine sonship. The three-fold test is to be the same. Just as one’s attitude toward his own sin, his brothers and Jesus as the Christ affirm or deny that he is walking in the light, so the practical outworking of these attitudes in personal living will affirm or deny the claim that one is begotten of God. As with the former, so with the latter, John is answering a specific claim of the gnostics. They claimed to have special enlightenment from God, and John has challenged their claim with truth as it is revealed in Christ. If we walk in this light, then we have fellowship. They claimed to have been begotten of God. John will turn this favorite gnostic phrase also against its users. If they are indeed begotten of God, what they do about personal righteousness, what they do in deed and truth toward their brothers, and what they confess about Jesus will prove it. The last verse of chapter two is a preface to the first test of sonship, and at the same time serves as the springboard by which the idea of sonship is introduced for the first time.
It is well to remember John’s statement in the prologue concerning the purpose of his writing, (i.e.) that his readers may have fellowship with us. and with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3) This fellowship is eternal life. John considers it first as conformity of personal attitude to revealed truth, and secondly, as conformity of personal behavior to the same truth.
Translation and Comments
(1 John 2:29) If you have come to know that He is righteous, you know also that everyone doing righteousnes has been begotten of Him.
Briefly stated, the tests set forth in Part II correspond to those set forth in Part III in the following ways: In the first cycle, presented in Part II, the author tests fellowship as walking in the light. Here the second cycle of the same tests considers fellowship as divine sonship. Fellowship, considered as walking in the light is tested by our attitudes. In testing fellowship as divine sonship, the proof lies in our actions. The outward test of righteous behavior corresponds to our inward attitude toward sin. The outward test of loving behavior toward our brothers corresponds to our inward attitude of love for them. Our open confession of Jesus as the Christ corresponds to our inward faith in Him.
This is a direct denial of the separation of spirit from matter. The abstract spiritual attitudes of the heart are proven by the outward action of the body. Together they give evidence of life.
John’s symphonic play on the two synonyms for possession of information is beautiful in this verse! The first used (if you know) is oida. It means to possess knowledge by reflection, intuition or acquired information. The second is our old friend ginosko (see above on 1 John 2:4), the knowledge of experience.
The gnostics-’ major premise was a neatly packaged and absolute dualism which placed an irreconcilable gulf between what they considered spiritual and what they saw as material. According to the gnostic, all spirit was good, all matter was evil. Since God is spirit, they arrived by deduction at the knowledge that God is also righteous. John’s challenge is in effect, If God is righteous, and you are begotten of Him, then you know by experience, even in this world of matter, that the sons of God are also righteous. This strikes at the heart of the gnostic’s conclusion that the physical behavior of the individual was unrelated to his spiritual relationship to God. For the sake of testing our own claim to Divine Sonship, we must give special attention to the word dikaios, righteous. It is conformity to the Divine Standard of right.
No man by his own strength ever succeeded in conforming to the perfect morality prescribed in the law.. for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. (Romans 7:18) This is the lot of all men. (Cf. Romans 3:23) It is only by being begotten of God that any person measures up to the divine standard of righteousness. Righteous behavior proves that one has been begotten of the Righteous God.
The new morality of our day does not accept the moral absolutes established by God and taught in the ten commandments. Its standard of right is rather a tolerant and considerate attitude toward others in any given set of circumstances. John’s language in this verse will not allow one who is begotten of God to forfeit the divine standard for his own. The contrast between the divine standard of morality and the subjective existentialism of the new morality is seen in the contrast of two Greek synonymns for moral goodness, Dikaios, is righteousness measured by divine standard, agathos, is goodness regarded as perfect in its own kind, so as to produce pleasure and satisfaction for the advantage of the person coming in contact with it.
The new morality is not new at all. It is the walk of the Gentiles, (Ephesians 2:2) determined by what is popular. The behavior of one begotten of God is determined rather by the awareness that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
E.
Questions for Review
In the first cycle of tests presented in I John, the author tests fellowship with God as ___________________.
In the present cycle of tests, introduced in Chapter two, 1 John 2:29, he tests fellowship with God as _____________________.
In testing fellowship as walking in the light, the proof lies in our____________________.
In testing fellowship as divine sonship, the proof lies in our outward _________________.
The outward test of personal righteousness corresponds to our attitude toward ____________________.
The outward test of behavior toward our brothers corresponds to our inward attitude of ________________ for them.
Our open confession of Jesus as the Christ corresponds to our inward _____________________.
In chapter two, 1 John 2:29, the idea of _______________________ is introduced for the first time in I John.
The fellowship with which John is concerned in this book is another word for ____________________.
What is the proof presented in Chapter two, 1 John 2:29 as the natural result of having been begotten of God?
What is the meaning of righteousness as used in this verse?
What is the difference between the righteousness practiced by the sons of God and the subjective goodness of the new morality?