1st john 5................the victory of faith
John reaches a crescendo in his apostolic assertion of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. This chapter is so concise, so compelling, so clear, that no one other than the unregenerate can ignore. He focuses on the Christian faith, so powerful it can take on the world and bring it to nothing. So the focus is on a faith that can overcome the doctrines of men and resist the power of demons. He will finish the letter by an appeal for the people of God to keep themselves from idols, suggesting that all belief systems which are not focused and founded on the person and work of Jesus Christ, are to be classed as idolatry. Refusal of this incontrovertible witness of truth will be disastrous for those who dissent.
Verses 1-5 Conquering faith
Verses 6-12 Confirmed faith
Verses 13-21 Confident faith
These simple divisions will help us understand the importance of the faith which is common to all true believers, and arm us and energise us, to overcome the world which opposes the truth
.
Verses 1-5 Faith conquers the world. Personal faith can achieve great things but what is in view here is corporate faith, he says “our faith”, and so what is emphasised is not so much the distinctive faith of the individual but the object on which that faith rests. The section begins and ends with the same phrase; verse 1 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ...”, verse 5 “...he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God”. He is viewing the common belief that Jesus is the Christ(the Messiah), and that He is the Son of God, and these two solid foundations are powerful enough to overcome the world in opposition to God. It is not the power of our personal faith, but the power of the One in whom that faith is placed. This is the twofold burden of John in his writings; in John chapter 20 v31, he summarises his gospel like this “These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...”, the same two titles of Jesus. It is belief in Jesus as Messiah and as Son of God that brings saving faith and that is the faith that conquers the world. Messiah is the one who will fulfil a Divine commission, the Son of God is the one who will rule the world. All the predictions concerning Messiah will be fulfilled in Him, all the privileges of the only begotten Son will be enjoyed in association with Him. He is the rock on which our faith rests, and no power on earth can overcome.
Here we have a concise summary of the Christian faith;
Believing There are doctrinal implications. The doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ (verses 1&5). A number of things to observe here. “Believeth” is in the present tense, so faith is ongoing. “Born of God”, in strict biblical terms takes place before believing(the structure is “having been born of God”). This makes God the primary mover in conversion. In John chapter 3 Jesus taught new birth prior to believing; regeneration comes before faith, no one can respond to God until first the regenerating work of the Spirit of God. Faith is not a mere intellectual assent to a creed but obedience to a person whom God has ratified.
Loving There are social implications. “Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him”. This is a most powerful logical statement. This says firstly that to believe in Him is to love Him. This also says salvation is initiated by God in every believer, that we are part of a very large family, and what we are they are, what we have they have, they are individually our kinsfolk and we are to love them as we love the Lord. Love to Him must issue in love to them if there is any reality about our faith. They are born of God, they are the children of God as we are and we must love them.
Keeping There are moral implications “This is the love of God that we keep His commandments”. Although the law has been fully met in Christ, we are responsible to keep “the righteousness of the law” as our standard of living. Jesus fulfilled every commandment of His Father in His mission to save us and we are expected to search out and keep the commandments of God. The word “commandment “ (entole) is described as “an authoritative prescription”, something for our good but with Divine authority behind it. We are to keep them (as with a military guard) His commandments, they are to be our charge, our watchword. “His commandments are not grievous”. (not burdensome, not hard to keep). This is because we have the Divine power within. It is not difficult to do things for one who loves us, and who abides in us.
Overcoming There are also polemical issues, faith in Christ, faith in the Son of God brings us into conflict with the world who have their philosophies, creeds, opinions contrary to the truth of God. Note the linking preposition “For” taking us back to verse 3. His commandments are not grievous because we have within a new nature and “whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world”. This is the Divine power within, he distinguishes now the new nature, the new power. from the person. The world is indeed a vast system in opposition to God and we do not have it in ourselves to combat it, but the faith, belief in Jesus as the Son of God, is the overcoming power. Faith in Him in all that He is, and all that He is within us. conquers the world.
Verses 6-12 Faith confirmed by the Spirit of truth and God the Father. These verses are all about the confirmation of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ; a) verses 6-8 confirmation by the witness of the Spirit.
Having stated that faith in the Son of God is the world-conquering power, he now identifies Him in terms of historical record. “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only but by water and blood and it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth”. This is He....the one known historically as Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, the object of all saving faith, and the Spirit of God, who is truth, identifies Him and no other.
It is mostly accepted that the reference to water and blood was aimed at the heresy of Cerinthus, whom John opposed in the church at Ephesus. The heresy was that Jesus was just an ordinary human being, who at his baptism became Christ by Divine anointing, but who lost that status and consequent power when he was crucified, God abandoning him to the fate of crucifixion, and so he died as a man and has no claim to be Saviour. The reference to water is the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, and the reference to blood is the crucifixion; taken together the beginning and ending of Jesus’ public work. John’s correction of this heresy was that the Son of God who was baptized by water in Jordan, was the same Son of God who shed His blood at Calvary....”..not by water only but by water and blood”. The witness of the Spirit of truth is that He is Son of God at His baptism (Luke 3 verses 21-22; John 1 verses 33-34), and He is the Son of God at His death, as confirmed by a host of scriptures. Therefore He is indeed the Saviour upon whom we can rely.
Verse 7 is omitted by most manuscripts as being superfluous since there is no need for witness in heaven. However (verse 8) there is need for witness on earth and the witness is threefold, the Spirit the water and the blood. There are three descriptions by John of His coming in the letters; “He came in flesh” (4 verses 2/3; 2nd John v7), that is the INCARNATION; “He came by water (5 v6) that is the INAUGURATION into public service by Divine anointing; “He came by blood”, that is His work of PROPITIATION for human sins, and all three aspects of His coming are the testimony of the Spirit.
b) verses 9-12 confirmation by the word of God the Father. He compares the witness of men with the witness of God, and simply says that the witness of God is greater....”This is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son”. The Spirit testifies and the Father testifies and the record is indisputable. The words used for “testimony” and “witness” and “record” are legal terms and that determined by the Supreme court of heaven; this testimony is inviolable and dependable to all who will accept it. Those who refuse it make God to be a liar. This testimony goes beyond the words and is a Divine power to transmit eternal life to those who believe. Eternal life is more than simply defined in terms of time but also in quality of life which will never end. This life is in His Son, no other! The issues are huge, the choice facing everyone has eternal consequences. Rejection of the Son of God is terminal and eternal, “He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life”. The Son of God in His person and His work is the only way of salvation. Eternal life or eternal death, with all that these mean, that is the testimony of God and He will have the final say
.
Verses 13-21 Faith assures the believer and instils confidence and constancy
a) Verses 13-17 Confidence
At the end of his gospel John wrote “...these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name”. Now at the end of his epistle he writes “These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life”. He adds “and that ye might believe”, and he means possessed of the full assurance of your belief you will really believe, no more room for any shadow of doubt. The gospel was written to produce faith, the epistle to produce assurance of faith. It is an important aspect of continuing belief; as the believer is surrounded by many contrary influences. They have lived to see some depart from their company (Chapter 2 v19); They are aware of many teaching contrary doctrines (chapter 4 v1); they are constantly harassed by Satanic powers(chapter 2 v13-14); and they have experienced personal failure(chapter 2 v1,3 v20-21). All these are forces which can discourage God’s people, can blunt the keen edge of truth within them, and cause lack of confidence, leading to apologetic testimony and half hearted living. The epistle is promoting the certainty of these wonderful Divine things and anything which dilutes that is a great hindrance to the child of God. Assurance brings confidence and this is a theme which John sprinkles throughout the letter(chapter 2 v28; chapter 3 verses 19-20; chapter 5 v14. This word confidence(parrhesia) is public boldness, outspokenness, frankness, bluntness, certainty beyond doubt. The world at large in general resists this kind of attitude, describing it as bigoted, intolerant and even arrogant. The Roman Catholic church in particular denounces this as arrogance and delusion. One of their spokesmen said this doctrine of assurance is “the prime error of the heretics”, they reject it for they like to keep their followers in suspense by tying them to their weekly rituals to be sure of heaven, and adherence to their programmes as the only assurance of future blessing. This is antichrist teaching and the word of the living God and that of the risen Saviour and the testimony of the Spirit is all we need to know with certainty whom we have believed.
This assurance facilitates our prayer life for we make petition to one who loves us who gave Himself for us, who is disposed to hear us favourably, who delights to hear and answer our prayers. Experience develops our prayer life such that we learn more and more to pray “according to the will of God”. The confidence of assurance of His work for us and in us gives us the certainty that our prayers are meaningful to Him. He says “..whatsoever we ask, we have...! What a tremendous privilege and blessing is this that we can petition Almighty God and He hears us and He gives us all that is in accordance with His will.
Very much part of our prayers should be concern for our brethren, a token of our love to them, spending time before Him bringing their names and circumstances before Him. Particularly will we pray for those who have fallen into sin, some have lapsed into sin, others have begun to habitually sin and risk being removed in death by Divine discipline. This fact of the life of faith is often forgotten but scripture makes clear that God will remove His people from this earth rather than allow them to perpetuate serious sin (1st Corinthians 11 verses 30-31; Acts 5 v5; Revelation 2 verses 22-23). We are not to pry into these things we are to pray, we cannot be judges of other people’s sins but there are sins which God will not tolerate among His people “There is a sin unto death”, and he means physical death the ultimate sanction. “All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death”. God has made provision for the sins of His people, but all sin is serious in His sight. Sometimes we forget that God cannot condemn the world for sin and condone it amongst His people. Our role is to pray for our brethren whatever their situation and personal assurance gives us confidence in that.
Verses 18-21 Constancy
We are all vascillating creatures, one day up the next down, three weeks up two weeks down; we are moulded by circumstances and events so how do we maintain that constancy as we journey through this demon infected world on the way to glory. One thing we don’t do is give up, go into “waiting mode”, or hide from reality. The answer is clear in the verses. Three times he says “we know”. He points us in the direction of what we already know, Divine illumination that has been given to us, that is hidden from the world, and is the exclusive possession of those who are “born of God”. The section begins and ends with “keeping ourselves”. There are plenty of scriptures which focus on Divine preservation (such as 1st Peter 1 v5; John 17 verses1-12; John 10 verses 27-29), but here he is thinking of self-preservation, the responsibility we all have to “keep ourselves”, to maintain loyalty to the awesome truth of God we have received. The epistle of Jude gives both aspects in the same context (verse 24 “Unto Him which is able to keep you from falling....”, and verse 21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God”; another example of many where Divine sovereignty, and human responsibility work in harmony. There is no doubt the Lord will keep His side, and we must be exercised to keep ours. The certainty is threefold, moral spiritual and doctrinal.
Verse 18 Moral certainty. We know that we have been detached from the old nature “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not....”. Born of God, new life within, a new nature from God Himself, means that we no longer are dominated by the power of sin. There is a dichotomy within, a new power to offset the old sinful nature, an inner conflict which deters the sin within. We are not sinless but we can now combat it and overcome it. This allows us to keep ourselves and the wicked one cannot touch us, because the life within is from God.
Verse 19 Spiritual certainty We know that we have been delivered from Satan’s domain “We know we are of God and that the whole world lieth in wickedness(the wicked one)”. We are no longer in the realm of Satan who controls the thinking and the practice of everyone else in the world who is not of God! “Lieth” is the Geek word keimai which literally means to lie outstretched, to be fixed in a permanent situation and carries the idea of total control and subjection. Two usages are in Matthew 5 v14 of “a city set on a hill” and Luke 2 v12 “a babe lying in a manger”. The whole world system including the unbelieving people in it are under the total domination of powers of wickedness. This is taught by Paul in Ephesians 3 verse 2 “...the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience”. We have been delivered from that, our lives need no longer be controlled by Satan, we are of God, we have been “translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love”.
Verse 20 Doctrinal certainty We know that we have discernment of the truth by the successful mission of the Son of God He came on a mission, proved Himself to be the Son of God; presented the truth of God in word and deed. He is the truth and eternal life, and now we have full understanding. We know Him that is true, but it is more than intellectual knowledge...”we are in Him that is true”, we are vitally and indivisibly in union with Him and therefore the power rests upon us. “He is the true God....He is eternal life”.
Verse 21 “Little children keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
The elder brother of the church, in age as well as experience leaves his closing impassioned appeal. In light of such revelation, and the certainty of the issues involved, he is saying that everything else including the false doctrines and the ungodly influences and the sins of the flesh are all idolatry, which demean and pervert and contradict the truth of God and we must guard against them with the mentality of an army in the midst of war. We are to have no agreement or practice with them, we are to oppose them as that which displaces God, the God who has given us new life. Idolatry is simply the observance of and devotion to anything or anyone that displaces the true and only God in our hearts.
John reaches a crescendo in his apostolic assertion of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. This chapter is so concise, so compelling, so clear, that no one other than the unregenerate can ignore. He focuses on the Christian faith, so powerful it can take on the world and bring it to nothing. So the focus is on a faith that can overcome the doctrines of men and resist the power of demons. He will finish the letter by an appeal for the people of God to keep themselves from idols, suggesting that all belief systems which are not focused and founded on the person and work of Jesus Christ, are to be classed as idolatry. Refusal of this incontrovertible witness of truth will be disastrous for those who dissent.
Verses 1-5 Conquering faith
Verses 6-12 Confirmed faith
Verses 13-21 Confident faith
These simple divisions will help us understand the importance of the faith which is common to all true believers, and arm us and energise us, to overcome the world which opposes the truth
.
Verses 1-5 Faith conquers the world. Personal faith can achieve great things but what is in view here is corporate faith, he says “our faith”, and so what is emphasised is not so much the distinctive faith of the individual but the object on which that faith rests. The section begins and ends with the same phrase; verse 1 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ...”, verse 5 “...he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God”. He is viewing the common belief that Jesus is the Christ(the Messiah), and that He is the Son of God, and these two solid foundations are powerful enough to overcome the world in opposition to God. It is not the power of our personal faith, but the power of the One in whom that faith is placed. This is the twofold burden of John in his writings; in John chapter 20 v31, he summarises his gospel like this “These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...”, the same two titles of Jesus. It is belief in Jesus as Messiah and as Son of God that brings saving faith and that is the faith that conquers the world. Messiah is the one who will fulfil a Divine commission, the Son of God is the one who will rule the world. All the predictions concerning Messiah will be fulfilled in Him, all the privileges of the only begotten Son will be enjoyed in association with Him. He is the rock on which our faith rests, and no power on earth can overcome.
Here we have a concise summary of the Christian faith;
Believing There are doctrinal implications. The doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ (verses 1&5). A number of things to observe here. “Believeth” is in the present tense, so faith is ongoing. “Born of God”, in strict biblical terms takes place before believing(the structure is “having been born of God”). This makes God the primary mover in conversion. In John chapter 3 Jesus taught new birth prior to believing; regeneration comes before faith, no one can respond to God until first the regenerating work of the Spirit of God. Faith is not a mere intellectual assent to a creed but obedience to a person whom God has ratified.
Loving There are social implications. “Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him”. This is a most powerful logical statement. This says firstly that to believe in Him is to love Him. This also says salvation is initiated by God in every believer, that we are part of a very large family, and what we are they are, what we have they have, they are individually our kinsfolk and we are to love them as we love the Lord. Love to Him must issue in love to them if there is any reality about our faith. They are born of God, they are the children of God as we are and we must love them.
Keeping There are moral implications “This is the love of God that we keep His commandments”. Although the law has been fully met in Christ, we are responsible to keep “the righteousness of the law” as our standard of living. Jesus fulfilled every commandment of His Father in His mission to save us and we are expected to search out and keep the commandments of God. The word “commandment “ (entole) is described as “an authoritative prescription”, something for our good but with Divine authority behind it. We are to keep them (as with a military guard) His commandments, they are to be our charge, our watchword. “His commandments are not grievous”. (not burdensome, not hard to keep). This is because we have the Divine power within. It is not difficult to do things for one who loves us, and who abides in us.
Overcoming There are also polemical issues, faith in Christ, faith in the Son of God brings us into conflict with the world who have their philosophies, creeds, opinions contrary to the truth of God. Note the linking preposition “For” taking us back to verse 3. His commandments are not grievous because we have within a new nature and “whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world”. This is the Divine power within, he distinguishes now the new nature, the new power. from the person. The world is indeed a vast system in opposition to God and we do not have it in ourselves to combat it, but the faith, belief in Jesus as the Son of God, is the overcoming power. Faith in Him in all that He is, and all that He is within us. conquers the world.
Verses 6-12 Faith confirmed by the Spirit of truth and God the Father. These verses are all about the confirmation of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ; a) verses 6-8 confirmation by the witness of the Spirit.
Having stated that faith in the Son of God is the world-conquering power, he now identifies Him in terms of historical record. “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only but by water and blood and it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth”. This is He....the one known historically as Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, the object of all saving faith, and the Spirit of God, who is truth, identifies Him and no other.
It is mostly accepted that the reference to water and blood was aimed at the heresy of Cerinthus, whom John opposed in the church at Ephesus. The heresy was that Jesus was just an ordinary human being, who at his baptism became Christ by Divine anointing, but who lost that status and consequent power when he was crucified, God abandoning him to the fate of crucifixion, and so he died as a man and has no claim to be Saviour. The reference to water is the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, and the reference to blood is the crucifixion; taken together the beginning and ending of Jesus’ public work. John’s correction of this heresy was that the Son of God who was baptized by water in Jordan, was the same Son of God who shed His blood at Calvary....”..not by water only but by water and blood”. The witness of the Spirit of truth is that He is Son of God at His baptism (Luke 3 verses 21-22; John 1 verses 33-34), and He is the Son of God at His death, as confirmed by a host of scriptures. Therefore He is indeed the Saviour upon whom we can rely.
Verse 7 is omitted by most manuscripts as being superfluous since there is no need for witness in heaven. However (verse 8) there is need for witness on earth and the witness is threefold, the Spirit the water and the blood. There are three descriptions by John of His coming in the letters; “He came in flesh” (4 verses 2/3; 2nd John v7), that is the INCARNATION; “He came by water (5 v6) that is the INAUGURATION into public service by Divine anointing; “He came by blood”, that is His work of PROPITIATION for human sins, and all three aspects of His coming are the testimony of the Spirit.
b) verses 9-12 confirmation by the word of God the Father. He compares the witness of men with the witness of God, and simply says that the witness of God is greater....”This is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son”. The Spirit testifies and the Father testifies and the record is indisputable. The words used for “testimony” and “witness” and “record” are legal terms and that determined by the Supreme court of heaven; this testimony is inviolable and dependable to all who will accept it. Those who refuse it make God to be a liar. This testimony goes beyond the words and is a Divine power to transmit eternal life to those who believe. Eternal life is more than simply defined in terms of time but also in quality of life which will never end. This life is in His Son, no other! The issues are huge, the choice facing everyone has eternal consequences. Rejection of the Son of God is terminal and eternal, “He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life”. The Son of God in His person and His work is the only way of salvation. Eternal life or eternal death, with all that these mean, that is the testimony of God and He will have the final say
.
Verses 13-21 Faith assures the believer and instils confidence and constancy
a) Verses 13-17 Confidence
At the end of his gospel John wrote “...these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name”. Now at the end of his epistle he writes “These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life”. He adds “and that ye might believe”, and he means possessed of the full assurance of your belief you will really believe, no more room for any shadow of doubt. The gospel was written to produce faith, the epistle to produce assurance of faith. It is an important aspect of continuing belief; as the believer is surrounded by many contrary influences. They have lived to see some depart from their company (Chapter 2 v19); They are aware of many teaching contrary doctrines (chapter 4 v1); they are constantly harassed by Satanic powers(chapter 2 v13-14); and they have experienced personal failure(chapter 2 v1,3 v20-21). All these are forces which can discourage God’s people, can blunt the keen edge of truth within them, and cause lack of confidence, leading to apologetic testimony and half hearted living. The epistle is promoting the certainty of these wonderful Divine things and anything which dilutes that is a great hindrance to the child of God. Assurance brings confidence and this is a theme which John sprinkles throughout the letter(chapter 2 v28; chapter 3 verses 19-20; chapter 5 v14. This word confidence(parrhesia) is public boldness, outspokenness, frankness, bluntness, certainty beyond doubt. The world at large in general resists this kind of attitude, describing it as bigoted, intolerant and even arrogant. The Roman Catholic church in particular denounces this as arrogance and delusion. One of their spokesmen said this doctrine of assurance is “the prime error of the heretics”, they reject it for they like to keep their followers in suspense by tying them to their weekly rituals to be sure of heaven, and adherence to their programmes as the only assurance of future blessing. This is antichrist teaching and the word of the living God and that of the risen Saviour and the testimony of the Spirit is all we need to know with certainty whom we have believed.
This assurance facilitates our prayer life for we make petition to one who loves us who gave Himself for us, who is disposed to hear us favourably, who delights to hear and answer our prayers. Experience develops our prayer life such that we learn more and more to pray “according to the will of God”. The confidence of assurance of His work for us and in us gives us the certainty that our prayers are meaningful to Him. He says “..whatsoever we ask, we have...! What a tremendous privilege and blessing is this that we can petition Almighty God and He hears us and He gives us all that is in accordance with His will.
Very much part of our prayers should be concern for our brethren, a token of our love to them, spending time before Him bringing their names and circumstances before Him. Particularly will we pray for those who have fallen into sin, some have lapsed into sin, others have begun to habitually sin and risk being removed in death by Divine discipline. This fact of the life of faith is often forgotten but scripture makes clear that God will remove His people from this earth rather than allow them to perpetuate serious sin (1st Corinthians 11 verses 30-31; Acts 5 v5; Revelation 2 verses 22-23). We are not to pry into these things we are to pray, we cannot be judges of other people’s sins but there are sins which God will not tolerate among His people “There is a sin unto death”, and he means physical death the ultimate sanction. “All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death”. God has made provision for the sins of His people, but all sin is serious in His sight. Sometimes we forget that God cannot condemn the world for sin and condone it amongst His people. Our role is to pray for our brethren whatever their situation and personal assurance gives us confidence in that.
Verses 18-21 Constancy
We are all vascillating creatures, one day up the next down, three weeks up two weeks down; we are moulded by circumstances and events so how do we maintain that constancy as we journey through this demon infected world on the way to glory. One thing we don’t do is give up, go into “waiting mode”, or hide from reality. The answer is clear in the verses. Three times he says “we know”. He points us in the direction of what we already know, Divine illumination that has been given to us, that is hidden from the world, and is the exclusive possession of those who are “born of God”. The section begins and ends with “keeping ourselves”. There are plenty of scriptures which focus on Divine preservation (such as 1st Peter 1 v5; John 17 verses1-12; John 10 verses 27-29), but here he is thinking of self-preservation, the responsibility we all have to “keep ourselves”, to maintain loyalty to the awesome truth of God we have received. The epistle of Jude gives both aspects in the same context (verse 24 “Unto Him which is able to keep you from falling....”, and verse 21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God”; another example of many where Divine sovereignty, and human responsibility work in harmony. There is no doubt the Lord will keep His side, and we must be exercised to keep ours. The certainty is threefold, moral spiritual and doctrinal.
Verse 18 Moral certainty. We know that we have been detached from the old nature “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not....”. Born of God, new life within, a new nature from God Himself, means that we no longer are dominated by the power of sin. There is a dichotomy within, a new power to offset the old sinful nature, an inner conflict which deters the sin within. We are not sinless but we can now combat it and overcome it. This allows us to keep ourselves and the wicked one cannot touch us, because the life within is from God.
Verse 19 Spiritual certainty We know that we have been delivered from Satan’s domain “We know we are of God and that the whole world lieth in wickedness(the wicked one)”. We are no longer in the realm of Satan who controls the thinking and the practice of everyone else in the world who is not of God! “Lieth” is the Geek word keimai which literally means to lie outstretched, to be fixed in a permanent situation and carries the idea of total control and subjection. Two usages are in Matthew 5 v14 of “a city set on a hill” and Luke 2 v12 “a babe lying in a manger”. The whole world system including the unbelieving people in it are under the total domination of powers of wickedness. This is taught by Paul in Ephesians 3 verse 2 “...the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience”. We have been delivered from that, our lives need no longer be controlled by Satan, we are of God, we have been “translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love”.
Verse 20 Doctrinal certainty We know that we have discernment of the truth by the successful mission of the Son of God He came on a mission, proved Himself to be the Son of God; presented the truth of God in word and deed. He is the truth and eternal life, and now we have full understanding. We know Him that is true, but it is more than intellectual knowledge...”we are in Him that is true”, we are vitally and indivisibly in union with Him and therefore the power rests upon us. “He is the true God....He is eternal life”.
Verse 21 “Little children keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
The elder brother of the church, in age as well as experience leaves his closing impassioned appeal. In light of such revelation, and the certainty of the issues involved, he is saying that everything else including the false doctrines and the ungodly influences and the sins of the flesh are all idolatry, which demean and pervert and contradict the truth of God and we must guard against them with the mentality of an army in the midst of war. We are to have no agreement or practice with them, we are to oppose them as that which displaces God, the God who has given us new life. Idolatry is simply the observance of and devotion to anything or anyone that displaces the true and only God in our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment