A couple of summers ago, God led me to study through the book of 1 John. The study was very fruitful; God really met me in my place of need, as He always does when we seek Him through His Word. This morning I want to look at 1 John and the message that John is trying to convey to his readers. I am going to focus in on the particular passage in ch. 5, but it will serve as a springboard to look at the rest of the book.
To begin with, I want to briefly talk about John’s purpose for writing the letter. There were a group of heretical teachers that were influencing the church during this time. They were intent on confusing the church with their misunderstanding of the person and work of Christ. Their views of Christ were nothing short of a lie. It is this lie that John wants to address. He acknowledges that they know the truth (2:21) and encourages them to abide in the Spirit who teaches them truth (2:26-27). He fills his letter with reminders of the great truths of the faith. Over and over again, we see John setting up the dichotomy between the truth they knew and the lies they were being taught. In 5:18-21 he recaps the message of the letter and drives home these important truths.
He presents the reader with three basic truths the believer knows:
At first, this seems to strike at anyone who has lived the Christian life. Is John suggesting that believers will never sin after conversion? No. Look at his argument within the book: Ch. 1:8-10 – We lie if we claim we have not sinned Ch. 2:1-3 – Christ is the advocate on behalf of our sins Ch. 3:4-6,9 – John is addressing the “practice” of sin
To claim that we have not sinned is a lie. We know that Christ has paid for our sins once and for all but this does not mean we will cease to sin. It does mean that the practice of sin before conversion will not remain unchanged. The present tense of the Greek verb lends itself to this interpretation. Thus, sin no longer has dominion in our life. As we see in the verse, Christ keeps us. He has destroyed the power of sin in our lives. This is a great hope for every believer. We no longer are mastered by our sin. We no longer have to believe the lies of the evil one. The battle that we have with sin daily will end in victory. Thus, we should be encouraged and press on in the hope of that victory.
The phrase “of God” leads us back to ch. 3. Verse 1 in chapter 3 tells believers that they are children of God. What great love the Father has lavished on us! We belong to God; we are His own. Can we ever really comprehend the weight of that truth? God has made us sons and daughters. We are adopted heirs of the only true Kingdom. John calls for his readers to take hold of that great truth and he calls for us to do the same.
Yet, John adds the truth that the whole world “lies in the power of the evil one.” Our pastor has dealt with this passage in his teaching on salvation and has explained the great work of God to free us from the power of the evil one. This is another great truth for the believer. But it also serves as a reminder of the state of the lost. Any way you cut it, the world is in need of a Savior. Even as we have already seen, sin is their master, it controls them. And as John points out in ch. 2:16-17 the lies in which they believe are passing away. In reality, it is an unbelievably hopeless situation. Yet, there is hope in the person of Christ.
This truth was really made clear to me the other day when I was substituting. I had been subbing for this class a couple of days and they were beginning to get frustrated with the work the teacher had left for them to do. So, one morning they decided that they just would not do the work. Of course, I am there to prevent this very thing from happening. But the more I persisted, the less their interest grew. At this point, I just got extremely frustrated. OK, I was angry. I was barking out commands and threats and they just mocked me. Finally, after things had calmed down a little, I was sitting in the middle of the room listening to a group of guys talking in the back. I couldn’t make out their whole conversation, but I picked up phrases like, “Yeah, I would just have to kill that guy”, or “there’s no way I would put up with that.” My frustration with them made me just want to storm back there and say, “Wake up!! You are not living in reality. You are not the coolest guys in the world and you are not your own kings!” But in that moment, this Scripture became crystal clear. These guys are held by the power of the evil one. They believe in lies because they have absolutely no idea what truth is. They don’t know that coolness, popularity, sex, money, and sports are all passing away. They are held by lies. I was really broken sitting in that classroom listening to those guys. I was broken over the fact that they did not know truth and by the great mercy of God, I do.
These truths that John is presenting (and that the whole Bible presents) have been made real to me. Not only are the truths great in themselves, but the simple fact that God has made us aware of these truths is unbelievable. How can we spend days ungrateful of this? How can we be too lazy to study, to pray, to share? Oh, the depth of the Mercy of God that He would teach us truth! This leads us to John’s third point.
John spends much time writing about the reality of Christ. He begins his gospel by a lengthy discussion of the Word becoming flesh. Likewise, in this letter he offers his witness to the truth of Christ being real. His eyes have beheld and his hands have handled the true Christ (1:1-3). Despite what the heretics had to say, John knew the truth of Christ and his church knew it too. Christ’s coming in the flesh is the cornerstone of Christian belief. He is our hope for salvation and forgiveness of sins.
Not only this, but Christ is the truth in flesh. Christ’s describes Himself as the “truth” in John 14:6. Thus, our “understanding” comes from Him. In fact, it comes from Him, it is concerning Him, He pervades every aspect of it. And He teaches us, as John says in 2:27, “his anointing teaches us all things.” Christ has made himself known to us and the Father as well. How else could we know truth? Everything we hold to be true rests in Him.
John goes on to tell us that the reason for this is that “we might know Him who is true.” Is that not a great realization? We, through Christ, are able to know the one true living God. We know God and in Him we know truth!!
John concludes his letter with an exhortation to guard ourselves from idols. In some sense this may seem an odd way to end the letter. Yet, if we think about it, it is the perfect conclusion. Since idols refer to any lie which attempts to take the place of God, John is commanding us to hold fast to the truth. We are to guard ourselves from any false reality. The greatest way to combat the lies of this world is with the truth of Christ. Is that not how Jesus dealt with temptation in the desert? It is like the training of bank tellers to recognize counterfeits by simply teaching them what the real thing looks like. Focusing on the truth of Christ will lead us in our battle against sin.
In conclusion this morning, I want to leave you with two questions:
1. What is the value of truth?
2. What is the peril of believing lies?
Let the answers to these questions spur you on in your pursuit of God. Let them drive you to the Word. Let them encourage you in your battle against sin. Let them give you boldness to speak truth to those who are still held by the evil one. And ultimately, let it put you own your knees in grateful worship of such a merciful God who has made Himself known to us.