1 John (Written)

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life. 1 John 2:25

John has just spoken concerning the knowledge of the Father/Son relationship, showing that in acknowledging the Son, a person “has the Father also.” From there, he counseled his readers to let that thought abide in them. With that in mind, he then tells the benefit of what acknowledging the Son means by saying, “And this is the promise that He has promised us.”

The Greek word translated as promise, is commonly used in the New Testament, and almost always it speaks of God’s promises, “and hence guaranteed by His own eternal Law (Being)” HELPS Word Studies. As this is based on His own eternal Law, it is sure to come to pass. When a promise of God is made, it is an eternal edict. Promises, however, can be conditional, as is this one, which is “eternal life.” The Greek reads, “the life, the eternal.”

This is an emphatic way of describing the nature of the promise, and it stems from Jesus’ words of John 3 (and elsewhere in John) –

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:14-16

As can be seen, the nature of the promise is conditional – “whoever believes.” The promise is given, and if the conditions are met, that which is promised is received. Paul then shows the result of receiving the promise in Ephesians 1 –

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14

Paul, using the same word translated as “promise,” says that believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” In other words, the guaranteed promise is received through belief, and a sealing of that person is made. This sealing is then said by Paul to be “the guarantee of our inheritance.”

As this is an eternal decree of God, and as it is then sealed as a guarantee by God with the third member of the Godhead, it then demonstrates, without any possibility of change, that “the promise, the eternal” (the original Greek) can never be revoked. The eternal life is an eternal guarantee. If it were not so, then –

1) The conditions for the promise (that of belief) were not true.
2) The grant of the promise is not a gift, because a gift is only a gift if given away forever.
3) The guarantee which comes with the promise is not a guarantee at all.
4) God made a mistake in sealing the person in the first place (a thing which is impossible).
5) Man has the ability to override God’s eternal decrees. Thus, this eternal decree of God is dependent on man’s effort, and it is therefore not eternal.

These are but a few of the ramifications if the received promise can be revoked. In the end, it cannot be that salvation (receiving the promise and being granted eternal life) is anything but eternal.

Life application: There are two great hopes for the faithful Christian. The first and preeminent hope is for us to see the beauty of the Lord and to dwell in His perfect goodness for all eternity. No higher aspiration should fill the soul of the believer, and no occurrence for the ages to come, will compare to the moment it comes. Second to that, but which is wrapped up in it, is the promise of eternal life. The promise, as stated here, is emphatic and it will come to pass because God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).

When John says, “And this is the promise that He has promised us,” he may further have been thinking of Jesus’ words as recorded in John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” This is not only an unending existence, but it is also a quality of life existence we can experience now. The reason for this is that, because of the sure promise of God, we have an internal hope which can (if only we will allow it to) pervade our very person.

When we fix our eyes on Jesus and what He has done, we can have every confidence that what He promises will also come about. If we consider this unmovable and sure foundation, then our lives now will also be unmovable and sure – even through trials, difficulties, and sadness.

Let us take a firm stand in our convictions and radiate to the world that we have a hope they should long for. We should be so content in our position in Christ that everyone who knows us will also want to know Him. May He be glorified through our hope of eternal life!

“One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

There is no greater hope than that of seeing Your beauty, O Lord. And we know that when we do, our failings will be removed and forever taken away, leaving a soul acceptable to dwell in Your Light for all eternity. We send You our love and our highest praise this day for being the faithful God who will never fail to keep every promise! Amen.

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.  1 John 2:24

The Greek of this verse begins with the word “you” in the emphatic position, thus saying, “As for you…” This is then a verse of contrast to the previous two verses which began with “Who is the liar?” and “Whoever denies the Son.”

Instead of being counted among those who are of the spirit of antichrist, John is speaking to those who heard the truth of the gospel message and cling to it, live in it, and won’t be moved from it. With that understanding, it more rightly states, “As for you, what you heard from the beginning – in you let it abide.” John is telling them to remember that very message. But hearing and remembering isn’t enough.

Even those antichrists had heard the truth of the gospel and they also remembered. The difference is that they didn’t let it abide in them. It is one thing to have head knowledge, and it is a completely different thing to move that knowledge to a belief deep in your soul. This is why John next says, “If what you heard from the beginning abides in you.”

There are countless people who have heard the truth, and they have had it explained to them. And yet, they reject the Son in varying degrees, but the key point of their rejection is a denial of the Father/Son relationship. In denying this, they deny Christ’s deity. John says that if that principle point of doctrine abides in you, “you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”

As is commonly seen in the New Testament, the tenets of dwelling with, believing in, and acknowledging the Son are directly linked to doing the same with the Father (and the Holy Spirit also). It is interesting to note the order of verses 2:22, 23, and 24 –

He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either.
…you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

In denying the Father/Son relationship the person is an antichrist – meaning opposed to what God is doing in the redemptive plans of mankind. Therefore, if one denies the Son – meaning His deity – he does not have the Father. However, in accepting the truth of God in Christ Jesus, one abides in the Son. In abiding in the Son, one abides in the Father. It is Christ who makes this possible, and without Christ Jesus, it is impossible. The knowledge of the Father is linked directly to an acknowledgment of the Son.

John Gill wisely points out that these words are not acceptable to justify a loss of salvation. Rather, he says that “what is here said is not either the cause or condition of men being in the Father, and in the Son, or of their continuance in them, but is descriptive of the persons that are in them, and is an open and manifest evidence of their being and continuance in them. Such are in union with Christ, and at times enjoy sensible communion with him, and shall never be finally and totally removed from it.”

Life application: Concerning the members of the Godhead, to fellowship with one is to fellowship with all. To reject one is to reject all. It is no different than saying, “I believe that Clint Eastwood exists, but I don’t believe he existed yesterday and if he is alive tomorrow, I won’t believe he is the same person that is alive today.”

The entire thought process is mentally unsound and can only be attributed to an unstable person. The Bible proclaims the Father is God. The Bible proclaims Jesus is God. The Bible proclaims the Holy Spirit is God. Therefore, to reject any member is to deny the reliability of the Bible and completely blow any chance of proper faith in what God has clearly presented.

Lord God, we trust that Jesus is our Lord and that He is the Savior of mankind. He reveals the Father to us. We may not completely understand the doctrine of the Trinity, but we accept it by faith. We believe it because it is what the Bible presents. As the Bible is Your written word, we accept what is revealed there. Hallelujah! You have given us Your word, and it is our honor to accept it as such. Amen.

Monday, 6 April 2020

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 1 John 2:23

John just noted that whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ is a liar. He then stated that the one who denies the Father and the Son is antichrist. Now, he further clarifies this by saying, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father.” What John is doing is slowly chipping away at all scenarios where people think they have the Father without the Son.

In this category, all religions that supposedly call on God as Father without going through the Son – because they deny Him – actually do not have the Father at all. This would include all Jews who deny the Son.

No Jew who says he believes in God, but does not believe in Jesus, has the Father. This also includes Muslims or any other religious expression that claims they have a connection with the monotheistic God, but who deny the Son. Deists would fall into this category, as would any other sect which denies the Son – meaning His relation to the Father, and which includes the thought of Jesus’ deity. As Jesus said –

“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” John 5:23

The Father can only be worshiped, loved, and fellowshipped with through the Son. Without the Son, these cannot come to pass. With this understanding, and to reveal the all-inclusive nature of fellowship with the Father through the Son, John then says, “he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

All people who do not have the Son, also do not have the Father. But for any person who acknowledges the Son, they also have the Father. There is no division between the two, and in possessing one, the other is possessed, fully and completely within the possible parameters of such a relationship. In other words, this is speaking of the relationship. It does not mean that a person possesses all of the Father. If that were the case, the person would have to be God, because God is infinite. “Having,” as stated here, is to “have full access to.”

It is the Son who reveals the Father to man. In having the Son, there is – and there will be – an eternal unfolding (revealing) of the Father through the Son. The glory of God is fully accessible to the one who has the Son, and it shall be realized ceaselessly and endlessly because of this Father/Son relationship. Thank God for Jesus Christ who reveals the unseen Father to His elect.

Life application: John has made it absolutely clear – either one accepts Jesus Christ or he does not have any access to God the Father. In a denial of the Son, you forfeit your right to become a child of God and, as Paul says elsewhere, God’s wrath remains on you.

These verses may seem redundant or cumbersome, but that is the farthest thing from the truth. John is spending this time and detail because people were already attempting to diminish the work of Jesus. Since then, these attempts have become more pronounced and exacting in nature. For every subtle heresy which is refuted, a new attempt arises to claim the Bible is true, and yet its truths are manipulated to refute the very truths it proclaims.

One must proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, meaning both God and Man, or he has no part with the Father. There is no middle ground and no room for compromise. Where do you stand on this most important of all issues?

Heavenly Father, we pray for all those whose eyes are blinded to the truth of who Jesus Christ is. May Your glorious Holy Spirit move in a great way upon the earth, calling many from darkness to the splendid Light of Your Son – our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for the full and perfect fellowship we can have with You because of what You have done through Him! Amen.

Sunday, 5 April 2020

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:22

In the previous verse, John stated, “no lie is of the truth.” Now, moving from that abstract thought, he makes a concrete example, forming his words into an interrogative – “Who is a liar…?” The Greek reads, “Who is the liar…?” Such a person is definitively identified by John in his question, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” It is his way of emphasizing the matter. A denial of Jesus being the Messiah, meaning the Christ, is that which defines the antichrist.

John emphatically states this using a definite article in the Greek, literally: “the denying.” It is a present participle. A person who habitually denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is stated by John to be the antichrist, because he is denying the fundamental nature of who Jesus is and what that title signifies.

However, he then further defines this. The reason he does so is because of what being “Christ” involves. Anyone can, and indeed many do, call Jesus the Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons both make the claim, but what they (and many others) mean when they say “Christ” is completely different than what Scripture testifies to.

And so, to dispel any confusion concerning the nature of the Christ, John next says, “He is antichrist…” Again, there is an article in front of “antichrist.” It reads, “He is the antichrist.” That is followed with another article and a present participle, “the denying.” Therefore, the sentence from the Greek more literally reads, “He is the antichrist, the (one) denying the Father and the Son.”

It is the Father/Son relationship which defines “Christ.” Someone can say that Jesus is the Christ and have a completely different view of what “Christ” means. As noted, some are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They claim that Jesus is a created being. To them, the Father/Son relationship is not in actual begetting, but is rather a positional title, such as when Paul calls Timothy his “son” in the faith.

But this is not what Scripture testifies to. Scripture testifies that Jesus is born of God, and thus He is the incarnate Word of God – fully God and yet fully Man. A denial of this is a sign of the antichrist. Of this matter, Albert Barnes rightly states, “No man can have just views of God the Father who has not right apprehensions of the Son. As a matter of fact in the world, people have right apprehensions of God only when they have correct views of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

To know the Father, one must know the Son. Without knowing the Son, who reveals the unseen Father, one cannot know the Father. To claim to know the Father without acknowledging the Son is a lie. John has concretely stated this, following on from the words of Christ Jesus Himself –

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” John 14:7-9

Life application: John has talked of the different stages of believers – children, young men, and fathers. He then proceeded to state that it was the last hour because “many antichrists have come.” After this, he spoke of the anointing of the Holy One because “you know all things.” Everything he has been saying has been built upon the fact that Jesus is the Son of God and that any teaching contrary to this – even if the term “Son of God” is used – is the antichrist.

Gnostic heretics at the time of John claimed that Jesus was only a man who was indwelt by the spirit of Christ until the time of the crucifixion. This or any other attempt to diminish Jesus as the God/Man is in effect attempting to nullify the entire purpose and meaning of the writings of the New Testament. In turn, this diminishes the entire point of the Old Testament writings which lead up to the coming Christ – God incarnate.

One must ask the all-important question – “Is Jesus Christ fully God and at the same time fully Man?” If that question cannot be answered with an emphatic “Yes,” then that person has not called on Jesus as “Lord,” meaning God. He is still under the influence of Satan and remains in the body, not of Christ, but of the antichrist. According to John (and the rest of Scripture), it is that simple.

This same truth follows through with any of the other major points of doctrine – the Virgin Birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, for example. This might seem harsh, but it is given us by the apostle’s own hand under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God’s word is what matters, and it will hold up under the scrutiny of time and under the attacks of the devil. Who is Jesus Christ? It is the most important question you can ever answer and one which holds eternal consequences for all peoples of the world.

Lord God, Your word calls us to state where we stand on the Person of Jesus Christ when we receive the good news of the gospel. He is God incarnate – fully God and fully Man. He was born of a virgin, and His work fulfilled that of the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. We proclaim what the Bible proclaims, and because we have known Jesus, we also have known the Father. We proclaim Jesus as Lord! Amen.

Saturday, 4 April 2020

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 1 John 2:21

The tense of the verb used here indicates that John is referring to this epistle and not the gospel he previously wrote. Not only that, it is more specifically referring to this particular section of the epistle – that dealing with the antichrists and their teachings.  With that in mind, he says, “I have not written to you.” The intent is, “I have not written to you as I have done.” It is an introductory thought for the words, “because you do not know the truth.”

He is fully confident that his audience does know the truth, and his writing was for an entirely different purpose than simply giving them instruction so that they can know the truth. Rather, his instruction will be that they can discern what that truth encompasses, and to further develop their understanding of it.

In other words, someone can know a truth – “This is a ball and it is blue.” However, knowing truth about a matter doesn’t mean a person knows all truth about that matter. “This is a faux pig-skin football that is dyed cerulean blue to match the school color of Kane High School in Farmer’s Branch, Texas.” Indeed, knowing this, there still may be any number of things that he doesn’t know about the ball. “It comes from Wang Chung, China. It was paid for by Seale Enterprises in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is guaranteed to not deflate for at least five minutes after first use. And so on.”

John is writing to those who know the truth about a truth they are aware of and understand. They “know” this truth, meaning they have apprehended it and are (hopefully) living according to it. As he next says, “but because you know it.”

As noted, John didn’t write the things he has written because they were unaware of what he was saying. Rather, they know – on some level – what he has said. Now, and with having inserted these words of introduction into his thought, he then completes the thought with, “and that no lie is of the truth.”

This is an interesting thought. The word pseudos, or lie, is actually not that common in the New Testament. It is only found 10 times, and the only time John has used it before this verse is in John 8:44 –

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Even the verb form, pseudomai, is only found twelve times. The only time John has used it so far is in 1 John 1:6 –

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

As can be seen, John has been speaking of both antichrists – as well as light and darkness – in this chapter, corresponding to the lies of the devil and light and darkness in this verse. The themes – truth/lies, Christ/antichrist, light/darkness, etc., are all united in John’s mind. Therefore, what seems like a sudden, even abrupt, introduction of truth/lies isn’t that abrupt at all.

Simply defined, truth is that which corresponds to reality. Anything which does not correspond to reality, therefore, is untrue. It doesn’t matter how reasonable or plausible something may appear, if it does not actually correspond to reality, it is not truth. One can see the etymological similarity to our modern word “pseudo.” We have pseudo leather, for example. It may appear real, it may smell real, it may feel real, and so on, but if it is not leather, it is pseudo leather.

John is instructing his reader on truth, because there can only be one truth in theology. With this understanding, he will return to the subject of Christ/antichrist so that our level of truth (that which we already know) can be increased. We may already know the truth, but we may not know all of the truth. This is why John is writing. He is developing our thoughts through his understanding of the Incarnate Word of God – Jesus Christ – who is the embodiment of Truth.

Life application: John indicates that what he has written is not because his readers don’t know the truth, but that they know it. He has obviously already told it to them, and he is reminding them of it. Not only this, but there is no “secret” truth which is discernible to only a select few. Rather, God’s truth is available to us through His word, and we have that truth for individual and corporate study. We are not to be misled that we don’t have the truth available to us.

Further, the truth is that “no lie is of the truth.” As we saw, the devil is the father of lies and all lies stem from him. In contrast, God is absolute truth. Being fully God, Jesus claimed to be the embodiment of Truth. This being the case, His words, His gospel, and His Being are absolute truth. No lie comes from Him. Also, no lie is of Him, or about Him, as is recorded in the Bible. We have God’s complete and absolute word for the matters of faith and doctrine in the pages of the Holy Bible.

If you are confused about biblical matters, it is wise to get varying opinions from teachers, pastors, commentaries, and devotionals. But it is also wise to ask God to lead you to the truth of what is being analyzed. This is because there are so many interpretations of what is being said, but only one truth. We are individually responsible for our doctrine and, in the end, we stand or fall on the truth being revealed in the pages of the Bible. If we get it wrong, we may end up in an unhappy spot on the day we face our Lord.

Yes Lord, please give us proper understanding concerning the contents of each and every passage we study. Let us not be misled by poor analyses of Your word, but rather may Your Spirit lead us to teachers who will provide us with a right understanding of the truth as You have relayed it. We ask these things so that our doctrine will be pure in Your eyes. Amen.