In 1936, when delays slowed construction, over $130,000 was invested in a novel safety feature: a vast net -- similar to a circus net -- suspended under the Golden Gate Bridge. The safety net extended ten feet wider than the bridge’s width and fifteen feet further than the roadway’s length. It gave workers an abiding sense of security and so the workers moved more freely -- and quickly -- across the slippery, half-constructed steel. "There’s no doubt the work went faster because of the net," said Lefty Underkoffler, one of the many workers who constructed the bridge. Some workers felt quite safe about the innovation, so much so, that they had to be threatened with dismissal so they wouldn’t dive into the net for thrills.
Security. The workers did their job with more confidence knowing that if worse came to worse, they were going to be OK. We as Christian live out our faith very differently if we know that our faith is secure. If I know that my faith is secure I will stretch my faith more willingly, I will confess my sins more freely and I will be able to start over with more confidence knowing that my faith is secure.
John has been teaching us about a practical faith, He has shown us that we place our faith not in a thing, but in a person, specifically, the person of Jesus Christ; John has shown us that sin matters in our relationship with God and so we need to be vigilant of our sin. John has also given us a couple of ways to analyze our Christian walk - one was the fact that a Christian takes their own sin seriously and the other was that when we love our brothers and sisters in Christ it shows the depth of our faith.
Today John teaches us about the security of our faith. John tells us that those who walk away from the faith were never a part of the faith to begin with - Yet John encourages us, He tells us that our faith is real, so real that we are literally anointed with God Himself.
Before John speaks of the security of our faith, John warns us about loving the world starting in verse 15. The word John uses here for world has two basic meanings: One, the created universe and two, human society - which is temporarily under the control of evil, which is, organized opposition to God. It is this latter meaning that John is using here. He is thinking of the source of opposition to God, not the material universe. So when John tells us not to love the world he is speaking more in terms of Christians living in a society that is not Christian.
Now at first glance we might think that John means we are to turn our back on anything that is produced in the world. We may read this and take it to mean that we are to refuse to see movies, listen to opera, back away from any kind of art or refuse to be involved in any kind of sports. We can make up a long list of things not to be involved in, but that is not what John is talking about here. John is not saying that we are to not participate in the world. So in verse 16, John defines what the world is by giving us a couple of examples so that we will not be confused, cravings, lust of the eyes and boasting.
First off we need to remember John has been telling us that the right behavior must follow right belief. The desires John has in mind are ethically wrong. Note that he says these things are not from the Father, meaning that they are not of God. Desire for pleasure is not wrong in itself, that is not what John is talking about here. John wants us to note that not only doing unethical things is wrong, but wanting to do them is wrong also. Also, John speaks of the eyes as lustful for in the ancient world it was generally accepted that the beginning of unethical behavior, for we see with the eyes what we want and then the unethical behavior follows.
John’s first two examples seem pretty obvious, but the third, “boasting of what he has and does”, what does that mean? John is trying to say that - pride in one’s lifestyle is wrong. In other words if I glow in my accomplishments and boast about what I have done, I am elevating myself over what God has done in my life. This kind of boasting is ultimately empty and it shows the condition of my heart. It is a form of false estimate of the value of worldly possessions and attitudes, it a claim of self sufficiency, without God. When we boast in what we have done, it is really an empty thing for John says these things we value so much, really have little value and will all pass away.
Down deeper, boasting is a false sense of security. Many times people boast about things that make them secure. But, since things of the world will all pass away, even the desire will pass away, we as Christians should spend our time on discovering and doing the will of God and not waste our time on things that do not last. Our security is in Christ, and nothing else.
For John, worldliness means disobedience to God’s rule of life. We can align ourselves so close to worldly things to the exclusion of Godly things. Israel had to repeatedly choose between allegiance to God and the pagan nations around them - that was their version of choosing between God and the world. Now, Christians within the scattered nations of the earth have to choose God over whatever demands of culture places upon them, they must ascertain if they conflict with God’s commands. John wants us to know that worldliness is disobedience to God’s rule of life. John is well aware that many things in any culture are against the Word of God and therefore stand against Christ.
In verse 18, John tells us that this is the final hour. John is not speaking in terms of minutes, hours, or day, John is speaking in terms of ages. Israel’s hopes for generations was generally described in terms of “the days to come” - well folks, right now, these are those days that were described as the days to come. John uses the term hour in the sense that, we are now closer to the end of all thing. John is not literally speaking of an exact time of the hour like it is eight o’clock. John is speaking in terms of epochs. For example when historians speak of the final days of the fall of the Soviet Union they don’t mean literally the last week of the Soviet Union, they mean the period of time, however long that may be, it was for the Soviet Union to dissolve.
So the final days are from the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the Parousia of Jesus Christ, that is, the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is what John means when he talks about the final hour. John, along with the rest of humanity, does not know when Jesus Christ will return, but understand that the “last hour” is that period of time from when Jesus was resurrected to when Jesus returns, however long that time may be. So the final hour has begun, but it has not ended.
John continues in verse 18 and reminds us that the antichrist is coming and that antichrists have already come. There are two meanings to antichrist: First, there is the Antichrist, a figure who will arise one day and claim to be the Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” This is the antichrist figure you may be familiar with. But, there are also antichrists. The difference is that the Antichrist claims to be Christ, claims to be God while the antichrists are not believers and proclaim false teachings in the church. Antichrist can mean “in opposition to” or “instead of Christ”. Here, John is speaking of those who are in opposition to Christ. The term antichrist is only used in John’s letters and is not used anywhere else in Scripture.
An example of an antichrist of the day would be Cerinthus, who taught around 100 A.D., that the Christ spirit came upon Jesus, and departed from Jesus before he died. In other words Cerinthus claimed that Jesus was not really God, but merely a man - this could be the the type of teaching that these false teachers are adhering to.
What has happened in this church, is that a group of church members have renounced the faith, left the church and were then trying to convince others in the fellowship to follow their lead. So John says of them, 19 “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.” Not only have they left but they are speaking out against the church.
These people were once members of the church but now have left the church. Though they were members of the physical church they were never members of the invisible church. They left on their own free will. Theses who left were only apparent members - they never really were believers. If they had even made a confession of faith, then it was an empty one. A genuine confession can be expected to persevere in the faith.
In Luke 6:37 Jesus tells us “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” The judgement that Jesus is speaking of here is specifically about salvation. The word for judge here in Luke, is about salvation, not about ethics - so all of you who try to shame others, saying, “Don’t judge others actions” are way out of line. See, only God can know who is really saved, it is God’s privilege alone to judge salvation. These people were in the church and they looked and acted like everyone else - no one could “judge” their heart about their salvation. I don’t know what is really in your heart, you don’t know what is really in my heart - we cannot be the judge of that - only God will ultimately judge salvation. We can however, and should, judge behavior and then take action that is wise and deliberative from such judgement.
Here, the behavior of those who have left he church shows that the were not true believers to begin with. Now in the end, God will alone judge their hearts, but in the here and now, we are to use discernment about who we see as believers or unbelievers, this is not the same as judging salvation.
John has in mind people who deny who Jesus is. If you deny who Jesus is, how can you be a believer? That would be an oxymoron, a believer who doesn’t believe. You cannot have it both ways, either you believe or you don’t, and more than that, when you believe once, you always believe. Your salvation does not go away. 22 “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.”
John shows us here that those who walk away from the faith, never had faith. In other words once saved, always saved.
There are two major schools of thought on this in Christianity, Calvinism and Arminianism. We here at First Presbyterian are Calvinists. We believe that it is by faith alone that will bring you to salvation in Christ. We believe that before time began God had chosen you for his own and that salvation is a gift that cannot be earned; There is nothing we can do to earn our faith, and therefore there is nothing we can do to lose our faith.
On the other hand Arminianism rejects the election of believers before time and also claims salvation can be lost. In other words, there is something that you can do to lose your salvation, your salvation is never secure. Someone told me the other day that they brought this topic up of Calvinism and Arminianism and the other person laughed saying that Armenia was a country not a theology. Ah the little bit of humor we can find in the most unlikely of places. Jacobus Arminius was the father of this thought in 1618 and so the school of thought is named after him.
Someone who believes in Arminianism would say that Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) - man’s response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, "choose" to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, a human will plays a decisive role; thus humanity, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation. Because it is a human decision, salvation can be lost.
A Calvinist would say that Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation. Because it is a decision from God, salvation cannot be lost.
Why can it not be lost? John tells us, we have been anointed (verse 22). The Holy Spirit has come upon us at the time of our salvation, and the Holy Spirit is our anointing. In the OT people were literally anointed with oil to preform a specific task especially for priesthood or kingship.
1 Samuel 16:13 “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power….”
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,”
As Christians we are anointed with the Holy Spirit. We are consecrated, not by oil, but by something far greater, by the Holy Spirit. Take a look there in verse 21, you see there that John is very encouraging. He tells us that he writes, because we have the truth, he writes because we believe. You believe once, you believe forever.
I used to have this discussion with my father about the security of our salvation. My father saw that we could lose our faith and I, as you may have guessed, saw that we will never loose our faith. For about eleven years we went round and round on this topic, until I finally said, “Dad, exactly what is it that I have to do to lose my salvation?” He had no answer.
Paul says it well, Romans 35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Folks we are anointed with the Holy Spirit. In verse 27, when John says that we do not need someone to teach us, what he means is that, deep in your heart, you know, that you know, that you know, you are saved. You know that you are a Christian, don’t worry about losing your salvation. Boldly go ahead with your Christian walk, your security is assured.
