1 JOHN | FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD AND MEN
FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN: UNDERSTANDING & AVOIDING APOSTASY
1 JOHN 2:18-27
[INTRODUCTION]
- In American history, there is a man who became famous for all the wrong reasons. You have probably heard his name, even if you don’t know the details of his life. Benedict Arnold is a name that brings to mind betrayal and treason; yet he actually was a gifted man and a great soldier.
- He was a general during the American Revolutionary War who fought under George Washington. Benedict Arnold was passed over for promotion, falsely accused by his rivals, deferred by those who could help, including George Washington, and deprived of recognition for his accomplishments. He wouldn’t admit that he had caused any of his problems. He always blamed someone else. So he finally decided to get revenge by switching sides to help the British. In fact, while he was the commander of West Point, he plotted to surrender it to the British. Before that happened, a British spy was captured carrying papers that exposed his plan; and Arnold barely escaped.
- The British rewarded him, but never completely trusted him. He earned a name for himself, but it is a reputation as a traitor. The man who started out as a brave soldier in the American Colonial Militia ended up dying as a British general in London. He had completely abandoned his allegiance to the land that would become the United States of America.
- A similar thing happens all the time in the experiences of those who have declared their commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord, and have done so for any significant amount of time. And when it happens, it is always a mind stretching and heart wrenching situation to address: it is when someone who was thought to be a believer in Jesus abandons the faith. Sometimes it is a close family member or friend, which makes the situation very difficult. Sometimes it is simply an acquaintance and the situation is observed from a distance. But each and every time a supposed believer disowns their faith our own faithfulness is tested and our theology determines how we respond to and understand such occurrences.
- The term for this abandonment, if it is complete and final, is apostasy. An apostate is someone who rejects a belief or commitment they previously held to; and so in the context of the Christian church, it is someone who, though they once outwardly accepted biblical Christianity, finally rejects the tenets of the faith. Apostasy is a problem in today's church. It was a problem in yesterday's church, and it will be a problem in tomorrow's church. I say that, not to be pessimistic, but to paint an accurate picture of reality according to what the Scripture says has and will happen.
- As we move on in our look at 1 John, the Apostle continues to defend the true, biblical Jesus. In our passage today, he does this by addressing those who were once a part of the church but now overtly deny the true Christ. And what makes the issue so complicated and intriguing is that the people he warns his readers about did not come from way out in left field to attack the church, but from within the ranks. Let's pick up our study at v.18:
[READ 1 JOHN 2:18-27]
- Now we're going to take what was going on in the first century here, get an understanding of it, and then see how it still applies to today's church and world. The first thing to notice comes from v.18, and it is that:
[APOSTASY WAS, IS AND WILL BE A PRIMARY CHARACTERISTIC OF THE LAST DAYS]
- John yet again addresses his audience as children, those for whom he has great spiritual concern, and tells them that it is the last hour. Now this is the only occurrence of this phrase in the New Testament, but there are several similar phrases with the same meaning. The New Testament authors use phrases such as the last days, the last times, and here, the last hour, to describe the time period that began with Christ's first advent and will end with his second advent. So the last days or the last hour describes the age between the first and second coming of Jesus; and it is intended to have an imminent tone. We could say it this way: historical time is running out.
- How then, were his readers supposed to know that it was the last hour, that time was running out? By the rise of many antichrists in anticipation of the chief Antichrist who is to rise in the years immediately preceding Christ's return. He says, just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. His readers were to understand that the end of the age was drawing near, and as a sign of that, many people had begun to become antichrists. That word of course is a simple compound word that implies opposition to Jesus Christ.
- But notice that these opponents of Christ were not “born and bred” antichrists. They didn't go to antichrist summer camp and learn how to attack Jesus. Where did they come from? They came from within the church! John writes: 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us.
- There were people in the first century congregation to which the Apostle is writing, likely Ephesus and the surrounding region, who became a part of the visible local church, but after a time defected from the church and began opposing salvation in Jesus Christ alone. And again, John says because this had begun to happen, they knew it was the last hour.
- Today, we continue to live in that last hour. The time of Christ's return continues to draw nearer and nearer, and just like the first century, our time is characterized by the influence of many antichrists. And those who sting us the most, are those who come from within the body of Christ.
- So we start our understanding of this text with a bit of a gut check – we need to know that because we live in the last hour, antichrists will continue to fight against the faith, and apostate antichrists, those who start out in the church, will be more common than we would like.
- Now what happened to these antichrists in the first century? Why did these people in the early church depart from the community of believers and begin opposing the gospel? What happens today, when people who attend church and say they believe in Jesus, turn their back on him and renounce the faith? Why do they do what they do? Well, aside from all of the life details that lead a person to that point, the underlying truth is that:
[APOSTASY REVEALS A LACK OF GENUINE SAVING FAITH]
- A specific part of v.19 illuminates this for us: they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. This speaks to what is generally known as the perseverance of the saints. In other words, anyone who has truly been born again by the Spirit of God and has saving faith in Jesus Christ will remain in the faith. If a person does not, they reveal they never had true faith in the first place. A saved person cannot lose his or her salvation and they will never want to permanently renounce it.
- Jesus, as is always the case, illustrates this truth perfectly as he speaks to the crowd in the parable of the soils in Matthew 13. He begins in v.3: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
- He then explains the parable to his disciples: “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
- The different types of soils in the parable indicate the different heart conditions of those who hear and respond to the gospel. Some simply don't understand it. It's saving truth never penetrates and breaks through because the Holy Spirit has not softened their heart and it remains like a stone because of sin.
- Then there are those who receive the word of the gospel with joy. All outside indicators would lead us to believe that this person is a believer. They may have even convinced themselves that they are a follower of Christ. They endure for a little while. They look like the real deal for a little while. But they have no root. They were not really changed. And so they eventually fall away. The same is true with those who desert the faith because of worldly pursuits. There is only one type of person who receives true salvation because of authentic faith: the one who hears the word, understands it, and continues to bear fruit.
- We need to understand this for a few reasons. One, so that we accurately understand what is going on in such cases. God's grace did not fail. He did not give up on the person. They did not lose the gift of salvation, they never had it. And two, so that we know how to examine ourselves when things like this happen. We do not need to be afraid that God will lose his grip on us when we watch people abandon the faith; because he did not lose his grip on them. That's not what happened. You cannot lose what you never had.
- So, thus far we have noted that apostasy will be common during the last hour, in which we live, and that such apostasy reveals that the apostate was never a true believer. Now let's do a little more defining. What exactly made these first century defectors apostates? Scripture tells us that:
[APOSTASY ALWAYS INCLUDES A DENIAL OF THE BIBLICAL JESUS]
- Notice v.22 into v.23: Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father.
- Christians who fall into sin are not apostates – or we would all be apostates because we all still sin. Believers who have periods of struggle in their lives are not apostates – most of us will experience times of struggle in our walk of faith in Jesus. An apostate is someone who outright denies that faith in Jesus only leads to salvation even though they once professed to be a Christian. In fact, sometimes people will still claim to be Christian, yet deny the biblical gospel. They are frauds. They are apostates.
- And the same thing that made these people apostates in John's day, makes people today apostates: for various reasons, they deny Jesus as he is presented in Scripture – the only Son of God who is equal with and the only way to the Father. So we know that such people will be common, that they will come from within the visible church; and we know that they were never genuine Christians because they eventually deny the biblical Christ. Now, how do we protect ourselves from this error, and how do we deal with those who have fallen into this error?
- Here is our last principle:
[FAITHFULNESS TO THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL PROTECTS US FROM APOSTASY, GUARANTEES US ETERNAL LIFE, AND INFORMS HOW WE DEAL WITH APOSTATES]
- First it must be said that it is God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit that holds on to all true believers and preserves their faith to the end. And the way we know that Holy Spirit is doing that in our lives is that we remain faithful to the truth. From our human perspective, that is our call – to abide or remain in Jesus. We are called to stay the course, to endure, to persevere. And when we do, that reveals that it is not we who are enduring and persevering, but it is the Holy Spirit at work in us. And our end is not abandonment, but eternal life.
- John concludes in this way: Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. Then he goes on into the next verses to again instruct them to abide in Christ through the anointing that they have received – which is the Holy Spirit.
- Just as those believers had been, you have been anointed with the Spirit of God. You know the truth because the Holy Spirit teaches it to you and confirms it to you through Scripture. You know the truth as the Spirit illuminates God's word when you read it privately, when you study it with a small group, or when you hear it proclaimed from the pulpit.
- It is really very simple. If we ourselves want to avoid apostasy, we stay faithful to the real Jesus and his gospel as presented in the Bible. And can I tell you something? If we have been truly redeemed, we will do that. God has promised us that we will do that. Because his Spirit has sealed us as his own – and there is no way we will ever fall away. So to take things even further, we avoid apostasy simply by being the real deal; because no true believer ever falls into the trap of apostasy. That's the simple part.
- But now how do we deal with those that we know who at one time claimed to be Christian, but then proved their false faith by abandoning the biblical Jesus? Well, if our own faithfulness to the biblical gospel protects us from apostasy and guarantees us eternal life, then we plead for that same faithfulness in the apostate person. If you know someone who has rejected Jesus, call a spade, a spade, and lovingly share with them that God's word warns that they are on the path to hell. There is no promise of eternal life for those who reject Christ. No good comes from covering up the truth.
- And in conjunction with this, plead with God that he would open their hearts through the Holy Spirit. The reason they are where they are is because they never really had true faith, so pray that God grants them true faith. They probably already know the gospel facts. What is needed is for those gospel truths to take root in their heart.
- So as we pray, let's take this time to intercede for those we know who have abandoned the faith. We know that God in his wisdom has chosen not to save everyone, but we also know that he is a God who delights in showing mercy. Let us plead with him to show mercy to our loved ones, friends, and coworkers who have fallen into apostasy. And not only those who are apostates, but those who have never professed to come to Christ in the first place.
