HoHum:
Next time you’re in an airport notice the difference between passengers who have confirmed tickets and those on standby. Those who have confirmed tickets are relaxed and confident. Those on standby hang around the ticket counter, they pace and pace and pace…all because of uncertainty. God offers us freedom from the burden of uncertainty, so we can know for sure where we stand with God.
WBTU:
Survey of each NT book we come to 1 John. 1 John is a letter written by the last living apostle John in the late 1st century. John does not identify himself in this letter much like he does not identify himself in the Gospel of John. Tradition and the writing style tells us this is John the beloved apostle. This is a person of authority. Look what he says: “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” 1 John 4:6, NIV. Since in his later years John lived in Ephesus, this letter was probably addressed to the church there. A group having Gnostic beliefs had split off from the church and began trying to persuade others of their views and have other Christians join them. In response to this John wrote this letter. Has important theme for all of us
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13, NIV. John uses a word that the Gnostics often used, “know” (gnosis). The Gnostics were enticing Christians to leave the old teachings of the apostles and to have new experiences that gave special knowledge of divine mysteries.
How do I know that I am a true Christian? Many would give various answers. Here John encourages us to do what the apostle Paul talked about: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5, NIV.
John gives us 3 tests to see if we are in the faith. Now we will never have these perfected in our lives but these are benchmarks to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
We are saved by grace and can never earn our salvation. But is what we experienced at our salvation (belief, confession, repentance, baptism) real? If our conversion was real then we will pass these 3 tests. Many of us will excel at one of these but be lacking on the others. The challenge is to pass all three tests at the same time. They are woven together into a single strand. Each stands on the other; each depends on the other; each weaves into the others.
In fact, John does not have a tight, logical outline as found in many NT books. John seems to have written one paragraph and then he would be reminded of a related idea which became the topic of the next paragraph. To illustrate these 3 tests we will attempt to focus on one test at a time so we will have to skip around 1 John.
Thesis: 3 tests: 1) Doctrinal 2) Moral 3) Social
For instances (2 passages from 1 John for each one)
Doctrinal
1 John 2:21-26
It is within this context that John asks a rhetorical question: “Who is the liar?” (v. 22). Perhaps it is significant to note that only here does John use liar with the article to indicate the title or designation of a known person. Shifting from the lie in verse 21 to the liar, John minces no words in stating that the liar is the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This liar is none other than the antichrist, which should be taken not as the one and final antichrist but as one who comes in the spirit of the antichrist (this refers to vs. 18).
Many people believe in God and maybe even see God as a father figure. However, the crux of the matter is what do they believe about Jesus Christ. No one who denies the Son has the Father.
The confession or denial of the Son thus determines if they “have” the Father (v. 23); without a correct understanding of the Son they cannot have the Father. John’s readers are not to follow the false teachers and deny that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, but instead they are to persevere in the apostolic truth they were established in, the truth that confesses both the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. As they do so they will assure their hearts of the promise Christ made to them: “eternal life” (2:25)
1 John 3:24- 4:3
While this is a general call to discernment, it makes sense to interpret this considering chapter 2:21-26. In this passage John circles again around the “truth test,” not merely repeating himself but adding more. He wants his readers to have a true knowledge of Jesus and has no reservations in covering familiar ground, especially since this involves eternity.
If indeed the doctrinal challenge was Gnosticism then we can more clearly understand John’s concern in providing this test. How do we know that the Holy Spirit lives in us? Acts 2:38. Before that we give the Good Confession, and what is that? This confession includes the idea that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come “in the flesh.” Peter gave this confession to a flesh and blood Jesus. While in chapter 2 the issue is possession of the Father, here the stress is the possession of the Holy Spirit. The false teachers denied that Christ had come in the flesh, perhaps even arguing that it was the Spirit of Christ that came upon the man Jesus and then left at his crucifixion. If this is so, then one can understand why John brings in the Spirit at this point to testify to the believers of the reality of the Word coming in the flesh. The Spirit is not a stand-alone witness conferring assurance of salvation apart from knowledge of Christ, but it is precisely the Spirit (given to believers by Christ according to 3:24b) who gives testimony of Christ having come in the flesh.
John’s readers are not to be surprised by those who oppose this doctrine, since many false prophets have gone out into the world (4:1) and it is only a symptom the spirit of the antichrist already operating in the world (4:3).
Moral
1 John 2:3-6
In verse 3 John uses “know” in the perfect tense to signify a past knowledge that has an ongoing effect. Against the false teachers who claimed an elevated knowledge that supposedly freed them from the effects of sin, John states that if they know God they will keep “His commandments” (v. 3b). The most probable antecedent of “His” is Jesus Christ, since both the verses prior and after clearly refer to Jesus. John then makes the same point negatively: the one who claims to know Christ and yet does not keep His commandments is a “liar” and “the truth is not in him” (v. 4)
God’s love for Christians results in them keeping Christ’s word, or to state it John’s way, the one who keeps Christ’s Word demonstrates that God’s love for him has been perfected. John’s point, therefore, is that his readers can gain assurance of God’s saving love for them by their keeping Christ’s Word. This is clearly stated in verse 6 as John says that a true disciple must walk as Jesus walked. It is those—and those only—who obey Christ’s commandments and live the way he lived that may gain true assurance.
Of course this is not to say that keeping the commandments in utter perfection is the means by which we come to know God. John, after all, pens the letter so that his readers might not sin; moreover, he reminds them that Jesus is their advocate before the Father when they do sin and that God is faithful and just to forgive sin and cleanse from all unrighteousness (2:1; 1:9). John makes clear that assurance is tied to a Christians life-pattern of obedience; it’s not the perfection of holiness, but the characteristic bent of life that aims toward both confession and striving after greater holiness that produces greater and greater assurance.
1 John 3:4-10
John states that everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness (3:4a). He can say this so matter-of-factly because “sin is lawlessness” (v. 4b). This simply means sin is living as if there were no law or lawgiver; in effect sin is “an active rebellion against God’s known will.” In the passage leading up to this one (2:28-3:3), John reminds his readers of Christ’s appearing and how that reality should motivate holiness in their lives. In this passage John shifts gears and looks backward to the reality that Christ already appeared before in his incarnation and did so, while sinless himself, in order “take away” individual sins (v. 5). Unlike the Gnostics who claimed to “know” a truth that eliminated the sin-problem from their lives, John reminds his readers that it is they who truly “know” Christ, the one who came to deal with sin. It follows, then, that those who abide in Christ do not sin; those who sin make evident that they have not seen him or know him (v. 6; cf. 2:4).44
With tender affection, John again warns his readers of those who are seeking to deceive them (v. 7a). The same deceivers who questioned the person of the Son in 2:26, are now reintroduced as those who redefine sin. It is most likely that the secessionists were claiming to be righteous all the while finding no need to practice righteousness and holiness. John holds nothing back and in stark contrast lays out two different groups: the children of God and the children of the devil” (v. 10a). They are to remember that the one doing righteousness is righteous like Christ; and, in severe terms, the one doing sin is of the devil who sinned from the beginning (vv. 7b-8).
Now John is not saying that one can live a sin free life. He says this: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8, NIV. If this is the case how do we explain these verses in chapter 3. The most likely solution lies in the grammar: John’s use of the present tense verb signifies that he “is describing a way of life, a character, a prevailing lifestyle.” Must caution against basing an entire interpretation on a verb tense, but this argument from the grammar makes the most sense in the flow of John’s letter.
Those who are the true “children of God” do not do sin and indeed are not able (v. 9). In contrast to the false teachers, John’s readers are to confirm in their hearts that they truly have been “born of God” and his “seed” abides in them. This is evidenced not by perfection, but by the fact that they do righteousness and not sin. It is the direction of their lives toward righteousness that reveals who are the children of God (v. 10). In short, assurance of salvation is linked to the practice of righteousness.
3. Social
1 John 2:7-11
While John does not reveal what this commandment is, it is clear from the immediate context that the commandment is to love others (vv. 9-11). John first states it negatively: the one who is saying he walks in the light yet hates his brother is in the darkness (v. 9). This is most likely an allusion to the false teachers claim to be in the light yet all the while promoting hatred toward others in the fellowship. John forcefully denounces that belief and argues that such a person is not only in the darkness and walks in the darkness but also has no idea where they are going because he is blinded by the darkness (v. 11).
In contradiction to the Gnostic’s claim to be in the light while indifferent to loving others, it is the Christian who loves the brother that truly “abides” in the light and thus there is no cause for stumbling in him (v. 10). In other words, he who loves fellow believers gives evidence that he abides in the light. From this it becomes clear that for Christians to abide in the light they must fellowship with other Christians. Taken all together, John’s readers may gain assurance as they examine their lives and see the fruit of love spring in tangible ways toward other Christians.
1 John 4:7-12
We are exhorted to love one another since love comes from God, and therefore everyone who loves manifests that they are born of God and know him (v. 7). Stated negatively, the one who does not love does not know God for God is love (v. 8). The clearest expression of this love is seen in God as he sent his Son to be the “propitiation for our sins” (vv. 9-10). Experiencing such a love from God compels us to love each other (v. 11). Although God cannot be physically seen in the world, when Christians love each other God’s love is at that moment is made complete in us (v. 12). So in a brief set of verses, John calls on those who remain to exhibit love for one another. As they do so they confirm in their hearts that they both love and know God.
Conclusion:
In summation, true Christians believe in Christ, keep his commands and love all who belong to him. In a church rocked with schism and erroneous teachings on many fronts, John skillfully uses the three “tests” to reassure his readers. They were no doubt tempted to question the validity of their salvation and were perhaps uncertain how to process the departure of the false believers. Therefore the “tests” served not only to reassure those in the truth but also to discern those who are not.
