Are You a World Conqueror?
I John 5:1-6
As an avid reader of history, I have read many accounts of would-be world conquerors. A small sample would include Darius the Great and the Persian Empire. But their dreams of world conquest ended at the Battle of Salamis. Alexander the Great conquered as far as far away Afghanistan, but he was conquered, not by an army of people but and army of bacteria. Rome’s conquest ended at Parthia and the forests of what is now northern Germany. Napoleon met defeat, not by Russian armies but the Russian winter. Hitler’s dream of a 1000-year Reich ended at Stalingrad. All of these would-be world conquerors fell short of the goal. The white horses have been vanquished. Yet the text here today says we can conquer the world. How can this be if all these mighty men and their armies fell short? Let us see.
The 5ht chapter of 1 John begins with the words. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten from God. In other words, God is the Father of all believers. This makes all those who have been begotten by God brothers and sisters to each other. This leads to the other half of verse one which says: (Therefore,) every one who loves the begetter loves the one who is begotten of Him also. This means that the one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the only-begotten of the Father is one who also loves the Father. One cannot love the Father until one is begotten from Him, and no one is begotten from Him who does not believe that Jesus is the Christ. This verse certainly says that we should love the one begotten of Him, Jesus Christ.
But it also says more than this. John in this epistle is not only concerned that we love the Father and the Son as well as confessing both. The loving of those begotten of God goes beyond Jesus to our fellow believers who are said to be begotten of God by their faith in Jesus Christ. John is as concerned that we love one another as we love the Father and the Son. John does mention the Holy Spirit but does not develop the love and loving of the Holy Spirit to the level of that of the Father and the Son. If we surmise that a split had happened in the church, and some had left the church, we can see the context of why John was so interested in the loving of the brothers. As I have said elsewhere, the ones who had left had in some way felt superior to the ones who were left behind. As these people may have been teachers in the church, the believers left behind were probably in a sense of depression and confusion. John had to deal pastorally with the believers and confirm that they and not the ones who had left were the true beloved of God. One has standing with the Father by remaining in the Body of Christ. Without this, one can not be a Christian at all.
The believers needed to be comforted by hearing that they were loved by God. The ones who had left were not loving. They did not love the brethren by abandoning them. John would compare these people to Cain who slew his brother Abel. These who had left were no better than murderers because they sowed discord among the brethren. For those who remained in the church, they needed to close ranks and encourage and embrace each other in love.
John begins verse two with the emphatic “By this we know.” What is the proof that these believers who remained were the true children of God in contradistinction to the claims of those who left? Here it says that the proof is in their love for each other as God’s children as well as their keeping of His commandments. The first part of this has already been elaborated, but what does John mean by keeping His commandments? What commandments? Not only is keeping the commandments a proof that they love each other, but also is a proof that they love God as well. John goes on to say that the commandments are not burdensome, but what the commandments are is unclear. The Gospel of John also talks about the link between loving Jesus and keeping His commandments. We should not look here to the ten commandments or the Law of Moses, but rather in the commands to love. Jesus distinctly taught a twofold commandment. One comes from Deuteronomy which calls for us to love God with all of our heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:5). The second came from Leviticus 19 which commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves.” Jesus does not state this directly like the other gospels, but it seems to fit well here. It should not be a burden to love God; neither should it be a burden to love each other. This is the proof that we are God’s children.
There was a song which I think was written in the 1960’s which says “He Ain’t Heavy; He’s My Brother.” This describes that our service to each other should not be seen as a chore but a delight. Love can be difficult at times. But true love expresses itself in difficult times as anyone can love when it is easy. The times that John’s church was going through were hard. The ones who had left probably felt that those who were left behind were slow and burdening their spiritual progress. Bit this is not to be in God’s church. Even Paul encourages patience in dealing with such issues in the church, and we would do well to take this advice ourselves. We need to be apt to teach and be patient.
John not states that every one who has been begotten by God conquers the world. The emphasis is not ones who through superior effort or merit, but rather upon the work of God in the believer. The ones who conquer the world are not the ambitious. It is the meek who inherit the earth in the end and not the mighty. Their conquering of the world is based then upon their confession that Jesus is the Christ. This is the faith that conquers the world. It is by the work of God rather than our own works. Jesus has conquered the world and all those wh are in relationship to the Father through their confession of faith are loving and loved. Love does indeed conquer all in the end.
John adds the statement that the one who conquers the world is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is really an elaboration of what John said earlier about the one who believes that Jesus is the Christ. It gives further clarity of who Christ is. He is not merely a human being but also God the Son. This is the nature of the Messiah. It is necessary to clarify “Christ” to distinguish from false Christ’s who are already in the world (Antichrist). John has already said that we must confess the Son in order to confess the Father. One cannot make an end run around the Son. Jesus was more than just an enlightened teacher who coud start one on the journey to God and could be dispensed with in a fashion once reached enlightenment. Relationship with Jesus as the only way to God is a start to finish and for ever proposition. One cannot conquer the world apart from the conqueror.
John in verse six mentions two things more about Jesus Christ, that He came by agency of water and blood, and not just water. This verse has driven interpreters nuts over the centuries. We could see water as meaning the water of birth or the water of baptism. The blood could be either a reference to His humanity in the sense of “flesh and blood” or it could refer to the blood He shed at Cavalry for our sins. Is this then a reference that He was born in the way all humans are born and died as a human? It is very hard to determine what to make of this, especially when the Spirit is added to make three witnesses, but I think it best to talk about Jesus being baptized in water and the Spirit, who shed His blood for us, but Jesus was certainly human. Also He was not adopted as God’s Son at baptism. John relates in the gospel that Jesus is co-eternal with the Father. He is human and divine. If scholars are right about John combatting early Gnosticism, then emphasizing that Jesus was Son eternally and not just at baptism would be important.
John travelled to Ephesus at some point in his life and pastored a group of churches in the general area and other surrounding cities. In the Book of Revelation, he addresses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the church of Ephesus who had “lost its loving feeling.” Was this the church that John addresses here? We don’t know the answer to this, but everywhere he is concerned that the brethren love the Triune God as well as loving each other. For some, their love for their brethren would cost them their lives just as Jesus’ love for us cost Him His life.
I am indeed puzzled over all the petty stuff that causes splits in our churches today. It is though Jesus in the Great Commission says that we should concern ourselves in picking the right color for the carpet. Even within the local churches, there are power struggles and squabbles which tarnish the church and make outsiders wonder if we are a church at all. What kind of witness to the love of God and each other is that? We must seriously consider what the word “love” means. We must remember that “love” is as much a doctrine in the church as our confession that Jesus is the Christ. A confession has to be more than said; it needs to be lived as well. In this way, love becomes difficult. When we feel conflicted, we need to look back to the love that Jesus showed for us. He lived the commandment that no one has greater love than to lay down his life for his friend. But if we cannot put aside and heal petty squabbles, how shall we stand when real persecution comes?
