The Apostle's Warning

b. Look at v. 4 – Who commanded us to walk in the truth? God! When we disobey, we are defying God. God has not revealed His truth to us in such a way that we can be left free to our own devices to believe or disbelieve it or obey or disobey it. Revelation comes with responsibility. The clearer the revelation, the greater the responsibility to believe and obey it!

c. The Father’s command to walk in the truth is not the only command. The command to believe is added to the command to love. Faith and love are two sides of the same coin demonstrating new life in Christ. (I Jn. 4:7; 5:1) Some people will object and say, “Well you can’t make me love someone if I don’t feel loving towards that individual.” Dear friend, Christian love is not an emotion. It is an action. It is associated with obedience. It is not an involuntary passion, but rather an unselfish service undertaken by deliberate choice and that is why as Christian we must love one another. (Illust- Christian, are you alienated from another believer? Maybe became emotional and angry. Now choose to be obedient and attempt to reconcile.

B. Second We Notice the Doctrinal Dangers Threatening from Outside. (vv.7-11)

1. John was writing in part due to traveling Heretics negatively influencing the Church.

a. Next John begins to shift his focus from true believers to false teachers, from the wheat to the tares. Although the Apostle is pleased that “many are walking in the truth”, he is greatly disturbed that many deceivers have gone out into the world. (v.7) Their primary error is that they deny the incarnation of Christ. John says that their character therefore is that of a deceiver and an antichrist. Illust: We often talk about “The AntiChrist” in evangelical circles. However, we miss that anyone and any institution that seeks to undermine Jesus Christ’s sole role in salvation is in fact being “antichrist”! JW’s believe Jesus was created as the Archangel Michael and later became Jesus a lesser god (In a system which only believes in monotheistic God!). When Mormons say that Jesus did not pre-exist, but was rather the by product of copulation between Elohim and Mary, when the Catholic Church has on its altars Mary , Queen of Heaven with deified crown holding the infant Jesus claiming she is “comatrix of redemption, when all too many Protestant churches define salvation based on any agenda other than God’s, we see antichrist and must combat the error!

b. What was the specific error of these heretics? “They deny Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.” Maybe they didn’t categorically deny all of the incarnation of Christ, but they certainly did not confess it! The central confession of Christ in John’s letters is that “Jesus is the Christ”(I Jn. 2:22;5:1) that He is the Son (I Jn. 2:23;5:3), but the full confession is that Christ has come in the flesh (I Jn. 4:2)

c. v. 9 is a terrifying warning. Going outside of the teaching of Christ is damnation to the soul.

2. John Warns that deceivers will not walk in the truth and there is to be no fellowship with these men.