 |
Taking Every Thought Captive |
 Got Life? Our Ministry Our Beliefs Our Staff Articles What's New? Contact Us Resources Bookstore Search Links
|
Witnessing Without Fear -Appendix
Three- Knowing God in the First Epistle of John The book of First John is an ideal book for working with someone who professes to be a Christian but either lacks assurance of salvation or doesn’t seem to bear the marks of a believer. This introduction and overview of First John is for you to become familiar with the book so you can study it with someone you are counseling about salvation. Be sure to read through First John itself several times and have the other person do so as well. Author: John the Apostle Date and Place: Ephesus ca. A.D. 80-95 Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia and was the intellectual center of the region. It was known for cultural diversity and was home to the Temple of Artemis. Paul had ministered there (Acts 19, 20:17-38) and wrote a letter to the church (Ephesians) as well as Timothy (1 Tim 1:3). According to tradition, John ministered there in his later years. Occasion: Pastoral and polemical Pastoral. As a faithful shepherd, John had a deep concern for the spiritual well-being of his flock. John purposed to promote joyful fellowship (1:3). But for the believers to have true fellowship, they needed to understand the truth (1:5; 2:29; 4:7-8). Thus the pastoral purpose naturally led to the polemical purpose (2:26), which was to protect his readers against the deceptive ideas of false teachers. Polemical. Polemics has to do with offering a doctrinal defense in the face of controversy. As predicted years before by Paul, (Acts 20:28-31) false teachers had arisen from within the church who were influenced by the prevailing philosophical trends. These false teachers infected the church with their false teaching which was an incipient form of Gnosticism (from the Greek word for “knowledge”). Full-blown Gnosticism did not develop until the second century. Beside the legalism of the Judaizers (see Galatians), Gnosticism was the most dangerous heresy facing the early church for 3 centuries. Paul may have referenced this in Colossians 2:8-10; 21-23 and 1 Timothy 6:20-21. Gnosticism, influenced by Plato, advocated a dualism that said matter was inherently evil and spirit was good. This resulted in the gnostic denial of Christ’s true humanity to preserve Him from evil. It also claimed to have an elevated knowledge or secret mystical truth that was hidden from the uninitiated. The proto-gnostic heresy included two forms: (1) Docetism (dokeo, to appear) said that Jesus did not have a real physical body, but only “appeared” to be physical. John firmly opposed this idea in 1:1-4; 4:2-3. (2) Cerinthus was a heretic who taught that Jesus was only a man and the “Christ spirit” came upon Him at His baptism and departed just before the crucifixion. John said that the same Jesus who was baptized was the same One who was crucified in 2:22; 4:2-3; 5:6. Such heretical views distort the person of Christ and undermine the Gospel. According to Scripture, Jesus had to be fully man and fully God to provide a substitutionary atonement for men’s sins (Heb 2:14-17; see also Jn 1:14; Gal 4:4; Phil 2:7-8; 1 Tim 3:16). An antinomian (lawless) influence existed in the gnostic teaching. They believed that because only the flesh (matter) is evil, they had no guilt of sin (1:8; 3:4). Theme: Knowing God results in truth, obedience, and love. The Greek verb ginosko (“to know”) occurs 25 times. The verb oida (another verb for “to know”) occurs 15 times. John contrasts true knowledge of God against the false so-called knowledge of the heretics. He repeatedly condemns the false teachers and offers reassurance to the believers. He does this by showing that there are only two kinds of people—the children of God and the children of the devil (3:10). There is no other category. John began his letter by assuring his readers that he, along with the other apostles, were eyewitnesses concerning the “Word of Life” (1:1) and what they had witnessed he was proclaiming to them (1:1-4). John based assurance of eternal life on a life that is consistent with God’s Word. One cannot claim eternal life if one’s lifestyle does not demonstrate obedience (1:6-10; 2:3-6, 17, 29). In this way John taught that salvation could be verified by the test of obedience to God. A person who consistently obeyed God (2:29; 3:3, 6, 9-10, 24; 5:3, 18), maintained sound teaching (2:20-27; 4:1-6, 15; 5:1), and had love for God and others (3:10, 14, 19, 23; 4:7-8, 12, 20-21) demonstrated genuine faith and thus could be assured of possessing eternal life. Indeed, John wrote that one of his purposes for writing this letter was that those who believe in the Son of God would be assured of having eternal life (5:13). The following chart highlights the distinctive differences between the departed heretics (2:19) and the true teachings of John, the last remaining Apostle of Jesus Christ at the time (1:1).
Purpose: 1. “And these things we write to you that your joy may be full” (1:4). (To promote true joy in the child of God) 2. “These things I write to you, so that you may not sin” (2:1). (To prevent the child of God from committing sin) 3. “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you” (2:26). (To protect the child of God from false teachers) 4. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13). (To provide assurance of salvation for the child of God) The governing purpose statement is 5:13, to provide assurance for believers. Compare this with the purpose of John’s Gospel (John 20:31) which is written for an evangelistic purpose. John wants his readers to know that they can have assurance by knowing that God has brought about fundamental changes in their lives. God has given us a sure knowledge of Himself in Jesus Christ. This involves truth. He has given us a desire to pursue and obey the commandments of Christ. This involves obedience. He has given us a new relationship with other believers. This involves love. Love without righteousness is immorality, though today it is called the “new morality.” Righteousness without doctrine is legalism. This is the kind of religion that Christ severely opposed (Matt 23). Doctrine without love is a bitter orthodoxy. It is the kind of truth that is rigorously perfect, but does not win anyone. These three must be held in balance. How can you know if you are truly a child of God? John tells us that we can and should know whether or not we are a Christian and we can know this by seeing if we are walking in truth (the doctrinal test), obedience (the moral test), and love (the social test). Note that these are only tests of true faith. They manifest salvation, they do not gain salvation. Salvation only comes by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9). Note the progression below: We come to God by the cross of Christ which is evidenced by a changed life and this results in fellowship with God and with other believers. How We Know God in First John GOD Truth, Obedience, Love …ðrð™ð Joyful Fellowship (1 Jn 1:3-4,7) Subjective assurance: Internal testimony of the
Holy Spirit (1 Jn 3:21-24) Objective assurance: Promises of God (1 Jn
5:12) & evidence of a
changed life (1 Jn 2:3-6) |
