The Book of 1 John: Stay the Love Course Together
LESSON Two: Walking in the Light
INTRODUCTION
We are titling this series, “Stay the Love Course Together” because there are two major themes I see coming out of this Bible sermon book. One is the confrontation John has with the false teachings, and I guess by implication the false teachers, who are rejecting some authorized aspects of the question, “Who is Yeshua?” The other major theme I see in anything John writes is the love of God. The true and real God is known as love, his desire for us as his followers is love from a pure heart and a sincere faith. The course laid out for us by the Messiah is to love one another. Anything less than that, …is less than that.
By the way the word sincere is from the Latin. Two Latin words, sine (meaning ‘without’) and cera (meaning ‘wax’). Think of a sculpture you might remember like Rodin’s “Le Penseur” or Michelangelo’s “David.” Unlike those famous and excellent sculptors, some lesser accomplished artisans would make mistakes in the marble, and would ‘cover up’ their mistakes by filling in the errors with wax. The mistakes would be covered well enough for a good long time, but eventually when the sun beat down on the statue, the wax would corrupt, would fade, would somehow be revealed. Sincere is the word for authentic, no fake stuff applied. That’s the life I want; I imagine each of us wants that kind of sincerity from our friends, our spouse, our children, and if we were God, we would want that sincerity from our followers. That’s what God is looking for from us. It’s not perfection; please don’t hear me saying that. It’s a matter of admission when we are wrong. No need to use wax to cover up our mistakes. Just give God the broken pieces and watch him repair what is required.
Let’s dig into our text again today, starting in chapter 2, verse 1.
It’s clear that John didn’t take the same writing course I took decades ago in which I learned how to compose a document. Even if this were a sermon, and John had sat the course I took from Reid Buckley about 20 years ago, Mr Buckley would have corrected him over and over. Listen how many times in this chapter alone, John says, “I’m writing this so that…” Verse one, so that you don’t sin. Verse 7, I’m not writing this, but rather this. Verse 8, I’m writing this dot dot dot. Verse 12, “I’m writing you because…” Verse 13, “I’m writing to you because…” And again later in the same verse! But wait, there’s more. Yes, three times in verse 13 alone! Then twice more in verse 14. He gives us relief for a dozen verses, then hits us again with this phrase in verse 26. Phew…that’s it. Yes, in speech class and in English composition, John would have failed the lesson, but this chapter is in the Bible, so let’s cut him some slack. Why all the “I’m writing this ….” Phrasing?
The other day I bought a new lawnmower and weed whacker from Bunnings. I didn’t browse; I went in, found the items, paid, and walked out. I went home and excitedly opened the cardboard packaging. I found the warranty information and the list of included items. And hunted the instructions which were also tucked away. OK< good; now on to putting these helpful gardening tools to work. But first, to put them together.
I found the items. I found the listings. I found some words, but not many. And then I was basically on my own. If John were there and had written the instructions, I would have built them both in record time. I needed a rationale for putting them together and more of a play-by-play than what was included. Pictures can help, but not these. OK< eventually I sorted what I needed and mowed the lawn and trimmed the weeds. The yard looks good. But a writer with more information would have eased my troubled afternoon.
That’s what I think John is doing in chapter two. Whether fathers or little children, young men or even his beloved, John is sharing first-hand information which will help them in the two theses of our study. They will learn to love as God loved us and they will stay away from harmful falseness represented by those who teach wrong theology.
Look at verse 1, ‘my dear children’ is only used in the NT once; right here. Yes, others say ‘my children’ but ‘my dear children’ expressions affection and intimacy. Remember he’s probably around 90 years old; and tenderness is oozing from this aging apostle.
He is correcting one of the false teachings, that is, a growth in the faith so that the practitioner has actually graduated from sin into a sinless perfectionism. One of you mentioned that last week in our Q and A session. John is definitely addressing that and tells us in chapter 1 that we have to acknowledge our sin, confess our sin, and receive the forgiveness that comes from the loving Saviour. We who have just gone through Yom Kippur, the 10 days, even the 40 days understand the need for such slate cleansing, amen?
Thus in chapter 2, verse 1, he says that he is writing to his tender younger ones so that we can live in the light and not break God’s laws of love. But immediately he jumps in with ‘but if anyone sins…” don’t stress. You have a lawyer, a good lawyer, the best lawyer who can get you off. Not by cleverness, but by being the propitiation for our sins. What does that word really mean?
The lawyer works on our defence because we are believers.
The propitiation is for all people. That word means to satisfy God’s justice. It’s not exactly the appeasing of an angry deity. That would picture an angry fight scene in heaven. No, rather, the battle was for Yeshua to surrender, which happened regularly, and even at the end, in Gethsemane. He complied, he didn’t battle the Father, but rather himself, in obedience to death, even death on the cross. Jesus didn’t stop the Father destroying the world because he was loving and the Father was not; we will see that God is love, and John 3.16 is still true. Propitiation is about satisfaction of justice, not about one deity vs another.
John then uses the term ‘by this we know’ which he will use five times all up in the letter. Again, too repetitive for Mrs Stecher, my year 10 English teacher, but this should be noteworthy again. John is hoping to help the believers be sure of their faith. You can recognize false teachers by their corruption of this as well. They want to knock people out of the comfort of assurance. If you didn’t know that God was your father; if you didn’t know that your father was ever for you; if you were not sure that his love was a matter of his character, then you would ever be unsure, and thus ever trying to gain his love and approval by various other means. Putting it simply, you were eternally insecure. That’s exactly what the apostle of love is trying to correct.
In our days there are people who want you to feel that way as well. They use the terms that are so close to what John is saying in say, verse 3, but their intent is very different.
Verse 3, John says, “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” The false teachers will emphasize the ‘if we keep’ and not the ‘we have come to know.’ John is passing on what he has found, the Fatherhood of the Lord, the love of God, and the assurance God wants for all his saints. The false teachers are passing on to us their insecurity, their desire for compliance, for obedience, for rule-keeping. Those in our day who want you to feel guilty are missing the points of John. He is writing us so that we avoid sin. Check. And the way to avoid sin is to know that you are loved and to know that you are his. And that we can walk together in this life of God.
This is not a new commandment (verse 7). And it’s not a heavy commandment at all. Anytime you find yourself wondering about Torah and compliance, wondering about obedience to a system of rules, when you read a digest of your own failings and sins, you are reading from the wrong book. John wants you to be sure.
Joshua is a common name among Jewish people, and as many of you will know, Joshua was the general who took over for Moses and led the Jewish people into the Promised Land 3500 years ago or so. There is another Joshua who was a high priest in the days of Zechariah the prophet around 500 BCE. In Zechariah chapter 3, we see a fascinating moment in time played out with Satan as the accuser of the brethren involved. God rebukes Satan who is aiming to nail that Joshua to ignominy.
Joshua stands as a representative of the people, in filthy garments the text says. He had no good works in himself. The people were sinful. The people were hopeless. BUT GOD. I like that phrase. But God. When things seem dire and hopeless, God never gives up on his own. God rebukes Satan, Joshua’s angel removes the filthy garments and replaces them with festal robes and a clean turban.
This is the picture of the word ‘advocate.’ In Greek, it’s literally ‘one called alongside to help.’ Yeshua, our messiah, used this to be a word to identify the Holy Spirit. John 15.26 we use the word ‘Helper”.
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Back to the story in Zechariah. Then the angel tells Joshua this warning, but it’s not a warning according to the apostle John. It’s an encouragement. Listen to Zechariah 3.7, “if you will walk in my ways and if you will perform my service, then you will also govern my house and also have charge of my courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here.”
I know what it sounds like. I’ve read this book since my youth. I’ve seen the ‘if you do this, then I will do that.’ And I’ve lived in the fear and apprehension of a failed man too many times. John is teaching me something and I’m hopeful that you are hearing it as well.
The Lord is telling Joshua and he’s telling me that because he has made me his, and I belong to him, he will make me to represent him. My identity produces my actions. My actions do not define me; my God defines me and as a result, as a direct result of my identity as a beloved child of God, my actions will represent. My sins will depart. My faithfulness will increase.
Stop looking at what you are doing to make God happy and make him accept you. Paul wrote the Ephesians, ‘God bestowed his grace on us… in the beloved.” (1.6)
As a messianic ministry, we hear often from people about Torah-observance, about kosher laws and building of sukkot and how long we should fast and is it ok to wear garments of linen with wool at the same time. Laws. And more laws.
Listen this idea of acceptance is key to the Lord and to Paul.
Rom. 14:3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
Rom. 15:7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
Specifically he is writing to believers who are arguing about legal activities, kosher and such when he writes these in Romans 14 and 15. What’s the bottom line for Paul? God has accepted each of you, therefore accept one another.
John is saying that same thing. Because we know God, we love one another. Because we belong to God, we keep his commandments and we walk in the light, or in verse 6, “in the same manner as he walked.”
We will not be swayed by false doctrine and smooth-talking false teachers. We will walk in the light and the blood of the Lord Yeshua will wash away our sins. We are not those who dismiss sin, nor are we those who will dwell in the pain of our own personal sinfulness. We are aware of our sins, we confess and acknowledge and turn away from them.
Smalley says this, “Moral obedience is the test of spiritual character.”
We are honest, rigorously honest about our defects, and the Messiah forgives us because he already has forgiven us. We are not perfect; we are being perfected because of the One who replaced our filthy garments of self-centeredness and self-ishness with the holy garments of his righteousness and the royal crown of his authority.
Does that make sense?
Back to our text, verse 7. This is not news. It’s not a new commandment. But, in verse 8, John tells us that it is a new commandment. It’s Leviticus 19 as the old and John 13 as the new. Love one another. Love your neighbour as yourself. Love one another AS I HAVE LOVED you, said our righteous messiah. Old, love as yourself. New, love in the power and the presence of Yeshua.
The section of light vs darkness continues with verse 8 because ‘the darkness’ is passing away. That’s the power of and the effects of the false teachers. John is sure will be gone soon, because the real people of God, the ones who are in his community, not in Patmos, but over in Ephesus, are living it out.
Light and dark, love and hate… it’s very simple for the old apostle. Do we really need to complexify this religion?
Yeshua taught this.
Yeshua lived this.
He spoke to publicans and sinners. (Luke 15.1), even society’s lowest could weep at his feet (Luke 7.36-39). He welcomed rabbis who visited him at night (John 3.1-21) and he would spend three days with 4,000 common folks (Mark 8.1-9). He loved and held babies. He adored children at play. He even comforted the women who wept as the soldiers led him out to die at Calvary.
But wait, there’s more. He loved the religious leaders who taunted him. (Matt. 12.24) Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15.13). Remember his words on the cross, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing.”
That’s how we are to love. Not in word only, but in deed. Love as he loved, for those whom we know and for those we would likely never know apart from the faith in which we live and the light in which we walk.
Old: love your neighbour as yourself.
New: love one another as I have loved you. What an example! What an honour to represent, amen?
Verse 15: Don’t love wrong. This is great. When he tells us to love, he wants us to have boundaries about love. That’s where the people in our day may get this wrong. Love like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones is not what John had in mind. Larry Norman was an early rock and roll Christian contemporary musician who in one of his early songs wrote, “The Beatles said ‘all you need is love’ and then they broke up.” I like that observation. All the love statements from newlyweds need to be backed up with a lifetime of commitment and steadiness.
John here is saying that we shouldn’t get caught up in worldly love. He uses three images in verse 16, the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.” You will have met those earlier in Bible studies under different lures. Listen to these in Genesis chapter 3, in the famous Garden of Eden story.
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3.6)
There are those same three options for lure to sin.
And Yeshua experienced those same three as well in his temptations that are recorded for us in Matthew’s Gospel after his six-week fast.
First the lust of the flesh: And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4.3)
Second, the lust of the eyes: Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, (Matthew 4.5-6)
Finally the boastful pride of life: Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4.8-9)
Satan’s lures to Eve and to Yeshua are the same which John is telling us about in verse 16. They are not ‘from the Father, but from the world” and putting it into perspective, the world is passing away, so look elsewhere for your satisfaction.
Verse 18 introduces the last section and a term that is new here. Antichrist. Antimeaning in opposition to. This person and this system that John tells us is opposed to the Messiah. Yes, there is one who is The Antichrist. Then he says there are actually many. And who are they?
Now he introduces the cast of characters without their names.
Verse 19: they went out from us. They used to be part of the community, but they were never really ‘of us’ because if they had been, they would still be with us. These are not backsliders; these are teachers of heresy. These are not weak believers who have trouble with staying clean and sober. These are peddlers of religion who seek out weaker people, who use every occasion to teach wayward information. They are not listeners; they are talkers. They are not interested in the others in the community, no, they are only interested in self-gain and self-promotion.
That’s why John alludes to the ‘beginning’ again (verses 7 and 24). These folks are like Esau and like Nimrod; they are like Dathan and Saul. Not only are they flawed, they seek to cause flaws in others. Watch out for those folks.
John’s summary of ‘those folks’ is in verse 26 and following. They are trying ‘to deceive you.’ But you have ‘an anointing’ (verse 20 and verse 27) which is the power of God to stay the course.
John is calling us to stay the love course together with one another until Messiah returns. Will you join us? Will you be confident in the Lord? God’s promise is eternal life (verse 25). Let’s live in that today.
INVITATION
Dear friends, if you’d like to have the forgiveness and the fellowship about which I spoke, you can do so today. Just now you can pray and find that the God of love extends his life to you in giving you pardon for all your sins. That forgiveness will usher you into the freedoms of knowing the God of love. Isn’t that a wonderful idea?
If you’d like that, please pray and ask God to forgive you your sins and to make you born again.
Then let us know you have done this, won’t you? Write to us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) and tell us you have prayed for the first time. We want to send you some literature and welcome you to the family.
And if you have any questions, use that same address, ok?
And join us next week as I continue the new 5-part series from the first letter of John.
Until then, Shabbat shalom.
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Bibliography
Smalley, Stephen, 1 John, Word Biblical Commentary Series, Thomas Nelson, Grand Rapids, 1973.
Weirsbe, Warren, Be Real, Victor Books, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs, 1972.
Also, to see the whole book in one short graphic and wonderful summary, watch this video:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/1-john-introduction/#overview
Actual text
1John 2:1 aMy little children, I am bwriting these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, cwe have an 1dAdvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is athe 1propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also bfor those of the whole world.
1John 2:3 aBy this we know that we have come to bknow Him, if we ckeep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “aI have come to bknow Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a cliar, and dthe truth is not in him; 5 but whoever akeeps His word, in him the blove of God has truly been perfected. cBy this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he aabides in Him bought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1John 2:7 aBeloved, I am bnot writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had cfrom the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 1On the other hand, I am writing aa new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because bthe darkness is passing away and cthe true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet ahates his bbrother is in the darkness until now. 10 aThe one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who ahates his brother is in the darkness and bwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has cblinded his eyes.
1John 2:12 I am writing to you, alittle children, because byour sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him awho has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because byou have overcome cthe evil one. I have written to you, children, because dyou know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him awho has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are bstrong, and the cword of God abides in you, and dyou have overcome the evil one.
1John 2:15 Do not love athe world nor the things in the world. bIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, athe lust of the flesh and bthe lust of the eyes and cthe boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 aThe world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who bdoes the will of God lives forever.
1John 2:18 Children, ait is the last hour; and just as you heard that bantichrist is coming, ceven now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19aThey went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, bso that 1it would be shown that they all are not of us. 20 1But you have an aanointing from bthe Holy One, and cyou all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but abecause you do know it, and 1because no lie is bof the truth. 22 Who is the liar but athe one who denies that Jesus is the 1Christ? This is bthe antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 aWhoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard afrom the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also bwill abide in the Son and in the Father. 25aThis is the promise which He Himself 1made to us: eternal life.
1John 2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to adeceive you. 27 As for you, the aanointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing bteaches you about all things, and is ctrue and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, 1you abide in Him.
1John 2:28 Now, alittle children, abide in Him, so that when He bappears, we may have cconfidence and dnot 1shrink away from Him in shame 2at His ecoming. 29 If you know that aHe is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness bis 1born of Him.
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