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There were two themes which were most important in the initial apostolic message to new hearers of the gospel of Christ. Actually, both themes deal with essential realities. Of first importance was the identity of Jesus (cf. 1 John 2:24). The second theme, which was equally important, is shown here with the words, “the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another:” (1 John 3:11 ASV). If we are truly born from above, inevitability we will love our brethren. That love is inevitable because it results from being born again by the power of God. Acceptance of the first theme gives the basis for believers’ doctrinal purity. Acceptance of the second theme provides the basis for unity and cooperation among the believers.

An example to be avoided is that of Cain who “was of the evil one, and slew his brother.” (1 John 3:12a ASV) There were two underlying reasons why Cain committed murder. First, he “was of the evil one.” This is equivalent to the statement in 1 John 3:8, which we have already studied, that “he that doeth sin is of the devil.” The second reason he killed his brother was “because his works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12b ASV) No act which deliberately deprives someone else of his life is compatible with love. Murder is a work of hatred which eventually grows into rage. Why does a murderer hate a righteous person? He hates because the life style of the righteous person is a rebuke to the sinful life style of the one who works evil. Scripture tells us that “The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.” (Psalms 37:32 ASV) Only those deeds and acts which enhance our brethren’s lives are compatible with love.

Cain and Abel were brothers. There is a strong natural love between real brothers. As strong as brotherly love is, whether it is the love which grows out of our physical birth or that love which grows out of our ‘new birth,’ it may be overcome and over powered by jealousy, hate and rage. We must live in such a way that the righteous living of our brother is not a rebuke to our own manner of life. Whenever our brother’s righteous living condemns our behavior, there is great danger that jealousy will be generated in our heart! That jealousy can easily grow into hate and rage which will result in murder!

Cain and Abel represent two mutually exclusive and antagonistic life styles. Just as Abel’s righteous life style engendered hatred in Cain’s heart so ours will engender hatred in the heart of ‘the world.’ Therefore, we should not marvel if the world hates us. (1 John 3:13) The ‘world,’ that is contemporary secular society, is committed to a life style based on the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the vainglory of life. (cf. 1 John 2:15-17) The world will not tolerate the example of a life which challenges its basic commitments. Therefore, the world’s animosity should not surprise the follower of Christ or cause him to marvel.

Cain also represents our old nature, that nature which characterized our lives before we passed out of death into life through the power of Christ. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death.” (1 John 3:14 ASV) The most powerful, most common, and most prominent emotion in our old nature was hate. In the context of that old nature, “Hatred is so natural and so universal, that love is a certain proof of the presence in one of a new life principle, of the experience of a new birth, of the possession of a new moral nature:” (Charles R. Erdman, The General Epistles, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1919), p. 133) The transition from the state of death to life, expressed by the words, “passed out of death into life” is so fundamental that it is like becoming a citizen of another country.

A person may claim that he has new life through Christ, but if love for his brethren is not present in his conduct, he abides in death. He is still a citizen of his previous country, that is of death. He has not migrated. He has not become citizen of the kingdom of Christ.

“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15 ASV) The person who hates his brother, “is a murderer, because he is cherishing the motive which would result in the act, were all restraints removed and were the opportunity given.” (Charles R. Erdman, The General Epistles, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1919), p. 133) When hatred is in our heart, “the spirit which would lead to murder is there, and God will hold us responsible for it. … God judges men as he sees them to be in their hearts.” (Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament Explanatory and Practical, James, Peter, John, and Jude, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1951), p.321)

The apostle John reminded the followers of Christ to whom he was writing that, “ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15) How did they know this truth? The teaching seems to be a reiteration of Jesus’ teaching from his Sermon on The Mount in which he said, “everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Matthew 5:22 ASV) Probably most followers of Christ who lived in the apostolic age had heard sermons which reiterated what Jesus had taught on that occasion.

Also, they well may have known instinctively that murderers do not have eternal life for God has given all of us the ability to know some of the most basic moral issues. They seem to be intuitively perceived. For example, Paul wrote to the Romans, “… they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” (Romans 2:14-15 NIV)

Love is defined by the example of Jesus. Therefore, “because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16 ASV) Jealousy and hate were demonstrated by Cain. Jealousy and hate take the lives of others. In sharp contrast, love, as shown in Jesus, sacrifices itself for the well being of others!

Love is demonstrated by deeds. Therefore, “we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Only in this way can we demonstrate love. Rather than take a brother’s life through hatred which leads to murder, we should give our life for him whenever the giving of our life will save his.

Is there a way that our actions regularly may be brought into line with our desire to live a holy life? Very fortunately, Jesus Christ has given each of us a way to accomplish this most important goal. The fact is that, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him.” (1 John 3:6 ASV)

Here is the secret for victory over sin! The one who abides in Christ does not continue sinning. This verse also makes it clear that the person who claims to be a child of God but who continues to sin has not even caught a significant glimpse of Christ. This clearly implies that the true child of God has, in some way, seen Jesus Christ. In view of 1 John 3:2, this seeing is to be understood in the sense of comprehending.

Anyone who continues in sin not only has not seen Christ, he also doesn’t even know him. This probably implies a deeper level of understanding than the level of comprehension implied by the words, “hath not seen him.”

Victory over sin manifests itself in one’s daily actions. “My little children let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous:” (1 John 3:7 ASV)

The words, “let no man lead you astray” gives us one of the many indications in this epistle that false teachers were active among the followers of Christ Thus the epistle was written to protect them from that deception and error. “Evidently these teachers were suggesting that a man might be righteous even though he were doing what is wrong. With the words, “he that doeth righteousness is righteous,” “the Apostle cuts away vain pretenses by a sharp principle: a righteous character expresses itself in righteous conduct.” (David Smith, The Epistles of St. John, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume V, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), pp. 184-185.) Just as Christ’s righteousness manifested itself in his manner of life, ours should, too. Thus we are to practice righteousness “even as he is righteous:”

The principle that life style reflects one’s spiritual commitment is true whether one is committed to Christ or to Satan. Thus we are told that, “he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8 ASV)

John has shown us that the followers of Christ demonstrate their paternity by following the life style of their elder brother, Jesus Christ, the righteous. We do this by living a life that is characterized by righteousness, as he did. But, the one who ‘doeth’ sin also reveals his paternity. Such a one is “of the devil.”

Satan, is not an eternal being. He did have a beginning. That is clearly implied in the statement that, “the devil sinneth from the beginning.” Obviously, God created him. However, God did not create a wicked being. He became evil by the misuse of free choice. He is often spoken of as fallen. (Please see Luke 10:17-20.) Had he always been evil he could not have fallen. Thus, the ‘beginning’ to which reference is made is the beginning of his rebellion against God.

Satan’s rebellion will not succeed because, “To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” John seems to summarize two statements which Jesus had made regarding his victory over Satan. The first statement is one which John himself had recorded in the fourth gospel. Jesus said, “the prince of this world hath been judged.” (John 16:8-10 ASV) The second statement is recorded by Mark. He quotes Jesus as saying, “But no one can enter into the house of the strong man, [a reference to Satan] and spoil his good except he first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” (Mark 3:27 ASV) Jesus taught clearly on many occasions that he had bound Satan and spoiled his house.

When God gives new life through Jesus Christ, he imparts it through a divine seed. Throughout the entire life of the follower of Jesus that seed continues to impart life and give strength for victory over sin. Scripture tells us, “Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God.” ( I John 3:9 ASV)

One who has been begotten is not simply one who has only been exposed to the divine seed (The Greek here is sperma.), but one who has received the sperm and has permitted it to generate life. The seed or sperm is the word of God. The person who receives the word and allows it to generate new life in him reaps great moral and ethical benefits because, “Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin,” (1 John 3:9 ASV)

The moral and ethical benefits are generated, “because his seed abideth in him:” The power of the word, the divine sperm, is not demonstrated in the life of the casual hearer but in the life of the one who lets that life-giving word continue to abide, and thus do its work, in him.

The results brought about by the indwelling seed are permanent. The person in whom the seed resides, “cannot sin, because he is begotten of God.” The Apostle John, “is not teaching that a child of God is perfect or sinless, and so has no need to exercise care in his walk or to accept correction. The very word `child’ implies imperfect growth and experience, and the need of discipline. But what is yet blessedly true of God’s children is that they hate sin and do not willfully continue in it.” (A.J. Flack, The Touchstone, (Bombay: Gospel Literature Service, 1961), p. 62)

Our spiritual lineage cannot be hidden because, “In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1 John 3:10 ASV)

We are either “children of God” or we are “children of the devil.” The reality will be ‘manifest.’ The underlying principle is, “whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God.” This principle is in complete harmony with Jesus’ discourse to the Jews in which he said, “Everyone that committeth sin is the bond servant of sin.” (John 8:34 ASV) Thus, a person who continues in sin is not even the servant of God, much less a child of God!

There is an organic relationship between one’s faith and one’s life style. This fact becomes clear from a statement from the Apostle John. He tells us, “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him.” (1 John 2:29 ASV)

In the very beginning of chapter two John reminded every reader that Jesus is “Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1) If he is righteous, then everyone into whom he infuses new life, that is everyone who “is begotten of him,” will also be one who “doeth righteousness.” This obvious truth helps us evaluate the validity of the message of those who teach about Christ. Every doctrinal deviation is reflected in a consequent life style. The person into whom The Righteous One has infused life will reflect that new life in righteous living.

God’s gift of new life results in new relationships on two levels. First there we have a new relationship with God. As Christ’s apostle John tells us, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 John 3:1 ASV)

If we who are followers of Christ are children of God, it is because we have been born a second time. Our physical birth, gave us the characteristics of our physical father. Our second birth, our birth from above (John 3:1-5), has similarly given us the characteristics of our heavenly Father. Thus, understandably, if we are children of God we share in the heavenly Father’s nature.

If anyone claims to be a child of God, that claim may be substantiated by two very practical tests. First, the test of righteous living. God’s children should have God’s character. That character will manifest a hatred for sin. “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness in not of God,” (1 John 3:10a ASV). Also, no one can legitimately claim to be a child of God who, “loveth not his brother.” (1 John 3:10b ASV)

Secondly, the new life which God grants through Christ results in a new, and often dangerous, social relationship. This means that anyone who has a godly character must live with the consequences. “For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 John 3:1 ASV)

Evil hates righteousness. For example, Jesus said to his half-brothers before they became believers in him, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7 ASV) This enmity has been operating in human relationships from the dawn of man’s history. The reason Cain murdered Abel was, “Because his works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12 ASV) As David observed, “The wicked watcheth the righteous, And seeketh to slay him.” (Psalms 37:32 ASV)

The new life which God has given to those who believe in Christ not only results in new relationships with God and with society, but it results in a new expectation and anticipation. Christ’s Apostle John tells us, “Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.” (1 John 3:2 ASV)

To be a child of God is a high honor! Let none of us who holds this status ever minimize the prestige which God has thus bestowed upon us. This is part of “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) This is part of the “high estate” which we have been granted (James 1:9). This is one of those blessings which has come from him, “who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3 ASV) This status grants us access to the throne of our Father! It grants us protection and sustenance. It bestows upon us the status of heirs, “heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him.” (James 2:5 ASV)

However, our ultimate future has not yet [been] made manifest. But, it has been made clear that we shall be like him, that is, like Christ. That is the cornerstone of our hope.

When “he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.” (1 John 3:2 ASV) In our present state our eyes are incapable of seeing God. For this reason John writes, “No man hath beheld God at any time:” (1 John 4:12 ASV) However, since we shall, “see him even as he is,” this clearly implies we shall undergo a radical change. The change shall be so radical that, “we shall be like him!” John, at the time he wrote these words, like the recipients of the epistle to whom the Apostle John wrote, had not seen Christ in all his glory. Only after our having been raised from the dead and having been changed into his image shall we then triumphantly see him even as he is!

The anticipation of that change in our being, a change so radical that subsequent to it we will be able to actually see God produces an additional benefit. That is, “every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:3 ASV) What is that extra benefit? It is hope! “everyone that hath this hope set on him” Which hope? It is the hope of that radical transformation which shall make us like him. (Verse 2)

That hope has moral and ethical consequences in the life of everyone who is a follower of Jesus because he, “purifieth himself even as he is pure.” If we claim to be children of God we can compare ourselves with Christ, the Son of God, to see if those same family characteristics appear in us which so powerfully appeared in him. In this epistle, Jesus is called, “Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1) This character trait is stressed again in 3:5 which says, “in him is no sin.” So, if we have a common paternity with Jesus, that powerful and dominant family characteristic will certainly manifest itself in us.

A child of God will not habitually ignore and violate his Father’s law. But, “Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4 ASV) The follower of Christ wants to be obedient to God because each follower knows “…he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin.” (1 John 3:5 ASV)

Our desire to ‘be like him’ cannot be very profound unless we seek to live without sin which he came to take away. “We should not indulge in that from which he came to deliver us.” (Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament, (Baker Book House, Michigan, 1951), p. 315) We should be holy because he is holy. (See 1 Peter 1:16)

“in him is no sin.” Because of his total triumph over sin he is called in this epistle, “Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1) It was only because of his utter sinlessness that he was able to become “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2 ASV)

In our last program we studied the divine warnings from John’s first inspired general letter about the danger of being led astray by false Christs. After his warnings, John then reminded the true followers of Christ that at the time of their initial commitment to follow Christ they had received an anointing which enabled them to know the truth about false Christs and, especially, the truth about the real Christ. He wrote, “And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth.” (1 John 2:20-21 ASV)

John makes it clear that the anointing by which every true follower of Christ may “know the truth” was given by “the Holy One.” The ‘Holy One’ mentioned here is, undoubtedly, God, because the expression ‘the Holy One’ is one of God’s names. (Isaiah 5:16)

For those who have committed themselves to be followers of Christ, the anointing process itself, involved a time of initial teaching about the basic truth concerning Christ. When followers of the Messiah are threatened by false doctrine, we are instructed to look to that foundational teaching for guidance. That initial teaching (“that which ye heard”) about Christ, which everyone had to receive to become a follower of Christ, will protect us against heretical concepts and ideas during our entire lives, providing that anointing remains in us. Then we will understand who the liar is. We will know that it is “he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ.” (1 John 2:22 ASV) Therefore, John tells us, “As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father.” (1 John 2:24 ASV)

The term ‘Father’ refers to God. When the term ‘Father,’ is used for God, it has utterly no idea of the kind of fatherhood which grows out human marriage. Rather, it is used because God is the source of all human life and is the one who supports and sustains all of us throughout our lives.

One of the names of Jesus Christ, which expresses his relationship to God, is the name ‘Son.’ It is used because it expresses the tender and affectionate relationship between God and Jesus. It also expresses the unity between God and Christ. Furthermore, it shows the subordinate position which Jesus took in relation to God. Scripture tells us that Jesus’ subordination came as a result of a self-denying choice. It tells us, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:5-7 NIV)

One cannot deny the role of Christ without alienating himself from God. “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also.” (1 John 2:23 ASV)

What is called ‘an anointing’ is something which every follower of Christ has received through hearing. John tells us to, “let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning.” (1 John2:24 ASV) What every follower of Christ has heard is the most basic message about who Christ really is. Everyone who is a follower of Christ hears that basic message from the very beginning of his experience of following Christ.

The ultimate outcome of that initial basic message about Christ has the potential of eternal blessing. It is this ultimate blessing to which the Apostle John points us in verse 25 when he wrote, “And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal.” (1 John 2:25 ASV)

To what promise does John refer? Undoubtedly, to the conditional promise in the preceding verse. The condition is, “If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you.” For those in whom that basic message which they had heard about Christ from the beginning has remained, there is a wonderful assurance. That assurance is, “ ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father.” Here, in verse 25, John helps us understand the ultimate significance of abiding in the Son and in the Father, it ultimately results in ‘life eternal!’

Any follower of Christ in whom that initial anointing abides has no need “that any one teach” him because “his anointing teacheth [him] all things, and is true, and is no lie,” (1 John 2:27 ASV) That teaching results in a follower of Christ abiding in Christ. “The anointing which [we] received of him” refers to that primal message through which we were, “taught of God.” That message is, that Jesus of Nazareth is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)

That initial teaching, which is called the anointing, is a most fundamental gift. Through it God makes that initial disclosure of the identity of Jesus to everyone who wants to become a follower of Christ. As soon as one accepts that basic teaching, the ensuing understanding becomes a definitive reference point by which we may evaluate any and every new teaching. The anointing serves this essential role because it “is true, and is no lie.” (1 John 2:27 ASV) Therefore, if any teaching is out of harmony with that initial, fundamental, constitutional declaration about who Jesus Christ is, then that teaching is false. A follower of Christ must refer “all things,” (1 John 2:27) that is all new teaching and every unfamiliar concept, to this inviolable point of reference for guidance.

Anyone who utilizes his anointing to give him crucial instruction will find that “even as it taught [him] [he] abides in him” [i.e. Christ]. (1 John 2:27 ASV) Heeding the teaching which comes from the anointing is how people who begin to follow Christ remain faithful all their lives.

Anyone who abides in Christ prepares for the most momentous event of all time, the return of Christ to judge the world. Those who abide in him we will have “boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28 ASV) Whatever life commitment we embrace, let it be that one which will give us boldness and keep us from shame whenever Christ shall come and call us into his presence!

It is extremely important for all of us to understand our place and our time in human history. That understanding can only come from divine revelation. God used Christ’s Apostle John to help us understand the point in history in which we live. He wrote, “Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that anti-Christ cometh, even now have there arisen many anti-Christs; whereby we know that it is the last hour.”(1 John 2:18 ASV)

Here the Apostle John does not contrast the expression ‘little children’ with ‘young men’ and ‘fathers’ as he did in chapter 2, verses 12-14. Here, as a general term of endearment, the Apostle John calls all the followers of Christ ‘little children.’

The Apostle John reminds the followers of Christ that they had already heard about the coming of a being called ‘anti-Christ.’ The term ‘anti-Christ’ refers to one who not only opposes the true Christ, but he opposes the true Christ by presenting himself as the true Christ. “He is one who would supplant Christ by assuming to be and to do what Christ is and does.” (H.D.M. Spence, Editor, Pulpit Commentary, Volume 50, I. John, (Wilcox & Follet Co., Chicago), p. 68)

In the Bible the word, ‘anti-Christ’ is used only in this one passage. However, several years earlier God used the Apostle Paul to express the same concept using other words. The Apostle Paul called this being “the man of sin … the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4 ASV) His “coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 ASV) It was from Paul’s message that those to whom John writes had heard about the coming of the anti-Christ.

In the message to the followers of Christ who lived in the city of Thessalonica Paul made it clear that the anti-Christ would be destroyed by the true Christ when he comes into the world the second time to bring judgment on the world and to bring history to a close. That means, there will be no further historical periods in human history following the time in which the followers of Christ to whom this epistle was first directed lived. Therefore, John reminds all of us that the period in which we are living is the ‘last hour’ or the last time or the last period of history. This period of history is often called ‘the last days’ in scripture. (See, for example Acts 2:17.)

Because, “it is the last hour,” (1 John 2:18) it is the climactic period of human history. The climactic period of human history is the period ushered in by the coming of the Christ which took place at his birth in Bethlehem. It will close when Christ returns in power to usher in judgment.

John goes on to tell us that the real anti-Christ had not yet appeared, but was still to come. Though the real anti-Christ had not appeared he said that at the time he was writing there had, “arisen many anti-Christs.” (1 John 2:18) He emphasizes that the existence of the ‘many anti-Christs’ are forerunners of the real anti-Christ. Thus, he shows that we live in that same period of history during which the paramount anti-Christ, the man of sin, will appear. Therefore, we live in the ultimate or final period of history which shall be terminated by the triumphant return of Christ.

By inspiration from God the Apostle John not only informed the followers of Christ that there were many anti-Christs, he also tells us about their origin. He wrote, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19 ASV)

These people had left the fellowship of those who followed Christ. They separated themselves from the fellowship of the followers of Christ because of a fundamental and basic incompatibility expressed in the words, “they were not of us.” The reason they departed was because they had never been truly compatible with the body of believers.

The words “of us” express the essence of the unity of those who follow Christ. That unity comes from being “of us.” There must be a basic compatibility. Without it, division and separation are inevitable. With it unity in its full maturity is not automatically assured but it is certainly possible. With the unity implied in the words, “of us,” there remains no basic incompatibility which would stand in the way of ongoing fellowship. To whom did John refer when he used the pronoun, ‘us.’ And what is the basic cause of the compatibility which grows out of being part of ‘us.’ What makes the ‘us’ a cohesive, basically united group? Nine verses further on, John clearly identifies the people to whom, along with himself, he refers to as, ‘us.’ He says, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 John 3:1 ASV)

The ‘us,’ then, refers to those who are called children of God. The unity of the followers of Christ is based on the new form of existence which they received through a divine process called ‘regeneration.’ Regeneration is also called the ‘new birth.’ That means that the unity among the followers of Christ grows out of having the same Father. That makes each one a member in God’s family. The basic antipathy is between God and the world. The true follower of Christ has renounced the world because he “is a new creature: [and] the old things are passed away;” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ASV)

We do not live in a neutral environment. On the contrary, our habitat is highly polarized. This means that in the spiritual and moral sectors of our lives God is not our only choice. There are alternative attractions which seek to allure all of us. We must realize that should we be beguiled by these attractions, we have turned our backs on God!

This highly dangerous situation prevails no matter where we live on the earth. Every believer in God knows that it is God himself who has placed us in this precarious situation. At times all of us have wondered why God would allow anti-God attractions to be present in our surroundings which can compete for our love and loyalty, very possibly drawing our affections away from our Creator. The answer is, God wants us to be faced with powerful and enticing alternatives so that if we serve him, we serve him by choice, not because our environment offers no other possibility.

While the anti-God seductions all of us must face may take innumerable forms, essentially they belong to only three categories. To be victorious in our attempts to be faithful to God we must know what these elemental temptations are. Christ’s Apostle John, in his short, first general epistle, gives us invaluable insight into these perilous fascinations of the world. By the Spirit of God he wrote: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passseth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (1 John 2:15-17 ASV)

Here we are told to “love not the world.” In the writings of Christ’s apostles, which we call the New Testament, the word ‘world’ has been used with various meanings. Sometimes it refers to the planet earth as in John’s gospel 17:5. Sometimes it used to refer to the people who inhabit the planet. It is used in this way in the famous verse which tells us, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ASV) However, in many passages it is used, as it is in the passage we are studying, in an ethical sense referring to the anti-God social and moral standards of society.

“Love not the world” is a universal prohibition. We know this because it is addressed to “any man”. It means that any person, whoever he may be, who loves the world does not love God. The anti-God counter-culture of the world may present itself in very attractive and seductive forms. This may cause any of us to let down his guard and be drawn into sin’s orbit.

No matter what form the blandishments of the world may take, they are only variations of three fundamental concepts: (1) the “lust of the flesh” (2) the “lust of the eyes” and (3) “the vainglory of life.”

The “lust of the flesh” refers to the mental and or physical indulgence of illicit sensual desires. It is an indulgence which gives to the satisfaction of physical cravings a place of importance which dares to violate the limits and controls which God has placed on them. In this category come fornication, adultery, the use of hallucinogens or other stimulants which induce ecstatic experiences.

The expression “lust of the eyes” refers to greed, to the uncontrolled acquisitive desire which seeks its gratification in possessions or in domination.

“The vainglory of life” refers to seeking after “honors, titles and pedigrees; boasting of ancestry, family connections, great offices, honorable acquaintances, and the like.” [Clarke]

All three of these motivations are wrong. They do not come from God or lead one to God. They deprive the mind of righteous thoughts and purposes.

Such motivation, “is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Here, as throughout all Scripture, God is called ‘the Father’ because he is the one who has given us life, because he is the one who cares for us and because he is the one who seeks to guide us into the truth.

On the contrary, the source of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life is not God the Father. These anti-God enticements originate in and from ‘the world,’ which is a collective name for the social, political, and personal thought systems which make man’s pleasure, man’s vanity, man’s desires and man’s goals supreme rather than making God supreme. The ‘world’ is, then, a false god. It is a god which wants our loyalty and our obedience.

Obviously, the true God will not allow any false god to survive. Ultimately every false god will be brought to ruin and destruction. Therefore, “the world passseth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (Verse 17)

But the false god which the true God calls ‘the world’ is appealing and seductive. None of us is powerful enough within himself to be triumphant over this powerful idolatry. Only Christ who triumphed over every temptation can change our personalities so ‘the world’ becomes repugnant to us. Only Christ can fill us with moral and spiritual power so we may live victoriously in the midst of those who yield to the enticements of ‘the world.’ If we join those who do “the will of God,” we will “abide for ever.”

God loves each of us no matter at what level of spiritual advancement we may be. But God wants each of to make progress and develop into the most mature servant of God which it is possible to be. Christ’s Apostle John in a passage in his first general epistle helps us evaluate our own spiritual progress.

He said, “I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have written unto you, little children, because ye know the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:12-14 ASV)

By the expression “I write unto you” in this verse John refers to what he was writing in this epistle while in the expression “I have written,” which occurs in the next two verses, (1 John 2:13-14) he refers to something he had written previously. The use of the present and the past tense (Greek aorist) in repeated close context in verses 12-14 is surely intended by the writer to convey a contrast. This gives us a strong clue about the authorship of this epistle. It was written by one who had written before. By use of the past tense, probably he refers to that which he had written in the fourth gospel. The closest parallel in style and content between this epistle and other writings in the New Testament is found in the gospel of John.

The word which is translated “little children” occurs three times in chapter two, that is in verses 1, 12, and 28. In these verses the word is translated from the Greek word, ‘teknion.’ In verses 13 and 18 there is a very similar word. It is translated from the Greek word ‘paidion. ‘ The Apostle John undoubtedly intended to convey a distinction by the use of these two words.

By the word in verses 13 and 18 which is translated ‘little children’ (from the Greek word paidion) the Apostle John indicates one who is new to the faith but one with whom he did not have a personal relationship. On the other hand John seems to have had a personal relationship with those whom he addresses as ‘little children’ in verses 1, 12 and 28 (which is translated from the Greek word teknion). They were a group who were also new to faith in Christ. Probably he had personally helped lead them to faith in Christ. The term ‘little children’ does not refer to the age of those addressed but to the length of time they had been followers of Jesus. That these terms do not refer to little children as far as their physical age is concerned is clear from the fact that the apostle John writes to them. That means they were old enough that either they could read this epistle for themselves or understand the message if someone should have read it to them.

As already pointed out, The word translated as ‘little children’ (from the Greek word paidion) indicates one who is new to the faith but one who does not have a personal relationship with the speaker. On the other hand those whom John addresses as ‘little children’ (translated from the Greek word teknion) were a group who were new to faith in Christ with whom the apostle John seems to have had a personal relationship. Perhaps he had led them to Christ. To this second group of newcomers to the faith he says, “I write unto you, my little children, (Greek teknia) because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.” (2:12) When one has given himself to Christ and Christ has claimed him as his own, only then he comes under the name of Christ. It is only when sinners come into an intimate relationship to Christ, who triumphed over sin, that God forgives them for their trespasses.

To the other recent converts whom John had not personally led to Christ he says, “I have written unto you little children (Greek paidia) because ye know the Father.” (2:13b) Jesus has told us plainly that he is the only one who can make God, who is called the Father, fully known. Jesus said, “no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27b ASV)

To the most mature followers of Christ whom he calls ‘Fathers’ (Greek pateres) the apostle says that he is writing and has written to them before, “because [they] know him who is from the beginning.” (Verse 13, 14) These seem to have been men who had known Christ personally. They “had been converted at the very commencement of Christianity, and had seen the eternal Word manifested in the flesh.” [Clarke]

To those followers of Christ who were in the prime and vigor of manhood, both physically and spiritually, Christ’s Apostle said, “I write unto you, young men, (Greek neaniskoi) because ye have overcome the evil one.” He also reminded them of his previous message by saying, “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one.” (Verse 14) At the peak of one’s youth, because every desire is strong, Satan has many ways to entice and ensnare those who are at that period of life. But these ‘young men’ through the power of Christ which they had received because “the word of God” was abiding in them, had “overcome the evil one.”

The reason for his message to the three distinct groups of converts to Christ was not that there was any doubt as to their standing or progress as followers of Christ, but rather to encourage them to further achievements and to caution them against temptation from which even they could never be totally free. Just as those to whom the Apostle John wrote needed to make continual progress in Christ, so must we.

The Apostle’s exhortations are also a reminder to followers of Christ in every period of history that we are urged to do righteousness and to manifest love. We are also reminded in the following verses that we are not beyond the dangers which come from the perilous allurements and fascinations of the world.

In our last program we learned how to evaluate the truth of any religious system. In today’s program we will learn how to evaluate our own relationship to God. In the second chapter of his first general epistle, Christ’s Apostle John tells us in verse nine: “He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now.” (ASV)

With the words, “he is in the light” John gives us help in checking the validity of a third claim to spiritual soundness. The first claim was, “I know him.” (1 John 2:4) A second claim was, “we abide in him.” (1 John 2:6) Now, the third claim is, “I am in the light.” As we have already seen, that ‘light’ dispels hatred. If hatred is still present in our hearts, then we are not, “in the light.” Do we still participate in family, clan, racial or personal hatreds? If so, we are not yet “in the light.” In verses 9 and 10 walking in the light is illustrated by following the divinely given precept of love for our brethren.

In a previous program we saw the inclusive definition of ‘light’ from 1 John 1:6. In that verse we are told that those who “walk in darkness” “lie, and do not the truth.” As darkness is the opposite of light so lying is the opposite of truth. Thus we conclude that since darkness represents lying, light represents truth. We are also told by John in the gospel which God wrote through him that God’s word is truth. (cf. John 17:17.) Part of the message of God’s word is the truth about loving and hating other people. It is that part of the truth which is used here as a way for us to determine whether we are in the light or in the darkness.

1 John 2:10 goes on to say that, “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.” (ASV) The phrase, “abideth in the light” is very important. Coming occasionally into the light is not enough, we must abide in it. It must be our life style; our regular habit of life.

When a person abides in the light, “there is no occasion of stumbling in him.” Brotherly love sets a beneficial example. It abides in the light, that is, it follows the truth. If we compromise the truth, not only do we harm ourselves but we set a wrong example before our brethren. This may cause them great harm. In sharp contrast to an example which disregards the light and, thus, sets a dangerous example, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor:” (Romans 13:10 ASV)

Should we not abide in the light our example might cause others also to disregard the light. Thus, we would have caused them to stumble. That would be a flagrant violation of brotherly love.

Everyone should know that he “that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:11 ASV) The phrase, “he that hateth his brother” introduces us to a very frightening truth. John states the same truth both positively and negatively. We have just seen that “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light.” That is the positive statement. On the other hand, “he that hateth his brother is in the darkness.” That is the negative statement. Even with these explicit criteria can we properly evaluate ourselves? It requires great honesty. We must not overrate our love. Also, we must not deny hatred if it should be in our heart.

Darkness is injurious to any person who remains in it. This passage tells us that “darkness hath blinded his eyes” It means that the sin of hating a brother has blinded the eyes of the one who hates. However, it is not only the sin of hatred which blinds, but all sin does the same thing. It is true to say that sin always blinds its practitioners. Whenever we reject the truth, that rejection blinds us because we are groping without truth to guide us! If we reject the truth about brotherly love, it will also effect other areas in our lives. Rejecting such an important truth as our responsibility to love our brethren, will cause other truth to be taken from us.

Scripture tells us that some people “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11 ASV cf. Matthew 13:10-12.) We will, then, be forced to grope as a blind person. We will not understand where we are going or what we are doing. In that case, we become extremely vulnerable to Satan’s efforts to lead us further astray.

Hatred comes in many forms. Surely those who explode bombs in market places, in buses, on trains, in airplanes and other places, bombs which kill and maim people indiscriminately are full of hate. Consequently they are in the thickest and densest darkness. But many people show hatred for their fellow humans in less notorious ways than those who kill and maim with bombs. Failure to respond to human need is perhaps the most widely practiced form of hatred. Later in this same short book of scripture we are asked, “Whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17) Only Jesus Christ can change our hearts so we no longer hate but show love to everyone.

We are to walk as Christ walked. A major part of that walk or that life style is how we relate to other people. From the time of Adam till the coming of the Messiah, God gave various methods to man by which he wanted them to worship him. These were not the ultimate arrangement to which God was slowly bringing man. Those early methods were revealed bit by bit. Scripture says they were revealed “by divers portions” (Hebrews 1:1 ASV). Those were tentative and preparatory arrangements for worship, not intended to be in place throughout all time or to be practiced simultaneously in every part of the whole world.

In sharp contrast, Jesus Christ revealed God’s ultimate divine system in its entirety. That is why, Christ’s Apostle John, in this his first letter, wrote to the followers of the Messiah and told them in chapter two, verse seven, “I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.” (1 John 2:7) When the revelation which came through Jesus the Messiah was proclaimed for the very first time, the listeners were told that, “to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.” (Acts 2:39 ASV). Thus, this revelation would never need any additions or any amendments to adapt or amend it for the benefit of generations of people born centuries after it was first preached.

Once we have received this revelation we never need “a new command.” Thus the “old commandment which [we] have had since the beginning” is complete and it is adequate. Obviously then, any religious system which alters, modifies, changes, adds to or takes away from the revelation which has come for all time to the whole human race through Jesus Christ to his Apostles, and from them to us, is wrong. Such an amended system does not have God’s approval upon it. Only those who accept and obey the old “command” – that is the command which came from the beginning of the age of the Messiah, which we who have discovered the way of salvation through Jesus Christ have had since the beginning, will have God’s approval.

Christ’s Apostle John wrote “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.” (1 John 2:7) Yet, in the very next verse he tells us, “Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.” (1 John 2:8, NIV) Here where John mentions “a new command” he is quoting the words of Jesus which he uttered when he gave a radically new commandment for those who wish to please God. When Jesus gave that special commandment he said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34)

When Jesus used the expression, ‘new commandment’ he was contrasting it with the commands which had previously been given in the law of Moses. At the time John wrote, the ‘new commandment’ was part of that complete revelation of God’s will to man which is called ‘the old commandment’ which is mentioned in verse 7. The law of Moses did have a command to love others. It said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Leviticus 19:18.) Thus, while the old covenant obligated one to love his neighbor, the standard for that love was the love one had for himself. In sharp contrast, Jesus gave a new commandment. He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34) According to the command which Jesus gave, we are to love as he loved. When we use the love of Christ as the standard, then love has reached the ultimate level. We know it is the ultimate level of love because, “for the [benefit of a] good man some one would even dare to die.” (Romans 5:7) But Jesus went far beyond this, for “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

The Apostle John tells us, the new command to love, “is true in him and in you”. This explains another sense in which the commandment was new. First, it was new “in him” because he revealed it and demonstrated love at this high level for the first time in all human history. Secondly, it is new “in you” that is in and among the followers of Christ. Those who followed Christ were the first social group to practice brotherly love on the level which Jesus had demonstrated and commanded. Though it was true in them, it was a practice they had carried out from the very beginning of the church. Thus, at the time John wrote, it was not a novel practice among the followers of Christ. Thus, John tells us in verse 7, he was not writing a ‘new commandment.’

John next told those to whom he wrote, “the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth.” (1 John 2:8 ASV) Because of the practice of brotherly love at the high level which Jesus commanded was going on among his followers, the Apostle John could say that the darkness is passing away and the “true light already shineth.” He means it was shining in them, among them and around them. Those who follow Christ welcome the light. They do not oppose it or resist it.

The ‘darkness’ probably refers to all the lies which promote hatred. The light is probably the truth which promotes brotherly love. The truth tells us that men are God’s creation, they are dear to him, that the real enemy is Satan, not someone who may have hurt us. The demonstration of brotherly love which The followers of Christ were giving was due in part to the excellence of the revelation of the will of God, “the true light.” The followers of Christ live in the sunlight age of revelation. In earlier ages God revealed the truth as fast as man would receive it. Many times God had to patiently give revelation slowly because of man’s stubbornness. The true light was shining but all the darkness had not yet been dispelled. Unfortunately, that is often still true. But the light will, ultimately, be triumphant.

Every person needs an advocate in order that he may stand successfully before God’s judgment bar when he calls each one of us into his presence. God has appointed a great Advocate for each one of us, Jesus Christ, the Righteous. We should always remember that this is just one of the ways God has expressed his love for each one of us. None of us is able to provide an advocate for himself who can help us when each of us must stand before God to defend our behavior. (See Matthew 16:27)

As we have just said, God has made the great Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, available to every person. But we must accept him and must also know that he has accepted us. Only then will he be willing to represent us and plead our cause on the day of judgment. The assurance of our acceptance of him and of his acceptance of us comes through a change in our behavior which is brought about when we accept the Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and when he accepts us. The basic change in our behavior through which we are assured that we know the Advocate and the Advocate knows us is obedience. Before we accepted Jesus to be our personal Advocate we “turned every one to his own way.” (Isaiah 53:6) But when we accept the Advocate and he accepts us, then he helps us bring about a fundamental change in our life style so that now we become obedient to God through the Advocate whom he has appointed to help us.

Christ’s Apostle John tells us that, “hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3) This is the test by which we can know the condition of our relationship to the Advocate. Perhaps we know many sacred truths. Also, we may be able to cite some lengthy religious creed. However, these achievements are not proofs that we know Jesus as our Advocate. Real fellowship with The Advocate is proved by doing his will.

Since we are assured that, “we know him, if we keep his commandments,” each of us wants to know if this keeping of his commandments requires sinless obedience. Everyone who accepts the Advocate whom God has appointed should certainly have the desire for sinless obedience. This is obvious from the fact that the Advocate whom God has appointed for us is Jesus Christ the sinless one. There should never be a time when we desire to fall below the perfection which Jesus himself demonstrated in his life. Anything less than this desire would be evil desire (Colossians 3:5).

But though our goal is to “keep his commandments,” we must also realize that we constantly do fall below our desire for complete obedience to Christ. In view of 1 John 1:8-2:2, it is impossible to understand that John intended to say that we must reach sinless perfection before we could, “know him.”

If we had always lived our lives with sinless perfection we would then have no need for an advocate to plead our cause before God. Also, in that case we would be liars if we acknowledged our sins, but John tells us we are liars if we fail to acknowledge them. The meaning of ‘keep’ is clarified in the next verse, that is 1 John 2:4. It says, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”

‘Keep’ is translated from the present tense of a Greek verb (taireo) which expresses the concept of, “Continued action. The action of the verb is shown in progress, as going on.” (W.H. Davis, Beginner’s Grammar of the Greek New Testament, (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1923), p. 25.) Thus the test is based on a person’s continued practice or action. Disobedience is the continual or habitual action of the godless while among them obedience is rare and coincidental. With those who have accepted the Advocate, on the other hand, obedience is the general practice while disobedience is the exception and is comparatively rare.

Now, through John, God allows us to look deeper into our own hearts. The obedience which we must demonstrate in order to have the help of the Advocate can only grow out of a change in our affections. “…but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that are in him:” (1 John 2:5) Here “his word” is used interchangeably with “his commandments” in the previous verse.

In 1 John 2:6 we learn more about a proper relationship to our Advocate. It says, “he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.”

In the Greek language, in which this was first written, the expression “abideth in him” means one remains in him. The expression “abideth in him”, communicates the two important points: first, that the relationship to God which the followers of the Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, have is not just a series of encounters but a stable way of life; second, that the stability does not imply inertia, that is a static life style, but a vitality visible in the way one walks.

The expression, “walk even as he walked.” shows that Jesus, the Advocate, sets the standard. for our moral conduct. When we accept him as our Advocate, God performs a moral miracle in our lives so subsequently we may live as he did. We will not be perfectly sinless as he was but there will be a radical transformation in our manner of life so our life style regularly and consistently resembles his.

In our next program we will see from the immediately following text, that the most critical aspect of the change in our life style refers to the standard by which we express brotherly love. Jesus taught us that we are to love, not as we love ourselves, but as he loved. He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34 ASV) Thus, Jesus set a new standard for brotherly love. When we follow that standard we are walking “even as he walked.”