By Dennis Pollock
The book of 1 John is not especially popular among many Bible readers. It is never quoted or admired like Paul’s epistles, like Romans and Ephesians. While the Gospel of John is probably the most popular book of the Bible, the first epistle of John is one of the least popular among the New Testament books. This is a shame because there is a lot of spiritual meat in this little epistle.
There are a couple of themes that are clearly expressed in this book. The first theme, which all Christians appreciate and magnify, is the love of God. The second theme, which is far more controversial, is the evidence of salvation in the life of believers.
Let’s begin by looking at the theme of the love of God. In the third chapter, John writes: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). One of the most common expressions of those redeemed by Christ is that we become children of God. Yes, we are disciples of Jesus, we are members of the army of God, and we are servants of God. But the one thing God seems to say more than anything else is that through Christ we become God’s children. And as God’s children, our Heavenly Father loves us immensely.
Later, John writes: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God…” (1 John 4:7). John gives us an exhortation, and then he gives the reason for the exhortation. What are we to do? Love one another! And why must we do this? Love is from God. To be born of this God of love, and not to love our brothers and sisters who are also born of God, is impossible. God exudes love, and it is expected that those who receive His nature through the new birth, and faith in Jesus, will also manifest that love. In this same chapter, John says twice: “God is love.” John has been called the apostle of love. In this epistle and the Gospel of John, we read much about the love of God.
Undeniable
No one could deny this, and no one would want to deny it. Who of us does not take comfort in the reality that our God and Father, the One who created all things and upholds them from day to day, is filled with love for all His creation? It would be depressing to think that this omnipotent God does not like us very much. But John tells us that He doesn’t just like us; He loves us!
But there is a second theme that saturates the words of this little epistle that some people are not as enthusiastic about. Throughout this book, John tells us repeatedly that there must be evidence in our lives that we truly belong to Jesus, and he gets very specific about the nature of this evidence. This evidence is not physical. When a man or a woman receives Jesus and the gift of eternal life, they look the same. Nor does their personality change too much. If they were quiet and introverted before receiving Jesus, they will continue to be introverted. If they laughed and talked a lot before receiving Jesus, they would still laugh and talk a lot. But there will be some changes – in fact John tells us that there must be changes or else any claims we have about our faith are false. These changes, or evidence, are indicators that the miracle has happened. We have passed from darkness to light. We have been transferred from Satan’s dominion into God’s family. This short, five-chapter book is riddled with various forms of evidence. This must have been at the forefront of John’s mind when he wrote this.
“We Lie”
In the first chapter, John writes: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 1:6). This may seem vague. What exactly is it to “walk in darkness”? John will get more specific throughout the book. But here we find a major premise of John, and that is that it is possible to say you have fellowship with Christ, and yet you are lying. In other words, you don’t have fellowship with Christ, but you think and declare that you do. Anyone who “says” that he fellowships with Jesus, must, in some way, be a believer. But according to John, he is not a genuine believer. He thinks he’s a Christian, and says he’s a Christian, but in truth, he is a liar because he is not a Christian at all. He is deceiving himself.
In the second chapter, John writes: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4). Once again, John is calling a certain class of professing Christians, liars. And who would that be? People who say they know Jesus but do not keep His commandments! Some might protest: “Wait a minute! Salvation comes by believing in Jesus, not by keeping any commandments!” And I’m sure John would agree with you. After all, it was in his gospel account that he quoted Jesus saying, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). But here he tells us that those who profess to know Jesus but refuse to keep His commandments are lying – to themselves and everybody else. He is not saying that keeping God’s commandments saves us, but he is insisting that if our faith is genuine and comes from God, the result will be that we are given a heart that eagerly desires to follow the commands and precepts of our God.
If this were not in the Bible, and I preached this concept, Christians would be ready to denounce me as a false prophet. But the problem is, I did not come up with this, the apostle John did, the one considered the closest to Jesus of all the apostles. If anyone knows what they are talking about, theologically, it should be John. John is insisting that there should be a very tight link between our faith and our lifestyle. We cannot “say” we know Jesus, and live a wicked life of sexual immorality, constant anger, harshness, and bitterness.
“He Who Says”
In another place, John writes: “He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.” (1 John 2:9). Are you seeing a pattern here? John keeps hammering on the words: “He who says,” “he who says,” “he who says.” You say you are a Christian, you say you have believed in Jesus, you say you are going to heaven, you say you are in the light, but you don’t live the life Christ demands, and therefore all your saying and professing and declaring mean nothing. You have no love for your brothers and sisters; you are still in the darkness, you don’t follow the commands of Christ, you are just lying to others and yourself.
In another place John writes: “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John 2:29). Here John says the same thing but in a slightly different way. He tells us that people who are born of God through faith in Jesus will practice righteousness. The implication is unmistakable: those who do not practice a righteous lifestyle have never experienced this new birth. (23:25). Many Christians today would hate this verse if they ever read it and do their best to ignore it or pass over it quickly because they will never admit that justification and salvation virtually always lead to a changed lifestyle. They are so fixated on being a “sinner saved by grace” that they cannot accept John’s teaching that major evidence of the new birth is that you “practice righteousness.”
In reading this and comparing it with other passages written by Paul, you might suppose that John and Paul were on two sides of the fence, theologically. But that is not the case. Paul is saying that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, to which we say a hearty “Amen!” and John is saying that evidence of this faith experience with Christ is that we love our brothers and sisters and practice righteousness, to which we also say a great big “Amen!”
