I John Chapter 2

THE ADVOCACY OF CHRIST

Verse 1, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;"

LGT "My little children, these things I am writing to you in order that you might not sin. And if anyone might sin, we will be having an advocate (nose to nose) with the Father, Jesus Christ (the) righteous One."

"My little children."

This first phrase is further proof that John is writing to believers. John is writing this epistle late in his life and because of this he is addressing the church as his little children. John is a spiritual father to them. He had been the pastor of the Ephesian church earlier in his life. He addresses the churches in chapter two rather than at the beginning of the letter as Paul does. This is due to the fact that it is probably an encyclical letter to be sent around to the different churches of Asia-Minor. Commentators refer to it as a general epistle, which is different from the Apostle Paul's letters addressed to specific people and churches.

J. Vernon McGee says this about John's use of 'little children':

'My little children' is an interesting expression. It comes from the Greek word 'teknia' and probably should be translated 'my little born ones' or 'my little born-again ones.' I like the Scottish term best, 'my little bairns.' (J.Vernon McGee T.T.B.).

"These things write I unto you that you sin not."

John is very concerned that the believer isn't swayed by the false teachers (Gnostics) that were teaching them that sin wasn't a problem for the believer, saying that he was most concerned that they would not sin because of the danger of losing fellowship with the Father, and that now we have an advocate to plead our case.

" While insisting, against the false teachers, that it is wrong to say either that 'we have no sin' or that 'we have not sinned', John does not wish to give his readers the idea that sin may be regarded as a normal phenomenon in the Christian life. Far from it: the main purpose of his touching the subject at all is to put them on their guard against committing sin. Sin, indeed, is so thoroughly uncharacteristic of the Christian life that a life which is marked by sin cannot be called Christian; this is a point to which John returns in chapter three" (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce).

John is also concerned with the false teaching of another sect that was saying that they had reached a place of sinless perfection. There are some Pentecostals today that claim to have reached this plateau of sinless-ness. Even though John is writing this letter in order that the believers will understand the grave results of sinning and losing fellowship, he in no way is teaching them that they will reach this state of sinless perfection. We are made perfect by the work of Christ on the cross, and so it is not the doctrine of positional truth John is addressing, but every-day personal sin that needs to be confessed in order to remain 'walking in the light of fellowship'.

J. Vernon McGee illustrates this state of sinless perfection:

"None of us has reached that exalted plane, although there are those who claim sinless perfection. I am reminded of an occasion when a speaker was emphasizing the fact that nobody is perfect. Finally he became very dramatic and oratorical and asked, 'Is there anybody here who has ever seen a perfect man?' No one responded until one little fellow in the back of the auditorium, sort of a Mr. Milquetoast, put up his hand.

The speaker asked, 'Have you seen a perfect man?'

The little fellow stood to his feet and said, 'Well, I have never seen him, but I have heard about him.'

'Who is he?'

'He is my wife's first husband.'

Well, I imagine he had heard about him a great deal! But the truth is that none of us has reached that exalted position of perfection. (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

The 'if' is probably better rendered 'when' not 'if.' I'm sure John is not saying 'if' in the sense that maybe some of them would not sin.

"In the New Testament the word 'Advocate' (Greek word parakletos) is found only five times, all in John's writings; its four other occurrences are in the Gospel, on the lips of Jesus, in reference to the Holy Spirit as 'another Advocate' - or, as the Revised Standard Version has it, 'another counselor' (John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7). The implication of the expression 'another Advocate' is that Jesus Himself is the primary Advocate. While the word itself does not appear outside John's writings, the idea, which it conveys, is embedded in primitive Christian teaching. Paul speaks of the Spirit as one who 'intercedes for the saints' (Rom.8:26, 27) and describes Jesus as the one 'who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us' (Rom. 8:34). (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)

J. Vernon McGee defines an advocate:

"Advocate - a Paraclete, a helper - is a legal term. It means 'one who will come to your side to help in every time of need.' We have a wonderful heavenly Father, and we don't lose our salvation when we sin, but there is somebody up there wants us to lose it, and that is Satan. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. In Revelation 12:10 we are told that he accuses us before our God day and night. Satan is there at the throne of God accusing you and accusing me. Remember how he accused Job. In effect, he said to God, 'If you will let me get to him, I'll show you that he will curse you.' When that happens in our case, the Lord Jesus is able to step in as our Advocate. He died for us! Yet the accuser is there, and some folk are very disturbed by that. But the Advocate is far greater than the accuser. Someone has expressed this in beautiful poetic language:

I hear the accuser roar

Of ills that I have done

I know them well, and thousand more

Jehovah findeth none.

Though the restless foe accuses

Sins recounting like a flood,

Ev'ry charge our God refuses;

Christ has answered with His blood.

(Author unknown)

Notice that John does not say that if anyone repents, he has an Advocate nor if anyone confesses his sins, he has an Advocate. Neither does he say that if anyone goes through a ceremony to get rid of his sins, he has an Advocate. What he does say is that if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father. Before we even repent of that cruel or brutal word we said, the very moment we had that evil thought, and the moment we did that wrong act, Jesus Christ was there at the throne of God to represent us as Satan was there accusing us. Then, because of the faithful advocacy of Christ, the Holy Spirit brings conviction to us, and we confess our sin to the Father. As we said before, to confess means that we get on God's side and see our sin from His viewpoint and confess that it is sin.

The sincere child of God wants to please the Father, and he walks along with that in mind (That is walking in the light). The Psalmist expressed it this way: 'Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting' (Psalms 139:23-24).

Dr. Harry Ironside has illustrated the confession that God requires with an incident in his own home. He had trouble one evening with one of his boys, so he sent the boy upstairs and told him not to come down to supper until he confessed the thing he had done wrong. The boy would not admit anything at all. Finally the boy called for Dr. Ironside to come upstairs and asked if he could go down to supper. His father said, 'it depends upon you.' The boy said, 'If you think I have done something wrong, I am sorry.' His father said. 'That won't do.' Later the boy called him upstairs again, and this time he changed his story a little. He said, 'Well, since you and mother both think I have done something wrong, I guess I have. I want to come down to supper.' Once again his Father told him that that wasn't good enough. Dr. Ironside went downstairs, and later on he heard the boy almost weeping. He said, 'Dad, please forgive me. I know I have done wrong. Please forgive me.' Then the lad came downstairs, and the family had a wonderful supper together because fellowship had been restored." (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

Verse 2, "And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

LGT "And He is a satisfaction (propitiation, expiation) concerning our sins, moreover, not concerning ours only, but also concerning the sins of the entire world."

"And He is the propitiation for our sins."

The word 'propitiation' in the Greek is 'hilasmos' meaning to expiate, atone for, to satisfy. Christ death on the Cross satisfied God's just demand for a sin sacrifice. The Just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. Christ the perfect Lamb of God took away the sin of the world. Christ died for the world in a general sense that anyone has the opportunity to accept Christ and become a member of this divine family, and He died for the saved ones personally as their Savior. God is perfectly satisfied with Christ sacrifice to atone for sin, the 'penalty has been paid for, once for all.'

"There is no question of this Advocate's having to extort a favorable verdict from a reluctant Judge; His presence before the Father is advocacy enough by itself, for He is there as the 'propitiation' for His peoples sins. With the word 'hilasmos' (Greek for 'propitiation', used in the New Testament only here and in I John 4:10) we may compare 'hilasterion' (from the same verb root) in Romans 3:25. We need not stay to enquire whether 'expiation' or 'remedy for defilement' would be a preferable rendering of 'hilasmos'; 'propitiation' or 'atonement' will do well enough, if we use either word in its Biblical sense - not as something which men must do to placate (satisfy) God, but something which God has provided in His grace to bring men into His presence with the assurance that they are accepted by him, since he has removed the barrier that kept them at a distance - guilt, with its attendant retribution, the 'punishment' which is banished by 'perfect love' (4:18). 'Now in Christ Jesus,' says another New Testament letter, 'you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ' (Eph. 2:13); this is the truth that John states here in different language. Nor will John let his readers think of their blessings in restrictive terms. The propitiation that has availed to wipe out their sins is sufficient to do the same for all" (The Gospel and Epistles of John - F.F.Bruce).

"And not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world."

Have you ever heard someone say, 'you go to hell for your sins?' Well, I am here to tell you, 'It just isn't so,' actually the Bible says 'It isn't so.' Not for ours only, but the sins of the whole world. There are some out in the world that think Christ's death on the cross only satisfied God for believer's sins. When Christ died He removed all sin from condemning sinners. A person will never go to hell for sin, only for refusing to allow Christ's atonement to avail for them. When a person does not accept Christ as personal Savior, he or she is hell bound. I didn't make this up the Bible states it very clearly, "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Again, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, "For by grace are ye saved by means of faith, and that not of your own effort; it is a gift from God, not by means of your good works, so that no one is able to boast." [That is to say, they had anything to do with their own salvation] (Eph.2:8&9, translation-mine) So you see the Bible clearly teaches that sin has been completely paid for, so now no one can honestly say that a person goes to hell because they are sinners. We are all sinners, the difference is, that as believers in God's only begotten Son, we are saved by His grace. The only sin Christ could not pay for is not allowing Him to propitiate your sins. Unless a person will put their trust in Christ's atonement, 'you will all likewise perish.'

Jesus is 'the general Savior of mankind' as well as the particular Savior of each believer. According to the Fourth Gospel, He is 'the true light that enlightens every man' (John 1:9) or, in the forerunner's (John the Baptist) language, He is 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29).

A.T. Robertson states it this way:

" At any rate, the propitiation by Christ provides salvation for all, 'But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man' (Heb.2:9) if they will only be reconciled with God, 'To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we [beg] you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For God hath made Christ, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ' (II Cor. 5:19-21)." (A.T Robertson WPNT)

Verse 3, "And by this we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

LGT "And in this one thing we are knowing that we have known Him, if His commandments we will be keeping."

John is making reference to the command Christ gave to His disciples just before he went to the Cross, "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me; and as I said unto the Jews, where I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:33-35). It is impossible to love a fellow believer without first loving God. Loving God is the first requirement of discipleship, and the second is love for the brotherhood. The Ten Commandments are not even on John's mind here, because they were given to unbelievers to bring them to a knowledge of God's Holiness; they were a 'Schoolmaster to bring them to Christ.' So many people such as the Gnostics of John and Paul's day would bring the Church under a 'yoke of bondage' of trying to teach that it is necessary to keep the Ten Commandments in order to get saved.

"The Gnostics were claiming superior knowledge of God and Christ, and John is testing them by saying 'If you are truly disciples of Christ' prove it, experientially, keep His commandments, John is writing these words to give the believers assurance not a way to be saved." (Paraphrased from A.T.Robertson's WPNT)

J. Vernon McGee writes about 'assurance':

"First of all, let me point out that this verse has nothing to do with the security of the believer. John is talking about assurance. As God's children, we are in a family. But how can we have assurance that we are in God's family? He is telling us that assurance comes by keeping His commandments (To love God and to love one another).

'If we keep his commandments' does not refer to the Ten Commandments. John is not dealing with any legal aspect; he is dealing with family matters. The Ten Commandments were given to a nation, and on these commandments every civilized nation has based its laws. The Ten Commandments are for the unsaved. (Without the Ten Commandments there would be no National Institution). Now God has something for His own family, and they are commandments for His children. For example, in Galatians 6:2 the family is told, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." In I Thessalonians 4:2 Paul tells the family of Christ, 'For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.'

"And hereby we do know that we know Him.' Remember that throughout this epistle John is answering the Gnostics who claimed to have superior knowledge that no one else had - and generally it was heresy. The apostle John is saying that the important thing is to know Jesus Christ. And how can we have the assurance that we know Him? My friend, although a great many folk believe in the security of the believer, they don't have the assurance of salvation, and the reason is obvious. We cannot know that we are children of God if we are disobedient to Him. Obedience to Christ is essential and is the very basis of assurance. You cannot have the assurance (oh, you can bluff your way through, but you cannot have the deep, down-in-your-heart assurance) unless you keep His commandments."

(T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

Verse 4, "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him."

LGT "The one who is saying that I have known Him and he is not keeping His commandments, he is a liar, and in this one the truth is not."

"He that saith, I know Him."

In verse three John is giving assurance to the believers, whereas he has no sympathy for those in verse four, who claim to know Christ by their words only. They have no concept whatsoever of 'family matters.' I believe the so-called 'churches today are full of so-called Christians. Very strong language from the apostle of love, 'they are liars, and the truth is not in them, they are not believers at all, and therefore not part of our family. The misguided parishioners of our so-called local churches are fooling themselves in to thinking that they are fellowshipping, when in reality they are simply 'socializing'.

A.T. Robertson writes concerning the Gnostics:

"I know Him' is one of the pious platitudes, cheap claptrap of the Gnostics, who would bob-up in meetings with such explosions. John punctures such bubbles with the sharp addition 'keepeth not'. 'The one who keeps on saying: 'I have come to know Him,' and keeps on 'not keeping His commandments is a liar' followed by the negative statement as in 1:8 and 10. There is a whip-cracker effect in John's words.' (A.T.Robertson's WPNT)

J.Vernon McGee contrasts verse three and four:

"I would call this very plain talk! In the previous verse John has said that we 'know' that we 'know' Him - this is the positive side. We know by experience in contrast to the esoteric (known only by a select few) knowledge of the Gnostics. Now he presents the negative side: disobedience to Christ is a proof that we do not know Him. This is plain and direct language. Disobedience to Christ on the part of professing Christians is tantamount to being a liar. In other words, his or her life is a lie." (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

I should like to add that I do not believe it is possible for one Christian to be able to tell if another person is a believer by what he observes in the persons life. I do believe that one Christian can tell if another person is a Christian by what he hears him or her say. Even though a person chooses not to obey Christ, and chooses to live as the world, the only thing that that type of living signifies is that it's hard to be able to tell what that person believes. If a Christian decides to serve the world, it only proves that he or she is not serving the Lord, and this will have a disastrous effect upon eternal rewards. Discipleship is a matter of the free will of the Christian.

Verse 5, "But whosoever keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; by this know we that we are in Him."

LGT "Moreover, whoever may be keeping His Word, truly in this one is the love of God perfected (has been brought to its goal); in this truth we are knowing that we are in Him."

"But whosoever keepeth His word."

Here in verse five John goes from saying 'keeps on keeping His commandments' to 'keeps on keeping His word.' Now is there a difference between 'commandments' and word.' I believe there is, or why would John use a different word for the same thing? I believe John is saying that we are to keep His 'commandments' (To love God and to love other believers) to insure fellowship, but we are to keep His 'word' (to study the entire 'Word of God') in order to be spiritually mature. The Greek word for 'commandment' is 'entolas' meaning 'to command or order. The word for 'word' is 'logos', 'meaning, precepts, sayings, doctrine, or generally all that Christ spoke, either directly or indirectly, through His chosen ones.' There are many other meanings to the word 'logos' such as, to speak, to say or used as a nominative (naming case or subject) in John 1:1, 'ho logos,' meaning 'The Divine One.' I think that in the context it would be safe to say that 'word' means 'doctrine' would fit quite well. To be able to love God one must know God, and the only way a person can know God is to study God's Word. Paul said, 'That I might know Him, and the fellowship of His suffering, and the power of His resurrection.' I am sure that Paul loved God and loved his fellow believers, but he said he wanted to know more, he wanted to know all about Christ. Paul also said, 'Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."(II Tim. 2:15) If John had not used the term 'perfected' I could not draw this conclusion, that, to have fellowship we must 'keep His command', but to be completed in Him we must 'keep His word.'

J. Vernon McGee has an illustration that seems to illustrate what I am trying to express fairly well:

"Suppose the home of a young boy is in the country. His father is a farmer. One day, when the boy is on his way to school, his father says, 'Son, I'll milk the cow when I come in from the field each day, but when you get home from school I want you to chop wood, put it on the back porch, and tell your mama so she can make a fire in the cook stove and in the fireplace.' When the boy comes home, he obeys his father's commandment that he chops wood. He spends about an hour and a half chopping wood after school, and he stacks it on the back porch. Then one morning at the breakfast table, the father says, 'I don't feel well today, I feel so bad that I don't think I can go out and work in the field today.' But he goes out anyway. Now when the boy comes home from school, although his only commandment is to chop wood, he knows that his father is sick and doesn't feel like milking the cow, so he not only chops the wood but he milks the cow also. He chops the wood because he was commanded to do so, but he milks the cow because he loves his father. In the same way a child of God should want to obey God's commands, but he also should want to (study and then) obey the Word of God." (J. Vernon McGee T.T.B.)

We know that God has commanded us to love Him and to love other believers, but there are other doctrines in the Word of God that we should learn in order to be able to appreciate the reason He saved us, and the reason we must love one another. I think it is impossible to just obey God, if were' not able to discern what it is we are to obey. To put it another way: God cannot be separated from His Word, so the only way to possibly be able know the mind of God, or to know what the divine viewpoint of life is, is in God's Holy Word. It is impossible to love God without knowing God, and it is also impossible to know God without knowing His Word.

'In this one', is referring to the obedient child that is studying the Word of God and then obeying how the Word of God is directing the child to 'walk in the light'

"Truly is the love of God perfected."

'Love of God' is an objective genitive, which means that God is the object of the love and therefore it would be understood by John's audiences as 'our love for God is perfected.' God loves all of His children equally, that is, with a perfect love, a love that could never be improved upon. Now our love for God can mature and improve to the point that we are able to understand what divine love really is. As we obey Bible doctrine, we are able to appreciate the true meaning of the un-emotional true love for God. As A.R. Fausset states in his commentary, "In proportion as we love God, we know Him: until our 'love' and 'knowledge' shall attain their full maturity of perfection."

F.F. Bruce states it this way:

"The love of God' here is 'our love for God' (in other words, 'of God' represents the objective genitive): as our knowledge of God is to be tested by our obedience, so too is our love for Him - in fact, obedience is the full flowering of our love for Him. 'This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments' (I John 5:3). What is involved in this perfection of love is spelt out in greater detail in I John 4:12,17ff. There too is made plain that the love of believers for God (and for one another) is the response to His love for them". (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)

I believe another way in which we can know that the love of God is perfected in us is that we care more about pleasing our heavenly Father than in pleasing the world, that is, those in the world. All of us get caught up in caring about what other's think of us 'approbation lust.' We all desire to be well thought of by others. If we are honest we have to admit that most of what we buy is to impress others. Also our actions speak so loudly that we are so concerned with how we are perceived by others. As our desires start to shift from these worldly concerns to being concerned what our Father in heaven is thinking about our actions, we will know that our love for Him is being perfected, or perfectly being realized. As this process is taking place we will begin to desire the fellowship of our fellow believers and less time spent with unbelievers. The time spent in worldly pursuits are useless socializing, not fellowship, for fellowship cannot be had apart from God's word, either in study or in discussion.

"By this know we that we are in Him."

This last phrase should read, 'hereby we know that we are in Him', and it introduces verse six.

Verse 6, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked."

LGT "The one who is claiming that he is abiding in Him, just as that One walked around, he is morally obligated also himself (thus) to be walking around."

Abiding in Christ is walking constantly in fellowship. There is an interesting term used in this verse 'ought.' The Greek meaning is 'morally obligated.' If we make a claim to be in an abiding relationship with the Father, we must take advantage of His Word, and obey His doctrine. The Greek word for 'abide' is to 'remain.' God made provision for our sin natures, 'Sin shall not have dominion over you.' I am getting ahead of myself in this exposition.

As we study the 'life of Christ' we can plainly see how He desires us to walk around. We will want to please the 'One' who died for us, and intercedes for us, if we love Him. It is a natural thing to want to please the ones we love. That is why sometimes we give gifts to our loved ones, simply because we love them.

THE NEW COMMANDMENT

Verse 7, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning."

LGT "Beloved, (I am not writing a new commandment to you), but an old commandment you were having from the beginning. The old commandment is the Word you heard."

'Brethren' is the word used in the KJV (The King James Version). The word in the Greek is 'agapetoi' meaning 'Beloved.' [This is the first instance of this favorite form of address in these epistles (3:2, 21; 4:1, 7' III John 1, 2, 5, 11; WPNT A.T. Robertson].

"I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning."

The first thing to determine is what beginning is John referring. I believe it is obvious by the context that it is referring to the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry. John is referring to Christ's word's he recorded in his Gospel account, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34, 35) This message of 'love for God' and 'love for one another' was not new. These people residing in the churches knew this 'love doctrine' well. So John says, this commandment is not new, but is old. The main thing is that it is still the same, and is required; if anyone is to have the assurance that God's love will be perfected in them.

"Love and obedience are inextricably interwoven because all the commandments of God are summed up in the law of love. 'You shall love the Lord your God' was the authoritative summary of the Old Testament law (Deut. 6:5), and when Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment of all, this was the one which He quoted, coupling with it the similar commandment of Lev.19:18, enjoining love to one's neighbor (Mark 12:28ff.). These words of Jesus were embedded from the earliest days in the apostles' witness: 'the whole law,' says Paul, 'is fulfilled in one word, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Gal. 5:14; cf. Rom. 13:8-10). So John, in underlining afresh the law of love, is not telling his readers anything they did not already know; it is no innovation but 'an old commandment' which they had been taught 'from the beginning' - an expression which, as in the opening clause of the epistle, denotes the beginning of the Gospel. The apostolic witness, whom they received at the commencement of their Christian experience, included both the record of God's saving work in Christ and instruction (based on the teaching of Christ Himself) about the way of life befitting the beneficiaries of this saving work. In this 'word' which they 'heard' in those early days the commandment of love had a foremost place; in this sense it was an old 'commandment.'

(The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce)

Verse 8, "Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth."

LGT "Again (I say) I am writing a new commandment to you (which is) the truth is in Him and in you, that the darkness is passing away, and the light (which is truth) is already shining."

"Again, a new commandment I write unto you."

"This aspect of the 'new commandment' will be insisted upon repeatedly in this epistle, and indeed it is implied here, where John tells his readers that the substance of this commandment has come 'true [perfectly] in Him [i.e. in Christ] and [in measure] in you.' But here it is 'a new commandment' because it is the characteristic of the new age. Christ, the Light of the world, came to dispel the darkness of sin and ignorance and to inaugurate the era of light and love. The language is not peculiar to the Johannine writings in the New Testament. In I Thess. 5:5, for example, Paul says, 'you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness;' in Col. 1:12 ff. God has qualified His people 'to share in the inheritance of the saints in light' and has delivered them 'from the dominion of darkness,' while in Eph. 5:8 believers in Christ are told: 'once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.' But the terminology of light and darkness is especially characteristic of John, and he uses it to describe the difference that Christ has made. Jewish eschatology distinguished 'this age' from 'that age,' i.e. the resurrection age (cf. Luke 20:34 ff.), sometimes interposing 'the days of the Messiah' between the two. This general framework is adopted by the New Testament writers, but it is radically modified and re-interpreted in terms of the work of Christ. In His ministry the new age ('the Kingdom of God') is in process of inauguration; when His ministry is crowned by His death and resurrection, it is fully inaugurated (the Kingdom of God has 'come with power'). The 'days of Messiah' have begun with His exaltation to the throne of God, from which He reigns until God has put all His enemies beneath His feet (I Cor. 15:25). For His people the new age has been anticipated; having died with Him they share His resurrection life and are already enthroned with him in the heavenly realm, in the sense of Eph. 2:6. Eternal life ('the life of the age to come') is theirs to possess and enjoy here and now. [I must interject at this point that what Bruce is referring to in this passage is 'positional truth.' Positional truth is all that Christ has accomplished for all believers are their possessions now and will be realized in eternity. For instance, Eternal Life is the possession of all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, however, all will physically die. It is necessary, for this mortal body must die in order to put on the immortal. We all can rest assured, though, we do have eternal life]. All this is made possible for them by the Spirit, who both makes effective in them what Christ did for them and enables them to realize the heritage of glory which will be theirs in fullness at the consummation (that is, when we all stand face to face with our Savior). But as long as the new age (please don't confuse this concept of 'new age' with the contemporary 'new age') is inaugurated but not yet consummated (as it will be by the Parousia - coming - of Christ), the old age is still in being. Believers who belong spiritually to 'that age' live temporarily in 'this age.' Although 'the true light' is already shining, the darkness has not passed completely away; it is in process of 'passing away.' Thanks to the victory of Christ, the outcome is a forgone conclusion, but the conflict (of the flesh) is still going on. Hence the tensions of Christian life in the present world, a tension reflected throughout this epistle, not to say throughout the whole New Testament. In the words of Lord Eustace Percy:

'Ever since Christianity was first preached the Christian citizen has been a puzzle both to himself and to his rulers. By the elementary necessities of his creed he has been a man living in two worlds. In one he has been a member of a national community, in the other of a community 'taken out of the nations.' In one he has been bound to obey and enforce the laws of his state, in the other to measure his conduct by standards not recognized by those laws and often inconsistent with them. This dualism has been made tolerable only by the prospect of reconciliation. That prospect is, again, an elementary necessity of the Christian creed. Somehow, somewhere, the conflict of loyalties will end. The kingdom of this world will pass: the Kingdom of God will be established.' (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce)

"Which is true in Him and in you."

The disciples experienced first hand from the Savior how they were to walk. Christ's said to be my disciple requires the same love I have shown by experience, 'for God' and 'for all of you.' Now says Christ to His followers of this generation and every generation to follow, 'walk as you see me walk.' This principle of love for 'God' and love for 'God's children' is first true in Christ, and then it is also true in every believer. I can't think of anything more important than this true Christian love, which we see in the pages of the New Testament from Christ, and John, and all the other apostles. We have the truth written down, inspired of God, and it is just as true today as it was as when Christ spoke it into existence, and the New Testament writers recorded it. It is still the immutable (unchanging) Word of God.

"Because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth."

After being out of the loop of so-called organized Christian fellowship, I made an attempt to go back to church, for I definitely believe we should 'not forsake the gathering together with other Christian believers.' I was out of the loop through most of the latter sixties through the eighties. I was teaching a Bible class made up of a small group of four families and my own, in a small rural farming community in central Arizona. I tried to return to church to pick up where I had left off, and much to my disgust, what I found was groups of spiritual moron's that were more concerned in making their services appeal to the world than to pleasing God. The emphasis was no longer on teaching the Word of God, but on singing little ditties (My son-in-law calls these choruses 7-11 songs, that is, 7 words sang 11 times) that are supposed to appeal to the children. I believe teaching Bible doctrine should be the whole aim of the church (church being 'assembly of believers with common goals). I think what happened to the so-called Bible believing churches is that they let the 'Jesus Freaks' come in (These were the so-called believing sector of the 'hippie-culture.' Webster defines a 'hippie' as a young person who rejects the mores of established society, by dressing unconventional and favoring communal free-sex living. They advocate a nonviolent ethic, and often use psychedelic drugs or marijuana. The males try to look like women with their long hair and ear rings, and the females try to look like men, cutting their hair short and wearing men's clothing). They came into these fellowships and began changing the establishments of the church. They were nonviolent, so the 'church fathers' welcomed them, thinking this is a demonstration of love. These 'Jesus Freaks, Peace-Nicks, Hippies', took their 'lawless-culture' into the church, and the change began. Most adults in their fifties and sixties know the 'Jesus Freaks' were directly out of that great drug and free sex-scene of the sixties that were responsible for trying to turn a patriotic America into a bunch of sniveling cowards. Most of these freaks were from the 'Liberal Universities' such as 'The University of California at Berkley'. They preached the advantages of smoking 'Pot' with the fervor of an evangelist (today I know Christians who believe its alright to do drugs, as long as you are moderate). Their slogan during the Viet Nham War was 'Make love not war.' At the forefront of these useless wastes of humanity was Hanoi Fonda (Jane Fonda) a true dyed-the-wool traitor to our country. Well, the churches thought, with their misplaced set of 'Christian-values,' they could appeal to these 'Jesus Freaks' and bring them into the church in order to 'evangelize' them. The result was that these 'Freaks' evangelized the local churches. Let me explain: First, the religious leaders were standing up and declaring that it was o.k. That a man has long hair, for they said, 'even Christ had long hair.' We all know that Christ had a crew cut. Next these teachers would teach, 'we must hate sin, not the sinner.' This is true, but what they should have been teaching is truth to the family and not trying to spend so much time giving the long- haired hippies a glad hand. The next thing to seem to go down hill was the music. Instead of playing the great classics from the past, the music is right out of the insipid minds of these idiots. I defy anyone to tell me they can tell the difference from the racket that is played in the world, and the racket that is played in the churches. They even have what they call 'Christian Rock' and 'Christian Rapp.' Watch your T.V. if you want to be repulsed. The young people get up and strum their electrical guitars to some sort of 'Jungle Beat' with long-hair and ear-rings through their noses, and ears, and through other places that I am too much of a gentleman to describe. What the church needs most are sound doctrinal Bible exegetes, and not this twentieth century progressive philosophy, of 'let's join them in order to maybe win them to Christ'. Offer them the Word of God, and if they don't want it. Too bad, that's all we have to offer!

J. Vernon McGee is much nicer than I am in his description of the church; of course he has been dead for over fifteen years so I don't believe he cares much any more:

"Believers are to do the will of God; and the will of God, first of all, is to love Him. This identifies a believer. A believer is one who delights to do the will of God. Because 'the darkness is past, and the true light shineth,' the believer ought to be able to say that he is getting to know the Lord God better and that he is understanding His will more perfectly. Schiller, the great German poet, said, 'I see clearer and clearer.' And that should be the experience of every child of God. Every day we should be growing, and it is impossible to grow, apart from the study of the Word of God. The written Word reveals the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is the Bread of Life. We will famish if we don't feed upon Him.

Let me repeat that the great problem in the world today is that the majority of believers are trying to follow a few little rules and regulations; they are programmed like a computer. They feel that they are living the Christian life if they do all those little things. Oh, my friend, you are not a computer; you are a human being. If you are a child of God, you have a new nature - although you still have your old nature in which 'In the flesh dwelleth no good thing…' (Rom. 7:18). But your new nature wants to do God's will; it wants to please Him.

'The darkness is past, and the true Light now shineth' would be better translated, 'the darkness is passing.' As you look around you today, you will see that the darkness has not passed yet. Ignorance of the Word of God is still much in evidence. The 'true light,' who is the Lord Jesus Christ, is breaking upon this world. He still is the most controversial person who has ever lived on earth" (and he didn't have long hair). (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

Verse 9, "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now."

LGT "The one who is saying that he is in the light and he is hating his brother, he is in the darkness until now."

"Hateth his brother."

A sure way to walk in the dark is to hate your fellow believer. In order to get a full impact of this verse we need to define 'hate.' The Greek word for 'hate' is 'mison' which means in this context 'to detest or abhor.' In connection with this verse it is a mental attitude that cannot persist, if we are to walk in the light. In John 3:20 we read, 'For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved'. There are going to be those in the family that simply rub you the wrong way, some may want to call this a personality conflict. There are ways to deal with those to whom you don't like besides hating them. The command from Christ is that we love Him and love His children. The fact of the matter is, that if we hate our brother, we cannot love Christ, and bingo! No fellowship. Once we start down that trail of hating a family member we are walking around in the dark, not knowing where we are going, like a drunken bum, staggering around, bumping into all kinds of objects. If we were to be asked if we hate the Lord, our immediate response would be, of course not! However, think about it. If we say we love the Lord and at the same time we say we hate a family member, we lie. It is not possible to love the Lord and not love His joint-heirs at the same time. If we love the lord we will love His family, that is, if we want to walk in the light. It's not what we say to the family, but how we treat the family. Love is not an emotional experience, but completely un-emotional, in recognizing who and what we are in Christ, and who and what the family member is in Christ, and then acting accordingly.

"The claim to be 'in the light' - once more introduced by the phrase 'he that saith' - is a claim to have fellowship with God. In chapter one verse six John has insisted that such a claim is incompatible with walking in darkness; here he insists that such a claim is incompatible with loveless behavior. No one is allowed to imagine that he can get away with a claim to be a lover of God on the ground that this is an inward attitude, invisible to other men. The twin commandments of love to God and love to one's neighbor are like two sides of a coin; the one is essential to the other. So the claim to live 'in the light,' to enjoy fellowship with the God of light, must be tested by a man's treatment of his brother. The word 'treatment' should be emphasized because, as John makes clear later, it is not a matter of sentimental feelings and language, familiar in certain brands of pietism, but loving 'in deed and in truth' [3:18]. (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)

"Is in the darkness even until now."

Make no mistake about it, John says, if a man is hating his brother he is not in fellowship, and will not be in fellowship, until he stops this hatred, and deals with it with God in confession, and then start loving that brother, then, and only then, will he be walking in the light.

Verse 10, "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him."

LGT "The one who is loving his brother is abiding in the light, and a trigger-stick or a spring-trap is not in him."

"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light."

The Greek word for 'abide' is 'menei' to 'remain.' The one loving his brother does not interrupt his fellowship with God by hating his brother therefore; he remains in the light, in fellowship, not only with God, but also with the family.

"And there is none occasion of stumbling in him."

This word 'stumbling' in Greek is 'skandalon' meaning a 'stumbling block' or 'trap,' to cause others to stumble; but it's important also that the person himself does not stumble. To practice love for the family will be a sure-fire remedy not to stumble or cause other family members to stumble. I can think of an occasion that would cause other family members to stumble at your behavior of hating a fellow believer, and that is to express your repulsion for the one you are hating, to another believer, and by this, he may also adopt your feelings of hatred, and now two of you hate and are now in darkness. I know that family members can say and do incredibly cruel and insensitive things, but our response to these things will determine whether or not we remain in the light of fellowship or not. Sharing our hurt with others instead of with God can only lead to a cause of stumbling for us, and possibly be a trigger-stick to others. Instead of gossiping to other family members about what a 'nasty bitch' our sister is, or what a dirty old pig our brother is, tell God about them. For if the truth be known, what you say to your brother or sister you are saying to Christ, for He resides in them as well as in you; so why not cut out the middle man, other family members, and go directly to the Lord. I'm sure if we do this, by the time we get around to describing the situation to the Father, things will have cooled a bit, and we will have a little more civilized conversation with our Father. As I said before, confession is for the benefit of the believer, not God.

Verse 11, "But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not wither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."

LGT "Now the one who is hating his brother, he is in darkness, and in darkness he is walking around, and is not knowing where he is departing, because the darkness blinded his eyes."

"But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness."

Whenever John spends this much time on a subject it is very, very, important. I think it is so important that John must know something we don't about the detriment of hating our brother. John concludes his exhortation to his family on the 'new command of God' 'to love God and to love our brothers' on a negative note to accentuate the importance of the positive. It must be very important to walk in the light, or John would not have spent so many words telling us that we should. John cares for all of his family and desires that they spend the maximum time in fellowship with the Father and with one another. To be in 'darkness' is to remain out of the light where absolutely nothing of value can be accomplished for the Lord, and eventually, no reward in heaven. I heard a little immature child of God's say she wasn't concerned about rewards, 'just getting to heaven was enough for her.' This may seem to be true, but I said to her, 'It must be very important to receive rewards or else the Bible would have been silent on the issue. The Word of God does not waste words. Everything in the Word of God is profitable to the family member who will take advantage of them. If it were not important to walk in the light, John would not have spent so many words saying it is important. Actually, he only needed to say it once to be true, but to repeat it over and over, only emphasizes the importance of the doctrine.

"And knoweth not wither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."

The first case in the Bible of a brother hating another brother is in the case of 'Cain hating Abel.' In this case Cain was an unbeliever and Abel a believer. Cain definitely was in darkness, but in this case he was in darkness of unbelief. If a believer falls into the trap of hating his brother, he is in darkness of being out of fellowship with his brother, and in turn out of fellowship with his Father. Some expositors have described this hatred for a brother commensurate with murder, as a type of Cain slaying Abel. They go on to say that to hate a fellow believer is to wish him dead. This seems a bit strong to me, although it is possible for a believer to harbor in their heart this acute animosity, however I also believe that hatred can involve simply not wanting anything at all to do with a brother. I think it is important to note that it's not required that one socialize with all believers, but what type of mental attitude one has for all family members is important. We are required to love each and every family member as we love Christ. God is not the Author of confusion, and has not planned for us to grope around in the dark, for that is exactly what will happen to us if we choose to hate our brother or sister.

Verse 12, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake."

LGT "I am writing to you little children because the sins are forgiven to you, through His name (reputation and character)."

Verse twelve is introductory to the next few verses, as he speaks to three different groups of believers, in regards to maturity, not chronologically. This verse is an address to 'little children' the same as verse one which includes all believers, and has nothing to do with the classification of the next verse.

John uses the Greek word 'teknia' in verse 12, which means 'my dear children' as in verse one of this chapter. In verse 14, John uses the term 'paidia' for little children, meaning 'immature little ones.'

Verse 13, "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father."

LGT "I am writing to you fathers because you have known the One from the beginning. I am writing to you young men because you have overcome (and continue to overcome) the evil one."

"The threefold grouping relates to spiritual maturity, not years reckoned by the calendar. Even if, in the third Christian generation, there was a growing tendency for spiritual maturity and natural age to coincide (as we may find in many Christian churches today when we compare the elder-hood with the Bible class), nevertheless it is spiritual experience that is emphasized. The younger believers have made a beginning by knowing their sins forgiven for Christ's sake. They have also started to appreciate their new status as children of God (cf. 3:1) in that they have come to 'know the Father.' The senior believers, as is stated twice, have come to 'know Him who is from the beginning.' This is the same God as the children have come to know, but whereas the children have come to recognize Him as their Father - demonstrating thereby, as Paul would say, that they have received the Spirit that makes them sons, the Spirit of Christ Himself, since like Him they now call God 'Abba, Father!' (Rom. 8:15 ff.; Gal. 4:6) - the fathers, through long experience of Him, have come to know Him in a fuller and deeper fashion. While it is to be hoped that all the children of God know Him as Father and love spontaneously to address Him and speak of Him thus, there are some men and women we naturally describe as people who 'know God' because over the years they have sought, and been freely granted, such access to the heart of God that God knows them, as He knew Moses, 'face to face'." (Deut. 34:10).

(The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce)

"I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning."

Those mature believers with rich experience and were up in age, because the Word of God is not digested overnight. I don't believe there were any young men or children included in this first address, fathers, but I believe there were some old gray-haired people included in the 'paidia,' that is, immature little ones. Maturity is not an overnight experience in the Word of God. There are no ninety-day wonders in God's army. For those of you who do not know what a 'ninety-day wonder' is, ask someone who has served in the army. There was a Pentecostal church in Los Angeles that had a so-called Bible School that would give you a degree in six months, and we in the Christian community referred to these 'spiritual moron' graduates, as ninety-day wonders.

J. Vernon McGee wrote:

"I have called Psalm 23 the psalm of an old king. I believe David wrote it as he was seated upon his throne, looking back over his life. He remembers that shepherd boy who would take the flocks out to pasture on the hills of Bethlehem, how he would protect them from the bears and lions. Then he remembers when he was made king and became the shepherd of a people. As he looks back over his checkered career, he recalls his wonderful friendship with Jonathan, his flight from king Saul, then his reign in Hebron, and finally when God made him king over all twelve tribes. Then he remembers his awful sin and God's gracious forgiveness when he confessed it to Him. He recalls the trouble in his home (because God had taken him to the woodshed), especially the rebellion of Absalom, the son whom he most loved. He recalls his flight from Jerusalem and being holed up again and then receiving the news of Absalom's death, which had been a heartbreak to him. With these things in mind, the old king says, 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want' (Psalm 23:1). As a mature child of God, he recounts how God led him in green pastures and beside still waters and restored his soul. It is folk like David whom John is addressing as 'fathers'." (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

"I write unto, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one."

These are the young people who have matured in Bible Doctrine, and have learned how to combat evil in the world through the Word of God. These young people aren't as mature as the fathers, because they lack the experiences, but they are living in the Word, and they have overcome the 'wicked one' and his three-fold basis of appeal, 'the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These young men have come to the crossroads we all face, and made the right decision, that is, to walk in the light. There are plenty, well, maybe not plenty, how about some young people around that would rather please God than pursue the approbation lust of the world.

Verse 14 "I write unto you children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."

LGT "I have written to you (dear) little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you fathers, because you have known the One from the beginning. I have written to you young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God is abiding in you, and you overcame the evil one."

"I write unto you children, because ye have known the Father."

Here in the first sentence of verse fourteen all the better manuscripts translate 'have written' instead of 'I write.' 'Have written' is a past perfect tense, whereas 'I write' is a present indicative. In my 'United Bible Society New Testament' this first sentence of verse fourteen is the last sentence of verse thirteen in the KJV. The 'New American standard Bible also translates 'I write' as 'have written,' but they leave the sentence as part of verse thirteen (Remember the verses are not inspired, they were added for the convenience of the reader. Originally Greek was written with all upper-case letters, and no punctuation marks, so you see the translators had quite a time, and thanks to their hard work we can now understand the Bible with a very high degree of accuracy). The term 'I write' in Greek is 'grapho' and 'have written is 'egrapsa.' The reason I bring this up is because it is obvious that John was grouping the threefold membership of the churches as, children, fathers, and young men. So, actually, this last sentence is the beginning of the second threefold grouping of 'I have written.' The first grouping is 'I write,' in verses twelve and thirteen. So correctly, the sentence should read:

These are the 'paidia,' little immature ones. These are to be distinguished from the 'teknia' of verse one which includes all of John's spiritual children, regardless of their chronological age. As I pointed out before, there are old and young included in this phrase. He calls them little children because they have put there trust in Christ, and they Know the father because of the finished work of Christ. The sad part of this last phrase is that John knows there are those in the churches that stay little children, or babies, if you like. I know that people go to church to feel good, and not to learn. It is possible to accept Christ, believe on His name, and stay a baby. There were no babies included in the fathers address, and no babies in the young man address, but their were old men, and young men included in the 'little immature children address.

"I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning."

John encourages the fathers here because they have known Him (which is from) the beginning. These fathers (or mature ones) believed in Him who was from the beginning; they believed that Christ was the 'Word with God, and was God, (John 1:1), so the false teachers couldn't move them from believing in the deity of Christ. The reference of John to them as fathers is to their maturity. These fathers stuck with it and kept learning and they are distinguished from the young men and little immature ones.

On this statement that 'they have known Him,' J. Vernon McGee makes this point quite clear:

"Now how are we going to know the Lord Jesus Christ? My friend, the only way you can know Him is in the Word of God. That is where He is revealed. Many folk feel that if they go to a Bible study once a week, they will become super-duper saints. But the Word of God is like food. I've conducted Bible studies once a week over the years, and I certainly approve of them, but imagine going in and eating a good meal and then saying, 'I'll be back for another meal in a week.' Well if you don't get any food in the meantime, you will be in bad shape. This is the reason I have maintained a daily Bible-teaching program by radio. The Word of God is the bread of Life. If we are to know Christ, we must live with him in His Word as we go through the joys and sorrows of this life." (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

I know people that tell me they have their devotions every morning, and this is good. But please listen to me, if you don't dig into the Word of God everyday you will never truly know Christ. We will never know Him completely till we meet Him face to face, but how much our joy can be filled full if our pursuit now is 'to know Him, and the fellowship of His suffering, and the power of His resurrection.' Some of the best times I have as an old man is to have my children and grandchildren visit, and we sit around the living room fellowshipping in the Word of God. I see in my family a desire for God's Word, and this is the joy that is described in John's epistle. I have maintained through years that it is not enough to read the Bible; we need to digest this supernatural food. Everyone knows that unless we digest our food, malnutrition soon sets in. I believe that is the main problem in our mainstream churches today, no Bible doctrine. We are surrounded by religions; and spiritually skinny Christians also surround us. The churches are full of programs to get everyone to feel good about themselves, but no real good Bible doctrine classes to get people to know that they are inadequate and need the power of God's Word to sustain them. We don't need self-esteem, we need to know Christ, and then depend on Him for everything, because we are in truth, basket cases with absolutely no strength outside of God's Word. That is why Christ not only will receive all the glory, but he deserves all the glory. This twenty first century psycho-babble is turning the modern day Christians into a bunch of spiritual morons that think 'Norman Vincent Peale's modernistic approach to God's Word is real nice.' Peale has always taught how we are so wonderful, and that all we have to do is be optimistic and a positive thinker and we will be able to conquer the World. If you have a hard time believing what I say, turn the T.V. on to 'The Hour of Power' sometime and watch a real clown, Robert Schuler, stand up and act for thirty minutes. I have never heard him expound on any New Testament Doctrine. He tries to appeal to everyone as if he is talking to a Christian world. Schuler's idea of Christianity is Norman Vincent Peale's philosophy of 'the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.' What Scripture he does speak on, he mutilates it out of context, and misapplies almost every word. The only time I have heard him admit to any real truth is when someone interviews him. I will say this; at least even this clown is better than the average mainstream church in the music department. My daughter Brenda thinks I'm brain dead for watching 'The Hour of Power.'

"I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong."

Here in the second address to the young men John adds 'because ye are strong.' In the previous verse John says to the young men 'you have overcome the wicked one.' What makes these young men strong to be able to overcome the wicked one? Read on:

"And the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."

Here we have the answer. The young men in the churches were taking the Word of God to heart, and were applying the doctrine to their lives. This principle of Bible study is true in every age. To be practical, and I love to be practical, the difference between the young men and the fathers is a matter of experience. The old men are considered wise and mature because of what they have been through, where a young man hasn't lived long enough to experience the same things. Another thing that separates the young men from the fathers is that the fathers are no longer that interested in the details of life. I am referring to the fathers that are spiritually mature. The young men have to contend with sexual lusts, financial position, greed, approbation lust, and all the things that appeal to the youth. The fathers have been through the mill as far as all these things are concerned, and have hopefully dealt with them in the Word. Dealing with the details of life by applying Bible doctrine to each detail is 'overcoming the wicked one.'

Verse 15, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

LGT "Stop loving the world, neither the things in the world. If anyone may be loving the world, the love of the Father will not be in him."

The world in this context is not the created world of God, but the 'world system' of Satan, 'the prince of the power of the air.' We should love the world as God's creation, but not to take our love for the earth so far as to worship the 'creation rather than the Creator.'

"We need to recognize that we are going to be obedient to one world or the other. You are either going to obey the world system and live in it and enjoy it, or you are going to obey God. Listen to Paul in Galatians 6:14: 'But God forbid, that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." In effect Paul is saying: 'there stands between me and this satanic world system, a cross. Both are bidding for me and, as a child of God, I am obedient unto Him, and I glory in the cross of Christ.' You can be sure that the world today is not glorying in the cross of Christ!" (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

F.F. Bruce in his exposition describes worldliness thus:

"What John warns his readers against in the present passage is the world oriented against God, 'the godless world.' The spirit that dominates the world so orientated, 'the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience,' as it is put in Eph. 2:2, is inimical to the love of God and to the uninhibited out-flowing of His love in the lives of His people. Conformity to that spirit is worldliness. Worldliness, it must be emphasized in face of much superficial thought and language on the subject, does not lie in things we do or in places we frequent; it lies in the human heart, in the set of human affections and attitudes. It may manifest itself in petty but soul-stunting ambitions like 'keeping up with the Joneses' (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce).

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world."

"The construction of this first sentence is a prohibition with a present active imperative, and means, 'stop doing it or do not have the habit of doing it,' (WPNT A.T. Robertson).

The Greek grammar has three prohibitions:

1. Don't start.
2. Stop once you start.
3. Don't be continuing in it.

I believe that this verse has all three prohibitions in mind. The immature believer, the little child, loves the world. The young men have learned how to stop, but don't always stop. The fathers have learned not to continue in the love of the world.

The dangers for each of these three groups, the little child, the young men, and the fathers, are equally dangerous. Let's examine them one at a time:

1. The little children: They have already started loving the world, and the danger for them is that they continue loving the world and become 'conformed' (Rom.12:1, 2), to the world, and then they decide not to turn around, they continue loving the world and eventually go to heaven a baby, and also a loser.
2. The young men: They have learned how to combat love for the world by applying Bible doctrine, yet there is still a chance for them to turn away and start loving the world continually, and the result is the same, to enter heaven a loser.
3. The Fathers: They have learned to conquer the world through experientially applying Bible doctrine, and yet, there is always the temptation to stop studying the Word, and fall into conformity with the World. Some people think that it's easy for us old geezers to 'love not the world.' The problem with this line of reasoning is that it doesn't stand up in the face of reality. It is just as hard for an old geezer to study than it is for any other group of believers. It's so easy to be lazy about studying; sometimes I would rather just take my fishing pole down to the pier and drown worms. It's much easier for me to play poker on the computer than to work on this exposition, but not as rewarding to my wife or me. I can relate more to this final category by experience, than the other two. It's hard for me to think of myself as 'conformed to this world' and yet, sometimes I am, and when I am, I know I am, just as you know you are, when you are conformed to the world. We will talk more on 'conformity to the world' later on.

"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

It is Sunday morning 9/22/02 and I was listening to a preacher on T.V. who was speaking on the 'old sin nature' we all possess. He made it real clear, he said: 'No one had to teach me to lie, no one had to teach me to lust, no one had to teach me to steal, this all came naturally.' That's what the sin nature is all about; we can sin so easy, because we are sinners by birth. We were born in sin. Personal sin is very easy to commit. We have to decide whether we are going to yield to this 'old sin nature' or to the love of Christ, it is a matter of choice, and being a matter of choice, we are also responsible for our actions.

It is very natural to love the things of this world, so what we have to do is decide for the world or the lord. It is impossible to serve two masters.

"You may run with the Devil's crowd all week long and then run with the Lord's crowd on Sunday, but it is obvious that the love of the Father is not in you.

In Romans 7 Paul describes his own struggle as a Christian. He says in effect, 'I have discovered that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I have found that there is no power in the new nature. What I would not do, I'm doing. What the new nature wants to do, the old nature does not want to do, the old nature balks at - the old nature backslides and will not do that thing.' So there is a real conflict, which goes on in the heart of the Christian as long as he is in the world with that old nature. For the old nature is geared to this world in which we live; it's meshed into the program of the world. (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

Verse 16, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

LGT "Because everything that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the presumptuousness of life, is not out of (sourced out of) the Father, but it is out of the world."

This three-fold basis of appeal was used by Satan on Eve in the Garden of Eden, and was used later by him in the wilderness when he tempted Christ. He has used this appeal ever since, for this is what makes up worldliness and materialism. This 'lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life, is not of the Father, but of Satan.

"Indeed John's understanding of worldliness seems to be very much of this character, when we consider the three elements which he specifies as making up what is 'in the world.' For the 'desire of the flesh' and the 'desire of the eyes' and the 'pretentiousness of life,' as it may be rendered, comprise the outlook which is commonly designated materialism. Worldliness does not reside in 'things,' but it does certainly reside in our concentration on 'things.' If our affections, instead of being set on what is of permanent importance, are set on passing things that the heart desires and the eye delights in, or things that encourage us to have a good conceit of ourselves, we are fearfully impoverished. If my reputation, my 'public image,' matters more to me than the glory of God or the well-being of my brothers, the 'pretentiousness of life' has become the object of my idol-worship.

This 'pretentiousness of life' is equated in the lexicon of Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich with 'pride in one's possessions,' and it can be a very subtle enemy of the soul. My house, my garden, my car, my library or some other 'status symbol' - whatever it is I take most pride in - can minister to this peril." (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce)

"John lists these things that are in the world. These are not only the temptations, which face us; they are also the temptations, which Satan brought to eve (see Gen. 3:6) and to the Lord Jesus Christ (see Matt. 4:1-11).

1. 'The lust of the flesh.' Eve saw that the tree was a good place to eat. Scripture condemns gluttony and many other sins of the flesh. So many things appeal to the flesh. There is an overemphasis on sex today both in the church and out of the church - it is all of the flesh. Satan brought this same temptation to the Lord Jesus: 'And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread' (Matt. 4:2-3). The Lord Jesus could have done that. The difference between the Lord Jesus Christ and myself is that if I could turn stones into bread, I suspect that I would be doing it, (I could take it a step farther, I not only would have, but I wouldn't have let forty days and nights go by before I made bread) but Christ didn't. He was being tested in that same area in which you and I are being tested - the desires of the flesh. We are being tested, and there is no sin in being tested. The sin is in yielding to the temptation. This same principle applies to sex or to any other realm of the desires of the flesh.
2. 'The lust of the eyes.' Eve saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes. Remember also that Satan showed the Lord Jesus Christ all the kingdoms of this world. Let me tell you, they are very attractive, and they are in the hands of Satan. There is a godless philosophy, which is trying to get control of the world today. There will come a day when Antichrist will arise - he is coming to rule this world for Satan. This is an attractive world that we live in, with all of its display, all of its pageantry, all of its human glory.
3. 'The pride of life.' Eve saw that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. Many people like to pride themselves on their family. They pride themselves on the fact that they come from a very old family and upon the fact that they belong to a certain race. There are a number of races, which are very proud of that. That was the appeal, which Hitler made to the German people, and it is an appeal to any race. That is a pride of life. It is that which makes us feel superior to someone else". (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee)

Verse 17, "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

LGT "And the world is passing away and objects of desire with it, but the one who is doing the will of God is declared to remain forever."

"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof."

And the world is in the process of passing away, with all three of its lusts. The people, who think this world, this present cosmological system is forever, are in for a rude awakening. There are those out in the world who think that the world is getting better and better, and will finally reach its 'Utopia' and then we will all live in peace and harmony.

The definition of the Greek word for lust is, 'epithumia,' 'to set the heart upon, to desire, long for, and have earnest desire for, to covet', and the one that I like the best, sure fits this contexts, is, 'irregular or violent desire.' The things of the world that appeal to young people may be different from that which appeals to the older generation; I'm sure this would be called the 'generation gap. 'I am convinced that young people don't know squat. If young people don't like classical music, I think their sick. They play their racket, what they call music, too loud, as a matter fact, most young people are too loud. One of their sayings in regard to their loud boisterous behavior is, 'if its too loud your too old.' I'm not going to pick on young people here; what I am going to do is exhort this young Christian generation to not get taken in by this happy horse crap that is being foisted on the younger generation in so-called Christian centers. There is a big push going on to get the young people to conform to the world, with their music, and slang, and dress, I guess to show the world that we don't think their strange, in fact we like the same things they do. This way, maybe we can get them to come into our fellowship, and then maybe we can 'win them to Christ.' 'Not!' This is diametrically opposed to what Paul says in Romans 12:1, 2.

"But he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

The one who sets his or her affections on things of God 'amid the flux of transitory things' (WPNT A.T. Robertson), remains forever. Now this is not saying the person who yields to the things of the world are not saved, it is saying that to remain or abide true to God's will, yields eternal benefits regarding eternal rewards. Anyone that has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ is saved forever, but the one who matures amid all the lusts of the world, his deeds will remain forever, and will yield eternal rewards.

WARNINGS OF THE ANTICHRIST

Verse 18, "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

LGT "My little children, it is (the) last hour, and just as you heard that (the) antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists come to be, for which reason we are knowing it is the last hour."

"My little children."

John uses the term 'paidia' referring to 'immature ones,' because of the subject matter. It does however include all the believers.

"It is the last time."

The Greek word for time here is 'hora,' meaning 'hour.'

"This phrase only here in N.T., though John uses hora for a crisis (John 2:4; 4:21, 23; 5:25, 28, etc.). It is anarthrous here (doesn't have an article) and marks the character of the 'hour.' John has seven times 'the last day' in the Gospel. Certainly in verse 28 John makes it plain that the Parousia (the return of Christ in all His Glory) might come in the life of those then living, but it is not clear that here he definitely asserts it as a fact. It was his hope beyond a doubt. We are left in doubt about this 'last hour' whether it covers a period, a series, or the final climax of all, just at hand." (WPNT A.T. Robertson)

"And as ye heard that antichrist shall come."

This is the first time the phrase 'antichrist' is used in the New Testament. The question might be asked then, how does John say, 'as ye heard?' The answer is that this letter as we said before was an encyclical one, that is, it was sent out to all the churches in and around Asia Minor. Now remember, these churches at Rome, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth, Colossi, Galatia, etc., were visited by Paul and other apostles including John himself, so they were all very aware of the 'pseudo-Christ' (false Christ) that was coming. Even the Gospels had warned them of the coming 'many phony-Christ's.' I will mention three sources of Scripture that will demonstrate that the readers of John's Epistle had heard that 'Antichrist is coming.' These three sources are, Paul's Epistle, Mark's Gospel account, and the Old Testament account in the book of Daniel

First, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come [the] falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, Who opposeth and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that, when I was with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what [restraineth] that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now [hindereth will continue to hinder] until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming (parousia), Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (II Thess. 2:3-10 KJV).

Second, Jesus had warned them of the coming false-Christ.

"For false Christ's and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect" (Mark 13:22 KJV).

Third, Daniel warned of the coming antichrist describing Satan's blasphemous leader during the 'Time of Jacob's trouble' or 'The Great Tribulation':

"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change the times and the laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time [the last three and one half years of the seven years of Jacob's trouble or the great tribulation]. But the judgment shall sit; and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." (Daniel 7:24-28 KJV)

"Even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

I believe the many antichrists that John is referring to are those Gnostic heretics that were denying the deity of Christ. Antichrist is made up of two words; the preposition 'anti' and the noun 'Christ.' This can either mean 'anti' against or instead of, that is, in place of. In the latter days there will be many who will come and claim to be the 'One Christ.' These are the false deceivers in the 'last days of the church' before Christ's second coming. There will be 'The Antichrist' that will rise up during the seven years of 'tribulation' for Israel prior to the Lord returning and setting up His Kingdom to reign for a thousand years. John is here warning the church of the heretics that have come into the church and left behind their damnable teachings against the deity of Christ. John is convinced that it is the last days for the church. I believe that as we watch God's timetable running down, we are seeing these signs of apostasy mounting to the great crescendo where the church will be taken from the earth to join Christ, and then the Antichrist will unleash his hell on earth described in the Apocalypse of John.

Verse 19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

LGT "They went out from us, but they were not out of us. For if they were out of us, they would have remained with us. But in order that they might be manifested, because that they all are not out of us."

"They went out from us, but they were not of us;"

This word 'they' is referring in this context to the antichristian Gnostics that had infiltrated the church with their denial of Christ's deity, and then left the fellowship, leaving behind their damnable lies. The Gnostics were not at home among the true believers because they were not able to penetrate the minds of God's children. John says that the Gnostics claimed to be Christians, but could not stand the 'love God and love the brotherhood' commandment.

"For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:"

The Gnostics wanted to be the teachers, but they couldn't deal with the teachings of the true body of Christ. The test of fellowship is stated in the first chapter of loving God first, and loving all the family of God. There is no way an unbelieving Gnostic could feel at home among these early church members.

"But they went out, that they might manifest that they were not all of us."

They left the true fellowship by their own free will. A man chooses either to be for Christ or against Christ. The Greek word for manifest is 'phanerothosin' and means, 'to be laid bear or to appear in true character.' The fact they left the fellowship revealed their true character. The last part of the verse should read, 'they were all not of us.' 'These antichrists are thus revealed in their true light' (Robertson's WPNT).

Verse 20, " But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.'

LGT "And you are having an anointing from the Holy One, and you all are knowing it (or this fact)"

"But ye have an unction from the Holy One."

The Greek word for unction is 'charisma' a free gift, a free favor, a benefit. All believers receive this anointing from the Holy Spirit the very moment of salvation. This is not a second blessing or Spirit baptism as taught by the 'Pentecostals.' This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit where the Spirit indwells and seals every believer at the moment of salvation. Below is listed some Scriptures on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

1. "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:13, 14). The word sealed in the Greek is 'sphragizo' which means 'the Holy Spirit stamped us with a private mark or signet for security and preservation.
2. "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).
3. "He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son (by believing in Him) shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:33-36).
4. "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (I John 2:27).
5. "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." The Holy Spirit indwells every real believer and is able to reveal to him all things. "…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit…" (I Cor. 2:9-10) so that we have someone dwelling in us who can reveal to us these things which are in the Word of God. We have an anointing, and every person can have the assurance of his salvation." (TTB J.Vernon McGee)

"And ye know all things."

The best manuscripts read 'and you all know it.' John is making reference to the sealing of the Holy Spirit; he is not saying that the believers know everything there is to know.

Verse 21, "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth."

LGT "I did not write to you because you are not knowing the truth, but because you are knowing it, and because every lie is not out of the truth."

"I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it."

John is making reference to what he had just taught them about the anointing of the Spirit. John is saying that they should depend on the truth that they already know, and not to listen to the false teaching, anti-Christian liars, the Gnostics.

"And that no lie is of the truth."

" When the Gnostics taught against the deity of Christ they were liars and not 'of the truth'. "The false teachers who perverted the received teaching about Jesus as the Christ and Son of God probably did not expressly deny the Father. Indeed, 'the Father' was the designation that many of them reserved for the God who is above all, in contradistinction to the inferior deity whom they envisaged as creator of the world. According to Cerinthus, it was after 'the Christ' descended on the man Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove that 'He proclaimed the unknown Father'. But words have value only in accordance with their meaning; the Cerinthians and those likeminded might speak of the 'Father' but they did not give the same meaning to the term as John does when he speaks of The Father'. To John, the Father is He who has revealed Himself uniquely and fully in the incarnate Jesus, not only in the ministry of word and work for which He was anointed by the Spirit at His baptism, but equally so - indeed, supremely so - in His death on the cross. Those who denied the incarnation of the Son of God and saw no revelatory element in His passion refused that revelation of the Father, which is imparted in the gospel. In denying the Son, they denied the Father too, little as they may have intended to do so. (I do not give them even this amount of credit, I believe they deliberately denied the deity of the Son, because they hated Him) This is a corollary (something that naturally follows) to the repeated assertion in the Gospel of John, that the knowledge of the Father is inseparable from the knowledge of the Son (John 8:19; 14:7), and to a passage like John 5:23, where the divine purpose in the committal of judgment to the Son is said to be 'that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him'. 'The only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made him known' (John 1:18); to deny the Son is to deny the knowledge of the Father, which He unfolds, and so to deny the Father Himself. This is not to exclude those prior and preparatory forms of divine revelation implied in the prologue to the Gospel of John; it is to affirm that those earlier forms of divine revelation were brought to perfection when the Eternal Word became incarnate in the Son, so that it is no longer possible to confess the Father except as He made Himself known in the Son, while it is impossible to believe in the Son without acknowledging the Father whom He has made known. Whether Jesus expressed Himself in the imperative or in the indicative mood when He said, 'Believe in God, believe also in Me' (John 14:1), He spoke essentially of one form of belief, not two. (The Greek form for faith 'pisteuete' is the same in both moods)." [The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F.Bruce]

Religions today that deny Jesus Christ is the Son of God are condemned in the Word of God to an eternal flame apart from the glory of the Lord; this includes the Jews, Moslems, and any other group that call themselves religious. I watch the Fox News Network every night, because I believe it's fair and balanced, except when it comes to this issue of faith in Christ, and then they are as ignorant of God's Holy Word as any of the liberal news media. No one feels it imperative to speak out and say what he or she really knows to be true. Our president says he is a Christian, and yet his position forbids him to speak what he knows to be the truth. I am of the opinion that if I were to be placed in such a position I would have to refuse, unless given the freedom to speak the truth as it is presented in God's Word, and then of course, I would never be elected, because only a small percentage of the American people are Christian, I would never carry one state. Any man that would have the nerve to stand up and live the life the way our Savior lived (a total impossibility), the world today would kill that man the same as they killed Jesus Christ over two thousand years ago.

Verse 22, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son."

LGT "Who is the liar, except if not the one who is denying that Jesus is not the Christ? This one is the antichrist, the one who is denying the Father and the Son."

"Who is a liar?"

"Liar in this verse has the article and would better read, "the liar." Who is 'the liar' that is, the liar par excellence.

Robertson says:

"A rhetorical question to sharpen the point made already about lying in chapter one verse six, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." And in verse 10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and His word is not in us." Also in chapter two verse 4, " He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Again in verse 21, "I have not written unto you, because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and no lie is of the truth." (A.T. Robertson WPNT)

"The language is much stronger here; it is 'Who is the liar?' In other words, all lies are summed up in the one who is the prince of liars, the Devil. There is coming a man who is Satan's man, and he is the liar. And a liar is one who does not tell the truth." [T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee]

Satan is the father of all lies. Cerinthus and the other false teachers of this age were Satan's representative liars in denying the deity of Christ.

"What John had generally said of false prophets, he now applies to the state of his own time; for he points out, as by the finger, those who disturbed the Church. I readily agree with the ancients, who thought that Cerinthus and Carpocrates are here referred to. But the denial of Christ extends much wider; for it is not enough in words to confess that Jesus is the Christ, except He is acknowledged to be such as the Father offers Him to us in the gospel. The two I have named gave the title of Christ to the Son of God, but imagined Him to be man only. Others followed them, such as Arius, who, adorning Him with the name of God, robbed Him of His eternal divinity. Marcion dreamt that He was a mere phantom. Sabellius imagined that He differed nothing from the Father. All these denied the Son of God; for not one of them really acknowledged the true Christ; but, adulterating, as far as they could, the truth respecting Him, they devised for themselves an idol instead of Christ. Then broke out Pelagius, who, indeed, raised no dispute respecting Christ's essence, but allowed Him to be true man and God; yet he transferred to us almost all the honor that belongs to Him. It is, indeed, to reduce Christ to nothing, when His grace and power are set aside.

We now see that Christ is denied, whenever those things, which peculiarly belong to Him, are taken away from Him. And as Christ is the end of the law and of the gospel, and has in Himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, so he is the mark at which all heretics' level and directs their arrows. Therefore the Apostle John does not, without reason, make those the chief impostors, who fight against Christ, in whom the full truth is exhibited to us." [John Calvin's Comm. Vol.22]

"But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?"

As stated above, every one who denies the deity of Christ is a liar. Jesus is His earthly name, and Christ is His Divine name. So what these false prophets were doing is denying that the human Jesus was the God Christ.

"Lies, one and all, are alien to the truth'; but John, like Paul in II Thess. 2:11, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie," is thinking of one fundamental lie. Plato made a distinction between those lies which are errors of fact and the mortal disease of 'the lie in the soul', to John the lie par excellence is that which refuses to see the Godhead shine in the human life and death of Jesus, that which drives a wedge between 'the Christ' and the man Jesus of whom, according to Cerinthus, 'the Christ' took temporary possession. To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny that He 'is the Son of God' (5:5) or that He 'has come in the flesh' (4:2). This denial is deadly, because only in the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh is eternal life to be had (5:11)" [The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce]

"He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son."

The word antichrist in the Greek means anyone who opposes Christ. In order to be able to oppose someone you must have an intellectual knowledge of the opposed. For someone to claim to be an agnostic is to claim no-knowledge. This is admittedly the agnostic saying that he refuses to have any knowledge.

"Liberalism and all of the cults and 'isms' today have also denied His deity. Very candidly, I do not mind saying that the rock opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' is antichrist. It does not by any means present the Jesus of the Bible who is the Savior of the world. Many years ago Dr. William E. Hocking, who was professor at Harvard University, wrote Living Religions and a World Faith. He made this statement, 'God is in His world, but Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed are in their little private closets, and we shall thank them, but never return to them.' You see that this is simply a direct, rank denial of the deity of Christ. The one 'that denies the Father and the Son' - that will be the sure mark of the Antichrist, and there are many antichrists even today, of course.

John has identified antichrist for us as the one who denies the Father and the Son. Now he will make it clear in verse 23 that you cannot deny the Son without denying the Father. You see, the deity of Christ is essential to your salvation because if He is not God, the man who died on the cross over nineteen hundred years ago cannot be your Savior - in fact, He could not even be His own Savior. None of us as human beings can die for the other. It was necessary for God to become a man in order that you and I might have redemption" (T.T.B. J.Vernon McGee).

I was watching Fox News Network Show, 'Hannity and Colmes, a few weeks ago when the liberal on the program, Alan Colmes, asked the guest, Pat Robertson, are Jews going to hell for not believing in Jesus Christ; of course Pat Robertson is too much of a politician to be able to answer the question honestly, so I took it upon myself to speak to the television set and give the answer the religious coward was afraid to give. The answer to the question is a resounding yes! Jews that refuse to accept Christ as Savior are not only going to hell, they are antichrist according to the Word of God.

"He speaks not of that prince of defection who was to occupy the seat of God; but all those who seek to overthrow Christ, (including the Jews that hate the name of Christ) he puts them among the impious band. And that he might amplify their crime, he asserts that the Father, no less than the Son, is denied by them; as though he had said, 'They have no longer any religion, because they wholly cast away God.' And this he afterwards confirms, by adding the Father cannot be separated from the Son. [John Calvin's comm. vol. 22]

Verse 23, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."

LGT "Everyone who is denying the Son, neither is having the Father, the one who is confessing the Son, is also having the Father."

"Whosoever denieth the Son."

Here again John is stressing the deity of Christ. The Gnostics were teaching the error that Christ was not God. John is disgusted with these heretics, but he was very tender with his beloved children. He makes it very clear in this verse that if you deny the Son you also deny the Father. The word denieth in the N.T. Greek, 'arnoumenos'is a present participle which means, 'to deny, disclaim, disown, to decline, refuse, renounce, and to contradict.'

In our present day there are all types of religions that claim to believe in God, but they deny the Son, such religions as Judaism of the Jews, Islam of the Moslems, and all the modern liberals, in our day, we called them 'Modernists', who teach the 'Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man,' such as Robert Schuler from the Crystal Cathedral on TBN T.V. John Calvin in his commentary gives a good description of the Jews and Moslem's belief system:

"It hence follows, that Turks (Moslems), Jews, and such as are like them, have a mere idol and not the true God. For by whatever titles they may honor the God whom they worship, still, as they reject Him without whom they cannot come to God, and in whom God has really manifested Himself to us, what have they but some creature or fiction of their own? They may flatter themselves as much as they please, with their own speculation, who, without Christ, philosophize on divine things; it is still certain that they do nothing but rave and rant, because, as Paul says, they hold not the Head (Col. 2:19). It is obvious, hence, to conclude how necessary is the knowledge of Christ." (John Calvin's comm. on First John)

J. Vernon McGee has a good illustration of the modernist's attitude in his commentary on First John, "In the great Riverside Church in New York City when Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick was the Pastor, the cover page of a bulletin at that time said, 'Whoever you are that worship here, in whatever household of faith you were born, whatever creed you profess, if you come to this sanctuary to seek the God in whom you believe or to rededicate yourself to the God in whom you do believe, you are welcome.' It goes on to say a lot about peace and the Fatherhood of God, but I'm nauseated reading that far, so I will not quote any more of it. It sounds sweet and flowery; it appeals to the natural man, but John's whole point is that we need to emphasize this very important verse."

There is only one form of belief, and that is, Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. Any one who denies the Son, denies the Father also. This is very important, for all religions that claim to believe In God, but deny the deity of the Son are going to hell. There is no more simple way to put it. We can try and water it down, but it always comes up, "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The modernists have a method in their madness, and that is, to appeal to the natural man, in order to build up a great congregation that will support them and make them very powerful. The preacher, who emphasizes the Grace of God, will not appeal to the natural man, and thus, he will not be able to gain this power. I believe the reason the 'Pastor Teacher' of today claims to have a Spiritual Gift is to be able to claim authority over the body of Christ, and with this authority a large congregation may result. You see, if he has authority, he also has a captive audience, and will be able to bully his people, shades of Roman Catholicism, what?

"[But] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."

The Greek word for 'acknowledge' is 'homologon' a present active participle from 'homologeo' meaning, 'To speak in accordance with, adopt the same terms of language, in other words to say the same thing about Christ that the Father says. The Father can only be known as revealed in the Son. On this issue Calvin says, "Were any one to object and say, that many of the ancients thought rightly of God, to whom Christ was not known: I allow that the knowledge of Christ has not been always so explicitly revealed, nevertheless, I contend that it has been always true, that as the light of the sun comes to us by its rays, so the knowledge of God has been communicated through Christ." (John Calvin's Comm. on First John)

So you can see that to acknowledge Christ is to recognize to the Father that Christ is who He says He is. It does not mean to confess before men that Christ is the Son of God. I believe letting people know that you believe Christ to be the Son of God and that He is God, but it is not a pre-requisite to salvation to do so, as some evangelists will claim.

Verse 24, "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father."

LGT "You, that which you have heard from the beginning, let it continue abiding in you. If that which you heard from (the) beginning might abide in you, you will be abiding both in the Son and the Father."

"Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning."

John begins this verse by saying, 'As for you', let this truth of the deity of Christ abide in you. The Greek word for abide is 'meneto', and in this context it means to remain, to continue unobstructed, to remain indefinitely.

"Which you heard from the beginning" is referring to Christ's incarnation recorded in the Gospels and from the other Apostles. Some of the church was present when Christ was on earth, such as the 'fathers' John makes reference to early in this epistle. John not only taught about the deity of Christ, but he taught them about the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of their Lord.

If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father."

John is telling them they should concentrate on the truths they have been taught, and not to listen to the 'new-fangled Gnostic teaching', as Robertson puts it. The Word of God is the only sure way we can be sure to have communion and fellowship with the Father and the Son. John is not stressing faith in Christ for salvation here, but his emphasis is on fellowship, as he does in most of this epistle.

Verse 25, "And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life."

LGT "And this is the promise which He promised to us, is the (this) life, the eternal one."

The Greek word for promise is 'epaggelia' is to 'declare or announce.' God can only make a true declaration to His children concerning life. God can only promise eternal life; for there is no other life God offers His Children. When God makes a promise of life, it could only be an eternal promise. When God gives us life, He will not take it away. God dwells in us in regards to our eternal life, but He does not always abide in us in regards to temporal fellowship. We can rest assured of our eternal salvation, but for fellowship, we must depend on His Word to guide us in this life.

Verse 26, "These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you."

LGT "These things I wrote to you, concerning the ones who are deceiving you."

The Greek word for seduce is 'planonton' wandering from the path of truth. John is saying don't be led astray by the Gnostics. Bruce says, 'have written is an epistolary aorist' which refers to what he had previously written about the 'many antichrists' (Verses 18 & 22). Robertson on this verse says, 'John had written concerning those that are trying to lead you astray. John is doing his part in trying to rescue the sheep from the wolves.'

Verse 27, "But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him."

LGT "And you, the anointing that which you received from Him is abiding in you, and you are not having a need in order that you have someone teach you, but as to His anointing, it is teaching you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and just as it taught you continue abiding in it."

"But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you."

The Greek word for anointing is 'chrisma' a reception of spiritual privileges. The word means 'to smear on.' I believe John is saying that the truth they had received from him and the other apostles is sufficient for them, and the Holy Spirit will guide them within this truth. It was not necessary for them to be taught by any one outside of this family. The Gnostics were introducing new and strange doctrines that John says the Holy Spirit has anointed them against, by the truth they had already received. I believe it is unnecessary to read into this anointing something that does not exist. For us today we also have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which is the Word of God, and we are to reject anything that is contrary to this precious Word.

"And ye need not that any man teach you:"

A teacher of the Word of God is someone that expounds the Truth that is in the Holy Scriptures. They did not need to be taught by outsiders. They had heard the truth, and John was saying that the Holy Spirit would bring these truths to their remembrance.

Bruce says regarding this:

"The believers to whom John writes have not become so impoverished within their fellowship that they need any one from the outside it to teach them. It is within the fellowship that the Spirit operates; it is there that he teaches the people of God. So Paul prays that those who are inwardly strengthened by the Spirit of Christ 'may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth' (Eph. 3:18). In the period before the canon of the New Testament began to circulate as a documentary collection, oral ministry was even more necessary than afterwards as the means by which the Spirit guided believers 'into all the truth.' They had their sacred scriptures in the books of the Old Testament, but these books had to be understood in the light of their fulfillment by Jesus, and a great part of early Christian teaching consisted in the imparting of this understanding" (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce).

I believe that until this completed cannon was circulated throughout the Church, it was necessary for the Holy Spirit, via the supernatural gifts, to teach the Church with this special 'chrisma' anointing. Since the Bible is completed, I believe the Holy Spirit works exclusively through this divinely inspired gift, God's Word.

"But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie."

John is saying that the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth and deliver them from all the lies of the world. John knew he would not be with them forever, so he is encouraging them to study the Word and rely on the Holy Spirit to keep them in the Word of Truth.

"The Spirit is like a seal (anointing), by which the truth of God is testified to you. When he adds, and is no lie, he points out another office of the Spirit, even that He endues us with judgment and discernment, lest we should be deceived by lies, lest we should hesitate and be perplexed, lest we should vacillate as doubtful things." (John Calvin's Comm. on First John)

"And even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him."

It is by the Word of God that they had received by John and the other apostles that they were being assured of. The Holy Spirit will anoint them with God's Word. The Holy Spirit promises to 'smear them' with the Word. As the Word of God is perfect, nothing can be added to it.

"In assuring his readers that the Spirit's 'anointing' teaches them about 'all things', John echoes the promise to the disciples in John 14:26: 'the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, … will teach you all things'. The apostolic teaching, which the readers have already received, represents the fulfillment of this promise. Here is the truth; whatever contradicts it is falsehood. Those who have been taught it will do well to adhere to it, to 'abide' in the Spirit's anointing (the Word of God) as that anointing (the Word of God) 'abides' in them." (The Gospel and Epistles of John F.F. Bruce)

CHILDREN OF GOD

Verse 28, "And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

LGT "And now, little children, continue abiding in Him, in order that, if He might be made manifest we will have boldness (confidence) and we will not be ashamed away from Him, in the presence of Him (most naturally at His coming)."

"And now little children, abide in Him."

Notice the tenderness of dear old John, my 'little children, abide in Him.' This doesn't sound like someone who was usurping his apostolic powers and authority, but as a gentle spiritual father urging all God's children to 'abide', that is, to remain in fellowship. We only can fellowship with the Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit as we remain in the Word. It also follows that we can only fellowship with one another in the Word.

"That, when He shall appear."

The literal translation of this clause is, 'If he shall appear.' Robertson says, 'The if is a third class condition'; so it does not mean maybe He will come or maybe He won't; what it does mean is, He is coming, we just don't know when. The Greek word for 'appear' is 'phanerothei' is to manifest or that Christ will make His appearance. The word 'when' is correct but the original adds a bit more to what John was getting across to the little children; he was saying abide in Christ, because you don't know when He will appear or 'manifest' Himself.

"We may have confidence."

The Greek word for confidence is 'parresian,' to be able to speak freely and boldly, with assurance. The only way we can mature to the point that we will be able to meet Christ with boldness is by absorbing His Word. John uses the inclusive 'we' here. He includes himself as he is talking to his spiritual children. There is set forth in this verse a principle that those who look forward to His coming will have confidence in His presence. I have talked with a good many Christians who were not only not looking forward to Christ's coming, but they were hoping He will delay until they finish such and such a task. I can remember when I was a young child I would think to myself around Christmas time, Oh! I hope Christ doesn't come back until after Christmas so I can unwrap my presents and play with them awhile. This is almost as absurd as the Christian who thinks that it doesn't matter about rewards, they are just glad to be going to heaven. As a child one can be forgiven for thinking as a child, but when we grow to manhood and womanhood, we must put away such childish thoughts, and press on to maturity.

"And not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

John stating 'not be ashamed' suggests that some will be ashamed. The ones who do not desire to abide or fellowship with the Lord will be ashamed at His 'parousia', His coming, when we will see Him 'face to face.' When I first met Glenda, my wife, I was very unsure of myself, and I would get butterflies in my stomach when I would go to her house and visit her. Then I began dating her, and we started to learn about each other. After a few dates I learned how much Christ meant to her, and I began to love her. We didn't date very long and we both knew we were meant for each other. I look back over the past 47 years and thank God He graced me out with such a wonderful wife. As I began to know Glenda, as a joint heir with Christ, than I became very confident in her presence. I think this is the only way we, the bride of Christ, can gain boldness, by getting 'to know Him, and the fellowship of His suffering and the power of His resurrection.' The only way we can get to know the Lord Jesus Christ as a friend is in the Word of God alone. No ecstatic ritual or praying through will get the job done. You can fast and pray until your blue in the face, but without Bible study, forget it. You can live on bird seed and lettuce leaves, and practice all the taboos the church has dictated, but it will leave you to 'be ashamed at His coming.'

"There is nothing that will affect your life as much as the knowledge that you are going to stand in the presence of Christ and give an account of your works. Every believer will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Paul wrote, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). The issue of salvation has already been settled because we are His children and in His presence. It is not a question of whether you are saved or lost; it is a question of whether or not you are going to get any reward or recognition. There will be some folk who will not get any recognition. Paul writes further, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…(2 Cor. 5:11). The Rapture is not going to be such a thrilling event for a great many believers because of the lives they live down here" (T.T.B. J. Vernon McGee).

Verse 29, "If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him."

This is the test, says John, if you are born from above, or out of the Father, or born again, you will be known as a family member. I know there have been times that my life has not displayed that I was born from above, and I am sure you would admit the same. But to keep everything in its context, John is making reference to the Gnostics that were teaching heresy. These Gnostics were teaching that in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. This is true, but they went on to say that the spirit side of them could not sin, only the flesh side, so it didn't matter if they sinned or not, they were spiritually saved. John wanted them to come apart from these heretics, so he says; doing righteousness is proof of your new birth. The Holy Spirit can only produce true righteousness, so we are not always aware of our righteous deeds. I think it best that we aren't aware of our good deeds, to keep us humble.

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