1 John
1Jo 4:4-6 - Of God, Not Becoming gods
by Joe Holder
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (1Jo 4:4-6)
Although we examine brief sections of this letter at a time, we must consider each passage in the context of John's complete letter. Therefore we should make a specific, not a general, application of these words. The error John opposed in this letter taught that man is capable of becoming a god in his own right. One gnostic school, Docetism, denied Jesus' literal human body. Another group actually held Jesus in high respect, but for the wrong reasons. In their view He was an ordinary man who realized his potential for godhood and thus became a god. But even gods in their view were not that great. Like mortals, they could not know or communicate with the chief god in their massive hierarchy of gods. John builds an entirely different doctrine of God than taught by these people. Irenaeus in the mid to late second century wrote extensively against this error in his work Against Heresies. He was methodical and thorough in his writing. He documented the problems well and reasoned clearly against them.
In gnostic philosophy you could never reach the point at which you could know or communicate with the chief god. He for ever remained aloof and obscure, even to the lesser gods. This teaching leaves gnosticism open to some interesting philosophical and logical problems. If the chief god is unknowable and outside any being's ability to access or communicate with him, how does any being know what he approves or disapproves? But advocates of this teaching often injected ideas about what their chief god approved and disapproved. For example, they taught that the Jehovah of the Old Testament was a lesser god who misunderstood this chief god's desires and, against the wishes of the chief god, created a material universe. How did they know this if the chief god was not within intelligent access? How could they know he despised all material things? How could they know he would never consider becoming man? Who told them and on what authority? At best they might eventually become a lesser god, but even in that state they would be doomed to a vacuum between them and this chief god.
John's concept of God stands in direct opposition to this view. Now John tells us, we are of God. God is in us. He also repeatedly emphasized God's knowableness. We know God and God knows us. God communicates with us so that we may know what He teaches us and how He directs us to live.
John occasionally injects an already-not-yet tension into his letter. You have overcome, but you must take bold and faithful steps to overcome. Error has been exposed and rejected, but it must constantly be exposed to avoid its re-entry into the faith. We would do well to learn from John in our own pursuits of truth and error.
Ye are of God, and have overcome them. Your origin is from God Himself. Your material existence is not the product of a bungling demi-urge. God made you and saved you by His personal will. How did you overcome them? John does not credit his readers with superior intelligence or secret knowledge, though he certainly expects us to move forward in our faith. Their success in opposing this error John directly attributed to God who was in them and greater than those who taught this error. God in the believers was also greater than the gnostic's imaginary gods! The Bible Knowledge Commentary makes a crucial point in reference to this passage. "Reliance on God is the secret of all victory whether over heresy or any other snare." How we could all grow in our spiritual health and vigor by this truth.
John acknowledges, as do other New Testament writers, the cosmic conflict between good and evil, between God and satan. Rather than allowing this truth to alarm or frighten us, John repeatedly emphasizes the truth he teaches here. God is greater than all our adversaries combined. Through Him we shall overcome and gain the victory. But without Him we leave ourselves vulnerable to the weakest of foes. Victory over error is never automatic. The medieval test by conflict does not work. Therefore John takes us step by baby step through a whole letter, reasoning so as to expose error and its roots and also leading us to the wondrous truth of Jesus, God incarnate.
When these gnostic philosophers spoke their falsehoods, John was not the least surprised that people listened. The gnostics were "of" the world, and people who, like them, were "of" the world would listen and even like what they heard. Given man's fallen sinful state, is it any wonder that he would entertain the idea of becoming a god? (Ge 3:5)
But John also knew another dimension to this truth. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. This passage raises an interesting question. Can a person believe such a gross error as by that very belief to give evidence that he is not saved? Apparently John indicates that possibility here. This was not a minor error or a disagreement on a non-essential point. This error was so grave that John indicates that a person who holds to it may not in fact be saved at all. Our passage does not justify a leap beyond this point. Sometimes people take this leap far afield from John's point, teaching that children of God will come to the knowledge of God in the gospel in all major points of truth. Scripture too often deals with children of God falling into error, but the error typically is a far less grave than the one John here confronts. Can a person wholly distort the entire character and nature of God while God indwells him? I believe God has a people in every culture under heaven, but I do not believe his people in these cultures hold to all the cultural error and spiritual blasphemy that dominates their culture. We should not make every worshipping instinct tantamount to worshipping God, or an evidence of salvation. Often the Bible speaks of those whose very attitude of worship is so corrupt as to convey evidence that more denies their salvation than affirms it. If every worshipping instinct bears evidence of salvation, how can we harmonize this concept with Php 3:19? Their end is destruction. Their god is their belly (Hedonism, they worship satisfaction of their appetite). They glory in their shame. And they mind earthly things. This act of worship actually evidences a lost state, not a saved one!
God's work of salvation necessarily makes a dramatic change in us. No one has Biblical authority to claim salvation while living in sin just as they always lived. Revisit John's extensive teaching on assurance in the prior chapter. Assurance of salvation, for ourselves or toward others, grows out of a profound and decisive change in one's conduct and worldview. A saved person will not automatically know the truth and believe it, but neither will they embrace the most despicable and insidious of errors.
When Jesus told the disciples they would know the truth and the truth would make them free, the assurance of knowing the truth was not an unconditional promise. He conditioned knowing the truth and realizing its liberty on a rigorous condition. "If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." We may claim knowledge of God's truth only insofar as we manifest that we are truly His disciples! This is a challenging and a soul-searching realization, not easily embraced. Often closed-minded denominational thinkers will approach this passage with more arrogance than humility on the premise that God has automatically revealed ultimate truth to them alone. They are less concerned at their discipleship than at your lack of discipleship. Either you match their definition of discipleship and truth, or you are in error. Far from arrogance, Jesus' words instill in the thinking believer a profound humility. Why should God reveal His truth to me? How consistent and pure is my discipleship? Only as I continue in His words can I hope to know His truth.
John's sharp lines grow out of the severity of the error with which he dealt. Do not generalize his teaching to any minor misinterpretations or errors in doctrine or practice. The idea that all children of God know all essential truth becomes fertile soil for arrogant spirits and a very narrow view of salvation. Avoid this error. But also avoid the opposite error. To imply that anyone with any form of worshipping disposition is surely a child of God equally misses Biblical teaching. Likely it grows out of a latent desire toward universalism, to make every person who ever lived or shall live a child of God. Follow John where he leads, but don't strike out on your own. Hold tightly to the essential truth of Jesus' incarnation. It will protect you from many errors. This was John's foundational premise, and its denial was the gnostics' foundational error!
1Jo 4:7-11 - What is Love? How do you show it?