1 John
1Jo 5:18-21 - We Know
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (1Jo 5:18-21)
Knowledge appears throughout this letter. The irony can hardly escape our minds. The gnostic philosophy that John exposed emphasized a secret knowledge supposedly superior to traditional Christian sources. Rather than going to the defensive and contrasting knowledge with faith, John took the offensive and contrasted "knowledge falsely so called" with the Christian's true knowledge. (1Ti 6:20. The Greek word translated science is gnosis, knowledge.) Gnostic knowledge was filled with pride. It never transformed the life or softened the heart toward one's fellowman. Likely when John closed this letter with the words, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," he had gnostic pride and its related pride-filled worldview in mind.
This epilogue to the letter returns to the major ideas John presented and restates them for emphasis. And the principal issue resolves in whether gnostic knowledge or Christian knowledge corresponds to the reality of life and to the ultimate reality of God as revealed in the Christian epistemology of Scripture. Repeatedly in this epilogue John asserts what "we know" as believers in Christ. He offered no secret knowledge to a select few. He made his knowledge public for all to see. Let's spend a few minutes reviewing the knowledge of believers based on Scripture and on their God-given faith in Christ.
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. A. T. Robertson emphasizes again (Word Pictures in the New Testament) the verb tense and its related idea of habitual and continual practice. True Christianity will not tolerate a pretense of knowledge that generates pride, but shows no compassion and help to those less fortunate. Transforming faith was the only faith early Christians authenticated. We would do well to imitate their robust faith. We know that God's involvement in a human life will transform. It makes an obvious and observable difference in their whole outlook. It particularly makes a difference in the way they act toward God's fixed moral principles and toward other people.
And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. You can stack a number of realizations one on top of the other with this verse. We are of God in terms of His creation. He created the universe, including man. Through His creation of man, we are His creatures. He does not reject the universe as a big mistake, the gnostic error, but He created it. His handprint appears from the telescopic to the microscopic dimensions of the natural creation. And it all declares His glory and demonstrates His handiwork. Further we know that we are of God in terms of His special and spiritual creation. We belong to His family. He knows us and we know Him personally and intimately. We also know that the world of sin and contradiction that opposes Him will not prevail. It lies in wickedness. It wallows in sin. That is repugnant to God! But God's natural creation pleases Him.
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding. From Matthew to Revelation (In terms of prophetic truth from Genesis to Revelation), the incarnation forms God's centerpiece of His amazing self-disclosure to us. Rather than hiding and refusing to reveal Himself, He stands in the bright sunshine of self-revelation and invites our intimate fellowship with Him. Not only has He come into this material world of His own creation, but He has given us a deep thoughtful revelation of Himself specifically with the design that we may know Him. A gospel that fails to keep the incarnation, God dwelling in human flesh and returning victoriously to His eternal glory, fails the ultimate test of the only true Bible gospel. Take all the futility Paul identified in 1Co 15:1-58 regarding the consequences of no-resurrection into consideration. All that futility becomes reality without the incarnation, for He cannot die and rise again from the dead if He never enters the world as a man. What a mystery! He never ceased being God! But He added humanity to His deity. The addition didn't alter His immutable deity, but it is as real as His deity. Paul wrote that he had known Christ after the flesh. (2Co 5:16) In Col 2:9 Paul affirmed that Jesus retains the fullness of deity in His body, "the fullness of the godhead bodily." Paul wrote Colossians around 60-62 A. D. while in prison. Jesus died somewhere around 30-33 A. D. Thus thirty years after Jesus' ascension Paul affirmed that He yet retained His human body in heaven. He further affirmed that Jesus' human body is the only physical body that God possesses or reveals. No, God the Father is not an ascended and glorified human.
... that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. The crescendo of the whole book, its principle design, appears here. John's God holds no resemblance whatever to the gnostic god who refuses to appear, to be known, or seen. God took an amazing step into our world in the incarnation. He disclosed Himself in the form of a man, a God-man, who was fully God and at the same time fully man. Why did He become man? That we may know Him that is true. Rather than seeking to remain unknown and unknowable, the true God goes to great lengths to reveal Himself to us. He further takes great pains to ensure that we may understand that we are personally and individually in Him. He adopts and births us into His family. Not a metaphor of some obscure symbol, He brings us into the personal and intimate reality of this amazing truth. By His divine intervention we become His own children. We gain free and ready access to His presence. And we learn to expect His presence and protection in our lives, no less than a child learns to trust and depend on loving parents for care and protection.
John sets off two major statements to end his epilogue. This is the true God, and eternal life. Gnosticism proposed another "true" god, but John refused the claim. We do not anticipate eternity in the role of subordinate lesser gods. Our eternity will blossom with the full reality of our loving and knowable God.
Then he sounds the final salvo for God and truth. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Far from being another equally acceptable or desirable way to God, gnosticism for John was pure idolatry! It elevated human pride in secret "knowledge" apart from transformed Christ-like lives. It reverted to the ultimate subversive feature of God's greatest enemy. Pride is written across the whole episode of man in Eden. (Ge 3:1-24) Pride appears in Scripture as the deepest flaw in mankind. (Ps 10:4; Pr 8:13; 13:10; 16:18; 29:23; 1Ti 3:6) And it was a primary trait of gnostic philosophy.
One wonders why Satan continues to use pride to gain the upper hand and influence over men. Why not? As long as men allow pride to blind them to truth and to God, the scheme will work as effectively as it did the first time he used it in the Garden!
Here too John and Biblical Christianity stand in stark contradiction to this evil philosophy. The New Testament model of the pastor-teacher is that of the servant-leader, not of the despotic overlord. The weight and power of leadership in God's kingdom grows out of godly examples, not out of intimidation and threat. (1Pe 5:1-3) It seeks God's will, not the private personal wishes of the leader. Its example manifests the transformed life of ever true believer. It exhibits the specific model of what knowing God does to an individual. And it is not the arrogant boast of pride in secret knowledge, but the humble comfort of God's love that embraces us in His holy family. Herein we discover the amazing power of transforming powerful Christian truth. May we learn the lesson well. May our lives demonstrate in actions the power of a God whose presence changes everything about us from pride and self to humility and His deserved glory!
1Jo 5:21 - Informed Faithfulness