“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1John 5:13)
John writes to believers to assure them of their salvation. Many false teachers had come into the church spreading heresies. John begins his epistle affirming that what he writes is what he has witnessed firsthand. He is not writing what others have told him. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” (1John 1:1-4)
In this letter John delineates some basic Gospel Truths to dispel the lies of the false teachers. He expounds on the light that is God, His purity and sinlessness. As followers and children of God we also should walk in the light. He opposes the belief of the Gnostics who thought of themselves as sinless and perfect even in their sin. “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:5-9) He refutes the lies that we are sinless, writing that we do sin, but Christ forgives us of all sin. Further, in chapter 2, John writes, “He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him.” (1John 2:4) He means to point out that these false teachers are teaching contrary to the Gospel because the Gospel is not in them. They do not have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. “And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.” (1John 3:24)
John writes that it’s through obedience that we prove we are the children of God. “If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.” (1John 2:29) We do the right things because we are born of Him Who is righteous, again refuting the Gnostic belief that even if they sinned they were righteous. It’s a fine line. Yes, we do sin. John acknowledges that. But we are righteous because we are born of God and because our sins are forgiven by Him. The Gnostics believed they were sinless, light and pure even though they sinned. They believed it was given to them by some secret spiritual knowledge of their origin and destiny. John further expands on this in the following chapter.
“Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1John 3:6-10)
John seems to contradict himself. But what John is talking about is outright rebellious sin with the full knowledge that it’s sin and not caring that one is sinning. Believers, children of God may fall into sin, miss the mark, but it’s not their nature. When we sin, we are most miserable because our nature cannot withstand darkness or sin. Our sins are forgiven, but repentance and confession clean the consciousness of sin. Our sinlessness is not based on us but on Jesus and His merciful work on the cross for us. That is the Gospel. The Truth is revealed in Jesus and Him alone and not some secret mystery revelation to selected few.
There are so many other points that John makes discrediting false teachings, such as the belief of salvation through knowledge instead of Jesus and the denial of Jesus’ humanity. John warns us to test the spirits. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1John 4:1-3) And his final argument, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1John 5:12)
In these last days there will be many false teachers. Jesus in teaching about the last days said, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matthew 24:24) Satan will thrust out his deceivers. We can avoid being deceived when we know the Truth. And we can only know the Truth through His Word. When we know the Word of God, we will be able to spot the lies of the devil and his cohorts.
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