Have We Missed the Point of 1 John? (Part 2) | Theocast

The Purpose of the Second 1 John Episode and the Need for Context

Hi, this is Justin. Today on Theocast is the second of two episodes around the letter of 1 John. Today, John Moffat and I talk about some of the passages that are often isolated in the letter of 1 John and are used to cause believers to question whether they are really legitimate.

We're gonna try to do some faithful exegesis. We're gonna use history. We're gonna use the context of the letter and all of those good things to try to rightly understand the text. We really do hope that this episode today, coupled with the episode last week, is balm for your soul as you trust in Christ and seek to live for him.

Stay tuned.

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Theocast’s Mission and the Pastoral Setting for 1 John

Welcome to Theocast. Encouraging weary pilgrims to rest in Christ. Conversations about the Christian life from a confessional, reformed, and pastoral perspective. Your hosts today are John Moffat, who is pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and I'm Justin Perdue, pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina.

We are back with you to talk some more about 1 John. Very, very much talked about book. We get as many questions about 1 John as we get about any book in the Bible. 1 John and James, right? I mean, those are the ones that people always are asking us about, particularly because of how those books have been understood, especially in recent evangelical history.

And we began last week, just go ahead and tee this up for us before I hand it over to John, to set up the topic for today. Last week's episode, so this is a part two of a two-part consideration of 1 John.

We talked about the book as a whole. We gave some overview material. We gave some background material pertaining to the letter. Like, why did John write this letter? What was the context? Because that stuff does matter if we're going to rightly understand it.

We read at one point an avalanche of verses to try to communicate the pastoral, gentle, tender tone of the apostle, and how he is writing not to smoke out the fakers and unsettle the saints, right? He's not unsettling the saints.

He's writing to comfort the saints, to bolster the assurance of the redeemed. And the people that should be concerned are those who have run off into false teaching, those who do not agree with God about what sin is and about how they're to live this life, and those who have ultimately ended up leaving the church and leaving the faith.

So if you've not yet listened to part one, we would encourage you to go back to last week's episode and listen to that before you listen to our episode for today. Because episode today is not going to make as much sense to you.

It's not going to be as helpful to you if you don't have that background overview material in your backpack.

Yeah, we're going to reference it. So it's going to make more sense if you start there. So John, what are we going to do today? Yeah, so today, there's a lot of mic drop moments when you're in theological debates with people, either in books or sermons or on Twitter, whatever you want to put it.

But in the Federal Vision, New Perspective on Paul, Final Justification, that sphere of theological realm, I would even say in some sections of lordship salvation, depending on who it is, you're going to drop these 1 John passages, which we're going to look at this morning, two or whenever you're listening to it, it's morning for us.

Two, 1 John 2, 3 and following, or 1 John 3, 8, 9 and following. These are typically the ones that are used. These are the big ones. There could be a couple others, but we're going to use these as kind of like, this is what's mostly quoted.

Same thing with James, you know, Faith Without Works is dead. We did an entire episode on that. We'll put the notes down there. Completely missed context there. So we're going to not just say, oh, that's wrong.

We're going to do our best to exposit it, look through it. Again, intro overview last week. Now we'll dive into the weeds and deal with it. And this is an extremely important conversation because, and I will say this, I will pull this from last week's episode and we'll continue to use it today.

John is dealing with two groups of people, those in Christ who are safely in Christ in the boat and those outside of Christ. Those who are in Christ are not in Christ by obedience, unless it's Christ's obedience.

And those outside of Christ, outside of the boat, those people, they don't agree on their sin. They don't agree on who Christ is. And so John is separating those two categories of people. All right. So that's kind of our introduction.

That is big. A brief recap of a couple of things, just super quick. What's going on in the church context that John is writing into? Right. You've got some false teaching. You've got some proto-gnosticism.

We defined it in length last week. I'm not gonna do that again today. But what that resulted in were people who thought that the spiritual plane was more important than the physical temporal plane and that what was done in the body therefore is of little or even no consequence.

That what really matters is an inner kind of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment and that that's what we need to pursue and that how we live then doesn't matter. So that's clearly in John's crosshairs.

He's blowing that up. He also is blowing up an early heresy referred to as docetism or docetism, however you want to pronounce that, which taught that Jesus only seemed or appeared to be truly human in the flesh.

Like he only seemed or appeared to be physical. But in fact, he was some kind of spiritual being that was manifesting himself. And so that's very clear that it's in John's crosshairs because of how often he reiterates that the apostles were with Jesus, saw him, touched him, how we confess that Jesus came in the flesh.

So that's a big deal. And then secondarily, aside from false teaching that John is trying to controvert, he is writing into a context where there's been apostasy. People have abandoned the church and people have abandoned their fellow church members and have left the church and the faith.

And there's a lot of fallout and wreckage that that produces as anyone knows who's ever experienced such a thing in their own church context. And so John's writing to these saints to assure them, to strengthen them, to reaffirm them, and to also help them think well about, like you said, John, this other group of people who didn't regard God's law, who did not confess that Jesus came in the flesh, who didn't think it was a big deal how they lived and ultimately ended up leaving.

So all that by way of context. That's the context, right? That's the context. So I guess we'll tackle the first one, maybe one of the kind of the big ones, right? So first John, let me pull this up here.

First John. Chapter two and verse three.

Assurance, Obedience, and the Command to Love in 1 John 2

Yeah, but we gotta look at the whole thing. Yeah, and we're gonna do that. We're just gonna do exercises and good exegesis here. Yeah, so we'll start in verse one.

My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So right away, gospel. So good. We don't want you to sin, but I always say this.

God expects you to sin. Otherwise, first John wouldn't have existed. He is the propitiation, the payment for our sins, not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Whatever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this, we know that we are in him.

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Justin, go.

Yeah, you read a number of verses. I'm gonna refer to even more. Okay. An exercise in context, right? So chapter one, beginning in verse five, John talks about walking in the light, right? There's no darkness in God.

We wanna walk in the light. Well, what does that mean? He then goes on to talk about how if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You're a liar, yeah. Right. If we confess our sins, verse nine, chapter one, he, God, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Verse 10, if we say we have not sinned, we make him, God, a liar and his word, God's word is not in us. So to walk in the light clearly involves. Agreement. Agreement with God about your sin, a siding with God against your sin, a confession of said sin and a trusting in Christ that on account of him, you are forgiven and cleansed from said sin.

All right, so that's obviously there. Then you picked it up in chapter two, verses one and two. I'm writing this so that you might not sin. Amen. Come on. I mean, all the people of God from all time said, amen.

We all pray. Lead us not into temptation. Exactly, forgive me for my sins as I forgive those who sinned against me and lead us not into temptation. Like, I don't wanna sin. No. Lord, give me grace that I might not sin.

Give me grace so that I might obey your word. I delight in your law and my inner man, Romans 7, 22. Psalm 119 is chock full of language about how your law and your word is so good. I wanna obey it. Why do I not?

Because the flesh and the spirit are opposed to each other. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. An advocate is different than an intercessor, by the way.

So an intercessor, that's important. Jesus is that in an ongoing sense. He intercedes for us. But he's an advocate for us when we sin. That's a big deal.

So when we actually sin, he advocates. He's the lawyer on our defense. He pleads.

When we sin, not once we've gotten over it, by the way. But then in addition, he is the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Anybody who's ever gonna be saved are saved through Jesus because he's made satisfaction for their sins.

And so before you read these next verses,.

I wanna state it this way. For those who agree with the gospel, for those who agree with the gospel, these next verses apply.

Yes. And those who agree with the gospel and those who agree with God's law, that it's good. That's right. And who actually love it and wanna pursue it. So then he says, and by this we know that we've come to know him if we keep his commandments.

And then he's gonna go on and talk about how whoever keeps his word, in him, truly the love of God is perfected. But whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which Christ walked.

We should seek to, he's gonna say this later in chapter three, anybody who hopes in Jesus will seek to purify himself as he is pure. Amen. That's because we are children of God. So he says in chapter three, verses one and two.

That's right. But then he goes on chapter two in verse seven and following to explain even more what he means by the commandments. That's right. So this is critical. And this is often missed. We abandoned this one.

Say what?

We dropped the mic too early. No, I know. I mean, we're not done. We're gonna keep going. Pick that mic back up. And it's not us dropping the mic. It's the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You know, my point is those who do the federal vision slash final justification, they drop the mic too early.

Oh, they do. Like pick that mic back up and keep reading. Oh yeah, keep talking, keep reading. That's right.

All right, so verse seven. Beloved, I'm writing to you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you've heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I'm writing to you, which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

Whoever says that he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness.

Just to be clear, right? Whoever hates his brother and does not know where he's going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Then, and I'm gonna come back and explain all this. Then very next verses, I am writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake.

I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who's from the beginning. I'm writing to you young men because you've overcome the evil one. That's right. I'm writing to you children because you know the father.

I'm writing to you fathers because you know him. I'm writing to you young men because you're strong and because the word of God abides in you and because you've overcome the evil one. So he's clearly not writing to the redeemed to freak them out and to scare them.

He's writing to say that those who agree with God on the gospel, who agree with God on the law, who see that God's law is good, who strive to conform themselves unto it by the spirit in Christ, not out of fear, but out of love and gratitude and joy.

This is true of us. And what does he say that we need to do? What command does he absolutely hammer? He's echoing the words of Jesus from John 13, 34. That's right. A new command I give to you, that you're to love one another.

And to that And John's the one who wrote that. I know. Isn't it wild, John? Isn't it wild? So this is what is often left out of the conversation. That's right. We just say, obey the commandments, keep the law.

And then we don't even go on to explain what John is really drilling down on. He's drilling down on the second table of the law, love your neighbor. And that is made manifest and obvious through how you love the brethren.

That's right. And well, he sandwiches it too, right? He is your advocate. Of course, with assurance. Yeah, he is your advocate. So listen, you've been set free from the condemnation of your sin by faith.

Now, you're gonna agree with God on the purpose of your life, which is to obey. And when you fail, grace is there to catch you again. And to love others. That's right. So many, I've mentioned this in SR last week, so many passages.

I'm gonna mention them again. Philippians two does the same thing. If there's any comfort in the spirit, if there's any comfort in his love, do you see what God has done for you? Then obey. He starts with the grounding.

Ephesians four, right? Walk in a manner worthy of the calling you to which you have been called. He's sovereignly called you into him. So you aren't doing this so that you can prove you are saved. You're doing this because you are saved, right?

Sanctification is just as much empowered by the spirit as justification is. Come on with it. Sanctification is the fruit of your justification. It always has to be in that. Now, do our good works create for us a measure of assurance?

For sure. Yeah, they bolster it. Because we're in Christ, we're in the boat, right? We are floating in safely by faith. As we do these works of love, we can say, wow, look how wonderful it is to reflect Christ.

And man, does that encourage my heart that I reflect Christ in my life. That gives me a sense of assurance. But you can never say, I know that I'm saved and I should have all of the confidence of my salvation based upon my works.

Now, Justin, people will quote John for that very reason. By this you know. No, you can't ignore everything he's said before.

You can't. You can't ignore all the stuff about confession of sin and forgiveness and Christ as your advocate, Christ as your propitiation, Christ as your righteousness. Then after the fact where you said the sandwich piece.

But you're in Christ. You know the Father. You know the truth. I mean, even the whole business of if the word of God abides in you. That whole idea. He then sandwiches it by saying, I'm writing to you young men because you're strong and the word of God abides in you.

I mean, he says that to them. But then here's the other thing. Context. Why did he write the letter? We talked about this last week. Mentioned it again this week. He's writing to people who have been affected by false teaching.

They've been around people who have bought into the idea that it doesn't matter how they live. That's right. Right, because the sins committed in the body don't matter because spiritual enlightenment's all that I'm after.

Okay, well, John's clearly blowing that up. He's saying true believers, people who really have trusted Christ, who agree with God and his law and his word, people who are legitimate, understand that how they live matters.

That's right. Real believers do seek to obey God. They will fail, right? That's why we need Christ. But they do seek to obey God. And how in particular are we gonna really pursue that obedience? We're gonna love each other.

And these people who have bought into the false teaching and oh, by the way, who have left you, have not loved you. That's right. That has to be understood here. That's right. So that's where the context and the purpose of the letter matter.

That's where the context of the words on the page, as we've tried to demonstrate here, regarding 1 John 2, 3 in a pointed way, really matters. Hope so. That's right.

Well, and I'll just wanna compare this real quick to another examination passage, which I'm about to quote. So the third one I mentioned already. So Philippians 2, Ephesians 4, 2 Peter, which we like to quote all the time.

What is Peter saying, verse three, right? God has granted to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, right? Yes, sure as you. Peter creates the same thing. Here's the boat, go float in it in God's sovereignty.

It's his promises. Now, then he says, from that, you're gonna obey. But when you're not obeying, you need to understand why you're not obeying. You've forgotten you've been cleansed from your former sins.

Then he says this. So that's the whole context. But then we ignore those passages and we just jump to verse 10 and 11. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.

2 Peter 1, yeah, it's where you still are.

Keep reading. 2 Peter 1, 11. For in this way, we will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You're telling me that Peter starts with God grants you everything and then tells you your obedience is what gets you a rich entrance into heaven?

I know. Is the guy psychotic? Talk about the height of biblicism, right? Has he lost his mind? Let's pit some verses against each other. Right. You have to look at everything. Does he say that? Well, yeah, in context, what he means is these qualities of what has been given to you, right?

Your fruit cannot sustain you. It cannot save you. So what I love about 1 Peter is he does the same thing. He sandwiches it. But in the middle of that sandwich, he goes, you need to agree with God about your obedience.

You need to obey. But why do you obey? It's because of what you received. If you're new to Theocast, we have a free ebook available for you called Faith Versus Faithfulness, A Primer on Rest. And if you've struggled with legalism, a lack of assurance, or simply want to know what it means to live by faith alone, we wrote this little book to provide a simple answer from a Reformed confessional perspective.

You can get your free copy at theocast .org slash primer.

The emphasis of the apostles, not only is the status forward, justified forward, identity union with Christ forward approach, but their emphasis is always so unashamedly on how we love each other. And if that is not the emphasis of all of our talk of obedience, I think we've missed it.

And I sadly see so often whenever you ask people, if you were hypothetically to ask people, what does a godly person look like? Or what's the mark of a Christian? You know, in terms of how they live, I don't know that love for the brothers and sisters is at the top of the list.

And frankly, it should be. We'll leave that there.

We're just gonna set that over here and we're gonna move on because we've got other verses to consider. Chapter three, which is another big one.

The Children of God and the Children of the Devil in 1 John 3

Do we briefly, chapter two in verse 19, do we wanna explain that at all? Oh yeah, before we go into it, go for it. Let me just do that quickly and then we're gonna go into chapter three because that one's a huge one.

All right, so chapter two in verse 19 is a famous verse. It's not so much used to unsettle people all the time, though I think in some ways it is in kind of a backhanded way. Better argument for our side.

Agreement. So John is talking about how, you know, many antichrists have come, right? And the spirit of the antichrist is already in the world, et cetera. He says, they went out from us, but they were not of us.

So again, there's those two groups of people again. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they are all not of us. Okay, that's pretty, it's easy enough, right, to see.

But then verse 20, just again, the tone of John. But you have been anointed by the Holy One and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth.

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. And he goes on and on. So he's saying to them, there are those who have gone out from us because they're not of us.

If they'd been of us, they'd have remained with us. But I'm not writing about you, just to be really clear. Like you know God, you have all knowledge, you've been anointed by the Holy One, you know the truth.

And that truth is all summed up in confessing that Jesus is the Christ. Really good. I mean, so when you think about verse 19, read verse 20 through 22. That's right. Of chapter two, because I think they're very encouraging and they make even more plain how John has those two groups of people in view and he's not writing to unsettle the group that he understands to be in the Lord Jesus.

That's right.

Here's who you are, this is how you view yourself, this is how you need to view them, right? So he's gonna do this again. We'll just jump into chapter three.

Last comment, so sorry, dude. No, it's fine. Why does that matter that he's writing these verses to these people? Again, these folks have been hurt by those who have left them. It hurts to be left, it hurts to be abandoned.

Some of these are family members. Sure, and it's like they've not been loved by these people and they've been hurt by these people. Both are true and John is writing to comfort them in that. Like take heart in this.

Like here's why this has occurred because they're not like you. You are in Christ, you know, and you know the truth and you confess Jesus and I think that's huge for our understanding of the letter, yeah.

Hope in Christ, Purity, and the Practice of Righteousness in 1 John 3

Right, so a great example. First John three is another chapter that's used. So let's look at it. You go ahead and tee it up, just tee it up, John and we're gonna go. Here we go. So let's just start in verse one.

So let's continue the conversation. See what kind of love the Father has to give us that we should be called the children of God. Sounds tender to me and so we are. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God's children now and what we will be has yet not appeared. But we know that when he appears, we will be like him and we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Amen. Amen. To look to Christ is to want to be like Christ. It's wonderful. Now, he says, okay, that's you. Let's talk about these other people. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever practices, I'm sorry, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is the one who does not love his brother. Now, so much is said here, but can we not see?

Here's one group, here's the other group, here's one group, here's, it's not one group of people, it's two separate groups of people.

Yeah, again, let's look at the way he teased this whole section up. You know, he begins with, see what kind of love, you know, the father has given to us. And he's loved us this way so that we might be called his children and so we are.

We are his children. That's right. So he's so obviously affirming the saints, right? That cannot be denied. And the reason that the world does not know us is that it didn't know him. So again, you've had people hurt you and leave you and probably mock you for what you believe and what you think.

And the reason that's happening is because they did the same thing to Christ. That's right. Right? That's right. Okay, verse two, beloved, we are God's children now. And then he gives a future. So again, the present and the future are linked together.

This, in the whole conversation about final justification, I cannot help but think of texts like this in like Romans 5, one through five. The present reality of justification is clearly tethered and inextricably linked to a future hope.

That's right. There's not, there need not be a wedge driven between a present reality and a future hope. They're connected. That's right. Because God's the savior. Last time we checked. We thus hope. He says that in first John.

Correct. So we are God's children now and what we will be has not yet appeared. What's he talking about? The resurrection. That's right. Clearly. But we know that when he appears, when Christ appears the second time, we will be like him.

We'll be right, first Corinthians 15. You know, we're gonna bear the image of the man of heaven. We're gonna be like Jesus. And Adam all died and Christ all will be made alive. We're gonna be like him.

And then he says that we'll see him as he is. What a remarkable thought. Yeah. You know, we're gonna live with Christ forever. And I was talking with my kids the other night about this. Cause they were saying, we can't see God and live.

And I said, it's true because of sin. We can't see, cause I was explaining to them whenever there's a vision of God in the scripture, it's God, the son, right? Like this is God. The son is the one who is visible, right?

Who has a body and all these things. And so we're talking about that. And they were like, but we can't see God. And like, what does Jesus look like? And I was like, well, here's some of the descriptions.

Ezekiel one, Isaiah six, et cetera, et cetera, revelation. But we can't see God and live. It's like, it's true. But when we're resurrected, when we're raised, imperishable and corruptible, we will see Jesus as he is and we'll be like him.

Like what a remarkable thought. So John's encouraging them with that thought. That's right. And talk about comfort and not unsettling. I mean, there's that. Then he says, as everyone who thus hopes in him, who in this way hopes in him.

That's right. For eternal life and resurrection, purifies himself as he is pure.

Like you said, amen. What a great word. Obedience from assurance. Yes. Not to gain it.

Exactly. Oh brother, it's gosh, this is such good stuff. Then he clearly pivots. That's right. Remember the context. He's writing to people who have lived with folks who have said, obedience doesn't matter.

Doesn't matter what you do in the body. All that matters is spiritual enlightenment. And oh, by the way, Jesus only appeared to be physical and all these kinds of things. That's what they've been around.

They're denying Jesus. They're denying the third use of the law. They're denying so much. They're denying the law wholesale. That's right. So then he goes in on everybody who makes a practice of sinning, which these people clearly had done.

And some maybe in your midst still are doing, but these people clearly done. They practice lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. Right. So there's a difference. Compared to the purity of Christ. Right. Those who are purifying themselves and asking for forgiveness as they failed versus those who do not see the need to ask for forgiveness of their sin.