Now, it could be because this is a relatively new book to me, one I admittedly haven’t read much in my lifetime. But this book is good! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading it this week! I’ve walked away convinced that, had John lived in our day and age, he would have been an excellent rapper. He’s always poetically contrasting things like light and darkness, love and hate, truth and falsehood, children of God and children of the devil, obedience and disobedience, faith and unbelief, the Christ and antichrist. But, here it seems like John is taking his writing skills to a whole new level. In a poetically beautiful way, John is writing to a local church, encouraging her to continue to embrace the sound doctrine of Christ. As the church, we are each called to abide in Christ, and to abide in Christ, we will (1) walk in love, (2) walk in obedience, and (3) guard the truth of the Bible.
“4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.”
13 The children of your elect sister greet you.”
Notice how the meat of this letter begins with John rejoicing over the church's obedience—“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.”
We won't spend much time here, but as a pastor, few things stir up more joy in my heart than seeing the church walk in the truth. The phrase “walk in truth” implies that the truths of the Bible have impacted your mind as well as your heart. And a heart affected by truth will lead to a life impacted by truth. Walking in truth is truth applied.
When you come to me excited about what God’s teaching you in the Word, I get excited. When I see you living out what you’re learning, I rejoice! One of the best ways to serve your pastors is by living out the truth of the gospel we all love and embrace.
John then says in verse 5, “And now I ask you, dear lady— not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning— that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”
This is a wordy few sentences. So let me try to summarize what John is saying. Here, John pleads with the church to continue walking in obedience to God by walking in love. He’s reminding the church how love and obedience are inseparable; they’re two different sides of the same coin. You can’t walk in obedience to God’s commandments without love, and you cannot walk in love apart from God’s commandments. Love and obedience cannot be separated— “This is love, that we walk according to his commandments.”
Real love flows from obedience, and real obedience is always motivated by love. Yet, we often seek to separate love from obedience and obedience from love. Let me seek to explain.
Obedience without love is displayed through an attempt to use God’s law as a means to serve yourself by building your own reputation and identity. This is what the religious leaders were doing when Jesus came on the scene. They were using the law to serve themselves, not others. The commandments were a tool to push others down and build themselves up. They were a whitewashed tomb. They dressed nice, they fasted and tithed so others could see, and they prayed loud and extravagant prayers. But there was no love for God, nor was there a love for others. They wore a mask of obedience to appear as those who had divine favor from God. But inwardly, they were corrupt and hypocritical.
Church, we’re not exempt from this. We all face the temptation to love our reputation more than we love others. We all face the temptation to use God’s law as a means to serve ourselves, not others. So, may we be careful not to use the commandments of God for something they were never intended to be. Obedience was never meant to be separated from love.
Now there’s also a temptation to swing the pendulum to the other side and think we can find love outside God’s commandments. But John’s words here teach us that that’s an impossibility. We are to “love one another,” and “love is walking according to his commandments.” The moment we seek to separate love from obedience to God is the moment we’ve journeyed into hate. But this is what we’re tempted to do.
For example, the Bible holds marriage in high esteem as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman. But the society we live in hates this. They claim this is outdated, oppressive, and hateful. So, in the name of love, we’ve sought to redefine what marriage can and can’t be.
The Bible holds authority in high esteem, calling us to respect authority. The Bible calls us to not resist our governing authorities and to honor our father and mother. The Bible calls the man to be the head of the household and lead, love, and serve his home. But the society we live in hates this. They claim this is outdated, oppressive, and hateful. So, in the name of love, we push for equality and encourage others to live their truth and follow their heart.
The Bible holds the Sabbath in high esteem, calling us to keep the Sabbath day holy. But our society hates the idea of someone else getting an upper edge. Therefore, we embrace the notion that work never sleeps, which turns Sunday into a day to finish that deadline or wrap up that tournament. In the name of love, we sell our souls to work or sports.
The Bible holds human life in high esteem, teaching us that men, women, and children are made in the image of God. The society we live in agrees with this, stating that murder is wrong, until human life threatens our freedom to choose. Therefore, in the name of love, we embrace and celebrate the removal of life through the avenue of abortion or euthanasia.
Church, obedience without love is hypocrisy. But love without obedience is hate. If we want to be loving, we must seek to know Scripture, embrace the truth of Scripture, and rejoice with the truth of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 13:6 says, “Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” So, the moment we seek to dismiss obedience to God’s commandments in the name of love is the moment we’ve abandoned love. Obedience to God is one of the clearest ways to display our love for God and one another.
Now, in this exhortation to obey God by walking in love, John reminds the church that this commandment is an old commandment— “…not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning.”
God is far greater than we could ever imagine. So, a key part of the Christian life is learning new things about God. In the same way that we could never collect every grain of sand on the beach, we could never fully grasp God's fullness. But as we learn new things about God, we must remember that there are no new truths, only old truths. Therefore, a key element of the Christian life is remembering the old truths we’ve already embraced.
Now, I was doing the math this week. If this letter was written around 90AD, John had lived as a follower of Jesus for roughly 60 years by this point. It’s even possible he was nearing 90 years old by this point. Yet, in his old age, John hasn’t outgrown the simple call to love one another. We will never outgrow the call to love.
The older we get, the easier it is to become jaded. The longer you live in a fallen world, the easier it is to grow bitter. Every day that passes is another opportunity to get hurt by those around you. But, oh, the joy I feel when I see older saints still walking out their Christian faith. There are not many things more beautiful to me than seeing older saints still embracing the call to love one another as Christ has loved us.
How do we do this? How can we become a John? The only way this can take place is through the warm embrace of the gospel proclaimed in the Scriptures. The truth of the gospel is the heat that keeps our hearts soft and tender, able to display genuine love. Away from it, we will grow cold and hard. If we want to be loving people, we must keep the gospel close.
John then says, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
We’ve discussed this time and time again in 1 John. John is saying that the antichrist is anyone and everyone who dismisses Jesus and preaches something contrary to the truth of him that is found in the Scriptures. And he’s saying you don’t have to look far and wide to see false teachers. Many had gone out into the world to deceive back then, and many have gone into the world to deceive now.
So, how do we know what the Bible teaches about Jesus? What is true? What is false?
Well, when we were going through 1 John, we put together a concise statement regarding a biblical summary of who Jesus is. It went as follows:
“Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. He came to earth to live the perfect life we could not live, died the death we deserved, and rose again— defeating sin and death— to offer us new life. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven and will one day return. Every person will stand before him to be judged according to how we have lived: those whose faith resides in Christ to everlasting life and those who rejected Christ to everlasting judgement.”
So, anything that goes against these core truths surrounding Jesus is a lie, and we must seek to guard against these false teachings.
Look at the stern warning John gives in verse 8. He says, “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.”
It’s worth pausing here for a moment because there are a few interpretations regarding the reward mentioned at the end of this verse. Some think John is talking about a loss of salvation. Others think he’s talking about losing a spiritual award found in heaven (1 Cor. 3:12-15, 2 Cor. 5:10). Others think he’s talking about losing the outcome of a corporate ministry. In other words, if the church were to stray from the truth, John and his companions’ efforts would be in vain.
As we quickly wade through these different interpretations, I think it’s important to remind ourselves of what 1 John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”
We’ve already established that not all who are members of the physical church are members of the spiritual church. Perseverance is a sign of authenticity. Those who are born of God will continue to walk with God. Therefore, I don’t think this verse teaches us that we’re able to lose our salvation. So, it could be that he’s referring to an award in heaven. But, I don’t want us to get so bogged down in the weeds of what the award might be that we overlook the warning! A loss is a loss, and a reward is a reward! John is sternly saying that doctrine matters! It matters what we’re being taught! It matters what we believe! It matters what we teach! It matters how we live! So, watch yourself! Watch what message you embrace. Watch what message you preach! Watch how you live!
All who are in Christ will persevere, and all who are in Christ must persevere! A tangible way that God keeps those in him is through their watchful perseverance. The warnings in Scripture are the guardrails that keep us persevering.
John then says, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” So, a tangible way to know that we have a relationship with God is our willingness to abide in Christ and his teachings. Those who embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior have God, and those who do not embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior do not have God. Now, remember that John is not likely addressing a woman with children; instead, it’s likely he’s addressing a church in a bit of a poetic and symbolic manner. So, I don’t think John’s intention here is to encourage the church to never have a non-believer in their home. Instead, he’s calling the local church to carefully watch what is being taught within their body.
As pastors, we are responsible for providing teaching, preaching, and counsel from the Scriptures, as well as guarding against false teachers and teaching. Part of our job is to protect the pulpit and ensure we don’t receive false teachers into our house. This is why we have an elder-recommended curriculum for our community groups. We want to ensure we aren’t allowing falsehood to creep into the church's life.
Now, I think there’s some beauty in how John closes his letter here. He says, “Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.”
If any of you know me, you know I’m a bit of a tightwad. I hate to spend money. After reading John’s words, I think he might agree with me! That brother doesn’t want to waste paper and ink. Although using these words to justify being a tightwad is tempting, I won’t. I think that would be a significant misrepresentation of John’s original intent. Instead, I want to remind us that in a digital age, face-to-face conversations are better. In a digital age where we love to hide behind a screen, John’s words remind us that face-to-face conversations are better. So, carve out space in both your schedule and budget for coffee with the saints. Prioritize gathering with the local body you’ve been called to. Face-to-face gospel conversations fuel Christian joy— “I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.”
John then closes with the statement, “The children of your elect sister greet you.”Remember the imagery John is using. The elect lady and her children are the church, a local congregation. So, John is saying that the local body he’s with (likely in Ephesus) is greeting the local body he’s writing to. Notice there’s zero animosity found in these words, zero disdain. Instead, there’s only warm hospitality and love. We are not in competition with other congregations. We are a small family that is a part of God’s great family, a [b]ody that’s a part of the [B]ody. Warm greetings, not cold slander, are what we’re called to extend to other church families in our city, state, country, and world.