1 John

1 John 2:28-29 | A Trumpet Blast for Feeble Saints

by Ben Zornes · May 19, 2022

28 And now, little children, abide in Him; in order that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of him
1 John 2:28-29

John is bringing this particular section in for a landing. Like a skilled composer he has introduced themes and motifs that continue to build and crescendo throughout his letter. Here he introduces a glorious note which will grow in glory as the argument continues: confidence in our union with God. Our fellowship with God by abiding in Christ brings confidence, and leaves no room for shame. Abiding in the true Gospel is not only how we avoid being seduced by the false gospels of antichrists, it also brings confidence. Many saints have struggled with assurance of salvation, but this is a trumpet blast of boldness that should rally the confidence of even the most feeble and doubting saint. Have you been joined to the Father through baptism into Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh? Then have confidence that when He comes you will not need be ashamed.

This is true generally for the believer, but John also introduces a new component, that of Christ’s appearing. This reference to Christ’s coming, or parousia, raises the question of which coming is being referred to here. Consistently in the NT this refers to Christ’s own prediction (Cf. Mt. 24) of His coming in judgement on unbelieving Jerusalem. If we take John to be referring to this event, this fortifies the view that John is writing prior to Jerusalem’s fall. Now, of course the Fall of Jerusalem (which John calls Egypt & Babylon in his apocalyptic vision) itself points towards Christ’s final coming to “judge the quick and the dead”. We should also be free to apply this as a principle when it comes to each of our individual deaths. For the saint, Christ comes to us in our death; thus we should live accordingly, by remaining in the unction with which He has anointed us, abiding in the faith once delivered to us.

But for the saints John is writing to, they were on the cusp of world-altering convulsions. The persecutions and upheavals on the near horizon should not rattle them, for they abide in the Christ who is coming to bring judgement on Jerusalem. Those who abide in Him need not fear this judgement, but join in singing the song of the heavenly saints: “Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever (Rev 19:1-3).”

Verse 29 finishes the thought found in verse 24 that abiding in the Son means you are abiding in the Father also. Knowing Christ the Righteous (Cf. 2:1) enables the saint to recognize the proof of those who are born of Him. Seeing Christ as our righteousness, far from producing moral laxness, brings forth the moral uprightness which can only come by being born of Him. A finer point of doctrinal clarification should be mentioned here, we are born of God the Father through Christ. The “Him” should be taken as referring to the Father, rather than the Son.

Finally, one commentator makes a wonderful exegetical point about the mood of the verb εἰδῆτε (you know): “It enfeebles the sentence to take the verb as indicat[ive].^⁠1” John is exhorting believers to take this knowledge up, that in so doing they might see also the birthmark of those begotten of God. Good works spring from this simple faith. Christ is righteous, rest in it, have confidence in it, and so also recognize those born of God, yourself included.

¹Smith, David. The Expositors Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. Vol. Five. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. Pg 182

1 John 2:24-27 | The Pastoral Prerogative for Run-on Sentences

by Ben Zornes · May 11, 2022

24 Let that which you have heard from the beginning abide in you. If that which you have heard from the beginning abides in you, then in the Son, and the Father you shall abide. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us: life eternal. 26 These things I have written unto you regarding those who are seducing you. 27 But the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you have no need for any man to teach you, but even as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and according as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him.
1 John 2:24-27

John continues to return to themes he previously introduced, only to deepen and expand them. Here the theme of fellowship is deepened by noting the reciprocal nature of it. As we receive the Apostles’ gospel and doctrine, the Truth contained in their teaching abides in us. If we’ve received the plain Gospel witness which was first preached to us––that Jesus was the eternal Christ, manifested in the flesh to be our Advocate before the Father––then we abide in the Father and the Son. The Gospel comes into us (by the Spirit’s effectual work, it should be noted), and by that power we are brought to abide in God. We have here another “if/then”, a favorite rhetorical tac used by John. If the Gospel abides in you, then you abide in God. In other words, Christian doctrine is personal and covenantal.

The life which was with God in the beginning, is assuredly ours for eternity. This is the good and glorious Gospel promise. In the Greek, life eternal is accompanied by the definite article. This is the Life Eternal. We aren’t talking about a way of life amongst many ways of life. Rather, this is the only true and eternal Life.

Verse 26 brings us a warning that there are seducers who would woo us away from this Life Eternal. Throughout John’s apocolyptic vision, the devil is described as busy with the work of deceiving/seducing (Cf. Rev. 12:9, 20:8 & 10, 13:14, 16:14). The same word is used there. Satan busies himself with leading astray, seducing, deceiving. But John also previously used this word in regards to the self-deception of claiming sinless perfection (1 Jn. 1:8). The devil deceives us, yes; but his best work is done by deceiving us into deceiving ourselves.

As we arrive at verse 27, we see the pastoral prerogative for run-on sentences. When truth like this is in play, it is hard to refrain from carrying on about it. The lure of the seducers should be countered with the anointing which we received. Our fellowship with God, through being covenantally joined with Christ by having heard His Gospel news and being sealed by His Gospel sign, is the antidote to the adder’s poisonous lies. There is no secret knowledge that needs to be added to the plain Gospel which John had previously preached to them. This anointing (our baptism into Christ) is didactic. By that I mean that we grow up into it, but we never add to it. We learn to apply the Gospel to all things, and as we walk in the light which the Gospel brings we see that there is no lie in it. Once more, as we rest in the Gospel, we are in fact abiding in Christ.

1 John 2:20-23 | Knowing All Things

by Ben Zornes · Feb 3, 2022

20 But you possess an anointing (chrisma) from the Holy One, and you know all things.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the Antichrist that denies the Father and the Son.
23 All who deny the Son, have not the Father; he that confesses the Son, has the Father also.
1 John 2:20-23

Knowing and enjoying fellowship with God is not a matter of good brains and good behavior. Rather, it is the result of fellowship with God. Which is why, after the preceding stern warnings, John returns to assure the saints that they have received the anointing of the Anointed One, and all things necessary for life and godliness are made plain to them by Jesus Christ, His Spirit, and the apostles’ testimony.

John had sternly warned of the Antichrist, and the many antichrists who were afflicting the early church. Remember, Antichrist was not an invader, but a seducer. The Antichrist is not some vague figure, which we can discern through some Indiana Jones quest, putting every third letter of every fifth line of Scripture together in order to get the name of Henry Kissinger. Rather, the Antichrist was made manifest by what he taught.

The Antichrist, then, being a false teacher, it follows that those who adopted these teachings could rightly be called antichrists. It is important to understand that John has a real person in mind: the heretic Cerinthus. This heretic distinguished Jesus the man, from the person of Christ, and taught that Jesus was not conceived by the Holy Ghost, Christ came upon Jesus at His baptism, and left him at the crucifixion. Jesus was merely a man that Christ used. He also taught that salvation was found in strict adherence to the Mosaic Law. This undermined the very claims of Jesus, and what John and the other apostles had proclaims about the Christ and His Gospel.

Thus, while warnings against being seduced are necessary, it shouldn’t rattle the saints, but it should reinforce to them the need to look to their anointing, their charisma, their baptism into Christ so that they would not be led astray. The clever arguments of serpentine deceivers should not excite fear for the believers, rather they should turn to their Savior for reassurance that in Him is true wisdom, true illumination. John Calvin comments with great pastoral comfort on this passage:

“It hence follows that men are not rightly made wise by the acumen of their own minds, but by the illumination of the Spirit; and further, that we are not otherwise made partakers of the Spirit than through Christ, who is the true sanctuary and our only high priest.^⁠1”

This is why John has written to them (v21). Not to dismay them, or to accuse them, but to fortify them in the truth they’d previously received. You spot a counterfeit by being intimately familiar with the authentic thing. Which is why Cerinthus’ teaching (which John summarizes in v.22) is plainly a false gospel.

The additional clause in verse 23 is striking in that it harkens back to the confession in 1:9. Confessing your sins is agreeing with God about what He says about your sin. Here, your confession is saying the same thing about the Son as what the Father has said about His Son. Some dispute has arisen about the authenticity of this last clause, and whether it should be considered as part of the original text. For my part, I take the view that it matches John’s typical style of making the same point negatively and then positively (which we have here in the contrast between “deny” and “confess”). The point stands regardless, one cannot affirm the Father and deny the Son or vice versa. John is laying a strong Trinitarian foundation for the Church.

All this to say, cling to Your union with God the Father, through the Son, by the quickening grace which the Holy Spirit has sealed you with. This should fortify you as you oppose Rival Christs who would seduce you, for you will recognize that their tempting words undermine the basis of your salvation: Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, and He is the propitiation for all your sins whereby through Him alone are you brought into fellowship with the Father.

¹Calvin, Jean. Calvins Commentaries. Vol. XXII. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999. Pg.194.

1 John 2:18-19 | Rival Christs

by Ben Zornes · Jan 19, 2022

18 Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that the Antichrist shall come and now many antichrists emerge; from this we know that it is the last time.19 From us they went forth, but they were not from us; for if they had been from us they would have remained with us: but in order that they might be manifested to not be all from us.
1 John 2:18-19

The early Christians had previously been warned by both Christ and the Apostles to look out for false teachers, for wolves that would arise from among them (Cf. Acts 20:29-30 & Matthew 24:5,11,24) The “last time” is a common phrase used throughout in the Hebrew Scriptures. It connoted the times in which the Messiah would establish His reign. This character which John introduces us to as the Antichrist is a rival Christ, an opponent to the kingdom of Messiah. While the Apostles had anticipated the arising of a figure who would be the Antichrist, the emergence of many antichrists should not alarm John’s little ones. Rather, it should comfort them that the Lord Jesus was in fact asserting His rule, and the opposition of these antichrists was evidence of this fact. The presence of rival-christs was not a proof of failure, but proof that the devil was defeated.

It is striking that as Paul similarly warned the Ephesian church, so to here John notes that these antichrists arose and went out from the Church, but by certain proofs made it manifest that they weren’t genuinely “from us.” He will further teach on how to discern the marks of these false christs. However, it is most to be expected that these false teachers would arise in the midst of the Church. That is where they might do the most damage, after all. Inside the church is where they can assert their rivalry to Christ’s rule and reign.

There’s some trickiness in bringing out the emphasis in the original Greek of verse 19. In English we might add italics to lay emphasis on what John is saying. They went out from us, but they were not from us. This is akin to someone needing to live in New York City simply because that’s where they found a job. They might say, “I’m from NYC, but I’m not from NYC.” John will soon elaborate, but suffice it for now to point out that the Church has always needed the discernment which comes from the Spirit through our union with Christ. This discernment is a given, and is given so we may tell whether someone who has arisen in our midst, and gone out from us, is genuinely of us.

1 John 2:15-17 | The Imperative to Not Love

by Ben Zornes · Dec 1, 2021

15 Love not the world, neither the things in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 Because all that is in the world–the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life–is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passes away, and the desires thereof; conversely, he that does the desire of God dwells for ever.
1 John 2:15-17

There is a glorious movement here from the grand opening theology of redemption in 1:1-2:2 to the harmonization of OT commandments with Christ’s Gospel in 2:3-2:11, to the pastoral poetry of 2:12-14. In light of the cosmic import of the Word of life becoming incarnate, and after insisting that this is nothing new, but is rather the unfolding of the Old Commandment, we now arrive at the first imperative. This is the first time we come to an explicit instruction as to what we should do. Or more properly, what we ought not to do: do not love the world, or the things in the world.

We’ve already seen how John draws clear lines of division between those who have true fellowship with God, and those who merely pay lip service to this fellowship. Here again is another dichotomy: love for the world and the love of the Father. Loving the world and the things of it is at odds with the Father’s indwelling love. In chapter 4, John will build out this doctrine that God is love, and how this love permeates the true child of God. But for now, John pours the foundation of the Father’s love, upon which the whole structure might stand secure. John brings us up short by warning us against loving the faint glories of this world more than the true glory of the Father’s love. Do not build on any other foundation, in other words (Cf. 1 Cor. 3:11).

There are multiple layers we need to unpack here. God made the world good, of course. But man perpetually gets distracted by all the shiny things, and refuses to thank the God who gave us such good things.

In verse 16 we hear echoes of the original sin of Adam and Eve in Eden. The fruit was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable for making one wise (Gen. 3:6). Israel in the wilderness is also brought into view, they succumbed to a similar covenantal failure; they lusted for the leeks and onions of Egypt and demanded gods they could see instead of rejoicing in their covenantal position as God’s chosen people. Most notably, this text rhymes with Christ’s temptation which is of course the foil for those OT types. Satan tempted Christ (Cf. Mt. 4:1-11) with the lust of the flesh (turning stones into bread), the lust of the eyes (being born up by angels after being cast from the temple height) , and the pride of life (all the kingdoms of earth).

Where Adam & Eve, and Israel failed, Christ resisted and overcame the Wicked One (the same Wicked One John has just explained that we overcome through Jesus in 1 Jn. 2:12-14). Thus, since we now have fellowship with the Father through the One who overcame, how can we desire the things which He delivered us from when He overcame? Lusting after the fleeting pleasures of this world exhibits that we have not tasted the eternal glories of our union with the Father. Paul tells us that “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things (Rom 8:32)?”

C.S. Lewis put this truth into wonderful perspective when he said, “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”^⁠1 The long and short of it is this, these earthly trinkets pass away, but doing the will and desire of God ensures that we will “dwell forever.” Notice how John hearkens back to what he had previously stated: knowing God is evidenced in doing His pleasure (1 Jn. 2:3).

Remember that because the Word of Life has been manifested we have been united to that Eternal Word. This gives great assurance that we shall dwell forever. We shall dwell in the land our Lord God is giving us. But the boasting of life (the greek word here is bios), is fleeting in comparison with union to the Word (zoe) made flesh. John Newton’s hymn sums this all up nicely:

Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show
Solid joys and lasting treasures
None but Zion’s children know.^⁠2

¹Lewis, C. S. The Great Divorce: A Dream. New York: Harper One, HarperCollins, 2000. Pgs. viii-ix

²Newton, John. Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken. Compiled by Christ Church. Vol. Cantus Christi 2020. Moscow, ID: Christ Church, 2020. Song #484

1 John 2:12-14 | Pastoral Poetry

by Ben Zornes · Nov 11, 2021

12 I write unto you, dear children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning.
I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the Wicked One.
I write unto you, little ones, because you have known the Father.
14 I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning.
I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God dwells in you, and you have overcome the Wicked One.
1 John 2:12-14

Having exhorted them to love one another, and not walk in the continual scandal of brother hating brother, he now prepares to address how to engage the enemies which the early church was confronted with. These enemies are both cosmic (called the wicked one here and the devil later on), and earthly (the Antichrist which had begun vexing the early church). But before doing so, he introduces what can only be described as pastoral poetry.

It’s not unlikely that this passage also became a sort of musical catechism for the early Christians. The pattern is: children, fathers, young men. The lines addressed to the children use two Greek words: τεκνία and παιδία. The first (teknia) is more common to be used of one’s own children, whereas the second one (paidia) is the term for children/infants in general. One possibility explanation is that the first line is directed–in the first instance–towards those whom John had ministered to personally, while the latter line was addressed to all saints who would read his letter (even those he hadn’t ministered to personally).

Regardless, the first line is the comfort of the Gospel for all of God’s children: their sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ’s name. The only assurance of our sins being forgiven is that we have confessed them and Christ has cleansed us of them by being our Advocate and thus, has propitiated God’s wrath (Cf. 1 Jn. 1:9 & 2:1-2). When the pattern repeats and children are once more addressed (and in both lines it belies the Apostle’s endearment of those born of God), it is to assure them that through Christ’s forgiveness they have also known the Father. There is no wall or division between them and the Father’s love. They enjoy the Father’s love fully.

The two lines to fathers are striking in their almost exact similarity, and thus where there is a difference it stands out. The contrast is between “I write” (present active indicative) in verse 13 and “I have written” (aorist active indicative) in verse 14. I take this as a striking reference by John to his Gospel. He is writing now to fathers the same thing he had already written to them. These lines should be read as addressing the elders/fathers of the church; they’re reminded that they have ”known Him that is from the beginning.”

In other words, the fathers of the church were to hold fast to John’s Gospel witness, as found in his written testimony of Christ. The fathers must walk in the knowledge they have of “Him that is from the beginning,” i.e. Christ. What John is writing to them in this epistle is no deviation from what they had received in his Gospel; but the antichrist (1 Jn. 2:18-19, 22) and his followers who were seducing these early saints (1 Jn. 2:26) were deviating from the Gospel once delivered by denying that Jesus was the Christ. The fathers were tasked to defend this, John fortifies them in this task by reminding them that they know Christ, as He was proclaimed through the witness of the Apostles and didn’t need the gnostic’s secret knowledge to ascend high enough to know Christ.

The two lines addressed to young men also have the notable “I write/I have written” pattern. Young men are comforted with this assurance: they have overcome the Wicked One. This is put in the perfect tense, meaning that their overcoming is a point of fact, not a thing to aspire to. The victory is assured. As the poetic exhortation completes it circuit, the young men are brought to note that Christ, the Word of God, abides in them and this is the basis of their strength. By this strength they have overcome the Wicked One. They have battles for the Gospel yet to fight both within and without. They are soon to be exhorted to fight against sin within themselves (1 Jn. 2:15-16) and to fight against error which assaults the church on all sides (1 Jn. 2:18-19).

There’s a wonderful rhyme and reason to this poetic exhortation. All of God’s children (regardless of their office, age, or sex) are brought to bear in mind the forgiveness of sins which they enjoy through bearing Christ’s name, and the fellowship/knowledge they have of the Father through the Son. Elders/fathers are put in mind–given the gravitas of their leadership position–not to deviate from the Apostolic Gospel and doctrine. The young men are exhorted to face their battles with swagger: the Wicked One is overcome.

1 John 2:9-11 | The Gospel Scandal

by Ben Zornes · Oct 7, 2021

9 He who says he is in the light yet hates his brother is in darkness even until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no stumbling-block (scandalon) in it. 11 But he that hates his brother is in darkness and in the darkness walks and does not know where he goes because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:9-10

Having established that keeping God’s word/commands is the fruit of God’s love within (2:5), John now turns to love of neighbor. “Brother” here should be understood as fellow saints. Initially, this might seem like a narrowing of what Jesus widened. Jesus famously taught (to his Israelite audience) that your neighbor isn’t just fellow Jews, but mankind in general. We should recall that Jesus was making way for the Gentiles (even the hated Samaritans) to be welcomed into the covenant blessings of Israel (while unbelieving Jews would be cast out).

John, however, is writing to a mingled audience of believing Jews and Gentiles. This new Israel must recognize that the loyalty and love which arises from the Gospel begins between brothers in Christ (i.e. those “born of God”). As this love take holds amongst God’s children it bleeds outward and infiltrates all other loyalties––familial, national, and ethnic. John is building on what Christ taught, not restricting it. The only way for us to show love to mankind in general is to begin by love for those ”born of God.” This is the light that is shining, which John anticipates will soon illumine the whole world.

Once more, John continues the illustrative conversation, i.e. “He that saith…”. This time the lie being spun is a claim to dwell in the light (Cf. 1:6-7) while detesting one’s brother. If you hate your brother, you dwell in darkness, not in the true light which is now shining. This is contrasted with the one who truly dwells in the light. The one who dwells in the light loves his brother.

There is a striking phrase used here that bears a lingering remark. The one who loves his brother demonstrates that he truly dwells in the light of God; thus, there is no stumbling-block in him. The word used by John here is scandolon. This is where we get the word scandal. Human history is littered with a constant ebb and flow of constantly escalating scandals. It starts with small slights, gnawing envies, and minor infractions. But the scandal, like rivulets joining into rivers, always grows.

Human history is littered with a constant ebb and flow of constantly escalating scandals. It starts with small slights, gnawing envies, and minor infractions. But the scandal, like rivulets joining into rivers, always grows.

Think of a child playing contentedly. Another child arrives, and grabs a toy that the first child hadn’t been playing with. However, now that toy now has captured the first child’s attention, and he’ll rush over to try to take it. The second child will then grip tighter, and then the whole situation escalates to screams, bites, and punches. This is what mankind has done on a large scale since Cain crushed Abel’s skull (note that John will use this very OT episode in 3:12 when he expounds on what is introduced in this text).

The scandal is that our envies and lusts have trapped us in a constant battle with our fellow man. It is a stumbling-block. Here, however, the path of escape from this fallen system of living is shown. Mankind need not remain in darkness, for the true light now shines, inviting man (whether Jew or Gentile) out of the darkness of the scandal, into the bright light of the Gospel scandal: Christ laid down His life for us.

The Accuser’s lies, which we have participated in spreading and believing, are undone by our Advocate (2:1). He says of us, “This one is mine, it is for this one that I shed my blood.” Thus, Christ is the great scandal that renders all the scandals powerless. Their grip is lost. The light shows us where the stumbling blocks are, thus, in essence, removing them. Because Christ forgave us and has brought us into fellowship with God, we are now able love our brother. The steeds of rivalry and contention are all hocked. The engines of envy and covetousness seize up.

Hating those for whom Christ died and has redeemed by His blood demonstrates that no matter how loudly you say otherwise, you still are walking in darkness. This is the condition of the fallen man. He walks around in the darkness of hatred. They stumble over all the scandals, big and small. The darkness has blinded them, and they have no way to know where they are going. But not so with those who have seen the ultimate scandal: God, in Christ, has forgiven you and begotten you––and all the elect saints––as his children.

There is some debate as to whether the last phrase in verse 10 should be translated that there is no stumbling block in him (the one who loves his brethren), or in the light. I prefer to render it according to the latter line of thinking. In other words, those walking in darkness have seen a great light indeed. Once we dwell in the light, as He is in the light, we see the stumbling blocks––the scandals––for what they are, and by the Light of Christ they are all removed.

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