A crisis has engulfed the church at Ephesus. The church at Ephesus was either founded by Paul or else greatly nourished by him during his third missionary journey in the 50's AD. After the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, John the beloved disciple, who had lived in Jerusalem before the Jewish revolt (67-70 AD), fled to Ephesus where he finished out his days. During the next 15-25 years John enjoyed a thriving ministry in this city. In fact, subsequent church history informs us that the church in Ephesus became one of the dominant centers throughout Christendom in addition to the churches at Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Alexandria.
Although the time up to this point and the time after this point proved to be a successful one in her history, at the time John was writing 1 John, the situation looked precarious. A new movement which was later called "Gnosticism" was gaining a major foothold in the church at Ephesus. A leading authority in the studies of 1 John, Rather Raymond E. Brown, has claimed that the movement was so successful that the majority of the Christians in Ephesus left the apostle and joined with up this new movement. The movement proved to be such a threat to Christianity that it almost destroyed it in the second century after Christ. What Roman and Jewish persecution could not do—the destruction of Christianity, this heretical theology almost accomplished.
What was the nature of this new theology which threatened Christianity's very existence? The new teaching taught that whereas the spiritual side of man was good, his flesh was evil. Flesh and all other matter were so evil that God Himself could have never created the material world. The God of Jesus Christ had created a lesser god who was not as perfect as Him; this lesser god in turn created a lesser god who was still worse than him, etc., until finally, one of the lesser gods who was so evil finally created the evil world. In other words, the god of the OT was not the same as the God of the NT. According to Gnostics, this was the reason the God of the OT could slay women and children, whereas the God of the NT commanded us to love one another. A great gulf separated the Father of Jesus Christ (the God of the NT) and the lesser, evil god of the OT according to Gnosticism.
How did this belief about matter and spirit affect (1) the way the Gnostics lived and (2) their beliefs about Jesus Christ? First, many taught that since their flesh was evil and their spirit was perfect, they could do anything they wanted in the flesh because it was evil and did not affect the spirit—the division between the 2 being that complete. Although they could live like sin, they still felt that they were perfect spiritually. Very convenient. Also, how very modern. How many times have you heard a person who committed a sin declare that they were still really good people? A young person once told me that although she had been promiscuous, that was not the real her. The real her was still this good person. (I asked her then who had done the promiscuous deeds.) Although her actions stated otherwise, she felt that she was still good. That is the essence of Gnosticism.
Moreover, if the spirit is good and the flesh evil, then the man Jesus could not have been God the Son. Instead, He was just a mere man like the rest of us born of both a human father and human mother. What happened to Him was that when He was baptized, the perfect spirit called "the Christ" came upon Him and empowered Him to perform miracles. The Gnostics drew a distinction between Jesus and Christ—Jesus being the sinful human and Christ being the perfect spirit. While He was on the cross, the perfect spirit Christ left the human Jesus which led the human Jesus to declare, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
As was stated previously, this new doctrine appealed to a sizeable group in the church at Ephesus headed by the apostle. A major church split based on theology ensued. At this point in which John is writing, the split has already occurred; however, there is still the danger that more Christians will leave the church and join the Gnostics. It is to this last group that John is addressing the letter. He is not writing for the purpose of enlarging his own congregation so that he can have his own little kingdom on earth; he is writing to prevent them from falling to their own doom. Theology is not like a cafeteria line in which you can choose whatever you want. Whereas there is some latitude in theology, the truth is that some theologies actually destroy a person spiritually. John is writing to prevent this from happening.
(You might ask where I got this information about John and the church at Ephesus. The apostles were not the only ones who wrote about Christianity. Right after that first generation of apostles passed away, their disciples also wrote about the history of the church. One of these named Irenaeus wrote many pages about John and the history of the church he ministered to.)
THE PROOF OF JOHN'S MESSAGE (1:1-2)
So many times I see people bristle whenever they hear a preacher or teacher speak something authoritatively. Some teachers, etc., need to be careful in speaking authoritatively because they may not be qualified to make such unqualified statements. They may claim that they have a right to their own opinions and that their opinions are just as good as those of any other. Well, the truth is that although each of us has a right to his/her opinion, not every person's opinion is as good as everybody else's. Absolute truth does exist and only those whose opinions harmonize with absolute truth should be listened to.
Well, John is claiming that his theology and beliefs are based upon absolute truth. Where does he get off making such a statement? Unlike the belief systems of his opponents who are basing their beliefs on speculation, John is basing his beliefs upon cold hard evidence: "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word of truth." Recently, the morning talk host on WBAP (Mark Davis) claimed that our faith is really a leap in the dark because faith is no more than that—a leap in the dark. He claimed that you cannot prove the truth of Christianity. Well, the truth is that you really can't prove anything in the way that Davis is speaking. For example, I can't prove you exist. You may just be a shadow in this long-term dream I'm having. But nobody operates like this. Instead, we operate on the basis of evidence and witnesses. Christianity never claims to be a leap in the dark but rather a positive response to some cold, hard evidence that Jesus Christ is truly God's Son. (For example, the apostles—witnesses—claimed that they encountered a resurrected Jesus. Now if the resurrection does not point to the deity of Jesus, then just exactly what does it say about Jesus?) The apostles heard the resurrected Jesus; they saw the resurrected Jesus; they touched the resurrected Jesus. What did John's opponents have as evidence for their beliefs and claims?
Moroever, unlike the beliefs of his opponents, John's beliefs were not a new-fangled theory but rather dated from the beginning. A lot of new theological beliefs become very fashionable but like C.S. Lewis said about fashion ("Fashion comes and goes but mainly goes"), new theological beliefs come and go but mainly goes. On the other hand, since Jesus the eternal God is the content of John's message, John's message is eternal, something you and I should commit our lives to.
PURPOSE OF JOHN'S WRITING (1:3-4)
Why does John write this letter to his congregation? "That they may have fellowship with us!" Who is "us"? The apostles and those who follow their teachings. He does not want them to leave the apostolic church, or rather, those churches which hold to the apostolic message. What do I mean by that? In a real sense, Christianity is based upon the witness of the apostles. We do not have anything written by the hand of Jesus. Everything we have was either written by an apostle (Gospel of John/Matthew, the letters of Paul, 1/2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, James and Revelation) or else written by someone closely associated with the apostles (Mark was close to Peter, Luke to Paul, the author of Hebrews to Paul). Why is it so critical then that we remain true to the apostolic accounts? Because the apostles had fellowship with "the Father and His Son Jesus Christ." A saving relationship with Jesus Christ comes only through the witness of these apostles. We would not have saving knowledge of Christ if we did not have the apostles. Salvation/eternal life results only by believing their witness about Jesus.
This is true even today. Only those churches/organizations which adhere to the apostolic witness can truly offer eternal life. The following diagram explains this:
APOSTOLIC WITNESS:
Baptists
Methodists
Catholics
Other Christian denominations
ALL OTHERS (outside the apostolic circle):
Mormons
Other major world religions: Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism
Jehovah's Witnesses
Salvation is found only in the list that contains the apostolic witness. These churches which do adhere to the witness offer eternal life to people. On the other hand, those churches which do not accurately present the apostolic witness do not offer people eternal life, no matter what denomination they claim to be a part of. Moreover, other world religions do not offer salvation because they do not stand within the area of the apostolic witness. Now this creates antagonism sometimes against Christians but we nevertheless need to proclaim the truth so that others may adhere to the testimony of the apostles and receive eternal life.
Another reason that John wants his readers to stay with the apostolic church is that "our joy may be complete." This is one of the most unselfish statements in the NT. What does the salvation of another person have to do with me and my joy? Why should my joy be determined by another person's response to the message of Jesus Christ? John was going to heaven no matter how people responded to his message. So why should HE care? Yet, that is the attitude of Jesus and that is the exact attitude that John is assuming here. Just like God Himself weeps over a lost world (see Eph. 4:30), John cannot fully enjoy his own salvation if those he loves do not participate in that same salvation.
CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE (1:5)
John has been speaking about the message. Now just what exactly is that message? Or rather what part of that message applies to the present situation? John is not going to preach everything he knows about Jesus but only that part which applies to his particular situation. The part of the message which applies to John's situation is "God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all." John's opponents have actually been attacking the character of God. When they claim that they can sin with impunity, they are claiming that God is either evil or indulges evil in His followers. They may try to excuse God by saying that He created a lesser god who created the evil world; however, that claim will not wash. If God created an evil god, then He is ultimately responsible for the evil that that god does. Well, the message of the Christian faith teaches that God is light, or rather, that He is perfect without any hint of evil or sin (see also James 1:17). The cross teaches us that not only God is love but that God hates sin and requires the death of His perfect Son Jesus to remove that sin. No matter what else God is, He is completely pure and good.
APPLICATION OF THAT MESSAGE (1:6-2:2)
So how does this message apply to John's situation?
If a person claims that he is in fellowship with Jesus Christ (God) and yet is walking in sin (living a life of sin), then that person is lying and is not practicing the truth of the message about Jesus Christ (the gospel). On the other hand, the exact opposite is true. The person who is following Jesus Christ and leading a life of holiness and purity is living in fellowship with Jesus Christ. How do we know that he is living in fellowship with Jesus Christ? By the fact that he is living in harmony with other Christians who are living lives of holiness. More than any other writing in the NT, 1 John stresses that the health of a person’s relationship with God can be measured by the health of his relationship with other Christians. If a person is hostile towards other Christians, he is hostile towards God.
If a person claims that the sin nature in him has been totally done away with, then that person is deceiving himself and is not living in the truth of the message about Jesus. Some Christians have mistaken piety for holiness. They seem to think that if they engage in certain religious activities, then they have practically overcome sin. They may "admit" to being sinners; however, you'll never find them admitting to be in the wrong. They tend to be judgmental towards others who commit overt sins. Well, the truth is that as a person grows closer to Jesus Christ and becomes more like Him, he begins to discover the depth of his sin nature.
Probably one of the greatest Christians of this millennium was William Carey, the Father of Modern Protestant Missions. This man suffered tremendously for Jesus Christ by going to India and translating the Scriptures into over 10 Indian dialects. Although he never had a formal education, he taught himself Hebrew, Italian, Dutch, and French, and then went to master 10+ Indian dialects. During his first seven years of labors, he led only one person to the Lord. The situation was so severe that his wife went crazy. While she was ranting and raving in one room, he patiently translated the Scriptures in the next room. At long last, things took a turn for the better when he was able to build a publishing house and print the Scriptures. Later, this publishing house mysteriously burned to the ground. When news hit England about what had happened to Carey and about all the sufferings he had endured, more than just sympathy swept the country. Not only did money now flow into Carey’s works, a missionary fever took hold in England which led to the greatest expansion of Protestant missions since the beginning of Protestantism.
According to his biographer, towards the end of his life William Carey could be found praying and weeping. When asked why he was weeping, he would respond, "How can I ever hope to stand before a righteous God?" This statement came from a man who had sacrificed more than most of us combined. Carey knew that he was saved and gong to heaven; he knew that God was going to welcome him into heaven on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice, and yet he understood fully the paradox of the situation of how this holy God welcomed sinful men into His presence. He simply appreciated the fact that he was broken, a sinner in full need of grace, even after making the tremendous sacrifices he made.
Let me add one final word about William Carey. For all practical purposes h is life was a failure. He reached so few people for the Lord during his lifetime. HOWEVER, 150 years later, one of the greatest evangelical movements in Christianity occurred in India. Hundreds of thousands are now coming to the Lord for salvation, and do you know what Bible is being used to convert them? The one William Carey translated. Although it took 150 years, his life has borne tremendous fruit for the Lord. An incredible life—and he was a Baptist.
