1 John

In 2:12-14 John assured his readers that they were recipients of strength and help from the Word of God to assist in their spiritual struggles. In 2:15-17 John urged his readers not to love the pagan, self-centered lifestyle that surrounded them. Such a worldly love excluded love for God and also led the Christian to focus on a style of living that was slowly dying.

John emphasized the importance of right belief as an indication of genuine Christianity. The term "antichrist" described those who disrupted fellowship in the churches by holding the wrong doctrine about Christ. The distinctive beliefs of these false teachers are in verses 22-23.

Believers stood secure against the false teaching of the antichrists because of three sources of strength. First, they had the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This provided the capacity to understand spiritual things. Second, they had made a personal commitment to the Christian message. Third, they were living in union with Jesus Christ.

John again emphasized the importance of right action as a demonstration of Christian commitment. Christians who had been divinely begotten of God had the privilege of experiencing God's love and living as members of His family. They were to demonstrate their family membership by righteous living. John indicated that Christ had come to take away our sins (3:5). Jesus had died for the purpose of causing us to stop sinning.

John pointed out that the person who made a practice of sinning had never known Christ. In verse 9 he indicated that the experience of a believer in conversion rendered the practice of sin a moral impossibility. John was not suggesting that a Christian will never commit an act of sin. He did indicate that a believer could not live in the practice of sin.

The conclusion in verse 10 pointed out the importance of righteous behavior and also underscored the significance of loving other believers. It makes a good transition from discussion of right action to another presentation of the proper attitude, an attitude of love.

ARTICLE: The Value of Human Life

What does it mean to be human? What is person-hood? Is it ever morally justifiable to take human life? These and other emotionally charged questions, all of which revolve around the perennial issue of the value of human life, are being raised anew in the current debates concerning a host of complex ethical issues.

The Bible clearly puts forth what may be termed a high view of the value of human life. In contrast to many contemporary out-looks, however, the Scriptures do not ground this evaluation in society or even in the human person, as important as that is, but squarely in the creative activity of God. This activity gives a special place in creation to human beings as those who bear the image of God.

These themes are sounded in the opening chapters of the Bible. The first creation account reports God's intent as expressed on the sixth day of the creative week: "Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26). God's purpose comes to fruition in the creation of human beings—male and female—each of whom, as a result, is to share in the divine image. Genesis 1 and 2 indicate that the image of God is a multi-sided concept. It refers to the responsibility of acting as stewards over creation. It includes as well the relational nature of human beings: we are created to live together in community with one another and with God. As a result, human life is of value because God has entered into a covenant with humans, entrusting them with a special purpose, a specific role in the divine plan for creation.

Creation in God's image subsequently became an integral part of the Hebrew mind-set. It forms a basis for biblical injunctions concerning fair treatment of others. God's covenant with Noah after the flood, for example, includes a serious penalty for murder, based on an appeal to the creation of each person in the divine image (Gen. 9:6). So ingrained was this idea that James could matter-of-factly state to his original Hebrew-Christian readership, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness" (3:9). He appealed to human creation in the divine image as a basis for respecting other humans even in our speaking to and about each other.

Creation in God's image and the resulting value of human life is incomplete, however, without the future orientation given to it by the New Testament. For Paul, Jesus Christ is preeminently the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15).

Believers truly participate in the image in that they are being transformed into Christ's likeness (2 Cor. 3:18), a process directed toward the coming of God's kingdom at Christ's return (1 John 3:2). As a result, the value of human life is ultimately based on God's salvation purpose, which is directed toward the future completion of all God's activities. At that point God's purposes in the creation of humans will find its full realization.

On the basis of these considerations, the value of life can and should be seen as bestowed on all humans by God as God's gift. Because all persons are the objects of God's love in Christ and are all potential participants in God's kingdom, all human life is valuable. God calls all humans and human society to acknowledge the value God and God alone has placed in each human being.

John mentioned the importance of the demonstration of a proper attitude, love, as evidence of genuine faith. John presented love as the proof that we have passed from death into life. He located the chief revelation of love in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The chief manner in which we as believers demonstrate our love is by our kindness and mercy in ministry to others.

In verses 19-24 John indicated that our love brought with it an assurance of our standing with God. If we demonstrate this love, we are able to set our hearts at rest in God's presence. The assurance that love brings will carry with it an experience of boldness before God and also an assurance of effectiveness in the practice of prayer.

John expressed the importance of right belief as an evidence of genuine Christianity. John was speaking of people who claimed to be Christians but who spoke as deadly opponents of Christianity. He was also referring to church services much more informal than our own. In these early services visitors could stand and claim to speak by the Spirit of God. John wanted to provide direction to distinguish between the true and the false.

John directed his readers to test the words of those who claimed to speak for God because of the possibility of the presence of false prophets (v. 1). The test by which the utterances were to be judged was the acceptance of Jesus Christ as God's incarnate Son. As his readers struggled with the presence of false teaching, John assured them that the victory ultimately belonged to them. He also indicated that the worldly message of the false prophets would attract an audience that was gullible in their acceptance of falsehood.

In this section John again underscored the importance of a demonstration of love. He presented love as a disposition that originated in the divine nature.

John appealed for believers to love for two reasons. First, such love has its source and dynamic in God. Second, God is characterized by love. Both reasons blend together so that one runs into the other. The greatness of the divine love for us leaves us with an incentive to love one another. Our practice of love for one another provides evidence that God's love for us has attained its goal.

In verses 13-16 the apostle discussed the relationship between love and the indwelling of God. He suggested that it is not enough merely to know that God is love. Believers must live daily in the sphere of divine love. In so doing they genuinely live in God's presence and have God living in them.

In verses 17-21 John mentioned two evidences of the presence of a ripened fruit of love in a Christian's life. First, such love provides confidence on the day of the coming judgment. Second, this love leads to a genuine concern for fellow Christians.

John began this section by stating the chief confession of faith that should characterize Christians. Christians are those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Those who are genuine believers demonstrate it by their love for God and obedience to His commandments. The faith that provides strength for spiritual victory is the faith that Jesus is God's incarnate Son.

In verse 6 John outlined more specifically who Jesus is as the Son of God. John's opponents held that Jesus was a mere man to whom the divine Christ spirit came at baptism and from whom this spirit departed before crucifixion. John taught that Jesus was the divine Son of God at both baptism and crucifixion, throughout the entire course of His life.

In verses 7-12 John showed that our faith in Jesus Christ has a good foundation. The KJV text makes a reference to the Trinity in verse 7 that most modern translations omit. The best texts of verses 7-8 suggest that the Spirit, the water, and the blood all unite in their witness to Christ. The Spirit presented His witness at Jesus' baptism and throughout the totality of Jesus' ministry. The terms "water" and "blood" are a reference, respectively, to Christ's baptism and death. John also referred to the witness of the Father and to the witness of personal experience. The truth to which all of the preceding witnesses testified was that eternal life is available only through God's Son, Jesus.

In 5:13 John indicated that he had written this epistle to lead believers to an assurance that they possessed eternal life. John suggested that assurance that we have been accepted with God provides an assurance toward receiving answers in prayer. He urged that Christians practice intercessory prayer, particularly for fellow believers caught in the trickery of sin. He concluded with the statement that Jesus' death had made possible holiness in the life of each Christian, the new birth, and a genuine knowledge of God.

Theological Significance. This letter speaks to contemporary Christians in a significant way. Today there are many people who profess to know God and have fellowship with Him but do not demonstrate such faith at all. John's tests concerning obedience, love, and belief provide warnings for the unfaithful as well assurance for genuine believers. To be sure that we know God, we must keep His commandment. If we lack love for others, it indicates we do not know the love of God in our hearts. Foundationally we must believe rightly about Jesus Christ. He is the Christ, the Son of God, who has come in the flesh. This important triad calls the contemporary church to a strong, balanced faith. We must grow stronger and stronger in all areas of our Christian life.

Marshall, I. Howard. The Epistles of John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978.

Stott, J. R. W. The Epistles of John. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964.

Vaughan, Curtis. 1, 2, 3 John. Bible Study Guide. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970.