John W. Ritenbaugh
December 4, 2017
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He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:10-17
Remember that John's epistle is written to church members. Therefore, he
frames matters in absolute terms, offering no middle ground regarding sin and
one's relationships with God and fellow
man. It must be this way because this is our one and only opportunity for
salvation, and sin was what cut us off from God in the first place, causing us
to need salvation. We do not want to fall into that position again. Sin is
serious business!
Regarding our moral and spiritual conduct, we must
recognize that there is no twilight zone, especially in our relationship with
God. A Christian cannot muddle around morally or spiritually, thinking that
sin is a rather minor affair. It cost Jesus His life! In this
relationship, which is in reality preparation for a marriage, love and loyalty
are extremely important.
John spells matters out as either light or
darkness, love or hatred, all absolutes. Where love is absent, hatred rules in
darkness. Where love prevails, there is light. Through the word "darkness,"
John is disclosing that, because of the sin or hatred, a lack of love for a
brother, the relationship with God declines. Notice in verse 11 that the sin
John mentions is against a brother, meaning a fellow church member. Hatred is
not a trifling matter! Later, in I John
3:15, John says that one who hates his brother is a murderer. What is the
result? A relationship is broken, and communication with the brother ends.
Even more serious, we find that the sin also involves one's relationship
with God because the effect of that sin is a measure of spiritual blindness.
The hater grows insensitive to or hardened against spiritual truth.
Paul reinforces what John teaches, writing in Hebrews 3:12-13,
"Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is
called 'Today,' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
He warns that sin has a deceptive quality. It promises so much even before it
actually becomes an act of conduct, but it delivers far short of its promise.
Its truly sneaky aspect is its powerful tendency to lure us into further sin,
enslaving us and hardening our minds against righteousness. In other words, it
shares characteristics with drugs in that it is addictive or enslaving,
destroying one's well-being.
Herein lies the cause of the apostle
John's concern in I John 2. God is the source of spiritual truth (light), and
we are sanctified as His children and to His service by it because we believe
it. However, under the sin of hating, communication with God begins to break
down, and consequently, the sinner puts himself in peril of falling completely
away. Notice in I John 2:13-14, John
mentions that the fathers - those in the congregation older in the faith - have
known the Father. He appeals to them to exercise their longstanding, mature
leadership within the congregation in a right manner.
The word "known"
ties John's thoughts directly with Jesus' words in John 17:3. Knowing
God, having an intimate relationship with Him, is the key to living a life -
called "eternal life" - which will be acceptable for living in the Kingdom of God. Hating a brother
actually cuts the sinner off from the Source of the gifts and strengths
necessary to live that quality of life. In other words, the sinner is not
properly using what God has already given him and is showing disloyalty both
to God and to another member of the Family.
Beginning in verse 15, John
pens three of the more notable verses in his writings. When considered in
context, they should be scary stuff for a Christian. Why does he command us
not to love the world?
Because the sinner's conduct exhibited in his hatred of his brother reveals
the source of communication prompting his sin! John exposes the communication
to which the hater is responding.
Under no circumstance would God ever
communicate the sin of hatred toward a brother. Besides, James confirms that
God tempts no one (James
1:13). John is warning that the person's affections are drawing him away
from God and toward the world, and he had better do something about it before
he slips completely back into the world.
This also connects to John 1:5. "And the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
Darkness symbolizes the spiritual blindness of Satan's unconverted world. In
the book of Revelation, this blindness is represented by Babylon the Great.
Satan's world simply does not get it, that is, spiritual truth. Because it
cannot grasp God's truths, the only spirituality the world can ultimately
communicate is inducement to sin, which it does insistently and
attractively.
This leads us back to God's illustration regarding Adam,
Eve, and Satan. Satan is the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4),
and thus its spiritual leader and governing principle. He persuaded Adam and
Eve to sin. So the only way we can come out of the world is to reverse the
process that placed us in the world in the first place: to stop sinning. One
can phrase it more positively as to yield to God's will rather than Satan's or
to God's communication rather than this world's.
We could never leave
the world on our own. God must mercifully deliver us by calling us. We do not
understand the mechanics of what He actually does in our minds, but in calling
us, He miraculously does something to begin leading us to think of matters in
relation to God with a clarity of understanding and intensity that we never
before experienced. It is almost as if we suddenly understood a foreign
language.
— John W. Ritenbaugh
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