image by Nick in exsilio

In a lamp-lit room after a ceremonial meal and a few glasses of wine, Jesus spilled his heart to his disciples. There was an awkward tension in the room. Jesus was troubled, and sent Judas away. The remaining eleven were not sure why he left, but they knew that something didn’t feel right. Jesus took this opportunity to share some final teaching with his disciples. Central in the teaching that followed that evening’s meal was the call to love each other:

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. . . . I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. (John 15:12-13, 17 NRSV)

Immediately after that, Jesus directed his disciples to a darker topic, but one that flowed naturally from the command to love:

If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19 NRSV)

Decades later, near the end of John’s life, he remembered this teaching, and reminded his followers of it. You are commanded to love, and the world will hate you for it.

. . .

John used the example of Cain to make his point. For John, Cain was a prototype of the world. What do we know about Cain?

His story is told in Genesis 4. Cain was the firstborn, a simple gardener, while his little brother Abel was a shepherd. Both the brothers brought God an offering from their own trade: Cain brought produce and Abel brought some choice cuts of meat. For some reason, God favoured Abel’s meat, but rejected Cain’s produce.

Knowing Cain’s heart, God both encouraged and warned him: If you do what’s right you will be accepted; if you don’t do what’s right, sin’s ready to pounce on you. Cain made his decision. He convinced his younger brother to follow him into the field where he mercilessly slaughtered him. The word John used when recalling this event can be translated “butchered”. How ironic: the farmer butchers the shepherd.

There’s more to the story, but that’s enough for our purposes.

The Genesis text doesn’t say why Cain’s offering was rejected. Some people think it’s because he didn’t offer meat. However, at this time God had not given any explicit requirements for acceptable sacrifices. The text does mention that Abel brought the best of his flock—maybe Cain brought produce from the 50% off reduced-for-quick-sale rack.  We don’t know.

Other people think the tale serves an etiological function: Cain becomes the prototype of urban life who through agricultural advances enabled people to settle in close proximity, where Abel represented nomadic life with the flocks. In this interpretation, God rejected Cain’s offering because he didn’t want humanity to become urbanized.

Although the reason his offering was rejected is unknown, we do know that commentators throughout history have unanimously agreed that his his offering was evil. Cain appears three times in the New Testament as an example of evil:

1. “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s.” (Hebrews 11:4 NRSV)
2. “Woe to them [false teachers]! For they go the way of Cain.” (Jude 11 NRSV)
3. “We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12-13 NRSV)

. . .

Cain is the archetype of the world. Cain’s crime was the ultimate injustice. Justice is a righteous person punishing the unrighteous. Cain’s crime flipped the equation: it was the evil in Cain that made him jealous of the goodness in Abel. John warns us not to be like Cain.

Most of us, after reading John’s words, put ourselves on the side of Abel: we’re the righteous believers whom the world hates. While there is an element of truth in that interpretation, John calls us to question whether or not we play the role of Cain ourselves! We know that since the Sermon on the Mount crimes like murder are radically reinterpreted. Do we harbor resentment against people who are successful in areas where we fail? Do we smugly label people “holier than thou” when in epithet really does fit?

The backlash against Bono comes to mind. Many people resent him for using his fame to try to influence world politics and to come to the aid of the poor. Is that a fair criticism, or does the backlash come from the convicted consciences of people who know they’re not doing what they should in the face of global poverty? It’s easier to criticize than to confess.

Jesus warned his followers that the world would hate them because they’re not of the world: they love each other. Does the world hate us  anymore? Do we love?

< 1 John 3:8-10 | The Origin of Sin

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image by Thomas Hawk

“The Devil made me do it!”

Flip Wilson popularized that phrase in his comedy routines.  Here’s a good example from, “The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress”:

While some people just blame everything on the devil to avoid taking responsibility for their actions (it is a pretty convenient excuse), there is a serious truth behind it. In this week’s passage from 1 John, John reminds his readers that the origin of sin is the devil.

. . .

Introductory phrase: everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil.

John came out with all guns blazing. There’s nothing like calling someone a son of the devil to raise the tension in the room!  Yet that’s what John’s logic demands.  Every person is either a child of the devil (i.e. enslaved to sin) or someone with God’s seed in him or her, unable to sin. We’ll look at the contradiction in this a little further down.

For now, the stakes are set for John’s argument. If you sin, you’re a child of the devil.

. . .

Theme: the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

Here’s the logic behind John’s bold initial phrase. The devil is the origin of sin. He’s been sinning from the beginning, which implies a constant and habitual character trait. If your life looks the same as the devil’s life, then whose child are you?

Do you remember when Luke Skywalker screamed to Darth Vader: “You’re not my Father”! It was a logical conclusion. How could he, a good boy, be the son of someone whose very character is evil? John made much the same statement here. Who do you take after? When people look at you and I and say, “he’s just like his father”, which father are they referring to?

. . .

Purpose of Christ’s Appearing: to destroy the works of the devil.

Here’s a great Christological verse. One of the reasons Jesus appeared (remember this key word?) was to destroy the works of the devil. While there are many reasons why Jesus appeared (to redeem us, to show us the father’s love, etc.), his decisive win over Satan’s works was one of the key elements of his mission.

It’s important to note that the devil’s “works” are plural. They are manifold. Satan is not a one-trick-pony—he can take a variety of forms. When I chose the image for this post, I settled on the print of a business man in devil’s horns to emphasize this point.

. . .

Logical Conclusion: no one born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed is in them.

There are two very direct statements in verse 9 (NRSV):

1. Those born of God “do not sin”.
2. Those born of God “cannot sin”.

Compare these two statements to the liberating statement in 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”, and we run into a bit of a problem.  Which is it? Can believers sin or not?

Stott lists seven different ways in which theologians have tried to work around this contradiction. Only two of them seem to be worth considering for me:

First, many people find comfort in grammar: the tense of the verbs. The two statements in v. 9 both carry the sense of “continue on sinning”. It’s comforting to think that while John knew that we all sin, he also believed that it couldn’t be a habitual thing for believers. To be honest, I’ve always believed that explanation. However, Kruse has something important to say about it:

The use of the present tense says nothing about the habitual or nonhabitual character of the sinning, but only shows that the author has chosen to depict the sinning as something in progress, rather than as a complete action.

The second helpful way of explaining this contradiction is to believe that John is addressing two different problems. Ancient Gnostic philosophy took many practical forms. Some people believed that since they had the divine spark of knowledge within them, they were beyond sin. Thus, John responded with 1:8. Other Gnostics believed that since they had the divine spark of knowledge within them, what they did with their bodies didn’t matter. Thus John replied with 3:9.

In the end, it’s difficult to understand exactly how John would have reconciled these two divergent thoughts. What is clear is that we’re to confess our sins, and attempt—with the help of God—to cease from sinning.

< 1 John 3:4-7 | The Nature of Sin

1 John 3:11-13 | Cain’s Legacy >

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I love the depth and shock-value of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Can you imagine what it would have been like to hear these words for the first time?

• You’ve heard don’t murder—I say if you’re angry with someone you’ve already committed it.
• You’ve heard don’t commit adultery—I say if you’ve lusted after someone, you’ve already committed it.
• You’ve heard you can get a divorce for any reason—I say nothing but unchastity can break the marriage union.
• You’ve heard: don’t swear falsely—I say don’t make any oaths at all.
• You’ve heard love your neighbour and hate your enemy—I say be perfect.

Ouch. I wonder how many people in the crowd quit following Jesus that day?

Today’s section of John takes a serious look at sin-as-lawlessness. It may not be easy medicine to take, but it’s necessary.

1 John 3:4-10 consists of two sections which follow the same format.  We’ll look at the first section today—the nature of sin.  Next week we’ll look at the origin of sin in vv. 8-10. Both of these sections have four parts to them, as we’ll see below.

. . .

Introductory Phrase: everyone who commits sin.

There’s some comfort here for me.  The phrase “everyone who commits sin” reminds me that everyone does commit sin.  We sinners find ourselves in good company: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and on throughout the centuries. In fact, the only person who didn’t commit sin is Jesus—our role model.

That passage from earlier in John’s letter comes to mind:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us. (1:8-9 NRSV)

. . .

Theme: sin is lawlessness.

There are a number of words in Scripture that describe sin. One of the most popular words in the New Testament means, “missing the mark”.  Another word for sin is translated “unrighteousness”.  Here, John uses a relatively rare term for sin: lawlessness.

What an apt description. Sin is rebelling against the authority of our Lord. Lawlessness.

It’s important to note that John is not using this in a legalistic sense: he’s not saying that we need to keep the letter of the law that God revealed on Sinai. Jesus redefined that—as passages like the Sermon on the Mount make very clear. John understands the depth of what Jesus did for us—the freedom he provided. Sin, in John’s mind, is rebelling against the plan Jesus has for us.

Of course, this makes it difficult to come up with an itemized list of sins we should avoid, since God speaks to each one of us through his Spirit. The love of God will drive us to know his will through a continual and deepening relationship with his Spirit.

. . .

Purpose of Christ’s Appearing: to take away sins.

This John wasn’t the first to realize Jesus’ purpose. Hear the words of John the Baptist:

Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29 NRSV)

This post was published the week before Christmas. It’s a time when we celebrate Jesus’ first appearing—precisely what John is referring to here. He revealed himself to us in order to take away the sins of the world while remaining perfectly pure and sinless himself. While there are many passages of Scripture that refer to this truth, a section of 1 Peter gets to the heart of this paradox:

1. Jesus took our sins: “You know that you were ransomed . . .” (2:18 NRSV)
2. Jesus is without sin: “like that of a lamb without blemish” (2:19 NRSV)

Why did John remind his people of this?  Read on . . .

. . .

Logical Conclusion: no one who abides in him sins.

John felt so strongly about this conclusion, he stated it in two ways: positively and negatively:

1. Negatively: “No one who abides in him sins” (v. 6 NRSV)
2. Positively: “Everyone who does what is right is righteous” (v. 7 NRSV)

Like Jesus’ listeners when he taught the Sermon on the Mount, it’s easy to look at this and doubt your salvation or even your ability to follow Jesus at all. John felt so passionately about the need to avoid sin, he stated it as starkly as possible. However, there are two clues that make this easier to grasp.

1. The tense of the words “sins” and “remains” in v. 6 are present, which implies that these are ongoing acts.  It would be better to say that no one who abides in Jesus continues to persist in sinning.
2. The word “abide” also gives us a clue. John’s not speaking here about a one-time salvation experience. The word abide speaks of an ongoing relationship.

. . .

The point of this paragraph is plain and simple. While teaching about the details of the passage may help us understand the specifics of it all, it’s impossible to miss the main point:

Jesus died for all of us, to take away our sins—if we persist in rebelling against his will, we’re proving that we don’t abide in him. If we do what’s right, though, we become just like him.

< 1 John 3:1-3 | God’s Children

1 John 3:8-10: The Origin of Sin >

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Last Sunday was unique. It happens only once every year in my tradition. Since it was the second Sunday of Advent, we sang carols and took time to remember the birth of Jesus. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, we celebrated the Lord’s Supper, and took time to remember his death. Birth and death, powerfully juxtaposed in one service.

We meditated on the profound humility and love of God.  Which do you think demonstrated his love and humility more—that Jesus died for us, or that he emptied himself and was born as a human?

When I turned to this week’s devotional text, I found another truth that demonstrates the love and humility of God even further: he calls us his children.

In this devotion, we’ll look at the profound depth of God’s love, the great revealing, and the purpose of it all.

. . .

The profound depth of God’s love.

Stott says it well. God’s love is not simply shown or demonstrated, but “lavished on us”. You can hear the amazement in John’s words: he points it out twice:

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. (v. 1 NRSV, emphasis mine)

It seems like John got to the end of his thought and in further amazement blurted out: “that is what we are”!

Stewart Townend’s “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us” captured this profound truth in music.

What love.

. . .

The great revealing.

I love John’s honesty in verse 2: “what we will be has not yet been revealed” (NRSV).  If only us modern preachers would have a hint of that honesty about us when we talk about the end times! Somethings just are just not known to us yet.

But other things are.

Although God hasn’t revealed precisely what we will be like, we do know a few powerful truths:

1. We are God’s children now
2. Jesus will be revealed in the future
3. When Jesus is revealed, we will be like him as we see him

That’s more than enough revelation to live on. Here Bultmann on the third point:

In 2 Cor 3:18 it is said that the vision of the glorified one transfigures those beholding into glorified ones.

Here’s the text from 2 Corinthians that Bultmann refers to:

All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NRSV)

Moses comes to mind when I consider this. When he returned from spending time with God on Mt. Sinai, his face shone so greatly that it startled people. Simply observing God will transform us into his likeness.

. . .

The purpose of it all.

This transformation into his likeness has already begun for believers. While the physical metamorphosis into the likeness of Christ will have to wait, the moral and ethical transformation has already begun.

The reason John spent this time sharing about the coming revelation of Jesus was not so we could meditate on the theology, as sublime as it is. The purpose of it all is to motivate his church to continue traveling down the long road of sanctification. Since we’ll be like him completely one day, why not further the process now?

This emphasis recalls 2:28, when John reminded his people to do right because God is righteous. In fact, the verses we looked at today are book-ended by these two exhortations to conform our lives to Jesus.

Let’s anticipate that full revealing today.

< 1 John 2:29 | Sharing the Father’s Nature

1 John 3:4-7 | The Nature of Sin >

image by Jason Nelson

George MacDonald is one of my all-time favourite authors.  I became hooked on him when I realized the esteem C. S. Lewis held for him.  I read Lilith and Phantastes a number of times, not quite comprehending the depths of them yet feeling strangely moved. Next, I read a biography and plowed through his three volumes of Unspoken Sermons: Series I, II, III.  After realizing he wrote poetry, I read through his Diary of an Old Soul: 366 Writings for Devotional Reflection. Two nights ago I started reading Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood. (You can find the full text of this novel here.)

Ranald is a children’s book, but as George himself says, “Some such readers, in virtue of their hearts being young and old both at once, discern more in the children’s books than the children themselves.” Let me recount an episode from this children’s novel that should speak to young and old hearts alike.

Ranald became friends with the wrong type of boy in school. Ranald was raised as a Christian, but was swayed by the example of Peter Mason. At the height of his depravity, he impulsively threw a snowball at the back of a young girl’s head.  Reveling in his depravity, he laughed.

Following that, he and Peter tied the door of a grumpy old woman’s house shut.  They proceed to light a stalk of cabbage filled with tow (and some other vile ingredients), and blew the smoke through the keyhole of the old woman’s house.  The woman raised quite a fuss until she fell down from smoke inhalation.  With the granddaughter screaming for help, they untied the door and Ranald was exposed. From that point on his conscience tormented him.

The following Sunday evening, just before bed, his Father read the story of the prodigal son to Ranald and his brothers. Ranald was so overcome by guilt that he confessed everything. His father received him back, and they set out to make amends in town.

It’s the Father’s words that will illuminate our text from 1 John:

“We’ve done a wrong, a very grievous wrong, my boy, and I cannot rest till I at least know the consequences of it.”

He put on his long greatcoat and muffler in haste, and having seen that I too was properly wrapped up, he opened the door and stepped out. . . .

“Papa,” I said, “why did you say we have done a wrong? You did not do it.”

“My dear boy, persons who are so near each other as we are, must not only bear the consequences together of any wrong done by one of them, but must, in a sense, bear each other’s iniquities even. If I sin, you must suffer; if you sin, you being my own boy, I must suffer. But this is not all: it lies upon both of us to do what we can to get rid of the wrong done; and thus we have to bear each other’s sin. I am accountable to make amends as far as I can; and also to do what I can to get you to be sorry and make amends as far as you can.”

In essence, the the son and the father share each other’s nature.

. . .

What MacDonald described in a negative way—the father taking the blame for the son’s actions—John states positively. If we share in the divine nature (if we are “born of him”), then we will do right since the Father is righteous.

I should mention that there has been an abrupt shift in focus between verse 28 and 29.  Verse 29 clearly refers to Jesus who will be revealed some time in the future. Verse 29 speaks of being “born of him”.  While context might suggest “him” is Jesus, all throughout scripture children are born of the Father. It is most likely the Father that John had in mind here.

. . .

Being “born again” has taken on some radical fundamentalist associations in Western society. Often people avoid speaking of salvation in that way, since it has come to mean something other than what God intended. John’s gospel sheds a little light on what it truly means to be born again:

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13 NRSV)

No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5-6 NRSV)

The word for Spirit, both in Greek and in Hebrew, can be translated in three ways: breath, wind, spirit. Jesus continues in John 3 to say that the wind blows where it will, essentially overlapping the concept of Spirit and wind. Bruce Cockburn was quite theologically accurate when he wrote, “I’ll be a child of the wind ’till the end of my days”.

. . .

It’s important to remember that John is not imposing some sort of works-righteousness on his congregation. Far from it. As Stott observed:

A person’s righteousness is thus the evidence of his new birth, not the cause or condition of it.

Being “born again”, or “a child of the wind”, however you prefer to refer to it, is a two way street. In one sense, the Father via Jesus takes our sin on himself and eradicates it. This is what Ranald experienced in part with his earthly father. On the other hand, we are called to do what is right, since righteousness is one of the chief attributes of our Father.

< 1 John 2:28 | Put to Shame?

1 John 3:1-3 | God’s Children >

image by Kiel Latham

Few things are more fun for a teenage boy than sneaking into the girl’s cabins at camp. I remember indulging in a little covert operation once with a friend of mine. We had dodged security and made our way in to the so-called holy of holies. After hanging out for a while, we heard the sound of footsteps closing in. I frantically slid underneath the bottom of the bunk bed on one side of the cabin. My friend was slightly larger than I, so he kicked a girl out of her bed. She hid underneath it, while he climbed in and quickly threw the covers over his head. The door opened quickly, accompanied by a flashlight and a voice:

“Is everything alright in there?”

As the flashlight started checking the bunk beds, I was sure we were going to be found out. Everyone was holding their breath, on the verge of giggling.

Fortunately, we escaped that time. I suppose this is sort of a confession.

My point in revealing that deep-dark secret is this: what will you be found doing when the flashlight hits you?

. . .

This verse is the major turning point in the letter. From here on, what has already been taught is applied and expanded upon. Bultmann conjectured that this part of the epistle may even be notes taken from a seminar, or a collection and expansion of John’s original text by his followers. I tend to believe it’s just the natural tendency of an old preacher to cover the same ground a few more times before calling it a night.

John uses the word abide/remain to connect what’s been taught with what’s to come. We are to remain in Jesus—now we’re given a reason: so when he is revealed we will have confidence (and not be ashamed) when he comes.

The idea of Jesus’ appearing or revealing is important in this section of the letter. Between here and 3:10, the word is used twice to refer to Jesus’ first coming (his incarnation in Bethlehem), and twice for his second coming (yet to happen). The second usage is in mind here.

. . .

John uses the word “light” to describe Jesus quite often. Here are a few examples:

[John] came as a witness to testify to the light. . . . He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:7-9 NRSV)

The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19 NRSV)

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

I should add that famous verse from Revelation:

There will be no more night; they need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light. (Revelation 22:5 NRSV)

Jesus is light, and when that light is revealed, it exposes everything dark. Like a 5 million candle-power floodlight in a dark forest, Jesus’ appearance will illuminate this world.

John’s point is simple, profound, and very direct: when he is revealed—when he does come again—will you be ashamed, or confident? If you remain “in him”, there’s nothing to fear.

. . .

I love how John uses the second coming of Jesus in such a pastoral way. Rather than trying to calculate dates (which we’re told is futile, yet we still try), he states the fact and uses it to motivate us. The second coming of Jesus should encourage us to become who we are. If we claim to follow Jesus, then our conduct should reflect the new sort of creatures we have become.

< 1 John 2:26-27 | Remedy for Deception

1 John 2:29 | Sharing the Father’s Nature >

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There are two verses in the New Testament that just drive me crazy when people misinterpret them. The second one is part our text today. Here they are:

Do not worry about . . . what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:11-12 NRSV)

You do not need anyone to  teach you. . . . his anointing teaches you about all things. (1 John 2:27 NRSV)

These verses have been used to excuse exegetical sloth many times. I’ve heard of preachers who don’t prepare at all—they just walk up to the pulpit and engage in small talk until they feel moved to speak on something.

That’s clearly not the intent of these verses. If it were true, the irony would be unbearable: John would be teaching his people that they don’t need anyone to teach them!

These two verses teach different things, although they have been twisted into a unity. The first text from Luke says that God will give his followers divine wisdom to know what to say when they’re being persecuted. It’s certainly not an excuse to avoid studying scripture. The second verse is the subject of this devotion.

. . .

John is still concerned about the antichrists that came out of his congregation to deceive them. These antichrists were deceiving the believers into thinking that they needed extra revelation that only they, the antichrists, could provide. The content of that knowledge, as we looked at last week, was that the Christ descended upon Jesus at baptism, and left him sometime before the cross.

Earlier, in verse 24, John gave the first antidote to this kind of deception: what you heard from the beginning must abide in you, so you will abide in the Son and in the Father. This week, we find a second antidote to the deception (also mentioned earlier in verse 20, but given more emphasis now).

The second antidote is the anointing: the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

Let’s look at the elements of that anointing:

1. It abides/remains in us. The Spirit’s anointing is not something that comes and goes. As William Griffin once suggested to me, it’s not like Curtis Joseph on a hot streak (of course this dates the conversation—go Toskala). We don’t need to pray to receive an anointing any more than we need to pray to be saved again. Once was enough: God’s strength to hold us is far more powerful than our ability to run. Jesus made this clear in John 14:16: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (NRSV).
2. The anointing teaches you, in lieu of the antichrists. I must stress: John is not suggesting that we ignore wise teaching and just listen to our hearts.  He is urging us, when we hear something that doesn’t line up with what we’ve been taught in the past, to allow the Spirit of Christ to confirm whether or not it’s true.
3. The anointing is always true, and is not a lie. Teachers are a mixed bag. Some are good, some are bad. Even the best miss the truth sometimes. The Holy Spirit will always, and only, witness to the truth.
4. The anointing urges us to remain in Christ’s teaching. Semantically, there are two options here. This verse could be urging us to remain in the anointing, or to remain in Christ. Theologically, the Spirit of Christ always points back to him.  In fact, Jesus told his disciples that “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 NRSV).

So we have a one–two punch against antichrists and false teachers: the word we’ve heard from the beginning, and the witness of the Spirit of Christ.

. . .

The trick is learning to listen to the anointing. I don’t have any short cuts or easy methods to offer for this. Even the most mature saints fail at times. However, the key to listening is right in the text: remain in Christ. As we continue daily to pray, to listen, and to do what he tells us, his voice will grow more and more familiar.

< 1 John 2:22-25 | Scandalous Incarnation

1 John 2:28 | Put to Shame >

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We’re approaching Christmas. Picture Jesus, the newborn infant, lying in a manger. Now answer these questions:

• Did the newborn Jesus cry like any other newborn or was he supernaturally peaceful?
• Would the newborn Jesus be recognizable as something different from the rest of humanity by a stranger, or would he look just like any other crying baby?
• Hebrews tells us that the world was created and is sustained through Jesus. In his infant mind, was he holding and spinning the galaxies around in space, or do you think he only cared about pooping, eating, and sleeping?

How you answer those questions reveals a lot about your Christology. The ancient church discerned that Jesus was fully God and fully man. That’s fine in the abstract, but difficult to figure out in reality.

The false teachers (let’s call them by John’s term, now: antichrists) had shifted their Christological views. They would have assumed that they were just a different, more enlightened variety of Christian. John knew otherwise—their views led to a denial of the Father as well as the Son, which removed them from the promise of eternal life.

. . .

Let’s catch up with the antichrists. John’s told us a lot about what they claim for themselves indirectly:

• fellowship with God (1:6)
• committed no sins (1:8, 10)
• know God (2:4)
• abide in God (2:6)
• in the light (2:9)

Here John makes a direct accusation: they deny that Jesus was the Christ. Later in 4:2, John will clarify this: “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (NRSV, emphasis mine)

Although it’s difficult to figure out exactly what the opposite side of an argument is, John Stott provides a good summary of what these antichrists likely believed:

The antichrists probably taught (as some later Gnostics certainly taught) that Jesus was born and died a man, and that ‘the Christ’, by which they meant a divine emanation, was within him only during his public ministry, descending upon him at his baptism and leaving him before the cross. They thus denied that Jesus was or is (estin, 22) the Christ or the Son.

These views were infiltrating John’s church, so he had to provide his people with a method for discerning truth from error.  That method is confession.

. . .

Bultmann says it well:

God is always to be perceived in his revelation in Jesus, just as, according to Jn 17:3, the knowledge of God and Jesus belong together.

In the footnotes to this passage, Bultmann offers a collection of texts from the Gospel of John that elaborate on the relationship between the Father and the Son. It’s a fascinating collection:

• Whoever honours the Son also honours the Father (John 5:23)
• Whoever knows the Son also knows the Father (John 8:19; 14:7)
• Whoever hates the Son also hates the Father (John 15:23)
• Whoever does not know the Son also does not know the Father (John 16:3)
• Whoever has seen the Son also has seen the Father (John 14:9)

I grew up picturing God as an old man who was slightly angry with me for all my sins. In contrast to that, his son was full of love for me and took the blame for my sins so the Father would begrudgingly allow me into heaven. Scripture says very plainly that the Son and the Father are one God, and share many attributes. If you want to figure out what God the Father is like, just look at his Son.  If you know one, you’ll know the other. It’s a much happier picture than what I used to think!

The antichrists in John’s congregation denied Jesus was the Christ. That means, for John, that they denied the Father as well. In contrast to that, we’re invited to confess the Son, and we’ll wind up with the Father as well. Confession is a public act.  It’s throwing your cards on the table and revealing to everyone what you believe.

The promises continue.

Next John reuses one of his favourite words: abide or remain (menō). If the teaching you heard from the beginning abides/remains in you, then you will abide/remain in the Son and in the Father. This takes the promise of the last verse one step further. If we confess the Son, then we have the Father.  Furthermore, if original teaching abides in us, than we will abide in the Son and in the Father.

Wait, there’s more.

Verse 25 goes on to remind us of eternal life. When solid teaching remains in us, and we are not swayed by the false teaching of the antichrists, then we are heirs to the promise of eternal life.

When we hear the word “eternal” today, most of us think of a really, really, really long time. While there is a time aspect to it, Dallas Willard has done a great job of showing how eternal life is more than just a duration of time: it is a quality of time (The Divine Conspiracy). When we became believers, we received eternal life—a God-filled life—that we participate in now. It’s not just for the dead.

. . .

Let’s return to the issue of Christology. I’m not suggesting that the modern church is falling for the old idea that Christ’s spirit inhabited Jesus for a time, and left him before the cross. That battle’s been fought. However, could there be ways that we distort Jesus’ life today?

Do we ever over-spiritualize him at the expense of his humanity? Do we just assume he knew everything all the time because he was fully God?  Do we secretly assume that his temptation in the desert ultimately wasn’t too bad, because he knew that he was God anyway? Will we picture him this Christmas as a little infant spinning the galaxies in space?

A good remedy for the is to return to the gospels. Read them again. Read them with fresh eyes. Allow yourself to see how Jesus struggled, cried, and got angry. Allow the Spirit of Christ, who inspired the words of the gospels, to teach you the truth.

< 1 John 2:20-21 | Already Anointed

1 John 2:26-27 | Remedy for Deception >

image by Austin Moody

I don’t understand why people pray that other Christians would be anointed. I’ve led worship quite consistently for the last decade, and for some reason, “the anointing” people pray for is more important for musicians—at least that’s what I’ve been able to figure out. Everyone knows that while preachers need to be anointed, it’s the musicians who light it up (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

If you’ve prayed for someone to be anointed, don’t feel bad. I think I know what you’re trying to say. You’re asking God to let his servant feel his presence, right? That’s a great prayer, but it has nothing to do with being anointed.

TV shysters are particularly adept at throwing this word around. The picture above shows a good example of it. (By the way, if the anointing is the Holy Spirit, how is it possible to have 10 times infinity?)

John had this exact problem in his church. The false teachers (the ones he just called antichrists) were likely influenced by Gnosticism: a belief system which includes the idea that there is a secret knowledge that can be attained through ritual. The believers in John’s congregation were falling for it. Sure they were Christians, but there must be more to attain—some greater apprehension of the divine.

Sound familiar?  It’s been a constant threat throughout church history. Sure you’re a Christian, but if you go on this crusade, I guarantee you direct access to paradise when you die. Sure you’re a Christian, but if you’re one of the first 12 people to give me your cash, I’ll make sure you get ten times infinity. (Please pardon the cynicism.  This is starting to feel like a Scotteriology post!)

Here’s the point of this devotion: being a Christian = being anointed.

. . .

Let’s look at John’s logic in v. 20 (NRSV), and explore some of the interpretive difficulties:

• “But you have been anointed” – This is a simple statement of fact. John is speaking to his church in general and saying that every one of them has an anointing. The word anointing (chrisma) speaks of the content of the anointing, not the act itself. To be clearer, John is not saying that at sometime in the past you went through an anointing ritual. He’s saying that the content of the anointing—the Holy Spirit whom you received upon conversion—is in you today.
• “by the Holy One,” – No one’s quite sure who this refers to. The Holy One is a standard epithet for God the Father in the Old Testament (e.g. Habakkuk 3:3). However, The Gospel of John uses that phrase to refer to Jesus (John 6:69). In practice, it doesn’t matter. Old Testament references to God the Father are often appropriated for the Son in the New Testament.
• “and all of you have knowledge.” – There is a textual problem here. We’re not sure whether the original manuscript read oidate pantes (you all know) or oidate panta (you know all things). If the first case is authentic, then John is reaffirming what he said in the previous clause: all believers are anointed. If the second case is authentic, then John is saying that his believers know everything they need to know about Christ to stand against the false teachers.

Continuing on, verse 21 is the result of verse 20. Since you know everything you need to know because you’ve carry the anointing of God, don’t be fooled by a lies of the antichrists!

. . .

The idea John explores here—that of carrying the knowledge of God—has ancient roots. Hear Jeremiah:

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant . . . No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31, 34, NRSV)

Jesus picked up on that ancient theme:

It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. (John 6:45, NRSV)

Now John reminds his church of that truth. When you became a believer, you received the Holy Spirit—the anointing—that will guide you to Christ. After all, the substance of the anointing is Jesus Christ’s own Spirit! You don’t need any secret knowledge. You don’t need to attain some new mystical standing. You’ve received everything there is to receive.

. . .

Think of the distance people will travel to go to a revival service. Think of the money people will waste to pad the pockets of someone offering 21st Century Protestant-style indulgences. Think of the agonizing prayers people offer to receive an anointing from God.

Now know this: you are already anointed—it’s time to stop looking for it and start living it.

< 1 John 2:18-19 | Accountability & Antichrists

1 John 2:22-25 | Scandalous Incarnation >

image by Julia Freeman-Woolpert

Halloween was highly controversial in Bible College. Half the school was hopped-up on Rebecca Brown and Chick Tracks, while the other half thought Halloween was all about cute kids and candy.

I found myself among the candy contingent. That explains why, in my third year of college, my friend and I dressed up like Kiss (including the face-makeup) and trick-or-treat-ed at my various professor’s houses to see what they thought about the whole night. It was an evening to remember (and yes, we did return with candy).

The problem with sensational media-driven events like Halloween, is that they make a caricature of evil. They give the Devil a red face, pointy horns, and a goat’s behind. Evil is portrayed as something so ridiculous, it can be ignored with a knowing smirk.

John tackles the problem of evil head-on in these two verses, giving it a name: antichrist. Lest you try to read the latest newspapers in an attempt to discern who Mr. Antichrist is, John pluralizes the word: antichrists.

You’ve heard that he’s coming, said John, but they’re already here.

Let’s look at what John was talking about and give evil a real face in the process, so we won’t be caught off-guard as we search for the smoke and sulfur.

. . .

So far in the letter, John’s played nice. He spoke of the false teachers indirectly, using phrases like if we say . . . (1:6), and whoever says . . . (2:4) to relay the false teaching. Here in 2:18, John speaks about the false teachers directly. Time’s too short to play gentle.

The last days is a familiar motif in Jewish literature. This is when God will judge the nations and vindicate Israel, his people. After Christ, believers took up that theme as their own. Here John uses it here with even more precision. This is more than the last days, it is the last hour (v. 18).

Stott describes how the New Testament writers conceived of that time frame:

What is clear is that they regarded the first coming of Christ as having inaugurated the new age and settled the doom of the old. The age to come had come, and the present age was therefore drawing to a close.

Fast forward a couple millennia. The first coming of Christ did start the new age. And still, the present age is drawing to a close. I’m pretty sure no one in the first century thought this passing of the old age would take more than two thousand years, but honestly, how can you or I conceive of a being who is not confined by time?

What we do know, is (just like some two thousand years ago), antichrists are in the world today.

. . .

The antichrist theme is a bit difficult to sort out in the Bible. The actual term antichristos appears only five times in the Scripture (all in John’s letters):

1. As you have heard that antichrist is coming . . . (1 John 2:18)
2. . . . so now many antichrists have come. (1 John 2:18)
3. . . . every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist . . . (1 John 4:3)
4. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist! (2 John 7)

Of course, to solve the mystery of antichrist, we need to do more than pull up a concordance list of the term. Other New Testament authors likely had the same person(s) in view although they used different terms. Kruse points out four important texts to study on this topic:

1. 2 Thessalonians 2 (see lawless one)
2. Matthew 24 / Mark 13 (see false messiahs)
3. 1 & 2 John (antichrist(s) see above)
4. Revelation 12-13 (see the beast)

If you’re interested in this topic, start with those passages. For my purposes, I’m going to stick to what John has in mind—which may or may not need to be reconciled with the other texts depending on how you interpret them.

Listen to John’s directness: you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come (v. 18). John’s church was looking for a person that they had heard about, perhaps from the lips of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. However, in their zeal to watch out for this spectacular pinnacle of evil, a number of antichrists slipped into their assembly unnoticed!

Verse 19 goes on to explain that the antichrists in the church were never really a part of the true church (if they were, they would have stayed in it). The parable of the wheat and tares comes to mind. They grow together in the church. It’s the Spirit’s anointing on believers that allows us to discern truth, if we listen. More on that next devotion.

. . .

There’s a couple ways I find this relevant to the church today.

First, we need to keep an eye out for antichrists. They don’t look like the scary masks you see on Halloween. According to John, they blend into our church congregations quite well. We need to continually bring ourselves back to scripture so our mind as well as our heart is attuned to the Spirit’s guidance.

Second, and just as important, we need to remain accountable to the church lest we become antichrists ourselves! The thing that marked these false teachers as antichrists was that they went out from the church, without remaining accountable to the church.

The church at times can look pretty messed up, but she remains Christ’s body (and bride, to mix the metaphor) here on earth. The answer is not to leave and start your own infallible ministry—it’s to prophetically challenge and inspire the body to a higher fidelity to her bride.

< 1 John 2:15-17 | Mixed Messages

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