The unifying factor in the various cults plaguing John's ministry in Ephesus -- Gnostics, Nicolaitans, and followers of Cerinthus -- was immoral living. Each had their own excuse, but it was transparent to any follower of Christ that these former church folks were desperately seeking for an exit back into sin and wanted to drag as many church folks as they could with them.
The Gnostics in particular were arrogant about their "superior insight" and intellectual acumen, so John uses schoolboy Greek grammar to shut them down. He begins the chapter by referring to his readers as preschoolers, using this simple language anyone could understand. The whole point of this letter is to stop sin. Since our fleshly natures are weak, as we see with toddlers making natural mistakes, we can take comfort in knowing that our Lord is patient and indulgent with those who love Him. Jesus walked in the flesh and takes up for us in the Presence of His Father.
You cannot claim to know (gnosis) God without a tendency to act as He requires. Even toddlers can work that out. Maturity is walking in His teaching. And it's not that hard to figure out, just do what Jesus said and did.
On the one hand, it's the same old covenant truth from ancient times: Submit to God as your Father and Lord. At the same time, it's still very fresh in Christ, as He is the New Covenant in person. John chose to write in prophetic terms of how the revelation of God had progressed in steps ending at Jesus. Darkness is being washed out by the light of Christ. So, what did Jesus say was His single greatest command? Love your fellow believers as He did. Walking in the light means you cannot detest those who have escaped the darkness. The light of the Spirit changes our attitudes. You either see your fellow believers as the precious treasures of this life, or you are still blind.
Like children, we love the Father who adopted us. Like elders, we have embraced the ancient truth. Like men of fighting age, we have fought the Darkness and won. John repeats this, affirming that his readers are that kind of people.
You cannot cling to this world. The fleshly nature belongs here and will stay here when you leave it. Fleshly appetites, the expectation of being able to know everything by your intellect, and the arrogance of trusting in the flesh are not spiritual gifts. They are marks of the Fall; if you cling to those things, you cannot understand the Spirit. You'll then die when this world dies, but those who seek to obey the Lord will pass on into Eternity.
We come to that term "last hour" -- a Hebraic concept meaning that God has no unfinished business in this world. Sending His Son was the last step of revelation calling us back to Him. The next time He does something with this world, He will pull the plug. We know this because folks have left the churches and manifested the spirits of anti-christian teaching. This could not happen until there was a Christ to which dark spirits could contrast themselves.
John implies that Satan and his allies weren't fully aware of what Christ would do when He came, and didn't quite realize what kind of handicap they faced in trying to keep men alienated from God. That job required sending people to walk among the Christians and then rebelling from the particular teachings of Christ about subjecting the flesh to the Spirit and walking in holy conduct. Those people left because they were never a part of the Elect, but they would have had no power to seduce if they didn't first absorb some elements of Christ's message.
With the Presence of the Holy Spirit, we can grasp the true gift of relief from the burden of our sinful nature ruling over us. That's the one thing that escaped those who abandoned the gospel. For them, fighting sin by the flesh was a far greater burden than just giving into it. That's why they never belonged to the church in the first place. John's audience understands this. He isn't telling them something they don't know but reminding of them to encourage them to stay the course.
Denying that Christ came in the flesh is a primary marker of the spirit of Antichrist. You cannot claim the Father's peace and reject His Son. If you cling to the Son, you cling to the Father, and you will see them in Eternity. Don't fall for the fancy lies of the heretics. Indeed, you don't need that level of teaching; His Spirit in your spirit will make it obvious those people are lying. When the Lord returns, those liars will run and hide, but we will run to greet Him. And you already have a good idea who will be running alongside you: the people who walk as Jesus did on this earth, like children of the Father.
The Gnostics in particular were arrogant about their "superior insight" and intellectual acumen, so John uses schoolboy Greek grammar to shut them down. He begins the chapter by referring to his readers as preschoolers, using this simple language anyone could understand. The whole point of this letter is to stop sin. Since our fleshly natures are weak, as we see with toddlers making natural mistakes, we can take comfort in knowing that our Lord is patient and indulgent with those who love Him. Jesus walked in the flesh and takes up for us in the Presence of His Father.
You cannot claim to know (gnosis) God without a tendency to act as He requires. Even toddlers can work that out. Maturity is walking in His teaching. And it's not that hard to figure out, just do what Jesus said and did.
On the one hand, it's the same old covenant truth from ancient times: Submit to God as your Father and Lord. At the same time, it's still very fresh in Christ, as He is the New Covenant in person. John chose to write in prophetic terms of how the revelation of God had progressed in steps ending at Jesus. Darkness is being washed out by the light of Christ. So, what did Jesus say was His single greatest command? Love your fellow believers as He did. Walking in the light means you cannot detest those who have escaped the darkness. The light of the Spirit changes our attitudes. You either see your fellow believers as the precious treasures of this life, or you are still blind.
Like children, we love the Father who adopted us. Like elders, we have embraced the ancient truth. Like men of fighting age, we have fought the Darkness and won. John repeats this, affirming that his readers are that kind of people.
You cannot cling to this world. The fleshly nature belongs here and will stay here when you leave it. Fleshly appetites, the expectation of being able to know everything by your intellect, and the arrogance of trusting in the flesh are not spiritual gifts. They are marks of the Fall; if you cling to those things, you cannot understand the Spirit. You'll then die when this world dies, but those who seek to obey the Lord will pass on into Eternity.
We come to that term "last hour" -- a Hebraic concept meaning that God has no unfinished business in this world. Sending His Son was the last step of revelation calling us back to Him. The next time He does something with this world, He will pull the plug. We know this because folks have left the churches and manifested the spirits of anti-christian teaching. This could not happen until there was a Christ to which dark spirits could contrast themselves.
John implies that Satan and his allies weren't fully aware of what Christ would do when He came, and didn't quite realize what kind of handicap they faced in trying to keep men alienated from God. That job required sending people to walk among the Christians and then rebelling from the particular teachings of Christ about subjecting the flesh to the Spirit and walking in holy conduct. Those people left because they were never a part of the Elect, but they would have had no power to seduce if they didn't first absorb some elements of Christ's message.
With the Presence of the Holy Spirit, we can grasp the true gift of relief from the burden of our sinful nature ruling over us. That's the one thing that escaped those who abandoned the gospel. For them, fighting sin by the flesh was a far greater burden than just giving into it. That's why they never belonged to the church in the first place. John's audience understands this. He isn't telling them something they don't know but reminding of them to encourage them to stay the course.
Denying that Christ came in the flesh is a primary marker of the spirit of Antichrist. You cannot claim the Father's peace and reject His Son. If you cling to the Son, you cling to the Father, and you will see them in Eternity. Don't fall for the fancy lies of the heretics. Indeed, you don't need that level of teaching; His Spirit in your spirit will make it obvious those people are lying. When the Lord returns, those liars will run and hide, but we will run to greet Him. And you already have a good idea who will be running alongside you: the people who walk as Jesus did on this earth, like children of the Father.
