THE FIRST LETTER OF SAINT JOHN
Lesson 3: Chapters 3 and 4
PART II: God is Light Concluded and
PART III: Love for One Another
Holy and Eternal Father,
Through Your love, You bestow on us a great privilege to be
Your children. As members of Your covenant family, we look to You for guidance
during our earthly exile, knowing as Your children that our true home is with
You in Heaven. We know that the privilege of being Your son or daughter comes
with the responsibility to live in union with You and in imitation of the life
of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to remain pure and separated from
the enticements of the world. Give us the discernment we need to avoid being
misled by false teachers, and to follow Christ's narrow path, avoiding the
broad, worldly path that leads to eternal separation from You. We pray in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
The grace of our
Creator is so great that he has allowed us both to know him and to love him,
and moreover, to love him as children love a wonderful father. It would be no
small thing if we were able to love God in the way that a servant loves his
master or a worker his employer. But a living God as father is much greater
still.
St. Bede, On 1 John
CHAPTER 3
PART II: God is Light Continued
1 John 3:1-3 ~ Children of God
1 See what love the Father has bestowed on us that
we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does
not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children
now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is
revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone
who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
This part of the Letter begins with a statement about the Christian's divine daughter/sonship that the Church usually refers to as the Christian's divine filiation. The definition of filiation is "a legal relationship of a parent and especially a father and a child that creates rights and obligations."
Question: How do we become children of God? See
1 Jn 1:12-13; 3:5, 7;
CCC 1, 52, 270, 294, 422, 654, 691, 694, 701, 742, 798,
1274, 1709, 2009, 2017, 2639, 2670.
Answer: We are spiritually reborn into the family
of God through the Sacrament of Baptism by the grace of divine generation
through water and the Spirit.
Those "born again" or "born from above" in the Sacrament of Baptism are no longer merely children in the family of Adam; they become children in the family of God. The destiny of those blessed in this way is to receive:
In the Gospel of John 17:2-3, Jesus speaks of the gift of eternal life, and He uses "covenant language" in John 17:3 when He says, "to know you, the only true God." Everyone will share in the survival of the soul, but the conditions of that survival are the vital difference. Jesus' petition for His disciples is that He may give the gift of eternal life to all those who believe in Him. Eternal life for believers in Christ is to enter the fullness and intensity of the life of the Most Holy Trinity. St. Paul described Christian rebirth as divine adoption (Gal 4:4-7; also see CCC 460, 1692). It is not adoption in name only like earthly adoptions but is the result of sharing in our Father's divine nature (1 Jn 3:9; 2 Pt 1:4).
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
In the Biblical context, "to know" is not merely the result
of an intellectual process to access and store information. "To know" in the
context of a covenant is to have an intimate, personal knowledge that results
in a covenantal family relationship with the Almighty.
It is through the Son's glorification that God allows humanity to receive eternal life through "knowing" (the intimacy of a covenant relationship) God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. This covenant intimacy, in turn, results in the glorification of both the Father and the Son. It is the same covenant intimacy that also unites believers with Christ through participation in the Sacraments, giving the redeemed a share in divine glory (2 Pt 1:4). It is the same gift of covenant knowledge promised by the sixth century BC prophet Jeremiah and quoted in the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews. Teaching about the New Covenant fulfilling and replacing the old Sinai Covenant, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews quotes the prophet Jeremiah concerning the special knowledge of God that will be a gift to the new age of humanity in the New Covenant. Jeremiah wrote, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will conclude a new covenant ...I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kinsman, saying, Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, from the least to greatest" (Heb 8:8, 10b-11 quoting Jer 31:31, 33-34).
The chief characteristic of the believer's knowledge of God in His glory is the intimate covenant relationship with God the Father through the Son, and the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Son (Nicene-Constantinople Creed). God the Holy Spirit will lead baptized New Covenant believers to complete truth (Jn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). The New Testament revelation of the Most Holy Trinity draws on the Old Testament doctrine that Yahweh alone is God. That Yahweh is the "One" (or the only) and that God is "True" are the traditional Biblical attributes of God connected to covenant formation (for references to "One" see Dt 6:4; 32:39; Is 37:20; Jn 5:44, etc., and for connections to the "True" God, see Ex 34:6 and Rev 6:10, etc.).
Being intimately united to Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist and demonstrating obedience to His commandments is to "know" the living God in His Triune glory. This "knowing" must include a relationship of love, friendship, and communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The relationship must continue to grow throughout our lives until our journey through life ends. At that time, we complete our union with God when He judges our earthly temples (bodies), and, God willing, we become united to the Divine Life of the Most Holy Trinity in Heaven.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
Question: What are the two blessings mentioned in
verses 2-3 that we, as children of God, can look forward to at the end of our
earthly lives?
Answer:
We will see Christ "as He is" in His divinity at our Individual/Particular Judgment after our physical death. However, we will join Christ in the glory of our resurrected bodies at His Second Advent when all humanity will see Him in His divinity (1 Cor 13:12; 2 Cor 3:18; 1 Thess 4:16).
Seeing Jesus in His glory will transform us. When Moses stood in the presence of God, his face glowed with an unearthly radiance as it reflected God's glory (Ex 34:29-30). We can also expect a transformation when we behold the full glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). His life will be manifested in us spiritually and physically through our resurrected bodies. "Seeing Him as He is" expresses the hope that sustains Christians in the struggle against sin in our desire to live in holiness (3:3-10) and to keep the commandments, especially the command to love others as Christ loves us (1 Jn 3:11-24; Gospel of John 15:17).
1 John 3:4-10 ~ Sin is Lawlessness
4 Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him, there is no sin.
6 No one who remains in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or knowns him.
7 Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8 Whoever sins belongs to the devil because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God.
10 In this way, the children of God and
the children of the devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in
righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother.
4 Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness.
5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him, there is no sin.
Every sin is more than a violation of moral law. It is also
an offense against God that is a rejection of His divine will for our lives.
Like the first sin committed by Adam and Eve, each sin is an act of rebellion
that involves a desire to be "like God" in deciding for ourselves what is right
(Gen 3:5), and to live one's life apart from God. Everyone who intentionally
sins and refuses to repent alienates himself/herself from God and aligns
himself/herself with the devil. Also, since Jesus has merited our Redemption
on the altar of the Cross, all sin (intentional and unintentional) means crucifying
Him again (c.f., Heb 6:6). Therefore, John reminds his readers (and us) of the
purpose of the Incarnation: "he appeared to take away our sins" (verse 5).
Question: Who first announced that Jesus' mission was
to remove sins? See Jn 1:29.
Answer: John the Baptist announced to a crowd of Jews
that Jesus was "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."
Identifying Jesus as a sacrifice for the remission of sins.
6 No one who remains in him sins; no one
who sins has seen him or knowns him. 7 Children, let no one
deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is
righteous. 8 Whoever sins belongs to the devil because the devil has
sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the
works of the devil. 9 No one who is begotten by God commits
sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God.
Question: What did Paul write concerning human beings
and sin in Romans 3:23?
Answer: St. Paul wrote all have sinned and are
deprived of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).
John is not contradicting Paul, nor does he mean the Christian is incapable of committing sins. His point is that sin breaks our union with Christ and can affect our eternal salvation. The Christian is identified by his continual struggle against sin and by his deeds of righteousness (verse 7) that come from keeping God's commandments and gives the ability to lead a holy life full of good deeds (Mt 12:33).
Question: What does John write was the reason for
Jesus' Incarnation and mission? See verse 8.
Answer: Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan.
God sent Jesus to undo the works of Satan first manifested in the Garden of Eden when he enticed Adam and Eve to rebel against God (Gen 3:1-7). Jesus' mission is to fulfill God's promise in Genesis 3:15 that the "seed" of the woman would "crush the head," deliver a mortal blow to the serpent/Satan (Rev 12:9). In verses 6-9, John writes that there are two kinds of people in the world. Some sin without repentance and are the children of Satan, and others repent their sins who are the children of God. Verse 9 is difficult to interpret. John already introduced the concept that Christians are "begotten" by God in 2:29. Now he writes that no one begotten of God makes a practice of sinning because God's "seed" remains in him/her.
Think of the spiritual depth of the remarkable statement in verse 9a. In the Sacrament of Baptism, when Christians are born of water and the Spirit, they become infused with God's "seed" (literally sperma in Greek), which gives them divine life. Some commentators interpret "seed" to mean God's word (see 1 Pt 1:23; Jam 1:18). Others see a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit and His new life within the Christian (1 Jn 3:5, 7). Either way, John is using the analogy of biological fathering to show that Christians have God's life within them, and the result is the strong desire to live a life free of the dominating power of slavery to sin (also see Rom 6:6).
he cannot sin because he is begotten by God.
John is not writing that those who have been baptized and
born into a new life in Christ are no longer capable of sin. That would be a
contradiction to what John wrote in chapter 1, and it goes against our
experience as Christians in which resisting sin is a constant struggle. John
is writing about the principle of the life of Christ in Christians and what it
produces. As long as we live and abide in Christ, we cannot sin; however, when
we do sin, it is evidence that the divine life and the spiritual power of Jesus
are not reigning fully in us.
10 In this way, the children of God and
the children of the devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in
righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother.
Verses 6-9 are a preface to verse 10 where John gives a
summary of the criteria for:
When John calls Christians to "love one another," he is referring first to showing our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, but he is not excluding love for those outside the Body of Christ. When Saints Paul and James quoted the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," the context, like the Old Testament command, was caring for one another within the Christian community (Gal 5:13-15; Jam 2:8-9). However, the Church, in response to Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, encourages her faithful to look beyond the covenant community and extend our love, in imitation of Jesus, to everyone with whom we come in contact, like the Good Samaritan, who was not part of the Jewish covenant. Jesus used the Samaritan as an example for loving one's neighbor in the broader sense (see Lk 10:29-37). His was a radically new teaching for us to love those inside and outside the covenant community, and even to love our enemies and those who persecute us (Mt 5:43-45; Lk 6:27-35). We do this because God loved us and poured His love into our hearts to we can love as He loves (Rom 5:5, 8, 12; 1 Jn 4:19).
At the time John was writing the three letters, the Church was fighting the false doctrine of Gnosticism. Gnostics were professing Christians who claimed to have superior knowledge of God, which put them above good and evil. What the Church regarded as sin, they saw as morally indifferent and incapable of undermining their union with God. They saw all matter as evil, and that emancipation came through their unique shared sacred knowledge of God ("knowledge" in Greek is gnosis).
Catechism numbers 392 and 394 comments on the sin of the devil and his "children" (all who are not the children of God) and the fallen angels who follow him. Also, see 2 Peter 2:4.
PART III: Having Love for One Another
1 John 3:11-18 ~ The Command to Love One Another
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another,
12 unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.
13 Do not be amazed, [then,] brothers, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
16 The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
17 If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?
18 Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another
The message of God's sacred word is unaltered and is not
contradictory. From the beginning of the observance of Mosaic Law that the
children of Israel received at Mount Sinai, God commanded them to love Him and
act with love toward one another:
Deuteronomy 6:5 is the basic principle of the whole of Mosaic Law that since Yahweh alone is God, we should love Him with an undivided heart. Jesus cited the love of God as the greatest and first commandment that embraced the whole of Mosaic Law (Mt 22:37). In the same passage, Jesus quoted Leviticus 19:18 as the second of the two greatest commandments (Mt 22:39). However, in Leviticus, "neighbor" was restricted to "countrymen," but, as mentioned earlier in the comments on verse 10, Jesus expanded its meaning to include everyone, even enemies and those who persecute us (Mt 5:43-45 and Lk 6:27-35). Jesus not only reemphasized those laws of love but intensified them by extending love beyond the covenant community to their brothers and sisters in the human family, which He demonstrated in His parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:30-37).
12 unlike Cain who belonged to the
evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his
own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.
Cain's jealousy/envy of his brother opened him to the
devil's influence and resulted in the murder of his brother.
Question: What did the Roman governor Pontus
Pilate discern was the reason the Jews wanted Jesus condemned and crucified as
a criminal, and what was the connection to the first murder in salvation
history? See Mt 27:18 and Gen 4:3-8.
Answer: Pilate knew that it was out of envy that
the Jews had handed Jesus over to him; it was the same reason Cain murdered his
righteous brother Abel.
13 Do not be amazed, [then,] brothers, if
the world hates you.
In John 15:18-19, Jesus said to his disciples, "If the
world hates you, realize that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the
world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the
world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you."
After commanding His disciples to love one another
as He had loved them (Jn 13:34-35, 15:12, 17), during His Last Supper
Discourse, Jesus warned them that they could not expect "the world" to return
their love. When Jesus refers to "the world" in John 15:18, He means all
men and women on earth who are in opposition to the will of God.
Christ chose His Apostles and men and women disciples to be the emissaries of the King of kings to carry the Gospel of salvation to the world. However, He warned them to expect rejection and persecution when carrying out their mission. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that the world's hatred was not a temporary phenomenon. Hate is just as much the characteristic mark of "the world," as love is the essence of the Christian. In the series of four statements in John 15:18-21, Jesus repeats that the world's hatred for His disciples is a rejection of Him, His teaching, and the true knowledge of God the Father.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
In verse 14, John gives the standard by which we can know
that we belong to Christ: We know that we have passed from death to life
because we love our brothers. To "pass from death to life," moving from a
state of separation from God to enter into communion with God, who is eternal
life, is what defines a Christian. In 1 John 5:24, Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I
say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has
eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to
life." We know we have reached that benchmark when we can love our
brothers and sisters in the human family the way Jesus loves them and for His
sake. John will return to the topic of loving one another in greater
detail in 4:7-21.
Verse 15 defines Cain and his sin. In addition to Genesis chapter 4 and 1 John 4:12, Cain is only mentioned in two other New Testament passages where he becomes a Biblical "type" for one who opposes God's will and does evil:
16 The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
17 If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?
18 Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.
In verses 16-18, John
reminds us of the source of our love. It is a theme he will develop further in
4:8-19.
Question: How do we know that Jesus loved us? How does His example set a standard for us?
Answer: We know
that He loved us because He willingly laid down His life for us. Therefore,
we ought to be willing to lay down our lives and provide comfort for our
brothers and sisters in the human family.
In what John writes, there is an implied contrast between Cain and Christ. Cain was jealous of his brother and then murdered him. Jesus offered His life unselfishly for the sake of those who would become His brothers and sisters in the New Covenant family. Our commitment to Jesus' example of self-sacrificial love cannot only be "lip service." In verse 18, John writes that we must be willing to act out of love in works of mercy. There is an echo of what Jesus said at the Last Supper Discourse in John's words. Jesus told His disciples, "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn 15:12-14).
1 John 3:19-24 ~ Having Confidence in God
19 [Now] this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him
20 in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
21 Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God
22 and receive from him whatever we ask because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.
24 Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.
In verses 19-24, John returns to how we know that we belong to God:
19 [Now] this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him
20 in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
"This," in verse 19, refers back to verse 18 and loving our brothers and sisters in deed and truth. John's point is, if we are
obedient to God's command to actively show our love for others, then this enables us to "reassure our hearts" about our standing with God.
But what does John mean about reassuring our hearts in verse 19? Commentators suggest two interpretations:
The difference between the two interpretations is whether our "hearts" are telling us something that is accurate or if we are overly scrupulous with ourselves concerning wrongdoing. The critical point is that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and His mercy is greater than our misgivings and our sins, giving us the confidence to trust Him with our lives (verse 20).
21 Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God
22 and receive from him whatever we ask because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
If our hearts/conscience do not truly condemn us, then we
can entrust ourselves fully to God and His forgiveness. Jesus spoke of making
our petitions in His name at His Last Supper Discourse when He said: And
whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it (Jn 14:13-14).
Question: What is the result of our confidence in God?
Answer: Because we keep His commandments and do
what pleases Him, we can have confidence that we can receive from Him whatever
we ask.
"Whatever we ask," however, means whatever we ask according to His divine will for our lives when we, His children, are in a good relationship with our Father. It is a qualification John will add later in 5:14 when he writes: And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
23 And his commandment is this: we
should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just
as he commanded us. 24 Those who keep his commandments remain
in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the
Spirit that he gave us.
In these two verses, John gives us a concise summary of
his entire letter. To remain in us and us in Him is the function of our
covenant relationship as divine children of a divine Father through the merits
of God the Son and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. To believe in the "name of
Jesus" is to trust in everything Jesus taught us recorded in Sacred Scripture:
that He is the Redeemer-Messiah and the Son of God who cleansed us from all our
sins. Accepting Jesus Christ as the only source of our salvation is central to
living the true Christian life: But these are written that you may come to
believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that through this belief
you may have life in his name (Jn 20:31; Acts 4:12).
It is interesting that John uses "commandment" in the
singular in verse 23 but then names two parts to this commandment that are
believing in the Son and loving one another. Belief/faith and love are
inseparable and define the undivided heart of a Christian's life.
Question: But what does John mean when he says we
are commanded to believe in the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ (23a)? How can
we be commanded to believe? Isn't it an act of free will?
Answer: Yes, choosing to believe/have faith in
Jesus is an act of free will, but we must make that conscious choice to believe
in Him if we want to receive God's gift of salvation.
Faith is not only an acknowledgment that God exists, and He sent His Son to die for us. It is a conscious act of internal surrender to God and an outward confession to the world of our belief and trust in Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. In offering the gift of salvation through His Son, God gives us the choice either to believe in the Son's sacrifice and accept His gift of eternal life or to reject His gift and our hope of salvation. In his Gospel, John wrote: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:18).
24 Those who keep his commandments
remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he
remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.
God commands us to remain in a covenant relationship with
Him (to remain in Him) by loving Him and our brothers and sisters in the human
family. And He sent His Spirit to inspire and encourage us to keep our pledge
to love Him and others as He loves us so that he remains in us.
CHAPTER 4
1 John 4:1-6 ~ Testing the Spirits: The Spirit of God
Versus the Spirit of Antichrist
1 Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
3 every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.
4 You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5 They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
In this passage, John returns to a theme he raised in 2:15-17. He is drawing the contrast between those who belong to the world and the spirit of antichrist versus those who belong to God. His teaching concerns the distinction between the opposing "spirits" of those who are false and the need to discern which spirit is of God.
Addressing his readers again affectionately as "beloved"
(as in 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, and 11), John issues the command, do not trust
every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God using
"spirit" in the singular and then the plural. The use of the singular
suggests the force of the one Holy Spirit that comes from God and generates true
teaching and prophecy (see what Paul wrote in 1 Cor 12:8-11). The plural
suggests those spirits that are not from God and draw their powers from Satan
and the antichrist.
Question: What is John's warning to Christians in
every generation? What did St. Paul advise in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22?
Answer: He warns them not to trust or believe
everything they hear or read that claims to be from God. They must "test" and
then "discern" whether a prophecy or teaching is legitimately from God/Christ.
St. Paul gave the same warning to the Thessalonian Christians: Do not
despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain
from every kind of evil (1 Thess 5:20-22).
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
John is echoing a warning Jesus gave concerning false
teachers in Matthew 7:15 when He said, Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in sheep's clothing but underneath are ravenous wolves. False
prophets, professing to be Christians, have gone out to Christian communities
promoting their false doctrines. They are the same teachers and others John
identified in 2:19 who have "gone out from us," meaning left the sound doctrine
of the true Church. The Church first addressed the issues of false teachings
at the Council of Jerusalem in AD 50 when some Jewish-Christians were telling
Gentile converts they weren't true Christians unless they first converted to
Judaism and were circumcised (Acts chapter 15). When Roman persecution began
in AD 64, it was not safe for Christian bishops to assemble. When it was safe
for them to meet in councils after the first Christian Roman Emperor,
Constantine II, declared Christianity a protected religion, the first order of
business was to define and refute false doctrines. See the chart on the Church's Great Councils.
2 This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
3 every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs
to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to
God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but
in fact is already in the world.
Now John advises on how we can determine what spiritual
teaching someone offers is from God and what is false.
Question: What does John say is the test for
someone who has God's Spirit in his teaching?
Answer: The person through whom the Spirit of God
speaks will confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh in the Incarnation to
do the will of God. That person belongs to God. However, the spirit of the
person who does not acknowledge Jesus is God who came in the flesh does not
belong to God and teaches in the spirit of the antichrist, the enemy of God and
all Christians.
In verses 2-3, John is restating what he said in 2:18-23. He will revisit this subject in his Second Letter where he writes: Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist (2 John 1:7). St. Paul also gave a test to determine legitimate teachers to the Christians at Corinth, Greece, writing, Therefore, I tell you that nobody speaking by the spirit of God says, "Jesus be accursed." And no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3).
4 You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5 They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone
who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit
of truth and the spirit of deceit.
John draws a contrast between those who belong to God and
those who belong to the world. He assures his readers, You belong to God,
children, and then adds, and you have conquered them.
Question: Who are the "them" and how have God's
children conquered them? See 4:1-6.
Answer: The "them" are the false prophets
who have left the teachings of the Church to spread false doctrines. The
Christians reading John's letter have conquered them by refusing to accept
their false teachings and by holding to the "spirit of truth" that Jesus is
God's Son who came "in the flesh" for our salvation.
1 John 4:7-12 ~ God Is Love and the Christian Life
7 Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
8 Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:7-12 repeats Jesus'
teaching on love in the Gospel of John 15:9-17. In His Last Supper Discourse,
Jesus told His disciples:
9 As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that your joy might be complete.
12 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. [...]
16 It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
17 This I command you: love one another.
Notice the progression of "to love" that developed from the
Gospel of John 15:9 and then expands in verses 12 and 17:
In John 15:10, Jesus told the Apostles that they would remain in His love IF they kept His commandments, a theme the Letter of 1 John repeated in 3:21-24. In the Gospel of John 15:16-17, Jesus told them that He chose them and commissioned them to change the world by their deeds. The heart of that commissioning concerns obedience to the command to love one another as John repeats in this passage. Then, in the Gospel of John 15:17, for the third time, Jesus gave them the fundamental commandment to love (13:34; 15:12, 17). It is the greatest of the commandments from which all other commandments originate (Mt 22:34-40). It is a love commanded to produce more love. St. John revisits Jesus' theme of love in 1 John 4:11-12: 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. Take John's advice and perfect your life by taking up the challenge to love as Christ loved! It is a command that has everlasting benefits.
1 John 4:13-21 ~ Remaining in God's Love
13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit.
14 Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
15 Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.
16 We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
17 In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21 This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
This passage is a summary on the love of God and returns to the incompatibility between claiming to love God and refusing to love others. In His Last Supper Discourse in John's Gospel, Jesus repeatedly spoke of remaining/abiding in Him and in His love. In John chapter 15, Jesus used the Greek word mene/meno repeatedly (i.e., 15:4 four times, 5, 6, 7 twice, 9, 10 twice, 16). John uses the same Greek word in his letters (1 Jn 2:6, 10, 14, 17, 24 three times, 27 twice, 28; 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 24 twice, 4:12, 13, 15, 16 twice and 2 Jn 9 twice). John takes up the theme of "remaining/abiding" in Christ again in 4:12-16. Verse 16 is the key to the passage: 6 We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
17 In this is love brought to perfection
among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so
are we in this world. 18 There is no
fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with
punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
In verse 17, John returns to the theme of love from verse 12
on how God brings His love to completion in us.
It is not entirely clear what John means concerning perfect love and divine judgment. John 17:14 may help us to understand. In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer at Last Supper, as He prayed for His disciples, saying, "I gave them your word, and the world hated them because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world." Perhaps the point is that God's love comes to perfection in us when we are living as faithful children of God in a world that does not know us, and we can have confidence on Judgment Day because of our obedience to love like Christ will conquer our fears. The next verse supports this interpretation: 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. If we have perfect love, in the face of divine judgment, God's love and forgiveness will drive away all fear.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21 This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Once again John repeats that all our love, for God and one
another, is because of God's love and the share of that love He has given to
us, as St. Paul wrote, God's love has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 5:5). We cannot receive the
love of God and have fellowship with Him if we are stubbornly unwilling to love
in return: whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God
whom he has not seen. 21 This is the commandment we have from him: whoever
loves God must also love his brother.
Concerning the Holy Spirit's role in nurturing and expanding our love for God and others, Ronda Chervin, an author and convert to Catholicism from Judaism, wrote: "To make the idea of the Holy Spirit more concrete to us we should remember that he is the Spirit of Love. He is the divine love sent to infuse us with the sense of God when we read the Gospels, when we pray, when we receive the sacraments, or when we show love for other people."
A Question for discussion or reflection:
At Pope Francis' first Easter address, he called the
Church's faithful to receive God's mercy and make it known in the world. He
said, "Let us accept the grace of Christ's resurrection! Let us be renewed by
God's mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to
transform our lives too, and let us become agents of his mercy, channels
through which God can water the earth, protect all creation, and make justice
and peace flourish." What you do, or how can you help your faith community to
respond to Pope Francis' call to make God's love known to the world?
Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates
Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
1 John 3:1 (CCC 2822*);
3:1 (CCC 1692);
3:2 (CCC 163, 1023, 1161*, 1720*, 2519*, 2772);
3:3 (CCC 2345*);
3:5 (CCC 457);
3:8 (CCC 385*, 392, 394*);
3:15 (CCC 1033);
3:17 (CCC 2447*),
3:19-24 (CCC 2845*);
3:19-20 (CCC 208, 1781);
3:21 (CCC 2778*);
3:22 (CCC 2631)
1 John 4:1 (CCC 2822*); 4:2-3 (CCC 465*); 4:2 (CCC 423, 463); 4:3 (CCC 672*); 4:8 (CCC 214, 221, 733, 1604*); 4:9 (CCC 458, 516); 4:10 (CCC 457, 604, 614*, 620, 1428*); 4:11-12 (CCC 735*); 4:14 (CCC 457); 4:16 (CCC 221, 733, 1604*); 4:19 (CCC 604*, 1828); 4:20 (CCC 2840*)
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2020 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.