CONFRONTING MODERNISM
Posted with permission from original
Author..JDL
AUTHORSHIP OF THE EPISTLE
The author of the epistle claims to be an eyewitness of Christ's ministry (I:1-3). Polycarp quotes I John 4:2-3, he was a disciple of John, ordained by John to be the bishop of Smyrna. Ireneas, a disciple of Polycarp, and the bishop of Lyons, quotes I John 2:18-22, 4:1,3, 5:1... and says that he is quoting the epistle of John.
THE PERSON OF JOHN
There are five books of the New Testament that are ascribed to John the Apostle. The New Testament tells us surprisingly little about John. He is mentioned:
3 times in Matthew
10 times in Mark
7 times in Luke
9 times in Acts
1 time in Galatians
5 times in Revelation
However, in most of these references, little or no information is given about the man. We do not even know where or when he was born. He had a brother named James... His father was named Zebedee. His mother was named Salome. Some believe Salome was the sister of Mary. (Compare John 19:25, and Mark 15:40.)
The family industry was fishing. The family was probably "well-to-do". They had hired servants (Mark 1:20). Salome ministered to Jesus of their substance (Mark 15:41, Luke 8:3). John knew the High Priest, and had access to the court of the High Priest at the time of Jesus' arrest (John 18:15-16). There is even a suggestion that John had a home in Jerusalem (Matthew 20:20).
After Pentecost, John remained in Jerusalem until the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus (about 50 A.D.). Irenaeus informs us that John later took up residence in Ephesus (this is where the epistles and the fourth gospel were written). John outlived the other apostles and died at Ephesus. Jerome says that John lived 68 years after the crucifixion. That would put the death of John around 100 A.D.
Clement relates an interesting story of John. The apostle once visited Smyrna, a neighboring city of Ephesus. There he saw a young boy, and brought the boy to the bishop of Smyrna for training. The bishop took the boy home, fed and taught him, and later baptized him. Then, he left the boy alone. The boy fell into evil company, committed a crime and fled to the mountains. He became the leader of a band of criminals. Later, John returned to Smyrna, and asked about the boy. The bishop said: He is dead to God! and then told the story. John rent his robe, and smote his head. He rode off and found the boy and by tender entreaties won him to repentance. He brought him back to the church.
Such was the way in which this apostle ministered. He saw a need of more than winning converts, but to hold them and guide them into more and more truth.
The epistle of I John is a summary of the deep truth taught in the gospel of John. There are many comparable truths taught in both.
I John John
1:1 1:1-2, 14
2:5 14:23
2:6 15:4
2:8 1:5,9: 13:34
2:10 11:10
2:13 17:3
2:14 17:3
3:1 1:12
3:2 17:24
3:8 8:44
3:8-9 3:3-5
3:11 13:34
3:13 15:20
4:9 3:16
4:12 1:18
5:13 20:31
5:14 14:14
5:20 17:2-3
etc.
DESTINATION OF THE EPISTLE
Augustine refers to the epistle of I John as being one written to the Parthians. There is no other evidence of this, or of any evidence of there being a church in this region of Persia or Iran. Many think it was written to local churches around Ephesus. God designed the truth of the epistle to be for all ages, for the saints of God... especially for us of the last days...
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EPISTLE OF I JOHN
The epistle of I John is a general letter, written to specific churches and individuals. I John was intended for all the churches of the province of Asia. No personal details are given, few names used, most often it is - Christ. There is no salutation, no greetings. The only way we know for whom it is intended, is by relationships implied between the author and the readers. It is difficult letter. Some say that it is the most difficult of the New Testament epistles. It is complex in style, in structure, and in thought.
Most theologians admit to not coming close to understanding the message in its deepest meaning. The full understanding of the epistle is beginning to be understood when the gospel of John is understood to be the key to unlocking its message.
This epistle is a letter written in a crisis, and is an attempt to stem the tide of a deadly doctrinal error which threatened to destroy fellowship between the churches of Asia. This controversy is shadowed in nearly every verse of the letter.
This controversy is most clearly delineated in I John 2:18-28.
"Little children, it is the last time, and as ye have heard that the antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.I have not written unto you because ye know no the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.
These things have I written unto you, concerning them, that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
This is also depicted in I John 4:1-6:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby, know ye the Spirit of God; Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby, know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
This error was a form of gnosticism. This is a companion letter to John's gospel, and is linked, not only by style, vocabulary, characteristic phrases, but also by fundamental concepts and teachings. This epistle was likely read and studied along with the gospel of John. The letter formed a sermon on the gospel, relating the same truths...
The gnosticism, that John confronted, was a combination of oriental mysticism and Greek philosophy, that had taken on enough of the forms of Christianity to make it a foe of the faith. John considered it a counterfeit Christianity and abhorred it.
The principle tenets of gnosticism were:
1. They made knowledge, and not faith, to be the one condition of salvation. They felt they had more fellowship with God by reason of their knowledge. They became arrogant, and exclusive because of their "superior" knowledge. This doctrine gave them their name... for the Greek word for knowledge is "gnosis".
2. They taught that all matter is inherently evil. So they taught that the body is evil, and is separated from spirit... They therefore tried to claim that their spirit was undefiled by the sins of their own bodies... This led to licentiousness in their own lives, for they felt superior in spirit... and therefore were not contaminated by their own sins. They also taught that deity would not become human flesh, and said that Jesus only seemed to be human, but was only an apparition.
3. They separated the Creator from the Supreme God, making the God of the Old Testament to be the Creator God, and to claim that their God, the Supreme God, was superior to the former. They made the "Creator God" to be the God of the Jews, but not their God.
4. They denied the free will of man, which made them exclusive rather than evangelistic. They felt chosen to posses this "superior" knowledge, and thereby saved by the choice of God. Since they felt chosen by God they did not feel too concerned by grave, vile sins that they themselves committed.
Gnosticism was the modernism of the early church. John shows in I John his abhorrence for this false doctrine. There were false ministers and saints teaching these doctrines in the church. Many were being led astray by these doctrines.
John gave 7 ways to test false prophets by:
1. their confession of Jesus Christ (4:2-3)...
2. their relationship with the world (4:5, 2:15-17...
3. how they receive Christianity (4:6)...
4. their attitude toward the commandments of God (4:6, 3:20-24)...
5. their love of the brethren (4:7-21, 3:11-16, compare John 13:34-35, 15:12-15)
6. the indwelling of the Spirit (4:4-6)...
7. the Word of God (4:6, 5:10)...
Ireneas and Eusebius both quote Polycarp (a disciple of John) that John once visited the public baths, and seeing Cerinthus (one of the main teachers of gnosticism) within. He ran from the building saying:
"Let us flee lest the building fall, since Cerinthus, the foe of truth, is within it."
The reason that John was so upset by this doctrine was that it was a devilish attack on the main truth taught by Jesus in His earthly ministry. John wrote the gospel of John to show the teachings of Jesus concerning this vital doctrine... Then the devil attacked its teaching very vociferously in the false doctrine of gnosticism... but John would not allow a vital doctrine to be spurned, ignored, and forgotten in Christianity by this heresy.
Today, unfortunately, the main doctrine of the teachings of the gospel of John, and of his epistle has been lost to most of Christianity. It is a doctrine that the church needs to have the revival that it once had in the former rain revival. It is a doctrine that the loss of which contributed to the "dark ages" of Christianity. We had better study such truth that this gnosticism tried to stamp out!
John was angry at this doctrine and its promoters... He attacks its premises, and reteaches the truth of the Lord. Too many times, Christianity has overlooked the whole of the truth taught by John, and taken a few of his verses out of context to teach different, though sometimes valid, concepts. Yet, the deeper, more vital truth that John is attempting to teach must be found... if we want to defeat the devil, and have real revival in these last days.
Is this an attempt at sarcasm? 
