1 John 4.5-The Non-Believer Obeys the Teaching of False Prophets Whose Message Originates with Satan's Kingdom
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday April 5, 2018
First John: 1 John 4:5-The Non-Believer Obeys the Teaching of False Prophets Whose Message Originates With Satan’s Kingdom
Lesson # 154
1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. (ESV)
“They are from the world” is composed of the following: (1) nominative third person masculine plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “they” (2) preposition ek (ἐκ), “from” (3) articular dative masculine singular form of the noun kosmos (κόσμος), “the world” (4) third person plural present active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί), “are.”
The intensive personal pronoun autos means “each one of them” since the word refers to the false prophets mentioned in 1 John 4:1 as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions which indicates that the assertion is true of each one of these false prophets.
The verb eimi, “are” means “to possess a particular characteristic” and this characteristic is identified in 1 John 4:6 by the noun planē (πλάνη), “error” which means “deception, deceit” since the word pertains to an assertion or assertions known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive.
Therefore, this verb eimi expresses the idea that these false prophets are characterized by deception or deceit in contrast to the recipients of First John who are characterized by truth according to John’s first assertion in 1 John 4:4.
That the verb eimi here in 1 John 4:5 has this meaning is indicated by the fact that this first assertion about the false prophets stands in contrast to the first assertion which appears in 1 John 4:4 regarding each one of the recipients of First John.
This assertion affirms that the recipients of First John possessed the characteristic which originates from God the Holy Spirit and which characteristic is truth.
The noun kosmos means “world” referring to Satan’s vast world system and organization which is opposed to God and is the object of preposition ek, which is a marker of source indicating the false doctrine propagated by these false prophets originates from Satan’s world system and organization.
“Therefore they speak from the world” is composed of the following: (1) preposition dia (διά), “therefore” (2) accusative neuter singular form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “therefore” (3) preposition ek (ἐκ), “from” (3) articular dative masculine singular form of the noun kosmos (κόσμος), “the world” (4) third person plural present active indicative form of the verb laleō (λαλέω), “they speak.”
The immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos means “this” and is “anaphoric” which means that it is pointing back to the immediate preceding statement that each one of these false prophets does possess the characteristic which originates from Satan’s world system and organization.
The word is the object of the preposition dia is a marker of cause expressing the basis or reason why the false prophets speak from the perspective of Satan’s world system and organization.
The noun kosmos contains the figure of metonymy which means that Satan’s world system and organization is put for the perspective or viewpoint of this world system and organization.
The noun kosmos is the object of preposition ek, which is a marker of source indicating that the perspective of Satan’s world system and organization is the source of the doctrine taught by these false prophets.
“And the world listens to them” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun kosmos (κόσμος), “the world” (3) accusative third person masculine plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “them” (4) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb akouō (ἀκούω), “listens to.”
The conjunction kai is a marker of result which means that it is introducing an assertion which presents the result of the previous assertion.
Once again, we have the noun kosmos, means “the world” however, this time it refers to the world in its arrangement of the inhabitants of the earth in tribes and nations or peoples (Acts 17:26; John 3:16; 1 Cor. 4:9; 1 John 2:2; 2 Pet. 2:5).
The verb akouō means “to accept, to obey” since the word pertains to believing something is true and responding to it on the basis of having heard.
1 John 4:5 Each one of them does possess the characteristic originating from the world. Because of this each of them does speak from the world’s viewpoint. Consequently, the world does obey them. (Author’s translation)
1 John 4:5 contains three assertions regarding the false prophets who are mentioned by John in 1 John 4:1.
The first asserts that the character of these false prophets originates with the world, which refers to Satan’s world system and organization which is totally opposed to Jesus Christ and stands in contrast to the first in 1 John 4:4 which states that the character of the recipients of First John originates with God the Holy Spirit.
John’s statements in 1 John 4:6 identifies what characterizes each group and asserts the Spirit inspired apostolic teaching concerning the person of Jesus of Nazareth is truth, thus, those who obey this teaching will be characterized by truth.
On the other hand, the teaching of these false prophets is described by the noun planē (πλάνη), which means “deception, deceit” and thus those who adhere to their false doctrine are characterized by deceit.
Therefore, the first assertion in 1 John 4:5 stands in contrast with the first assertion in 1 John 4:4.
The latter asserts that the recipients of First John are characterized by truth whereas the former asserts that they false prophets are characterized by deceit.
The second assertion which appears in 1 John 4:5 presents the basis or the reason why these false prophets speak from the perspective or viewpoint of Satan’s world system and organization.
This indicates that they communicate their teaching from the viewpoint or perspective of Satan’s world system and organization because they are characterized by deceit.
The third and final assertion which appears in 1 John 4:5 presents the result of the second assertion and states that the people enslaved to Satan’s world system and organization obey the false doctrine communicated by these false prophets.
This indicates that each of these false prophets does speak from the perspective of Satan’s world system and organization because they are characterized by deceit, which originates from the world, consequently, members of the human race enslaved to the world obey these false prophets.
There is a progression with each of these assertions in 1 John 4:5 since this verse indicates that deceit and deception originate from Satan’s world system and organization which is totally opposed to Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.
The doctrine of these false teachers is deceitful and lies because they have been deceived and enslaved to this world system and organization.
Members of the human race obey the false doctrine communicated by these false teachers since they too like the false teachers are enslaved to and deceived by this world system and organization whose leader is the devil or in other words, verse 5 reveals the hierarchal structure of Satan’s kingdom.
Of course, Satan and his angels are at the top followed by these false prophets who are used by Satan and his angels to communicate lies regarding the person of Jesus Christ to members of the human race.
Unregenerate members of the human race are enslaved to sin and Satan and are deceived by sin and Satan and the false prophets are used by Satan to feed them lies in order to prevent them from exercising faith in Jesus Christ in order to enter the kingdom of God.
Therefore, God is the source of the message of the apostles while on other hand, Satan is the source of the message of the false prophets.
This structure apes God’s system and organization which has the Trinity of course at the top.
The Father sends His Son into the world to become a human being in order to suffer a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross in order to redeem and reconcile sinful humanity to Himself.
The Son chose the apostles to proclaim to the human race God’s message of peace to them which is the gospel and the Holy Spirit makes the gospel understandable so that a member of the human race can make the non-meritorious decision to trust in Jesus Christ so as to be declared justified by the Father.
Thus, the Trinity employs the apostles to communicate the gospel to unregenerate humanity in order that they can become members of God’s kingdom.
Therefore, these two kingdoms are at war since the Trinity is opposed by Satan and his angels and the apostles are opposed by these false prophets.
The message of the apostles is truth and the message of the false prophets from Satan’s kingdom is deceit, deception and lies.
Obedience to the apostles’ message results in entering into an eternal relationship with the Trinity as well as experiencing eternal life and fellowship with the Trinity while obedience to the false prophets’ message results is spiritual death or separation from the Trinity and eventually eternal condemnation in the lake of fire.
Both kingdoms are warring over the souls of members of the human race.
The Trinity has the best interests of each member of the human race, which is manifested through God’s one and only Son becoming a human being in order to suffer God’s wrath on the cross as a substitute for each member of the human race.
Satan and his angels do not have the best interests of each member of the human race which is manifested by the fact that they are deceiving the human race so that eventually they will experience God’s wrath in the lake of fire along with them.
The vehicle or the means by which the Trinity seeks to save people from their wrath is the gospel or in other words, the teaching of the apostles whereas the vehicle or means used by Satan is lies about the person of Jesus Christ and the other members of the Trinity.
Thus, 1 John 4:5 emphasizes the importance of the believer rejecting false doctrine communicated by these false prophets and instead adhering to the sound doctrine taught by John and the other apostles.