Holding on to Truth

1 John 2:12–17 ESV

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Knowing the Authentic

The Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces the bills we use as currency. To keep ahead of those who would counterfeit our money, they change the design of the bills. It never stops people from trying to make fake bills, but it slows them down. How does one become an expert at knowing the difference between a fake and authentic bill? It would be impossible to study every counterfeit one, but it is possible to study the real so much that they can investigate when one notices a small variation. Knowing the authentic is the solution for detecting the counterfeit. John wrote his letter to encourage and guide believers from the threat of false teachers and influence that claimed to be Christian but pulled people away from the truth. He gave them practical tests for truth and error. In this section, John encourages the believers to continue in what they have already received concerning God’s unchanging truth, for it is sufficient for salvation and godly living.

Truth #1 - Forgiveness of Sins

John has given the believers tests to affirm truth and error from would-be teachers. Now he continues to encourage them in the truth they already have in Christ. He addressed them as “children”. This makes sense as he is most likely older than those in the church. He considers all believers in Christ to be children of God. He recognizes that the only way one becomes a child of God is through Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, we would all remain strangers and separated from God, but through Jesus, we can become sons and daughters by grace through faith. It is because our sins are forgiven that we come to know God. Through Christ, we have the privilege to call God “Abba”.

Truth #2 - Knowing Truth leads to Knowing God

John addresses the church but distinguishes two groups: fathers and young men. This does not exclude women, for this wording implies both genders. Instead, it points to older and mature people in the faith. He reminds them that they know the truth. Truth is both information and a person. To know God’s truth is to encounter Jesus Christ, for apart from Him, we can never come to know God. Who is from the beginning? Is it not Jesus Christ, the everlasting second person of the trinity who took on flesh through the incarnation? And at this time, some were still around who had heard Jesus or from first-hand witnesses. Those words and teachings are the foundation for God’s truth in the Gospel.

Truth #3 - Strength comes from God’s Word

The last group John addresses are the young men and women. These are those who are younger in age and spiritual maturity. Older people are often amazed by the strength and energy of the younger. This is partially what John has in mind. But it is more than physical strength, but the strength that comes from abiding in God and His holy word. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are the kind of youth that fit this description. Although young in age, they were well-rooted in the truth of God and lived faithful, obedient lives in a foreign land. The strength comes from the power of the Holy Spirit that is given to those who abide in God and His word. Only through Him do they overcome the evil one and the sinful human nature.

A Command to Discern the World from God

How then should the believer live this received truth? First, believers are to hold on to the Gospel as the eternal and unchanging truth for life with God. We never “move on” from the Gospel; rather, we remain faithful in it and learn the immeasurable greatness of God’s grace. Secondly, John encourages believers to distinguish between the love of God and the love of the world. John gives a simple command, “Do not love the world.” As we consider the context, we can rule out that John is not contradicting John 3:16.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Rather, John is referring to the “world” as a life lived separated and in opposition to God’s desires and law. John also includes the “things of this world,” which he describes in three categories.

The desires of the flesh: “any desire, any sinful interest, that draws us away from God or at least makes continuing fellowship with him impossible.”

Gary M. Burge - The NIV Application Commentary

The desires of the eyes: “sinful interest that can be seen....a metaphor for sinful passion that corrupts…Eve’s looking at the forbidden tree, which was “pleasing to the eye.”

The pride of life: “an attitude of pretentious arrogance or subtle elitism that comes from one’s view of wealth, rank, or stature in society. It is an overconfidence that makes us lose any notion that we are dependent on God.”

These three areas do not come from God and lead to a life that passes away. But love of God leads to increasing life from God. This command to “love not the world” is an important and distinguishing characteristic of those who come to know God. Just as darkness is never present in the light of God, so too should love of the world never be mixed in with one’s love for God.

The Challenge of Living in Discernment

Just like knowing the authentic is the solution for identifying the counterfeit, so too is knowing and remaining in God’s truth the prescription for discernment. To discern is to be able to identify truth from falsehood. Let’s look at four areas that are modern expressions of loving the world and the things in it.

Embracing the ethics and solutions of the world

As we mentioned, the “world” is the system of ideas and actions of life separated from and in opposition to God. Our world offers solutions to the problems of our society. Let’s first examine the problem and solutions of social justice. In theory, all believers should desire justice in society. Isaiah 1:16-17

Isaiah 1:16–17 ESV

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Yet our world seeks to do this apart from humble repentance and faith in God. Today, social justice is achieved through movements, protests, political ideas, and media. Should we not get on board with movements that seek to do justice? Yes, but with discernment for not all social justice efforts seek the desires of God. Just as there is fake money, there is justice that is contrary to God’s definition of justice.

Justice is:

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Justice in the Old Testament

divinely ordained actions that promote the well-being and equality of all humanity. Whether justice is served by punishing oppressors or by vindicating the oppressed, there is always the concept of returning humanity to שָׁלוֹם (shalom), an equilibrium in which wrongs have been made right and the impoverished have been restored to prosperity.

But do some modern expressions of justice fail this? Yes. At a basic observation, the statement “Black Lives Matter”, should be something all believers should embrace. Look at the following statement which they quietly removed from their site, yet they remain part of the ethos for the movement.

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

At best the BLM movement is a mixture of good ideas and ideas that contradict God’s desires and plan. If that is true, how far can we align ourselves with this solution and its ethics?

And let us also consider the increasing movement within some churches to make plan to enhance God's kingdom. Some ultimately equate the Kingdom of God with the growth and status of the USA. Some have gone as far as to declare that the USA is in covenant with God because of some of the actions of the founding colonies and Judeo-Christian roots of our government. An accurate account of history reveals that the founding of our nation was a mixed bag of faithful Christians and those who halfheartedly accepted the Word of God and the necessity of the Gospel.

We should ask the same question, “How far can we align ourselves with nationalistic hopes and the kingdom of God?" Just like BLM, this too can become a “love of the world”, something that infiltrates the heart and mind to dilute the essential truth of the Gospel and the power of God to redeem this world only through faith in Christ.

And what are we to make of the modern church growth movement? To increase church attendance, some churches have become “seeker-sensitive”. This means that the worship service and study of scripture is altered so as to be "more inviting and less offensive". Some of these churches include regular songs you would find on the radio in their Sunday gatherings. Alongside worship songs, they perform songs that connect with the average person but do not necessarily glorify God or point us to God’s truth. One church, in particular, regularly uses popular music to bring in the crowds. The end justifies the means, so the concept goes. Let’s do whatever gets people in the door. And high-quality production of unrelated things is one of the tools used to grow churches. But this is a poor substitute for worship and Christ-honoring gatherings.

Lastly, within the walls of Christianity, there exists movements that are simultaneously a desire of the flesh, of the eyes, and a pride of life. It is the Word of Faith movement. The essential teachings of this movement claim that faith is a force. Words are containers of this force. And through our words and actions, we can declare and create that which we desire. At the forefront of these desires are health and wealth. So, this movement encourages people to act in faith to receive healing and wealth. Like counterfeit bills, this teaching appears rooted in scripture, but it fails John's test concerning godly desires.

At the top of this movement are those who teach that they have great success with their faith. They can point to their health and wealth as evidence of their teaching. But there is a catch that some miss. In order to exercise their faith, one is often requested to “sow a seed” (give money) to the “ministry”. The ministry leaders receive the money that accumulates from those who are desperate for better health and finances. The leaders then point to their lives as evidence that it works. In reality, it is nothing more than a pyramid scheme and a tool to increase one’s popularity and luxury on this earth.

Knowing the Difference

In C.S. Lewis’s Pilgrim’s Regression, he writes an allegory of his coming to faith in God from atheism to faithfully following Christ. The main character is John. Early in the story, he is put in a prison cell at a mountain called the Spirit of the Age. The leader there is called Mr. Enlightenment. And a crude jailer taunted John in prison when he brought in food. He described the food to cause John to re-examine his values. The jailer described drinking milk as drinking just one of the many secretions of the cow.

“You are trying to pretend that unlike things are like. You are trying to make us think that milk is the same sort of thing as sweat or dung.”

“And pray, what difference is there except by custom?”

“Are you a liar or only a fool, that you see no difference between that which Nature casts out as refuse and that which she stores up as food”

May we never give into the values and the lies of the Spirit of this Age. May we love not the world nor rely on the solutions it provides. May we only trust in the reliable word that we already have from God.