John was addressing those in Ephesus who were claiming to have grace and continuing in darkness. There was incompatibility between the men and the message. He wanted to decrease the influence of the false teachers by increasing the integrity of the testimony. How would that happen? By redirecting their focus back to Jesus and confronting their deviant theology. First he established the incarnation principle, and second he established the implication of incarnating power.
The incarnation of the Messiah: Jesus has come in the flesh. This is the indicator that the Spirit of God was highlighting. Believing this identifies the true believer. Those who reject that Jesus is from God has been influenced by the antichrist.
John continues to distinguish the Christian by the love for God and others. No love for God means no life from God. Can people love people without loving God? Sure, but it will so different that love that springs from forgiveness, grace, healing and reconciliation. His love initiates. His love is the source of my love. His love is far greater than my love.
If we love one another, love abides. We love because he has given of His spirit. His spirit tells us that God has sent His son. And we believe that God has sent his son to be the Savior of the world. Confessing this theology, that jesus is the Son of God leads to abiding in Him. We have come to know, to believe, and to abide in His love.
He is love is perfected in us and therefore we can overcome the influence of the misdirected, the shame of guilt in judgement, and be the influence on others in the world because as He is, so also are we in the world. Our influence is to remove the fear of punishment. How. We focus on Jesus. We love because he first loved us. Therefore the fellowship is enriched because we should following His command to be loving the brothers.
By defining the categories, John clearly affirms the identity, and enables the disciples to stand up to test the false spirits in the world.
Questions for reflection:
No comments:
Post a Comment