“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you” (1 John 1:3). And once you have experienced this exciting life that is real, you will want to share it with other people, just as John wanted to “declare” it to all his readers in the first century.
A pastor had a phone call from an angry woman. “I have received a piece of religious literature from your church,” she shouted, “and I resent your using the mails to upset people!”
“What was so upsetting about a piece of mail from a church?” the pastor asked calmly.
“You have no right to try to change my religion!” the woman stormed. “You have your religion and I have mine, and I’m not trying to change yours!” (She really was, but the pastor didn’t argue with her.)
“Changing your religion, or anybody else’s religion, is not our purpose,” the pastor explained. “But we have experienced a wonderful new life through faith in Christ, and we want to do all we can to share it with others.”
Many people (including some Christians) have the idea that “witnessing” means wrangling over the differences in religious beliefs or sitting down and comparing churches.
That isn’t what John had in mind! He told us that witnessing means sharing our spiritual experiences with others—both by the lives that we live and by the words that we speak.
John wrote this letter to share Christ with us. As you read it, you will discover that John had in mind five purposes for sharing.
That we may have fellowship (v. 3). This word fellowship is an important one in the vocabulary of a Christian. It simply means “to have in common.” As sinners, men have nothing in common with the holy God. But God in His grace sent Christ to have something in common with men. Christ took on Himself a human body and became a man. Then He went to the cross and took on that body the sins of the world (1 Peter 2:24). Because He paid the price for our sins, the way is open for God to forgive us and take us into His family. When we trust Christ, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The term translated “partakers” in Peter’s epistle is from the same Greek root that is translated “fellowship” in 1 John 1:3.
What a thrilling miracle! Jesus Christ took on Himself the nature of man that by faith we may receive the very nature of God! A famous British writer was leaving Liverpool by ship. He noticed that the other passengers were waving to friends on the dock. He rushed down to the dock and stopped a little boy. “Would you wave to me if I paid you?” he asked the lad, and of course the boy agreed. The writer rushed back on board and leaned over the rail, glad for someone to wave to. And sure enough, there was the boy waving back to him!
A foolish story? Perhaps—but it reminds us that man hates loneliness. All of us want to be wanted. The life that is real helps to solve the basic problem of loneliness, for Christians have genuine fellowship with God and with one another. Jesus promised, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20). In his letter, John explained the secret of fellowship with God and with other Christians. This is the first purpose John mentioned for the writing of his letter— the sharing of his experience of eternal life.
That we may have joy (v. 4). Fellowship is Christ’s answer to the loneliness of life. Joy is His answer to the emptiness, the hollowness, of life.
John, in his epistle, used the word joy only once, but the idea of joy runs through the entire letter. Joy is not something that we manufacture for ourselves; joy is a wonderful by-product of our fellowship with God. David knew the joy that John mentioned; he said, “In thy presence is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11).
Basically, sin is the cause of the unhappiness that overwhelms our world today. Sin promises joy, but it always produces sorrow. The pleasures of sin are temporary—they are only for a season (Heb. 11:25). God’s pleasures last eternally—they are forevermore (Ps. 16:11).
The life that is real produces a joy that is real—not some limp substitute. Jesus said, the night before He was crucified, “Your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22). “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11).
Karl Marx wrote, “The first requisite for the people’s happiness is the abolition of religion.” But the apostle John wrote, in effect, “Faith in Jesus Christ gives you a joy that can never be duplicated by the world. I have experienced this joy myself, and I want to share it with you.”
That we may not sin (2:1). John faced the problem of sin squarely (cf. 1 John 3:4–9, for example) and announced the only answer to this enigma—the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ not only died for us to carry the penalty of our sins, but rose from the dead in order to intercede for us at the throne of God: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
Christ is our Representative. He defends us at the Father’s throne. Satan may stand there as the accuser of the brethren (Zech. 3; Rev. 12:10), but Christ stands there as our Advocate—He pleads on our behalf! Continuing forgiveness, in response to His intercession, is God’s answer to our sinfulness.
“I would like to become a Christian,” an interested woman said to a visiting pastor, “but I’m afraid I can’t hold out. I’m sure to sin again!”
Turning to 1 John 1, the pastor said, “No doubt you will sin again, because God says, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us’ (1 John 1:8). But if you do sin, God will forgive you if you will confess your sin to Him. But it isn’t necessary for Christians to sin. As we walk in fellowship with God and in obedience to His Word, He gives us ability to resist and to have victory over temptation.”
Then the pastor remembered that the woman had gone through surgery some months before.
“When you had your surgery,” he asked, “was there a possibility of complications or problems afterward?”
“Oh, yes,” she replied. “But whenever I had a problem, I went to see the doctor and he took care of it.”
Then the truth hit her! “I see it!” she exclaimed. “Christ is always available to keep me out of sin or to forgive my sin!”
The life that is real is a life of victory. In this letter, John told us how to draw on our divine resources to experience victory over temptation and sin.
That we may not be deceived (2:26). As never before, Christians today need ability to distinguish between right and wrong, between truth and error. The notion is widespread in our generation that there are no “absolutes”—that nothing is always wrong and that nothing is always right. False doctrines, therefore, are more prevalent than at any time in history—and most men and women seem to be willing to accept almost any teaching except the truths of the Bible.
In John’s epistles is a word that no other New Testament writer uses—antichrist (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). That prefix antihas two meanings: “against” and “instead of.” There are in this world teachers of lies who are opposed to Christ, and their method of “seducing” people is to use lies. They offer a substitute Christ, a substitute salvation, and a substitute Bible. They want to give you something instead of the real Word of God and real eternal life.
Christ is the Truth (John 14:6), but Satan is the liar (John 8:44). The devil leads people astray—not necessarily with gross sensual sins, but with half-truths and outright lies. He began his career by seducing man in the garden of Eden. He asked Eve, “Yea, hath God said?” Even then, he did not appear to her in his true nature, but masqueraded as a beautiful creature (cf. 2 Cor. 11:13–15).
Satan today often spreads his lies even through religious groups! Not every man standing in a pulpit is preaching the truth of the Word of God. False preachers and false religious teachers have always been among the devil’s favorite and most effective tools.
How can Christians today detect Satan’s lies? How can they identify false teachers? How can they grow in their own knowledge of the truth so that they will not be victims of false doctrines?
John answered these questions. The life that is real is characterized by discernment.
The Holy Spirit, referred to by John as “the anointing … ye have received of Him” (1 John 2:27), is Christ’s answer to our need for discernment. The Spirit is our Teacher; it is He who enables us to detect truth and error and to remain (“abide”) in Christ. He is our protection against ignorance, deception, and untruth.
The discernment of false doctrines and of false teachers will come to our attention again.
That we may know we are saved (5:13). We have already touched on this truth, but it is so important that it bears repeating. The life that is real is not built on the empty hopes—or wishes—based on human supposings. It is built on assurance. In fact, as you read John’s letter you encounter the word know more than thirty times. No Christian, if he is asked whether or not he is going to heaven, needs to say “I hope so” or “I think so.” He need have no doubt whatever.
The life that is real is such a free and exciting life because it is based on knowledge of solid facts. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” promised Jesus (John 8:32). “We have not followed cunningly devised fables” (2 Peter 1:16) was the testimony of Jesus’ disciples. These men, almost all of whom died for their faith, did not give their lives for a clever hoax of their own devising, as some critics of Christianity fatuously assert. They knew what they had seen!
Years ago a traveling entertainer billed himself as “The Human Fly.” He would climb up the sides of buildings or monuments without the aid of ropes or the protection of nets. Usually the whole neighborhood would turn out to watch him.
During one performance, the Human Fly came to a point on the wall of the building and paused as though he didn’t know what to do next. Then he reached with his right arm to take hold of a piece of mortar to lift himself higher. But instead of moving higher, he fell back with a scream and was killed on the pavement below.
When the police opened his right hand, it did not contain a piece of mortar. It contained a handful of dirty cobwebs! The Fly had tried to climb on cobwebs, and it just didn’t work.
Jesus warned against such false assurance in the passage that we have already quoted. Many who profess to be Christians will be rejected in the day of God’s judgment.
John was saying in his letter, “I want you to be sure that you have eternal life.”
As you read this fascinating letter, you will discover that John frequently repeated himself. He wove three themes in and out of these chapters: obedience, love, and truth. In 1 John 1 and 2, the apostle emphasized fellowship, and he told us that the conditions for fellowship are obedience (1 John 1:5–2:6), love (1 John 2:7–17), and truth (1 John 2:18–29).
In the latter half of his letter, John dealt primarily with sonship—our being “born of God.” How can a person really know he is a child of God? Well, said John, sonship is revealed by obedience (1 John 3), love (1 John 4), and truth (1 John 5).
Obedience—love—truth. Why did John use these particular tests of fellowship and sonship? For a very practical reason.
When God made us, He made us in His own image (Gen. 1:26–27). This means that we have a personality patterned after God’s. We have a mind to think with, a heart to feel with, and a will with which to make decisions. We sometimes refer to these aspects of our personality as intellect, emotion, and will.
The life that is real must involve all the elements of the personality.
Most people are dissatisfied today because their total personality has never been controlled by something real and meaningful. When a person is born of God through faith in Christ, God’s Spirit comes into his life to live there forever. As he has fellowship with God in reading and studying the Bible and in prayer, the Holy Spirit is able to control his mind, heart, and will. And what happens then?
A Spirit-controlled mind knows and understands truth.
A Spirit-controlled heart feels love.
A Spirit-controlled will inclines us to obedience.
John wanted to impress this fact on us, and that is why he used a series of contrasts in his letter: truth vs. lies, love vs. hatred, and obedience vs. disobedience.
There is no middle ground in the life that is real. We must be on one side or on the other.
This, then, is the life that is real. It was revealed in Christ; it was experienced by those who trusted in Christ; and it can be shared today.
This life begins with sonship and continues in fellowship. First we are born of God; then we walk (live) with God.
This means that there are two kinds of people who cannot enter into the joy and victory about which we are thinking: those who have never been born of God and those who, though saved, are out of fellowship with God.
It would be a wise thing for us to take inventory spiritually (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5) to see whether or not we qualify to enjoy the spiritual experience with which John’s letter deals.
We have already emphasized the importance of being born of God, but if you have any doubts or questions, a review of Fact 2 might be beneficial.
If a true believer is out of fellowship with God, it is usually for one of three reasons:
1. He has disobeyed God’s will.
2. He is not getting along with fellow believers.
3. He believes a lie and therefore is living a lie.
Even a Christian can be mistaken in his understanding of truth. That’s why John warned us, “Little children, let no man deceive you” (1 John 3:7).
These three reasons parallel John’s three important themes: obedience, love, and truth. Once a believer discovers why he is out of fellowship with God, he should confess that sin (or those sins) to the Lord and claim His full forgiveness (1 John 1:9—2:2). A believer can never have joyful fellowship with the Lord if sin stands between them.
God’s invitation to us today is “Come and enjoy fellowship with Me and with each other! Come and share the life that is real!”