God is love. Be born of God. See God for Who He is; then we shall be like Him. We will love others.
Vs. 1 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God (by other people). Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." This is a reference to John 13:34-35. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." We become His disciples when we continue in His Word of grace. That is what John 8:31-32 says. As we learn to walk in love toward others, that is when people will know we are His disciples and start calling us His disciples or the children of God. The world does not know that God is love.
Vs. 2 "Beloved, now we are the children of God (born of God); and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be (until later in 1 John 4), but we know that when He is revealed (as love), we shall be like Him (we will walk in love), for we shall see Him as He is (He is love)." This is the verse that opened up the idea to me that John is writing a progressive revelation, and somewhat poking fun at the Gnostics, who were looking for secret knowledge to be revealed to them.
Vs. 3 "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." This has always been taught as a rapture verse, along with the previous verse. But what hope is John talking about? John is talking about knowing that God is love, and that love being expressed through us to others. What does he mean by purify? He is talking about walking in love. That is what being pure means. The opposite of love is selfishness, or walking in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. God is love. His motives are pure. Ours should be too.
Vs. 4 "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." Sin is not walking in love. Romans 13:8,10 "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." "Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." This is why John says that sin, or not walking in love, is lawlessness.
Vs. 5 "And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin." Jesus was manifested to pay the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime, past, present and even future sins. He not only paid the penalty for our sins; He wants to cleanse us from the actions and deeds of sin. He never sinned, or walked out of love.
Vs. 6 "Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him." We abide in Him in two ways: (1) 1 John 4:15 by being born of God and (2) 1 John 4:12 by loving one another. So if we confess that Jesus is the Son of God and love one another, we will not sin, or walk out of love. The second part of the verse says that whoever sins (doesn't walk in love) has neither seen Him nor known Him (has not seen that God is love). Look at 1 John 3:2 "has not seen" and 1 John 4:7-8 "does not know Him". It is interesting to note that we can abide in God by being born again, but not abide in God by walking out of love, or following our own selfish motives. This will open up some verses to follow. We must abide in Him in both ways to reach full maturity in the Christian walk.
Vs. 7 "Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous." We saw in 1 John 2:29 that he who practices righteousness is born of God. 1 John 5:1 says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God....." So practicing righteousness is being born of God, accepting the gift of righteousness that Jesus offers us. We could state this verse like this: He who is born again is righteous, just as He is righteous. When we are born again, we are made the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 We are made as righteous as He is. Why would John say not to be deceived? Because the Gnostics were teaching that Jesus was not the Christ and did not come in the flesh, so He could not be our Savior.
Vs. 8 "He who sins (does not walk in love) is of the devil (being motivated by Satan's intents:selfishness), for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Jesus destroys the works of the devil on two levels in our lives. When we are born again, God's life comes to live within us. As we begin to walk in love, God's life flows through us to others. Read Matthew 16:21-23 This is where Jesus told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." Jesus meant that Peter was thinking selfishly, being motivated by Satan's intentions, even though he was a follower of God.
Vs. 9 "Whoever has been born of God (our spirit is born of God) does not sin, for His seed (God's Word) remains in him; and he cannot sin (our spirit cannot sin), because he has been born of God." John is essentially saying what the apostle Paul says. When we accept the Lord, our spirits are created new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 We must then renew our minds to the Word, and begin walking in love toward others. Our salvation must be worked from the inside of us, where God has come to live, to the outside, where people can see our love and good deeds towards them. Philippians 2
Vs. 10 "In this the children of God (those motivated by love) and the children of the devil (motivated by selfishness) are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." Notice that (1) whoever does not practice righteousness, or whoever is not born again, is not of God. He also says that (2) he who does not love his brother is not of God. If we don't walk in love, then we don't see who God is, even though we are born again. The apostle Paul would have said that we are carnal. We don't see that Christ is living in us, even though we are born again.
These verses have been taught in a condemning way because we have not seen this passage clearly. This should not be condemning; this is the pathway to maturity. If we see it as condemning, we may not be completely settled with the idea that the sins of our entire lifetime have been forgiven. As little children spiritually, we see that our sins are forgiven. We are loved and forgiven by God.
Young men or women spiritually are beginning to recognize that God lives within them. Who is God? He is love. As we walk in love, we are letting God live through us and overcoming the wicked one. Who or what is wicked? The selfishness or lust that is in the world, which is motivated by Satan. Walking in love is the pathway to maturity.
This passage opens up part of John chapter 8. In John 8:31-32, Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you continue in My Word (the word of grace), you are My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." The Jews who believed in Him said they have never been in bondage to anyone. Jesus told them that whoever commits sin is the slave of sin. He goes on to tell these Jews who had believed Him that they were of their father the devil. These Jews were not yet born again, so the devil was still their father, even though they believed Jesus. But it also shows us that when we are sinning, we are being motivated by the devil, even if we are born again and God lives in us.
Keith Oliver
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