John addresses his readers according to their measure of spiritual maturity.
1. (12) Little children, who have their sins forgiven.
I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
a. I write to you, little children: We each begin the Christian life as little children. When we are in this state spiritually, it is enough for us to know and be amazed at the forgiveness of our sins and all it took for God to forgive us righteously in Jesus Christ.
b. Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake: This is something to rejoice in. If we do not rejoice in this, something is wrong. We probably fail to see the badness of our sin and the greatness of His forgiveness. When we see how great our sin is, and how great the cost was to gain us forgiveness, we are obsessed with gratitude at having been forgiven.
c. Little children: This forgiveness is the special joy of God’s little children, because God’s forgiveness does not come by degrees. Even the youngest Christian is completely forgiven. They will never be “more forgiven.” Forgiveness is God’s gift, not man’s achievement.
i. Note it well: forgiven you for His name’s sake. The reasons for forgiveness are not found in us, but in God.
2. (13a) Fathers, who have an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
a. I write to you, fathers: Just as surely as there are little children, there are also fathers. These are men and women of deep, long spiritual standing. They have the kind of walk with God that doesn’t come overnight. These are like great oak trees in the Lord, that have grown big and strong through the years.
b. You have known Him: This is what spiritual maturity has its roots in. It is not so much in an intellectual knowledge (though that is a part of it), but more so in the depth of fellowship and relationship we have with Jesus. There is no substitute for years and years of an experiential relationship with Jesus.
3. (13b) Young men, who have known spiritual victory.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
a. I write to you, young men: As much as there are little children and fathers, so also there are young men. These are men and women who are no longer little children, but still not yet fathers. They are the “front-line” of God’s work among His people.
i. “The proper attribute of youth is, to carry on the active parts of life – if soldiers, to be engaged in all active service.” (Alford)
b. Because you have overcome the wicked one: They are engaged in battle with the wicked one. We don’t send our little children out to war, and we don’t send our old men to the front lines. The greatest effort, the greatest cost, and the greatest strength are expected of the young men.
i. For this reason, many have sought to stay in spiritual childhood as long as possible. This is wrong. It is like being a draft-dodger or a vagrant. We expect children to not fight in wars and to be supported by others, but we don’t expect it of adults.
c. Overcome the wicked one: These young men have overcome the spiritual foes that would seek to destroy their spiritual life. They know what it is to battle against Satan and his emissaries as a partner with God.
4. (13c) Little children, who know the Father.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
a. Because you have known the Father: In this first stage of spiritual growth, we sink our roots deep in the Fatherly love and care of God. We know Him as our caring Father, and see ourselves as His dependent children.
i. “And do you not glory in him? Little children when they begin to talk, and go to school, how proud they are of their father! Their father is the greatest man that ever lived: there never was the like of him. You may talk to them of great statesmen, or great warriors, or great princes, but these are all nobodies: their father fills the whole horizon of their being. Well, so it certainly is with us and our Father God.” (Spurgeon)
b. Little children: John uses different words for little children in verses 12 and 13 (teknia and paidia, respectively). Teknia has more of an emphasis on a child’s relationship of dependence on a parent, while paidia has more of an emphasis on a child’s immaturity and need for instruction.
5. (14a) Fathers, who have an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ.
I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
a. Because you have known Him who is from the beginning: The repetition of the same idea from 1 John 2:13a shows that it should be emphasized. The relationship with Jesus Christ that people at this stage of spiritual growth have is both true and deep.
b. I have written to you: Sometimes we might think, “Well, isn’t there more? It’s fine for these fathers to know Jesus, but shouldn’t they go beyond?” This repetition reminds us that there is no beyond.
i. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, could say that he counted all his previous spiritual achievements as rubbish, compared to the surpassing greatness of just knowing Jesus. That I may know Him is the powerful way Paul phrased it in Philippians 3:10.
6. (14b) Young men, who are strong and know spiritual victory.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.
a. I have written to you, young men: Again, the repetition of the idea indicates emphasis. Not only have the young men… overcome the wicked one, but they have done it through the strength that comes to them through the word of God. God’s Word is our source of spiritual strength.
i. Do you consider yourself one of the young men spiritually? Then are you strong? Are you putting your strength to some spiritual use? Do you resent that your strength is tested and developed by God?
b. The word of God abides in you: These young men, who had gained some measure of spiritual maturity, were known by the fact that God’s Word lived in them. The Word of God had made itself at home in their hearts.
C. An attack on our relationship with God: worldliness.
1. (15) The problem of worldliness.
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.
a. Do not love the world: John has told us that if we walk in sin’s darkness and claim to be in fellowship with God, we are lying (1 John 1:6). Now John points out a specific area of sin that especially threatens our fellowship with God: worldliness, to love the world.
b. Do not love the world or the things in the world: The world, in the sense John means it here, is not the global earth. Nor is it the mass of humanity, which God Himself loves (John 3:16). Instead it is the community of sinful humanity that is united in rebellion against God.
i. One of the first examples of this idea of the world in the Bible helps us to understand this point. Genesis 11 speaks of human society’s united rebellion against God at the tower of Babel. At the tower of Babel, there was an anti-God leader of humanity (whose name was Nimrod). There was organized rebellion against God (in disobeying the command to disperse over the whole earth). There was direct distrust of God’s word and promise (in building what was probably a water-safe tower to protect against a future flood from heaven).
ii. The whole story of the tower of Babel also shows us another fundamental fact about the world system. The world’s progress, technology, government, and organization can make man better off, but not better. Because we like being better off, it is easy to fall in love with the world.
iii. Finally, the story of the tower of Babel shows us that the world system – as impressive and winning as it appears to be – will never win out over God. The Lord defeated the rebellion at the tower of Babel easily. The world system will never win out over God.
c. Do not love the world: That is, we are not to love either the world’s system or its way of doing things. There is a secular, anti-God or ignoring-God way of doing things that characterizes human society, and it is easy to love the world in this sense.
i. Notice what the world wants from us: love. This love is expressed in time, attention, and expense. We are encouraged and persuaded to give our time, attention, and money to the things of this world instead of the things of God.
ii. If you love the world, there are rewards to be gained. You may find a place of prestige, of status, of honor, of comfort. The world system knows how to reward its lovers.
iii. At the same time, even at their best the rewards that come from this world last only as long as we live. The problem is that though we gain prestige, status, honor, and comfort of this world, we lose the prestige, status, honor, and comfort of heaven.
d. Or the things in the world: This isn’t so much a warning against a love for the beauty of the world God created (though we must always love the Creator instead of the creation). Instead, it is more of a warning against loving the material things which characterize the world system.
i. The world buys our love with the great things it has to give us. Cars, homes, gadgets, and the status that goes with all of them, can really make our hearts at home in the world.
e. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him: Simply, love for the world is incompatible with love for the Father. Therefore if one claims to love God and yet loves the world, there is something wrong with his claim to love God.
i. Through the centuries, Christians have dealt with the magnetic pull of the world in different ways. At one time it was thought that if you were a really committed Christian and really wanted to love God instead of the world, you would leave human society and live as a monk or a nun out in a desolate monastery.
ii. This approach, and other approaches that seek to take us out of the world, have two problems. The first problem is that we bring the world with us into our monastery. The other problem is that Jesus intended us to be in the world but not of the world. We see this in His prayer for us in John 17:14-18.
2. (16) The character of the world.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
a. For all that is in the world: The character of the world expresses itself through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These lusts seek to draw our own flesh away into sin and worldliness.
i. The idea behind the pride of life is someone who lives for superiority over others, mostly by impressing others through outward appearances – even if by deception.
ii. To get an idea of how the world works, think of the advertising commercials you most commonly remember. They probably make a powerful appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or to the pride of life. Many successful ads appeal to all three.
b. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: In listing these aspects of the world, John may have in mind the first pursuit of worldliness, that of Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6).
i. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the tree was good for food. She thought about how good the fruit would taste, how it would satisfy her flesh. She went after the lust of the flesh.
ii. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes. She saw how pretty and desirable it was, and it pleased her artistic sense. She went after the lust of the eyes.
iii. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she believed that it was desirable to make one wise. How smart the fruit would make her! How her husband would admire her! She went after the pride of life.
c. Is not of the Father but is of the world: This explains why the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are sin even though they feel good and satisfy something in us. God knows we have a fleshly, bodily nature, and physical needs that feel good when satisfied. Yet it is not in God’s nature to influence us through the lust of the flesh.
i. God knows we have eyes, and that appearance means a lot to us. He made a beautiful world to please us! But God always looks beyond the outward appearance, and it is not in God’s nature to influence us through the lust of the eyes.
ii. God knows we have emotional and psychological needs to be wanted and to accomplish things. He made us this way! But it is not in God’s nature to influence us through the pride of life.
d. Not of the Father but is of the world: We often rarely appreciate how much the world dominates our thinking and how often our thoughts are more of the world than of the Father.
i. We usually believe that we think much more Biblically than we really do. We should rigorously measure our habits of thinking and see if they follow more the world or God our Father.
· Think of your standard for success: is it worldly or godly? Would you consider the apostle Paul a failure or a success?
· Think of your standard for what makes a person of the opposite sex appealing. Is it a worldly standard or a godly standard?
· Think of your standard for spirituality: is it worldly or godly? There is a worldly spirituality out there, and many people embrace it.
ii. This shows how great our need is to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).
3. (17) The folly of worldliness.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
a. The world is passing away: This reveals the folly of worldliness. What we invest into the world we invest into what cannot last because the world is passing away. As we saw with the example of the tower of Babel, the world never wins out against God, though by some appearances it does.
i. The world is passing away. It is not a prayer, not a wish, and not a spiritual sounding desire. It is a fact. The world is passing away, and we must live our lives and think our thoughts aware of this fact.
b. The world is passing away: This is powerfully illustrated by the life of Lot in Genesis chapters 13, 14, and 19. Lot attached himself to a true spiritual man, named Abraham. Yet he was selfish and chose for himself what seemed the most lucrative, without considering the spiritual implications of what he was doing. He became financially prosperous, but pitched his tent toward a wicked, worldly city – Sodom. After a while, he was sitting in the gates of the city as one of Sodom’s civic leaders. He had worldly status, influence, wealth, and comfort. Yet, it was all taken away in a moment when the judgment of God came upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot put all his eggs in the wrong basket, and was burned by the fact that the world is passing away.
i. The ancient pharaohs were buried in the pyramids with all sorts of riches, which were thought to be of some use to them in the world to come. In the end, they were only of use to the grave robbers. The pharaohs could take none of their worldly stuff with them to the world beyond. No one drives through the gates of heaven with a moving van filled with the stuff of this world. It is true: The world is passing away.
c. He who does the will of God abides forever: This stands in strong contrast to the passing world. Because some things are forever, it is much wiser to invest our lives into that which cannot be lost: doing the will of God.
i. We are in regular contact with three eternal things: the Holy Spirit of God, the people around you, and the eternal words recorded in the book you hold. Time, attention, and expense put into those things pays eternal rewards.
D. An attack on our relationship with God: false religion.
1. (18-19) The danger of false religion: the spirit of Antichrist.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
a. Little children, it is the last hour: John lived in the constant expectancy of Jesus’ return, regarding his time as the last hour. This is an expectancy that we should also have, knowing that the Lord’s return can come at any time.
i. Seeing the nature of our times and what the Bible says about the end times, we should regard ourselves as being in the last few minutes.
b. The Antichrist is coming: John here refers to an individual who has captured the imagination of many people, including those who don’t even know the Bible. Many are ignorant about this person called the Antichrist, except what they have learned from movies like The Omen.
i. The name Antichrist is important to understand. The prefix anti can mean “the opposite of” or “instead of.” The Antichrist is the “opposite Jesus”; he is the “instead of” Jesus.
ii. Most people have focused on the idea of the “opposite Jesus.” This has made them think that the Antichrist will appear as a supremely evil person. They think that as much as Jesus went around doing good, the Antichrist will go around doing bad. As much as Jesus’ character and personality was beautiful and attractive, the Antichrist’s character and personality will be ugly and repulsive. As much as Jesus spoke only truth, the Antichrist will speak only lies. This emphasizes the idea of the “opposite Jesus” too much. The Antichrist will instead be more of an “instead of Jesus.” He will look wonderful, be charming and successful. He will be the ultimate winner, and appear as an angel of light.
iii. Some have wondered if this Antichrist will be an individual or a political system. This is really a small distinction, because it will in a sense be both a person and a political system. To a large extent, a man does represent and personify an entire government or system; when we think of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the figures of Hitler as an individual and Nazi Germany as a state are virtually the same. The Antichrist is an individual, but he will also be associated with a powerful government.
c. The Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come: There is a distinction between the Antichrist and many antichrists. There is a “spirit” of antichrist, and this “spirit” of antichrist will one day find its ultimate fulfillment in the Antichrist, who will lead humanity in an end-times rebellion against God.
i. In other words, though the world still waits to see the ultimate revealing of the Antichrist, there are little “previews” of this man and his mission to come. These are the antichrists with a little “a” instead of a capital letter “A.”
d. By which we know that it is the last hour: This indicates that John expected that the presence of many antichrists – of many people who offer a false, substitute Christ – is evidence of the lateness in the hour before Jesus’ coming. John writes that this was true in his day; we could say it is even truer in our own.
i. “The word ‘antichrist’ occurs in the Bible only in the letters of John and that only five times in four verses (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3; 2 John 1:7); but though the word is infrequent the idea of antichrist is frequent and is an important one.” (Boice)
ii. This Antichrist goes by many titles:
· He is the little horn in Daniel 7:8.
· He is the king of fierce countenance in Daniel 8:23.
· He is the Prince that shall come in Daniel 9:26.
· He is the willful king in Daniel 11:36-45.
· He is the one who comes in his own name in John 5:43.
· He is the son of perdition, the man of sin, and the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 2:8.
iii. Essentially, the Antichrist is a world dictator who leads humanity in what seems to be a golden age, until he shows his true colors – and the judgment of God is poured out on him and his empire immediately before the return of Jesus.
iv. We should take notice, because the world stage is set for a political and economic “superman” to arise, a single political leader to organize a world-dominating confederation of nations. National leaders speak of a new world order, but no one has been able to really define it, much less lead it. Yet this leader is coming.
v. This Antichrist will have surrounding him the kind of personality cult we are conditioned to accept today. Not only in America do we practice a sick worship of celebrities, but around the world, nations of hundreds of millions of people have been induced to worship a person – like Lenin, Stalin, or Mao. This shows us just how strong a personality cult can be when the government gets behind it wholeheartedly. All these developments should make us understand that the Antichrist is ready to be revealed when the moment is right.
e. They went out from us: This shows that many of these antichrists at one time or another identified themselves with Christian communities. The fact that they left the body of Christ demonstrated that they were not of us to begin with.
i. John wasn’t talking about someone who leaves one church to begin attending another good church. He meant those who leave the community of God’s people all together. This reveals that they were never really part of God’s people to begin with.
ii. We can imagine the scene. There is some controversy among people at a church, and someone responds by saying, “I’m so sick of all this. This church and all churches, they’re just a bunch of hypocrites. I don’t need any of this. I can follow God my own way!” They leave; not just a church, but they leave any kind of church. We can fairly say that this person does not appear to be a Christian, and their appearance demonstrates that they never really were a Christian. Only God knows the heart for certain, but the appearance is that they trusted in the church, or trusted in themselves, but they weren’t really trusting in Jesus Christ. If they were, then the common ground of trust in Jesus would be greater than any other difficulty they might be having with other Christians.
iii. One must beware of those who seem to be so “spiritual” that they can’t get along in any church. One sees these from time to time: people who seem to be so gifted, so prophetic, or so spiritual that they get kicked out or leave in a huff from every church they go to. Finally, they are just left to themselves, and they seem happy enough with that. Fellowship with themselves is at least fellowship with someone as spiritual as they are! Of course, there is something seriously wrong with such so-called spirituality.
iv. “Perhaps most visible-church members are also members of the invisible church, the mystical body of Christ, but some are not. They are with us yet do not really belong to us. They share our earthly company but not our heavenly birth.” (Stott)
v. The sobering truth is that many of those who offer a false or opposing Jesus came from the true body of Christians.
f. They went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us: A healthy church can purge itself of poisons; the compromising and false Christian will not feel comfortable setting down roots in a healthy church – he will either get right with God or leave.