I John 5 v 2 – 5 – Love and the culmination of God’s instructions (1)

‘We know and recognise that we are loving the children of God within this: when we are loving God and are constructing the end result of His instructions. 3 Because this is the love of God: that we guard and preserve the goal of His instructions. The end result of His instructions is not heavy and oppressive 4 because everyone who has been brought forth from out of God is carrying off the victory and overcoming the orderly arrangement of the world. This is the means of success that is overcoming the orderly arrangement: our persuasion and entrustment to the point of obedience. 5 Who is it that is carrying off the victory and overcoming the orderly arrangement if not the one who is entrusting that Jesus is the Son of God?’ (I John 5 v 2 – 5).

The end of verse 2 is very often translated into English like this: ‘doing His commandments’. The Greek word translated into English as ‘commandment’ is ‘entole’ which is a combination of words meaning ‘in’, and ‘end’ or ‘consummation’. Thus it means ‘in reaching the end’ or ‘in accomplishing’. It has a wide range of nuances such as ‘in culmination of an order’; ‘in attaining the goal of an injunction’; ‘in reaching the end point of an instruction or precept’. But it is often simply translated into English as ‘commandment’. At times this makes reasonable sense, as when someone inquired of Jesus: ‘“Teacher, which is the greatest command within the Law?”’ (Matthew 22 v 36). Here the reference is clearly to the written precepts – the commandments – of Sinai Covenant Law, but perhaps the better translation might be: ‘“Teacher, which is the greatest in culminating the end result within the Law?”’. This is closer in meaning to the original text. This fuller translation also makes more sense of what John is saying here. In other words this Greek word does not necessarily refer to Sinai Covenant Law.

Gentiles were never placed under the Sinai Covenant and for Jews who became Christians, this Covenant and its integral Laws that were written in stone were being rendered idle as a result of these Jews being placed under the new, superior New Covenant of the blood of the Messiah. As the writer of the letter to the Hebrews and the Apostle Paul teach, Christians are not under the Law but stand under the free gift of God. When Christians turn to Sinai Covenant Law to use the Law as a means of deliverance or of gaining cleanliness and a godly life, they take a step backwards and place themselves in danger of denying their Messiah.

So this verse in John’s letter is not about Christians keeping the commandments of Sinai Covenant Law in the sense of looking to the Commandments as a set of rules or principles to obey in order to obtain deliverance or holiness. Rather, it is about Gentile and Hebrew Christians co-working with God in constructing the end result, the goal, the culmination, of His instructions – His primary instruction from the beginning being to have practical beneficial love towards fellow Christians.

The question that John asks in effect is ‘How do Christians know that they are indeed loving the children of God?’

We know that we are loving the children of God when:

We are loving God and

We are constructing the end result of His instructions

I John 3 v 4 – 7 – Two categories of people and what they construct (1)

John highlights the polarizing demarcation that exists between Christians and ‘outsiders’. The fact that he takes this course confirms that we have understood his logic correctly, because we have already begun to highlight this polarization in the previous sections of his letter…the difference between light and dark, life and death, righteousness and missing the mark. This acute difference between Christians and ‘outsiders’ provides Christians with a means by which they can gain personal assurance that they do indeed possess deliverance from God’s judicial condemnation and a portion of God’s allotted inheritance. However, we need to understand the nature of this demarcation more fully.

‘Everyone constructing missing the mark and loss also constructs without lawfulness. Missing the mark is without lawfulness, 5 and you appreciate that he is rendered apparent in order to take away missing the mark, and that there is absolutely not missing the mark within him. 6 Anyone abiding within him is absolutely not without a share, but anyone without a share has absolutely not seen him, nor are they perceiving and coming to know him in experience. 7 Children, let no one lead you astray or deceive you. The one who manufactures and constructs what God approves is approved by God just as he [Jesus] is approved by God’, (I John 3 v 4 – 7).

John’s mention of ‘lawfulness’ reminds us that his readers are Hebrew or Jewish Christians. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that Paul was delegated to speak to non-Jews or Gentiles. But John is writing to Jewish Christians who by contrast to most Gentiles would have been familiar with Sinai Covenant Law which states that everyone who constructs actions that miss the mark or the standards that are set out in divine Law, lose a share in God’s inheritance. In disobeying or failing to keep the precepts of Covenant Law a person constructs actions that are not lawful, and manufactures behaviours that are without lawfulness. This forms the definition of sin for Jews: self-forfeiture, loss and missing the mark is, in a word, lawlessness. The Hebrew Christians to whom John was writing also knew and appreciated that Jesus was made clearly apparent for the very purpose of taking away missing the mark, self-forfeiture and loss. They also knew that within him there was no missing the mark. The result of the Messiah’s obedient service to the point of his death is that those who are enlightened, dwelling and remaining within him have been placed to stand under the New Covenant of the blood of the Messiah. As a result of being placed under the New Covenant they absolutely do not miss the mark and are absolutely not in a position of having no share of God’s inheritance. As Paul says, ‘Therefore at this present time there is no sentence of condemnation or handing down of a penalty after due process to those within the realm and sphere of Jesus the Messiah’ (Romans 8 v 1a).

By contrast, anyone outside of the Messiah, anyone ignoring him, or failing to be persuaded that he is the Messiah, or rejecting him, is missing the mark and failing to be in the position of no condemnation. They remain in darkness and absolutely don’t perceive Jesus as the Messiah. They are not coming to know him in experience. The more complete quote from Paul is this: ‘Therefore at this present time there is no sentence of condemnation or handing down of a penalty after due process to those within the realm and sphere of Jesus the Messiah who are walking around by not bringing down to completion from the flesh, but by bringing down to completion from the breath. 2 Because the principle – the fundamental influence and movement of the breath of life within the realm of Jesus the Messiah is continuing to liberate you away from divine Law and the principle of no share, self-forfeiture, missing the mark and death. 3 Because divine Law is being made powerless, incapable, weak and feeble through the means of the flesh, God is putting forth His own Son in the resemblance of error-filled flesh, concerning no share, failure, self-forfeiture and missing the mark’ (Romans 8 v 1 – 3). There we see the same conditional statement that has been expressed by John a few verses ago.

IF a person possesses within them enlightened knowledge that God is righteous and has expectation and anticipation of deliverance from judicial condemnation,

THEN something follows on.

What follows on is that such a person is cleansing his or herself such that they are not walking around day-by-day in such a way that they are happily and unconcernedly bringing down to completion inner energies and workings from their fleshly constitution in their speech and behaviour. Rather, they are bringing down to completion the unction and movement from their enlightened perception away from the breath of God and His Messiah dwelling within them, in speech and behaviour that God approves of.

I John 2 v 29 – 3 v 3 – Enlightened knowledge and constructing righteousness

‘If you know that He is righteous and correct, you also are also coming to perceive that everyone manufacturing and constructing righteousness has been brought forth from out of Him. 1 Look what kind of beneficial, practical love the Father has given to us that we should be summoned children of God! And we are! Through this the ordered system of the world absolutely does not know us because it absolutely does not know Him. 2 Beloved, at this present time we are children of God and it has not yet been made clear what we will be. We appreciate that when He is made known and apparent we will be resemble him because we will perceive Him as He is 3 and everyone possessing this expectation and anticipation within Him is cleansing himself, just as He is clean’ (I John 2 v 29 – 3 v 3).

John continues to logically reason through the concepts that he is presenting to bring out the logical deductions, implications and applications that these concepts lead to. So far he has stated that:

God is Light

Light reveals what is true to the facts

He has exhorted Christians to:

Walk around and remain within the light

Because by doing so Christians possess partnership with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son is cleansing them away from every kind of missing the mark and self-forfeiture

He has further exhorted Christians to:

Continue to hold on tightly to their recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, and

Not be friends with the orderly arrangement that arises from out of the dark ignorance of the world with its lies, deceit and falseness.

So what are the logical implications and applications of these enlightened persuasions? John says ‘If you perceive that He is righteous…’. There is some dispute amongst commentators as to whether the reference here is to the Father or to Jesus. However, Scripture does not describe people as being brought forth from Jesus, but rather, from God the Father. So I am inclined to the interpretation that the reference here is to the Father. So John is saying

IF you know that God the Father is righteous,

THEN you are also coming to know that everyone manufacturing and constructing righteousness has been brought forth from out of Him, (verse 29).

The manufacture and construction of righteousness serves as a means of Christian assurance

Why is this the case? Gentiles or non-Jews who remain in their natural state exist in a state of darkness or ignorance concerning what is true to the facts concerning unseen spiritual realities. This darkness forms the basis of, and spreads out into the orderly arrangement and values of the Gentile world. Gentiles have been placed under a Covenant of Behaviour, which means that IF they keep a completely clean conscience THEN they will escape divine condemnation. Jews on the other hand have the privilege of the Sinai Covenant and divine Law. IF they keep divine Law in its entirety, THEN they will be delivered from condemnation. But Jews also remain in their natural state and despite their privileges they also exist in a state of darkness, which God handed them over to at the Babylonian Conquest because of their persistent disobedience, waywardness and unfaithfulness. It is only by being placed under the New Covenant of the blood of the Messiah that both the Covenant of Behaviour and the Covenant of Law are rendered idle such that a new principle of life is begun.

Both of these first two Covenants state that IF a person behaves in ways that God approves of – if they are righteous – THEN they will be rewarded. But the energies and impulses in the fleshly constitution of every person prevents them from attaining perfect innocence. In fact, fleshly energies gain strength through the divine Laws that identify what God disapproves of. These impulses use such external codes to bring themselves to completion in a person’s speech and behaviour. Thus Jews, despite being God’s chosen ethnic group and having the privilege of divine Law, find themselves condemned by the Law, and Gentiles find that their conscience bears witness to their failures, errors and shortcomings, carrying evidential testimony against them. Although both Jews and Gentiles may gain some rewards when they behave in ways that God approves of, the broad picture is that they do not have the ability or strength to earn deliverance from divine condemnation.

John is saying is that the situation is different for Christians.

Christians are:

    i) Brought forth by God

ii) When they miss the mark they have an Advocate with the Father – Jesus the Messiah – who is judicially approved and the appeasing offering for their failures and wanderings

In other words, John presents a sharp polarization between Christians and the rest of humanity.

In verse 29 John is stating a conditional principle: IF something is known, THEN other knowledge is following on as a result. So what is John’s logic? It is this: IF Christians know and appreciate that God is righteous, THEN they also know that everyone constructing and manufacturing righteousness has been brought forth from out of Him. Those who do not have this enlightening knowledge will not be walking around constructing and manufacturing what God approves of – they remain ignorant of these things. As the Apostle Paul explains in the first two chapters of his first letter to the Corinthians, announcements about the righteousness of God and the good news of the cross are dull, foolish absurdities to those who do not have this enlightened, illuminating perception.

John is saying that IF a person has enlightened perceptive knowledge that God is righteous, THEN that same person is also coming to know that everyone who is labouring to produce speech, attitudes and behaviours that are approved by God, that are righteous, is walking around within the light and has been brought forth by him. Unbelievers who remain in their natural, darkened constitution, are unable to perceive God as righteous and are unable and unwilling to put into practice what God approves of. Therefore God must have brought forth those who are labouring to construct what God approves of.

I John 2 v 7 – 11 – The End Result of the New Covenant

Jesus sent the Apostle Paul as an Apostle to non-Jews or Gentiles. But the majority of John’s readers were Hebrew Christians – Jews who had come to embrace Christianity. These Hebrew Christians would have been familiar with the divine Laws that form an integral part of the Sinai Covenant that YHVH had given to the Jews through Moses. As the writer of the letter to the Hebrews explains, this old Covenant is rendered idle when a Jew is placed under the new Covenant of the blood of the Messiah.

Thus John goes on to say, ‘Beloved, I am not writing a new end result to you but an old and ancient one which you have held on to away from the beginning, away from the initial starting point. This old and ancient culmination is the word that you have heard. 8 On the other hand I am writing a new end result to you that is unconcealed and true within him and within you, because the darkness is passing away and the unconcealed true light is shining even now. 9 The one saying that he is within the light but detesting his brother is within the darkness as far as this moment. 10 The one loving his brother stays in the light and there is absolutely nothing within them that is a cause for stumbling and error. 11 But the one hating his brother is within the darkness and walks around within the darkness; he does not appreciate where he is going, because the darkness has obscured his eyes’ (I John 2 v 7 – 11).

Jewish Christians find themselves placed under a new Covenant when they become Christians. They are no longer under the Sinai Covenant but under the New Covenant of the blood of the Messiah. But the aim or purpose of the New Covenant remains the same. The greatest commandment for Jews under the old Sinai Covenant was that they love God with all their heart and strength, and the second greatest commandment was that they love their neighbour in the same way that they love themselves. Taken together these constitute the ‘old and ancient end result’ of the Mosaic Law that Jews received when they emerged from slavery in Egypt and began to constitute a distinct nation for the first time. The end result of the instructions of Jesus is the same, and this is why what John is saying is a new culmination but yet it also reflects the old and ancient one that Jews were familiar with.

The primary culmination of the precepts of Jesus to his disciples is that they love their fellow Christians in the same way that Jesus loves those whom God selects

This constitutes the true goal for all Christians. This love is practical, beneficial love that is clearly seen within what Jesus said and did, and in the same way this love is intended to be manifest or seen within Christians.

John ties this end result of practical, beneficial love to the metaphors of light and darkness. The beneficial, practical love that Christians are exhorted to manifest to their fellow Christians is the result of Christians walking around within the light. This light is meant to shine forth clearly by being seen in their speech, attitudes and behaviours towards one another. This new end result of true light – practical, beneficial love – is not hidden away, concealed in darkness. It is revealed and true to the facts. Because of the Christian’s union with the Messiah, this unconcealed true light is revealed and true within the Messiah and within Christians. The location or locus of this light is within Christians, within their physical constitution. A process has begun within Christians in which the darkness of ignorance is passing away and even now, at this present time, the revealed light is shining. This process is not happening within ‘outsiders’ or ‘unbelievers’.

In returning to the metaphors of light and darkness, John once again brings out the sharp dichotomy, the acute polarization that results in practice. If someone says that they are ‘within the light’ but they are detesting other Christians, or looking down on them, or treating them with disdain and contempt, or are critical and judgmental of them, then such a person continues to be in darkness right up to this present time. Such a person, even though they say that they trust Jesus, cannot see and appreciate where they are going because darkness still obscures their vision. By contrast, Christians who are in and remain within the light and carry across beneficial, practical love towards his or her fellow Christians into their speech and actions are indeed walking around within the light. The result is that there is no malice, anger or deceit within them, indeed, nothing within them that will cause other Christians to trip up and stumble and the moment-by-moment union and life of Christians within the Messiah is maintained.