Podcast: 1 John: Preaching to the Choir

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But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. . . . No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie – just as it has taught you, abide in him.
-1 John 2:20-21, 23-27

There are two basic types of discussions that you can have in theology. Actually, the same can be said of politics, philosophy, or any number of topics. The first of these conversations is with someone who agrees with you. The second is one with someone who disagrees. I suppose you can have one with someone who is ignorant of the subject and seeking to learn, though that may be better placed into a teaching category rather than a discussion category, since if the other person is discussing his opinions, he must have formed them already.

Now, I enjoy having conversations about Christ with people who do not agree. This is called Evangelism. I am trying to explain what it is that Christ did for us upon the Cross in the hope that the Spirit will work on the man’s heart and turn Him to Jesus. These conversations can be very frustrating, and yet they are necessary. Before I was a Christian, people had these conversations with me, and I disagreed, but the truth had its effect on me, and God used these conversations, in part, to save me.

Conversing with someone who agrees may often be more helpful. This seems counterintuitive, but it’s true. See, when I speak to a nonbeliever, I rarely get any deeper into the theological pool than that we are all sinners and in need of Grace. I will explain these things, but I do not go into Reformed Theology or Eschatology. But if I am in a room with a fellow Calvinist, we will build on each other’s theology, and come away with a greater understanding of God.

John here is writing to Christians. He has already addressed them as such earlier, and now, right in the middle of a discussion of the antichrist, he brings this up again. He is writing not that they need the truth, but because they already have it.

This is intriguing to me, mainly because I was surprised at the force with which he says this. But I thought on it some more. You know, I don’t think I’ve had a conversation about the antichrist with an unbeliever. No, in those cases, when we speak of God, I will concentrate on the most basic matters. I don’t speak to unbelievers about predestination.

Some will tell you that those sorts of matters are unimportant. Stick with the “mere Christianity,” they will say. It may surprise some of us how little the Bible is interested in the mere Christianity. Instead, the Bible is constantly pushing us deeper. John here as well is distinguishing between the sort of conversations we have with unbelievers and those we have within the Church. There are things he says in this letter not because they are unbelievers, but specifically because they are believers. That initial call to Christ saves us, but we still have more to learn.

Let’s look at it this way. When a lawyer speaks to someone ignorant of the law, it is only on the most basic matters. The lawyer will not learn anything. But when two lawyers speak, they will both learn from each other. When a doctor speaks with a patient, the doctor teaches and explains, but learns nothing. But a doctor will learn from another doctor.

I hear about a lot of churches that have abandoned the teaching of God’s word in any deep sense in favor of attracting the unbeliever. It’s wonderful to teach unbelievers about the faith, but what happens to him once be first believes? Is there no one to teach him more of God at that point? Perhaps it is true that he has learned everything he needs to know to save his skin from the fires of Hell, but should that satisfy us? I would suggest the opposite. If I were so saved, plucked from my self-inflicted march steadily toward the gates of Hell, I would very much like to know more of my Savior. You couldn’t stop me from singing His praises.

In addition to simple gratitude, the believer, by the giving of the Holy Spirit, here described as an anointing, is given understanding of the truth of God. John says we have all knowledge. This does not mean that I can now fix a car perfectly because I have the Spirit. No, it means that I have been given a glimpse of God’s Holy Light, and in that light I am safe from damnation.

Look at the context here. John shifts back and forth between talking about the antichrist or plural antichrists and about believers. He contrasts the two. Here’s what he’s saying. People are going to be out there misleading the world about Christ. But you have the Holy Spirit, so you know Christ. That Spirit guides you in truth. Those who don’t have that Spirit will be tossed around as though in a storm, and they may follow the lies of the antichrists. “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 it might become plain that they all are not of us.” John tells us this in verse 19.

John is writing to believers not because they do not know, but because they DO know, and with that knowledge they guided further. They know the truth of John’s words because of the anointing of the Spirit. They can understand spiritual things because God the Spirit is leading them.

The unbeliever may look at the doctrine of eternal security and scoff. They will say, “Well, what if someone accepts Christ, and then decides it’s not for him?” They ask that because they have not experienced something of that light. We don’t accept Christ – Christ reveals Himself to us, and we cannot help but to bow before him. He is not some toy that can be set aside! He is the Lord of all, the Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords! If you have experienced Him, then you are changed. You are changed, and you hunger for more.

These things do not make sense to the lost, but they make sense to those who have been knocked over by the love, grace, and awesome power of our Lord. I can’t give that up! I cannot! It is like air to me. If I try to not breathe, my body will force me to breath. If I try to give Jesus up, His Spirit cries out within me and pulls me home.

There are a lot of people in church who have never experienced this. I was in church for two decades before I became a Christian. I didn’t know I wasn’t saved. I prayed a prayer once and that was good enough for the people around me. But they were just words. They didn’t make me a believer. God made me a believer!

And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. It is not promised to those who do enough good works. It is not promised to those who say enough Hail Marys. It is not promised to those who give away enough money, or who don’t drink, or who recycle, or who vote, or who work hard at their jobs. It is promised to those sinners – those wretched, weak, lustful, prideful, anger-filled, greedy, selfish, self-centered, hopeless sinners who are forgiven by His Blood.

If you repent and believe, you will be saved. If you prayed some prayer one time in your youth, I would have no confidence in your salvation. But if you repented – if you came face-to-face with your sin and were horrified at your own wretched nature to the degree that you could do nothing but to fall to your knees and cry out, “Lord Jesus, forgive me! I don’t deserve it! I don’t deserve anything but your wrath. I have nothing to offer, nothing to give, nothing to rely on except your grace. Save me!” If you repented, then there is hope. Look to the Cross, my friends. Look to the Cross, for by His Blood we are saved.

If that abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. You are secured by His Spirit. You will not be taken away by the false teachings of the antichrists.