NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson CXLV) 05/31/23

^5:21 So, dear children, keep yourselves away from false gods.

So, how are we to guard ourselves? John’s answer: concentrating all our faith and service on Him, whose power working in us can do much more than anything we can ask or think of.^[1] If God’s divine presence occupies our hearts, minds, and souls,^[2] there is no room for idols.^[3]

With academic precision, Stephen S. Smalley (1931-2018) feels strongly that the Apostle John’s final charge to his readers is based on the three “I know” assurances of verses eighteen, nineteen, and twenty-one, in which he sets out the character of the orthodox believer – does not continue to sin; born of God; and abides in the real God through the person and saving activity of Jesus the Anointed One.^[4]

The warning, “guard yourselves against false gods,” has in mind the foundation and character of the Christian faith described in this epistle. It helps maintain trust in the face of heretical opinion, which John warns members of his congregation. After the climactic statements in verses thirteen and twenty, the final appeal may appear somewhat anticlimactic. While, in fact, it establishes a powerful contrast to the positive truth outlined in the last section of the letter, and indeed in the whole epistle. Avoid the sham, John warns, and keep to the genuine (of which I have spoken).’ ^[5]

An insistent believer in Grace, Zane C. Hodges (1932-2008), thinks that the final caution of the letter should be, “Dear children, born-again-ones;^[6] keep yourselves from idols,” which may seem surprising. But there is no need to take “idols” in a figurative sense. In the Greco-Roman world of John’s day, any moral compromise with worldly perspectives likely led to some involvement with idolatry since idolatry permeated pagan life at every level. To adhere to “the true God and eternal life”^[7] and seek to express one’s sanctified nature as a child of God would mean avoiding idolatry and the moral laxness that comes with it. The Apostle John’s closing admonition was relevant to his initial readers.^[8]

Inspired by Jesus’ words, “go into all a godless society,” Edward J. Malatesta (1932-1998) agrees with other commentators that the Apostle John addresses the community for the last time as “his children” and urges them with a concluding imperative to keep themselves from idols. Jesus protects them,^[9] but they must do their part by accepting in faith the protection He offers. This means to resist all that is contrary to Jesus and the revelation provided to us in, through, and by Him.^[10]

As a capable scripture analyst, Ian Howard Marshall (1934-2015) points out that if what the Apostle John said is true, it is of the utmost urgency that his readers avoid anything that could lead them astray from God, who revealed Himself in Jesus His Son. So, for the last time, John addresses himself to his readers and warns them: “Keep yourselves from idols.” Unfortunately, this last word, introduced abruptly and forming the letter’s abrupt ending, has caused some readers difficulty in understanding the Apostle John’s main point.

Nowhere in the letter has John spoken of the danger of worship of the material images and false gods whose cults flourished in a godless society at that time. It is true that elsewhere in the Final Covenant, the danger of idol worship and its accompanying temptations is a matter of urgent warning.[11] Still, it is surprising if John suddenly introduces this theme at the end of his Epistle. Two possibilities of interpretation arise. One is that John is referring to false conceptions of God. Two is, having emphasized that Jesus is the true God, John warns against being misled into the worship of any other alleged manifestation or representation of God.^[12]

Messianic Bible scholar David Stern (1935) proposes that there are three things we know. (1) Everyone who has God as their Father does not go on sinning, and the evil one does not touch them, but he can tempt them. (2) The whole world lies in the power of the Evil One.^[13] (3) The Anointed One is genuinely Divine and eternal life. It is possible to understand this as stating that Yeshua, the Anointed One, is coequal with God. But the verse’s purpose appears to be declaring that God’s Son has come and has given us discernment so that we may know who among the various prophets teaching this or that is genuine.

Not only that, but we are also united with the genuine One; that is, we are in union with God and His Son Yeshua, the Anointed One. He, not the Evil One but the Genuine One, the One whose Son is Yeshua, is the genuine God and eternal life. Therefore, in the light of the summary of verse twenty, the final warning is to guard yourselves against false gods, from anything which might distract you from the Life, Yeshua, and God.^[14]

As a seasoned essayist on the Apostle John’s writings, John Painter (1935) points out that the final warning, “Little children, [Greek teknion] guard yourselves against idols,” is introduced in John’s familiar way.^[15] The alternative Greek expression paidion for “little children” (KJV; “young men” ‒ NIV;” “Young in the faith” ‒ NLT is used only in 1 John 2:13, 18. With John’s usual address in the last verse, he moves toward providing a personal farewell. Even this falls far short of the kind of farewell expected in a letter. Warnings and blessings are standard in endings.

Here we have personal notice, but much is missing from a customary conclusion. The alarm “guard yourselves against idols” is specific. It is aimed at a particular and known problem, indicated by the aorist imperative tense and the use of the definite article “of the idols” (Greek text). It suggests some connection with the problem of the opponents, which has been the issue all along.

It would be strange if the final warning introduced a new problem. Yet the introduction of the reference to “idols” is unexpected. What are idols? Thus, with the last word, John maintains his record of obscure communication. The warning against idolatry appears to come unexpectedly from out of nowhere. That is because we live outside the prevalent reality of idolatry in the Roman Empire. The probability is that John relates the problem of idolatry to the opponents. The fact that no “scriptural” arguments are used against them suggests a dominantly Gentile factor. In that context, “Jesus is the Anointed One” has lost its Jewish messianic sense.

It is now completely understood in its Johannine sense of the divine Son sent by the Father into a godless society, as Jesus the Anointed One has come in the flesh. Just how the opponents separated Jesus from the Anointed One is unclear. Still, their refusal to identify the Anointed One with Jesus is plain enough, as is the refusal to confess Jesus the Anointed One had come in the flesh. John relates this rejection to the idolatrous position of the opponents.^[16]

Ministry & Missions Overseer Muncia Walls (1937) focuses on an expression the Apostle John employed previously in this letter, as he has written with warm affection for his readers. His warning for them to keep themselves from idols is interesting. It may seem out of character as the Christians surely would not be guilty of worshiping some idol. But what constitutes idolatry? Remember, John, has been warning his readers against following the false teachers. To follow false doctrine is to turn one’s back on the truth. And to turn one’s back on truth and follow a false dogma would be idolatry. They would be worshiping not the true God and following the Truth, but they would be worshiping a false god and following a false religion.^[17]

Expositor and systematic theologist Michael Eaton (1942-2017) is ready to suggest that the Apostle John’s last word, “Little children, guard yourselves against idols,” indicates that the second commandment will be “fulfilled” by Christians, not just Jews. John subtly touches on the second of the ten commandments without using it as a citation. There is a delicate indication that the Christian who lives for Jesus is far from making an idol. A low view of Jesus is idolatry. Faithful loyalty to Jesus fulfills the second commandment, even without mentioning or focusing on it. ^[18]

After scrutinizing the Apostle John’s subject theme, William Loader (1944) reminds us of Jesus’ prayer.^[19] We find that eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus, the Anointed One whom the Father sent. Eternal life is ultimately at stake in the issues addressed in the epistle. The Apostle John reminded us of that in verse thirteen, which corresponds with verse twenty in the structure of this final segment. Then verse twenty-one, “Children, be on your guard against idols,” should not be seen as an additional closing comment only loosely related to what has been said before. It is not a new concern about idol worship, food sacrificed to idols, or competing religions in the marketplace, which crosses John’s mind at the last minute. Instead, it is related immediately to the major concerns of the epistle.

In effect, John is saying that the issue facing the readers is one of believing in God or turning to a false god. The false god, the idol, is created by the renegade Christians who have propounded false teaching about the Anointed One’s coming. The understanding of God, which their position presupposes, can no longer be recognized as Christian. The God they would doubtless acclaim as the God of Jesus the Anointed One is a creation of their imagination, a deity, a theistic concept, supporting a system of thought and behavior which belongs not on the side of the God of Jesus but the side of a godless society.

In this epistle, John has explained how God’s being and action is love which reaches out into all creation, including ordinary human flesh, and concerns itself with life and relationships at all levels. But, unfortunately, theirs is a concept that divides reality, preserving only higher reality as spiritually relevant, thus denigrating both the earthly human Jesus and the responsibilities of practical caring which belong to the Christian community.^[20]

Great Commission practitioner David Jackman (1945) believes the Apostle John has brought us full circle. We have reached the top of the spiral staircase and found God in His everlasting life. And all our climbing has been with the explicit purpose that we might know that these things are objectively true and honest in our personal experience. The Anointed One gives that assurance. At its heart lies the indisputable fact that, by God’s grace, we know and are in Him. But it is not a reason to abuse the freedom of Christian assurance. So, dear children, keep yourselves from idols. Here is the analogy – our responsibility – which matches the keeping power of the Lord Jesus in verse eighteen.

Now, an idol is anything that occupies God’s place in worship. It is an imitation or substitute made of wood, stone, or precious metals rather than the real thing. It may be carved and shaped by artisans’ hands, But it is unlikely that John was thinking of such artifacts. His concern was with God’s false ideas and heretical concepts to which the church was subjected. Anything that squeezes God out of the central position towards the margin of one’s life must be ruthlessly toppled. Any notion of God which contradicts His perfect self-revelation in Jesus the Anointed One must be rejected.

This letter, indeed, the whole Bible, was written to enable us to distinguish truth from error. We have a responsibility to attend to sound teaching, to guard our Christian lives, and to have done with false goals, whether spiritual, intellectual, or material. The enemy is still false teaching inspired by the evil one, but Christians can be sure. They can know with certainty that they have eternal life. They can have confidence in the things that matter most. ^[21]

After analyzing the Apostle John’s teaching in verses fourteen to twenty-one, Earl S. Johnson Jr (1947-2020) sees that this section has two major parts. (I) The Message Brings Eternal Life (verses eleven to thirteen), and (II) The Message Keeps Persons from Sinning (verses fourteen to twenty-one). Now Johnson notices that John expands on what he said in verse thirteen concerning the power in Jesus’ name. So, if there is power in the name [Yeshua, meaning “Savior”] of Jesus, then it follows that prayers given in that name, according to God’s will, certainly will be answered. John may be thinking of what our Lord promised His disciples.^[22]

Nevertheless, John concludes his message on a negative note that is very difficult to understand concerning Moral and Mortal sin. Yet, he leaves his readers with a message of hope.^[23] John suddenly ends this tract by repeating his main assertions about belief in God’s Son and the gift of eternal life. We must reject all false gods and ideas and live in the Anointed One.^[24]

After studying the context surrounding this verse, John W. (Jack) Carter (1947) defines idolatry as giving to someone or something other than God the authority and submission due to God alone. Anything that takes priority before God is an idol. Anything that works to diminish one’s love for God or one’s obedience to Him is an idol. The LORD has a lot of competition for people’s hearts today, just as from the beginning of creation. However, John is writing to those who have placed their faith and trust in God. These have survived the messages of God’s enemy and are secure in His hands. 

Yet, the competition for the heart continues.  The evil one cannot take away the salvation of the faithful, but he can still steal and destroy much of what God intends to be a blessing for those who love Him. When people listen and submit to the false doctrine and lies of the influential, ungodly heretics, they can be robbed of the peace and joy God has for them. Therefore, John’s final statement is fitting for anyone ministering to the faithful: keep God first in your life. After all, you are first in His.^[25]

A man who loves sharing God’s Word, Robert W. Yarbrough (1948) states that apart from the postscript in verse twenty-one, John ends in verse twenty with the words “eternal life.” It is a fitting bookend to an epistle whose opening two sentences feature three mentions of this life. Like several other expressions, “we know,” “Son of God,” “Jesus the Anointed One,” “truth,” and “eternal life” serves to confirm earlier emphases and leave readers finally oriented in the direction to which the epistle’s opening lines first pointed them: toward eternity, toward God, toward the incarnation, toward the Son, toward the witness, toward eternal life.^[26]

Skilled in Dead Sea Scroll interpretation and Final Covenant writings, Colin G. Kruse (1950) points out that verse twenty-one stands in contrast to verses eighteen to twenty. There he describes the privileges of believers born of God; thus, the children of God, and primarily known Him that is true, that is, the true God. The appeal, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols,” enshrines the obligation of those who know the true God to have nothing to do with pagan idols. What the Apostle John had in mind in issuing this exhortation puzzles interpreters. It is to be taken literally as a warning against idolatry, and if so, how should it then be related to the message of the letter as a whole? Or is it to be taken metaphorically, and if so, with what meaning?

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[1] Ephesians 3:20; cf Matthew 12:43-45

[2] Ephesians 2:22

[3] Ward, Ronald A., The Epistles on John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 59-60

[4] See 1 John 14-17

[5] Smalley, Stephen S., Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 51, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., p. 309

[6] Cf. 1 John 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4

[7] Ibid. 5:20

[8] Hodges, Zane C., Bible Knowledge Commentary and Prophecy, op. cit., p. 164

[9] 1 John 5:18c

[10] Malatesta, Edward J., Interiority and Covenant, op. cit., p. 321

[11] Cf. John 4:23; Romans 1:25; 1 Corinthians 10:14, 20-21; Colossians 3:5

[12] Marshall, Ian Howard: The Epistles of John (The New International Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., pp. 255-256

[13] Luke 4:5-6

[14] Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament Commentary. op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition

[15] See 1 John 2:1, 2, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21

[16] Painter, John. Sacra Pagina: 1, 2, and 3 John: Volume 18, op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition

[17] Walls, Muncia: Epistles of John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 97-98

[18] Eaton, Michael: Focus on the Bible, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., p. 198

[19] John 17:3

[20] Loader, William: Epworth Commentary, The Johannine Epistles, op. cit., pp. 79-80

[21] Jackman, David: The Message of John’s Letters, op. cit., pp. 171-172

[22] Cf. John 15:16; 16:23-26

[23] 1 John 5:19

[24] Johnson Jr, Earl S, Basic Bible Commentary, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude, op. cit., pp. 123-125

[25] Carter, Dr. John W. (Jack). 1,2,3, John & Jude: (The Disciple’s Bible Commentary Book 48), op. cit., pp. 138-139

[26] Yarbrough, Robert W., 1-3 John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., p. 321