NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson CXLVII) 06/02/23

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

Prophetically speaking, Ken Johnson (1965) gives us a comparison between those who trust in God and those whose faith is in idols.

Believers, born of God	Unbelievers
Believe Jesus is the only Anointed One prophesied in Daniel 9. (1 John 5:1)	Deny there is only one Anointed One, but consciously believe in the Anointed.
Are born of God. (1 John 5:1)	Are not born of God.
Obey the commandments of the Anointed One. (1 John 5:2)	Do not obey the commandments of the Anointed One.
Strive to follow all of Jesus’ commandments. (1 John 5:3)	Do not even attempt to follow Jesus’ commandments.
Overcome a godless society. (1 John 5:4)	Are overcome by a godless society.
Believe Jesus is God’s Son. (1 John 5:5)	Deny Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.
Believe in Bible prophecy literally. (1 John 5:6-8)	Do not believe Bible prophecy literally.
Hold to the doctrine of the Trinity. (1 John 5:7)	Deny the doctrine of the Trinity.
Have the promise of eternal life. (1 John 5:12-13)	Will never have eternal life. (1 John 5:12)
God answers their prayers. (1 John 5:13-15)	God doesn’t answer their prayers. (1 John 5:13-15)
Do not pray for the dead. (1 John 5:16-17)	Pray for the dead. (Cf. 1 Cor. 15:29)
Do not continue to practice sin willfully. (1 John 5:18)	Continue to practice sin willfully.
They are kept safe by God, and Satan can’t hurt them. (1 John 5:18)	God does not protect them, and Satan can hurt them.
Believe Jesus will physically return to earth. (1 John 5:20)	Do not believe Jesus will physically return to earth.
Stay away from Idols. (1 John 5:21)	Worship idols instead of, or along with, Jesus.[1]

As a lover of God’s Word, Peter Pett (1966) states that it is regularly said that this rather strange comment comes at the end of the letter, almost unattached from the remainder. But that is to miss the point. After contrasting believers and unbelievers, the Apostle John wants to warn believers against what in those days was a significant danger (and can be so in some countries today) for all ex-Gentile Christians, the lapse into contact with idolatrous practices. You are hidden with the Anointed One in God; beware of being caught up again in your former ways. Let them not doubt that what heathens sacrifice to idols, they sacrifice to devils, even to the Evil One.^[2]

Thus, they must guard themselves lest the subtlety of Satan drags them back into what once entangled them, thus preventing their remaining in God and Jesus the Anointed One. John knew that idolatry (including symbols and amulets, fortune telling, and seeking spirits and witches) had many subtle fascinations, whether for the lover seeking the love of his beloved, the wealthy businessman seeking wealth, or the farmer seeking the fruitfulness of his fields, or the young man seeking strength and vigor.

Beware, they could seem so innocent but are dangerous, for they were the beginning of the slippery slope that led back to being in the arms of the Evil One. So, they took their eyes and their hearts away from God. And the false prophets, too, would seek to entangle them again in such things. For that was where all false religion led at the end.^[3] So let them guard themselves against visible and invisible idols and keep themselves only to God.^[4]

In his unorthodox Unitarian way, Duncan Heaster (1967) explains that idols were an abomination to Judaism. But the temptation to return to living under the Law was an idol. The statement, at first glance, is unusual. John’s letter uses a minimal vocabulary and recycles the same word families and ideas. But now, as the last statement of the letter, we have a new word and concept introduced “idols.” It seems this new idea is introduced right at the very end and left hanging with little explanation.  And there is no sign-off to the letter.

So, we are left with “idols” as the last word. Consequently, we ask ourselves, was this intentional? Did it serve as a footnote inserted by the person to whom John dictated this letter? We already have eternal life, the Spirit and presence of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and our blessed assurance of salvation. This sure salvation is a wonderful truth that John kept repeating from different angles from the beginning. But with such an ultimate truth in view, John pleads with his readers not to be distracted by anything or substitute. Nothing else can take its place.^[5]

Bright seminarian Karen H. Jobes (1968) finds that what is clear is that this command stands in the context of what has just been stated that “we know” in verses eighteen, nineteen, and especially twenty that God’s Son brought knowledge of the one true God, against whom “the idols” stand in opposing contrast. Are these idols to be understood as literal objects of wood and stone that represented the pagan deities in the various temples throughout the city of Ephesus?

Some interpreters point out that the critique of idol worship in Isaiah is linked with the concept of witness,^[6] so John is encouraging his readers to forsake the rituals of idol worship as a witness to the Anointed One, even if it means persecution or martyrdom.^[7] But neither the topic of idol worship nor persecution has been mentioned. Given that John characteristically returns to previous issues, this interpretation seems unlikely, even though Ephesus and its environs were filled with graven images of the gods. Rather than an awkward and abrupt ending, verse twenty-one summarizes the point of the entire letter and challenges readers, both ancient and modern, to decide which god they will worship ‒ the God who revealed Himself in Jesus the Anointed One or a false god conjured from human imagination.^[8]

A skilled sermonizer, David Legge (1969), asks, upon reading this epistle by the Apostle John, have you ever wondered why verse twenty-one exists? This is a warning. Do you know what John is saying? He’s not necessarily talking about pieces of wood and stone and precious jewels, and while John was probably writing to Ephesus, we know that it was a city wholly given over to idolatry.

For example, there was the temple of Diana of the Ephesians, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Luke tells us that many people had their living making little gods of Diana, the temple, and so on.^[9] These people were swamped by idolatry, but he’s been discussing what we think about the Anointed One. By inference, he tells us that if we have a substandard view and understanding of Jesus the Anointed One, God’s Son, it is idolatry!

We don’t take it as seriously as God’s Word does. If you do not believe that He is the only begotten of the Father if you do not think that He is coexistent with the Father and with the Son, that He is one substance God, that the Godhead is revealed in three distinct Persons but one essence being God, it is idolatry! Christians are expected to turn from idols to serve the living and the true God. Anything that is in the place of the historical, biblical the Anointed One is an idol – anything! It doesn’t have to be a literal idol; it doesn’t have to be the theological idol concerning a substandard view of the Anointed One; it could be an idol in your heart tonight. A house, a car, a job, or a loved one could be anything.^[10]

As a dedicated messenger of God’s Word, Douglas Sean O’Donnell (1972) offers that the Apostle John concludes his epistle with an unconventional and somewhat abrupt ending in verse twenty-one: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” What does this mysterious requirement to avoid idolatry have to do with anything John has said thus far? To start out with, the ending fits the immediate context. If Jesus is the true God,^[11] Christians must keep themselves from false gods or “idols.” It also serves the whole context of the epistle. The letter ends as it began, with a warning to worship the one true God alone.

Everything else that John says is contained in this one golden rule. It is a simple, comprehensive summary of what John is combating. The apostate antichrists promoted an idolatrous image of Jesus – denying His coming in the flesh, dying for our sins, and teachings on love and obedience. It is an appeal not to accept the false teaching of the secessionists.

CLOSING REMARKS

We all have our ups and downs in our Christian walk with God. Whatever the struggle outside of us or inside, we often feel blown about by the winds of emotion or circumstances. Yet God calls us to grow and mature in consistency, with the evidence of our inner transformation becoming more and more evident as the years pass by. John knew that we would never realize the perfect love and unending faithfulness God requires. Instead, we have to place complete trust in the work of Jesus the Anointed One, believing that we can certainly conform to His Son’s image. Not by ourselves but by yielding to the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit residing in us. That sense of being grounded in God only comes when we set aside our selfish desires in pursuit of God’s purpose and plan for our lives. Let these words of John become etched in our minds, “If we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.”[12]

---

[1] Johnson, Ken. Ancient Epistles of John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 87-88

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:20; Deuteronomy 32:17

[3] Romans 1:18-23

[4] Pett, Peter: Commentary on the Bible, 1 John, op. cit., loc. cit.

[5] Heaster, Duncan. New European Christadelphian Commentary, op. cit., The Letters of John, p. 83

[6] Isaiah 44:6-20; 46:5; 46:6-10

[7] Cf. 1 John 3:16; 5:6

[8] Jobes, Karen H., 1, 2, and 3 John (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on The New Testament Series Book 18), op. cit., pp. 242, 244

[9] Acts of the Apostles 19

[10] Legge, David: Preach the Word, 1 John, op. cit., Sermon 17

[11] 1 John 5:20

[12] Ibid. 4:12 NLT