5:4because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world.
German Reformed theologian Richard Rothe (1799-1867) hears the Apostle John explain why faithful Christians do not find God’s love-commandment complex or burdensome. For him, the last part of verse three should be joined to verse four, making it a single verse. What makes the keeping of God’s love commandment so confusing and taxing for many is the world’s evil spirit’s opposition to their reborn spirit. This war goes on around us physically and inside us spiritually. The main component of this conflict is those things contrary to God and His will. These must be the object of resistance and repulse for every believer. But this worldly antagonism has been overcome by the devoted Christian, in so far as being a Christian; they are a person born of God. It allows them to possess an abiding principle of the Anointed One, which is mightier than the world and its changing opinions.[1] In order to encourage his readers, John reminds them of the fact that they are born of God.[2]
Consistent with his research style, Heinrich A. W. Meyer (1800-1882) agrees with Dr. Rothe that the punctuation mark at the end of verse three cannot determine the promise of keeping God’s love commandment. Therefore, it is better to read in conjunction with verse four. We immediately see that the first clause of verse four is connected with the last words of verse three and presents why the command is not grievous or burdensome – namely because the one born of God overcomes the world. The Apostle John’s point here is that love for God motivates keeping His commandment, making them easy to carry. Overcoming the force that stands in opposition to God places the believer in a new position. The hostility which belongs to the world has faded, and love has taken its place. The spirit of love conquers all opposition; the command is complied with in love which is not a burden.[3]
According to Robert Jamieson (1802-1880), Andrew R. Fausset (1821-1910, and David Brown (1803-1897), they explain the reason why God’s commandments are not severe or painful is that God’s children obey Him and defeat sin and sinful pleasure by trusting the Anointed One to help them. Therefore, although there is conflict in keeping them, the goal for the regenerated congregation[4] is victory over every opposing sinful influence. Meanwhile, there is a present joy in each believer who supports them, making them “no burden.” As it were, the heavenly Father approved His Son’s prayer that everyone He gave Him join with Him in executing the divine plan: overcoming the world. The world consists of all that is opposed to keeping the commandments of God or draws us off from God, including our corrupt flesh, on which the world’s flatteries or threats act, and Satan, the prince of this world.[5] This is the victory that “overcomes” (Greek verb nikaō, aorist tense) has already overcome the world. Therefore, success (where faith is) implies “already obtained.”[6] [7] Our victory over the world’s attempts to draw us away from God and Faith is ours. Therefore, it is not our’s to win but to lose.
Without overlooking what’s crucial, Johann E. Huther (1807-1880) understands that the information in verse four confirms the initial thought in verse three. He also notes that John uses the Greek neuter verb gennaō (“born”) here as well as in his Gospel.[8] It serves “to designate a general category.”[9] Accordingly, it is not to describe the character but the person.[10]
Using his poetic eyes and mind, songwriter and theologian Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) – nephew of the great lake-poet, William Wordsworth, concludes that the Apostle John no doubt wrote this challenge in opposition to the Cerinthians. They separated the man Jesus from the divine Anointed One. Regardless, our regeneration derives from the generation of the Son of God through His incarnation. Since Jesus is the midwife, so to speak, we cannot be born and delivered to God as one of His children unless we believe Jesus is the only One who gives spiritual life. This way, we are fully united with God through His divinely human Son. How else could we have communion with God? And the benefit of being in union with the Anointed One and the grace of His anointing is maintained by feeding on Him because He is the only one who can sustain our eternal life.[11] That’s why John could confidently say that obeying God through the Anointed One’s teaching is not burdensome.[12] As such, those whom God births continue to be energized by the principles of their new life imparted to them in regeneration.
Therefore, by faith, we professed the Anointed One to be our Savior, and through that faith, we can overcome the world’s constant temptations. The writer of Hebrews tells us that all the past saints had great faith. And with that faith, they defeated kingdoms. They did what was right, and God helped them in the ways He promised. With their dedication, some people closed the mouths of lions.[13] These “lions” are understood figuratively. For instance, King Richard of England was called the “lionhearted,” and King William I of Scotland the “Lion.” Just like the Lion is the king of the jungle, we have the Lion of the Tribe of Judah,[14] and for this reason, Christian champions of faith became Kings of the world of kings. So, John is saying that the belief we profess in the Anointed One not only has conquered but will conquer. That’s why we often call faith “victory” because He who gave us confidence was a Victor.[15] And it is this same faith that unites believers to the Anointed One, the Universal Conqueror and Giver of Victory.[16][17]
There are lines in one of America’s patriotic songs that read: “He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. . . So be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.”[18]It is what the Apostle John is trying to convey to his readers, many of whom were still struggling to live a Christian life in a sinful and dying world. And the same call goes for us today because retreat is never an option.
Professor of Ancient Languages at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885), studied law, then had years of pastoral experience, artfully mentions that overcoming the world is key to John’s revelation.[19] It implies that the hostile world seeks, both by temptations and persecutions, to seduce or destroy God’s children. Remember, faith in the Anointed One constitutes the victory of the faithful over all the distractions of the world. Commencing this verse indicates that it gives a reason why our Lord’s love commandment is not grievous but joyous. Faith and victory render exultant obedience to His commandments a delight. Confidence in their leader and assurance and enjoyment of success motivates Christian soldiers to be joyously obedient to their Commander in Chief’s orders.[20]
In line with the Apostle John’s thinking, English churchman, theologian, textual critic, scholar, poet, hymnodist, and writer Henry Alford (1810-1871) explores why God’s love commandment is not a burden we must carry against our will. First, he makes note that in the phrase, “all that is born of God,” The Apostel John used the neuter verb for “born” as a collection of all believers together under the category “spiritually birthed by God.” So, John uses a comprehensive class to show that there are no believers who are not born by God’s Spirit. Just as the angel said to the Virgin Mary, the “Holy Spirit will come upon you,” so in our new birth; it is the Holy Spirit who comes upon us to bring about our spiritual birth.
The argument then is this: God’s love-commandment is not grievous, says Alford: for, although in keeping them there is ever a conflict, yet that fight results in universal victory: the whole mass of the born-of-God class conquer the world: therefore, none of us need to contemplate failure or faint individually because the struggle is a hard one. Moreover, Jesus already triumpht over the world’s sinful temptations; all we have to do is exercise the same authority in His Name. But, says John, we keep our sinful tendencies from falling prey to Satan’s trap by “faith.” By “faith,” John means confidence in our belief system based on the work of Jesus the Anointed One. Knowing what He did for us should be a sufficient reason for rejecting what the world is offering. But, unfortunately, although our minds may be agreeable, our bodies and passions are not. God will not take control of our overcoming; we must accomplish that through the power and authority of the Holy Spirit abiding in us. The Apostle Paul lists it as one of Love’s fruit produced in our reborn spirit. It is called “Self-Control.”[21]
I can tell you from personal experience that I have always loved anything connected with cheese. But when I discovered I had several clogged arteries that restricted blood flow, I could have prayed day and night for God to take away my love of cheese, but it would have done me no good. That had to be my decision. Was I going to keep my habit of overeating cheese and shorten my life, or say goodbye to cheese and live longer to serve God? With the help of my persistent and faithful wife, I was able to overcome the constant and use it moderately temptation of cheese. It’s the same way with the “sinful cheese,” so to speak. God will not implement that choice for you, but you can make it with God’s help and others who love you. Alford adds that John’s crediting victory to the faith, which won, is a concise and emphatic way of linking the two inseparably virtues so that wherever there is faith, there is victory.[22][23]
Irish Presbyterian minister William Graham (1810-1883) focuses on the substance of verses three, four, and five. The fourth verse shows the connection this way: “The love of God and the keeping of His commands are possible, but this cannot be done without faith; and His commands are not burdensome, because whoever is born of God overcomes the world.” This world-conquering faith in God and His Word makes God’s commands easy to obey. But, on the other hand, God’s commands are burdensome for those not born of God and even impossible for those who remain fascinated by what the world offers. But for the sincere and humble Christian, born from above in whom the spirit of love dwells, the commands of God are not overbearing.[24][25]
English churchman and academic, known as a classical scholar William Edward Jelf (1811-1875) states that the Apostle John now gives a reason why God’s commands, including the most difficult of all, love for others instead of love of self, are not heavy and problematic; even though most people would think and say so. The reason is that Christians, born again of Divine seed into the Divine nature, have power from above so that believers can live and move in the natural world and sphere of self and have their existence as children in God’s family.[26][27]
No doubt you’ve heard of someone who has detached themselves from something or someone and become a “leaner” or “loner.” They find that their attachment is holding them back or results in unnecessary anxiety. They want no friends, no help, no advice, and no ridicule. They, and they alone, are the captain of their ship. However, there are two sides to detachment, negative and positive.
Licensed Psychotherapist Barton Goldsmith, who works in the media and entertainment industries, shows us how to best use detachment. Detachment can best be described as a process of letting go. It allows you to release difficult situations and, sometimes, difficult people. By detaching from past experiences and future expectations, you can look at your personal and professional relationships more objectively, giving you greater clarity. Holding on to an idea because you have become attached to it creates anxiety.
Once you detach from the desired outcome, you can stop worrying about it. The truth is that most attachment is about control, and control is an illusion. So, it’s better to get on with your life, even when you don’t get exactly what you want. When you release your desire for control over the lives of others, it sets everyone free. Those endless hours of frustration can be turned into fruitful days of creativity.
On the other hand, clinical psychologist Randi Gunter who practices her craft in Southern California, states that committed intimate partners know how important it is not to detach from each other. Their strength as a team is the most critical tool; they must keep that bond when challenges arise. Many partners, unfortunately, have different response strategies for coping with duress. If they don’t interpret each other correctly, they can detach when they need most to connect.
Couples who know one another deeply understand why and when their partners use their coping mechanisms and don’t let those differences keep them from emotionally detaching themselves when their relationship is threatened. Most committed relationship partners find it easier to stay emotionally attached when challenges come from the outside but more complicated when they arise from within the relationship.
Author and Psychosocial Rehabilitation Specialist Kendra Cherry tells us that Emotional detachment refers to being disconnected or disengaged from other people’s feelings. This can involve an inability or an unwillingness to get involved in other people’s emotional lives. While this detachment may protect people from stress, hurt, and anxiety, it can also interfere with a person’s psychological, social, and emotional well-being. Emotional detachment can sometimes occur as a coping mechanism when people are faced with stressful or demanding situations. In other cases, it can be a symptom of a mental health condition.
Also, Danielle Dresden, freelance writer, arts educator, and award-winning playwright, also believes that emotional detachment refers to the inability of a person to fully engage with their feelings or those of others. It may interfere with physical, psychological, emotional, and social development. It can be ongoing, as it is in people with attachment disorders, or a temporary response to an extreme situation. Potential symptoms of a detachment disorder in adults include difficulty opening up, challenging intimate relationships, poor listening skills, a lack of physical, verbal, or sexual contact, poor self-esteem, substance abuse, and indecision.
Whether or not being emotionally detached can be beneficial depends on the cause and scenario. If it is due to a mental health condition or if it is affecting a person’s ability to maintain relationships or other aspects of their daily life, a person should seek treatment. However, it can be beneficial for people to distance themselves emotionally in some professions. For example, those who work in the healthcare profession or church ministries must learn to regulate their emotions. It can be a beneficial, trusted source to prevent burnout and help maintain their mental well-being. Some people may also become emotionally detached to survive traumatic situations. However, a person should seek treatment to prevent this from becoming permanent.
So, does the Bible say anything about detachment?
A young psalmist knew the joy of not detaching from God, especially in times of trouble. He writes, “Great blessings belong to those who live pure lives! They follow the Lord’s teachings. Great blessings belong to those who follow His rules! They seek Him with all their heart. They don’t do wrong. They follow His ways. Lord, you gave us your instructions and told us to always obey them. How I wish I could be more faithful in obeying Your laws! Then I would never feel ashamed when I look closely at Your commands.”[1]
The prophet Jeremiah found out how to keep peace of mind. God told him, “Cursed is anyone who puts their trust in mortal man and detaches their heart from God.”[2]
Then Jesus tells those who want to follow Him, “If anyone came to Him but will not detach themselves from their parents and siblings, they cannot be His follower.[3]
The Apostle Paul follows the same thinking when he proclaims, “So now, anyone who is in union with the Anointed One, Jesus, is not under sin’s death penalty. That is because, in the Anointed One, Jesus detached you from that curse through the law of the Spirit that brings life. He also detached you from the law that brings sin and death.”[4]
In another letter, Paul inquires of the Corinthians, “Surely you know that people who do not detach themselves from wrongdoing will not get to enjoy God’s kingdom.”[5] And later tells the same readers the importance of remaining attached: “You know that there is only one God, the Father, who created all things and made us become His; and one Lord Jesus the Anointed One, who made everything and gave us eternal life.”[6]
And to the Galatian believers, Paul wrote of the importance of being a fruit-bearing believer so that the fruit of a reborn spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Therefore, there is no reason to detach yourselves from these virtues. [7]
Paul sent his greeting to the Colossian faithful: “In our prayers, we always thank God for you. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. We thank Him because we heard about your attachment to the Anointed One Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. Your faith and love continue because you know what is waiting for you in heaven – the hope you have since you first heard the true message, the Good News.”[8]
Finally, to the chosen in Thessalonica, Paul tells them to “Never detach yourself from praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.”[9] And his protegee Timothy, received this message from his spiritual father, Paul, “Those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their household, have detached themselves from the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.”[10]
Today we hear so much about overdoses due to drug addiction, and curiosity coupled with lack of training is causing teenagers to die from the lethal opioid Fentanyl. We tend to shake our heads when we hear how foolish some people are with their addiction. In reading the following article, don’t concentrate on the source of addiction but on what a person went through because of it.
So, this is a young man’s story of how his life was transformed. He struggled with addiction since he was fourteen years old. In fact, he remembers his fourteenth birthday and someone offering him a cigarette for the first time. From that moment on, he never stopped; instead, he just added drugs and alcohol. His life was a mess through high school, and it’s a miracle that he graduated.
During his 20s, he managed to get a decent job and stay out of trouble. he met a girl, and she got pregnant, so he thought getting married would be the right thing to do. He slowed his addiction for a couple of years after his son was born, but the son’s mother had her addictions, and soon they were destroying their lives together.
They divorced, and he would get his son every weekend because his “ex” was a nurse working. Within a short time, they both lost their jobs due to drug addiction, and for the sake of his son, he tried to get some help. He went to some Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and even some church services, but he would purposely find something wrong with them, so he had an excuse to quit.
It didn’t take long before he was drunk every day, all day, and couldn’t pay any of his bills. If not for having his son, he knows his parents would not have let me stay with them.
Finally, his father told him he had to get a job and not come home drunk. So, he was driving to interviews and feeling at a very low point in his life. Driving to this job interview, he noticed a sign about addiction in front of a church. On the way home, he was looking for a bar but noticed the same church and that arrows were pointing to another sign that said, “Addiction Program tonight.” he pulled into the parking lot and first looked online to see what it was about. After he read about it, he decided to just go ahead and walk in.
That Friday, he was welcomed by wonderful people, and although he didn’t understand what was said in the Bible, he decided to accept their invitation to come back for the Sunday service. But, again, he could feel Jesus pulling on him. That week he even went to the Wednesday night service, desperately trying to fight his urges to drink.
The following Friday night, it became so obvious that he needed Jesus, and by the end of the third talk, he was ready to speak to the Pastor about salvation. He knew deliverance doesn’t come to everyone, but since that day, he has had no urges to drink again! All praise to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Following his conversion, God opened his mind to His Word, and he was able to understand, study, and apply God’s message. He learned that praying many times daily (meditating on the right things) helps him when his mind wanders somewhere it should not. The devil knows he can’t beat him with booze, so Satan continues to try other evil things. He knew that as he grew stronger in his relationship with Jesus, the less he is vulnerable to Satan…and that is the strongest desire of his life. His life was transformed.
Your addiction may not be alcohol or drugs, but other things such as snacking, texting, TV, social media, gossiping, worldly entertainment, ungodly music, Restricted rated movies, etc. But the same principles apply. As a singer-songwriter, Israel Houghton sings, “Jesus be the center of it all.”
5:4because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world.
George Swinnock (1627-1673) unquestionably bemoans that worldly pleasures have enslaved millions. But faith, Christians with the Son of God’s Light, helps them trample this mood.[1] The world has two faces – the one ugly and deformed, to frighten the saints; the other neat and painted, to allure them to sin; but faith sees how pitiful her touch and threatenings are, and how poor, only skin deep, her promises are and causes the soul to scorn both.[2]
From his viewpoint, William Burkitt (1650-1703) sees a proposition and clarification. Let’s first look at the proposal, “Whoever is born of God overcomes the world.” Every regenerate Christian is a victorious believer; they are conquerors. Yes, indeed, they overcame all worldliness. Let’s amplify this, “This is what brings victory over worldliness, our faith.” It is a divine conquest and spiritually obtained, even by faith. Note this: Worldliness is a Christian’s worst enemy. A win supposes combat, and combat presumes an enemy.
That makes every regenerated Christian a victorious conqueror over this enemy. Christians become soldiers as soon as they believe and conquerors as quickly as they become soldiers. Their victory is this; they have their enemy under their feet. So, we ask, what special weapon do Christians use to conquer worldliness as a spiritual enemy? It is their faith. Many warriors have done great things in conquering kingdoms, but this is more significant than theirs. The world’s influence that won over some small parts of the earth was primitive and partial, but the Christian’s domination was universal. While conquerors prevailed abroad, the enemy were servants at home; while conquerors were lords of nations, those of the world were slaves to their lusts. The Christian conquerors, which John speaks of, begin their victories at home and enlarge their triumphs over enemies abroad:[3]
After examining this verse, Medieval thinker Robert Witham (1667-1778) explains that this victory over the world is accomplished with “spirited” faith. Loving and giving makes a person victorious over the temptations of greed and lust, which are the greatest enemies of their salvation [4]
Reformed pastor Leonard Howard (1699 -1767) says that in the first half of verse four, by using “world,” we sometimes understand the people and things in it. However, neither one can be meant here. That is plain from the reason for and the Apostle John’s manner in using “world.” Both represent the world to us as a dangerous enemy, such as cannot be loved with innocence and cooperation but must be forsaken and opposed with all our might. Hence, yielding to worldliness, making a truce with, or agreeing to out of friendship, sets us at odds with God and leads us to certain ruin.
In the second half of this verse, we encounter the word “victory,” which we are to understand the means or instrument of obtaining it. By communicating “our faith,” John meant the belief of the Christian religion, as the Gospels deliver it to us and familiarly contained in the next verse in this one article, that “Jesus is the Son of God.” Hence, as a result, a firm assent to the truth of His glorious promises, doctrines which He could not have taught had they not been confirmed. So also, the sufferings He underwent cannot but be of infinite worth and efficacy. They are a promise which He is both able and willing to perform and make good to the fullest. Therefore, to all whose minds are more than balanced, victory is their future reward’s absolute certainty and superior excellency. This reward is peculiar to those who are content to defeat and reject the present prospect of future bliss. To this, God’s Son pledged His truth and has already invested it in human nature by exalting our flesh to the right hand of His Majesty on High.[5]
Looking closely, James Macknight (1721-1800) points out that the Apostle John uses the Greek adjective pas in the neuter gender to include all sorts of people, males and females, old and young, Jews and Gentiles, freemen and slaves. No matter which one, the victory over the world’s influence, came by faith. This faith power enables believers to stay free of hidden traps. These snares of worldly pleasures attempt to catch professing Christians, as illustrated by the writer of Hebrews.[6] He shows that before Messiah came, the children of God believed the things, He allowed them to discover. Whether it came by the light of natural reason or through particular revelations, they were able to resist the greatest of temptations, remain faithful during the bitterest sufferings, perform the most challenging acts of obedience, and earn great and lasting fame.
But after the Anointed One came and made the revelation of the Gospel available in person, His apostles received the faith needed to overcome worldly invitations of the wicked to join them and had as their object of admiration the doctrines and promises contained in the Good News. In particular, the solid foundation of all the rest is that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world, as the Apostle John observes in verse five.[7]
In John Brown of Haddington’s opinion (1722-1787), the Apostle John declares that whoever is truly regenerated by God’s Spirit and filled with a new nature and spiritual virtues produced in them by faith in the Anointed One will become overcomers and triumph. Their victory over the terrors and allurements of the promoters of worldly things will not cause them to become disheartened nor withdraw from their mission.[8]
William Jones of Nyland (1726-1800) states that when the Apostle John speaks of “overcoming,” it suggests a struggle. “Victory” implies combat. So, it is because the Divine life in God’s new creatures and the life of the ungodly in the world oppose each other. Satan is “the prince of this world” and “the god of this world.”
The Apostle John constantly teaches, says Canon Henry Parry Liddon (1829-1890), “that the Christian’s work in this dispensation of grace is to conquer worldliness.” It is, in other words, to fight successfully against that view of life that ignores God, against that complex system of attractive moral and baseless intellectual falsehood that the great enemy of God arranged and organized to permeate a non-Christianized society. Thus, we see the world’s evil spirit in “the lust of the flesh, in the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” [9] These three forms of lust manifest the inner life of the world, and against them, the Christian must contend. It is the battle of truth against error, light against darkness, and love against hatred.[10]
John Wesley’s co-leader Joseph Benson (1749-1821), notes that the Apostle John discussed the privileges of God’s children in the preceding chapters. Now he illustrates the essential parts needed in their character. He does so that his readers might judge their concern in the matters he introduced. And the scope and sum of the first paragraph appear from his message, “I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you know you have eternal life now.” [11] Namely, with a living faith, a faith of the divine operation, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Anointed One, the true Messiah, the Son of God, they are ready to confess this openly. It took courage because they knew such a confession might expose them to imprisonment and martyrdom.[12]
Taking everything into consideration, Adam Clarke (1774-1849) focuses on the fact that “whoever” overcomes the world (used in verse four) is in the neuter gender. Thus, it includes both male and female believers. “I understand by this,” says German Bible scholar Johann Christian Schöttgen (1687-1751), “the Jewish Church, or Judaism, often termed ‘of this world as Olam hazzeh.’” [13]
The reasons for thinking they are the same as 1) This kosmos, “world,” denied that the Messiah came; but the Gentiles did not oppose this principle. 2) Because John, reasoning as a Jew, proves the truth of the Christian religion against the Jews; therefore, it is evident that he does not oppose the pagan Gentiles but the Jews. Consequently, the sense is that those who possess true Christian faith can easily find the Jewish religion guilty of a false sense of salvation. They can show how the Jew’s expectations prove inaccurate because they misinterpret Scripture with preconceptions. Let’s say we understand by “world” the evil principles and practices in the unregenerate hearts. It allows the Spirit of God’s influence on the soul to overcome this. Also, by faith in the Son of God, a person can overcome the world, such as the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life.[14]
In keeping with the Apostle John’s intention, Charles G. Finney (1792-1876) sees this as promoting fellowship with God to get above the spirit of greediness that possesses the people of the world. It is yearning after worldly things. Some worldly people covet one thing and another, but all classes of the world’s citizens live in the spirit of possessiveness in some form. This spirit has supreme possession of their minds. That is why overcoming the world implies rising above its fixations – overcoming the world also indicates overpowering the fear of the world’s spirit – not fear that they will hurt you, but that they won’t like you. Furthermore, being victorious over the world suggests disabling the nuisance of anxiety. Therefore, triumphant living is still under consideration, for we must cease giving in and letting the spirit of the world enslave us in bondage to any of its deceitful forms.[15]
In plain talk, Albert Barnes (1798-1870) explains the Apostle John’s declaration that whoever is born of God has victory over the world’s evil spirit. Therefore, in its maxims, precepts, and customs, the world does not rule them because they have been set free. John’s idea is that the conflict between faith and the world in the heart of every authentic Christian results in the believer’s victory or win. Our Savior stated that in this godless world, His followers would continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! He conquered the world! In other words, the Anointed One obtained a complete triumph over the powers of this dark world.[16] By doing so, He laid the foundation for a victory by His people over all vice, error, and sin.
However, note that John makes this affirmation of all born of God. “Whatsoever,” or, as the Greek has it, pas gennaō (“having-been-generated”) by God, undoubtedly affirms that in every instance where one is genuinely regenerated, there is this potential victory over the world.[17] But, if this is a trustworthy principle, why are so many professed Christians strangers to victory despite their claims of being devout believers? It means they are still wholly governed by this world’s spirit! This is the source or means of the victory that God’s faithful children achieve. Even our faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.[18] Jesus overcame the world, and that faith makes us one with Him. He instills us with His Spirit so that we can likewise.[19][20]
5:4because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against worldliness.
EXPOSITION
Here John reiterates the main theme of his letter concerning love, how love works, and how it can be seen and tested for its genuineness. So, he now begins his third test, the Believers. This trial of determining if God’s love resides in a person’s heart is not only meant for God or fellow believers to verify but for the world as well. The one thing that combines it all and keeps it together is the common bond of faith that Jesus is the Son of God. He was the Anointed One sent down from heaven by the Father to secure forgiveness for sin so we will not suffer its punishment and may have eternal life with Him.
When I served in the military, some people became my best friends, and there were those I did not particularly like because of their attitude and demeanor. But one thing remained certain. Should we ever go into combat, they knew I would do everything I could to protect them, and they would do the same for me. That’s because we were in the same army, fighting for the same country and serving the same Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. Christians may differ on specific issues, but as far as the world is concerned, when they look at us, they should see a united force ready to hold each other up for the cause of the Anointed One.
Jesus was concerned His followers would feel alone and forsaken once He ascended back into heaven. He wanted to assure them that He had taken care of everything. That’s why after explaining why He was leaving, He said that His reason for telling them all this was for them to finally believe and accept it as real. In fact, He forewarned them that some would try to get away from being associated with Him to save their lives. But He would not feel abandoned, for His Father would be with Him. He let them know all this so they could trust Him to do what He promised. That way, they would be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. So, He said to them, “In this godless world, you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve got the world under my control.”[1]
No wonder the Apostle Paul asked, “Who could ever keep the Anointed One’s love from us?” When we suffer handicaps or hardships, are hunted down or humiliated, is it because God doesn’t love us anymore? And if we are hungry or hopeless, in danger or threatened with death, has He deserted us? No! The Scriptures tell us that we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day for His sake – we are like sheep awaiting slaughter. But despite all this, complete victory is ours through the Anointed One who loved us enough to die for us.[2] That’s why, says Paul, we should be thankful that God gives us victory through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.[3]
The Apostle John revealed all the things God still has in store for those who remain faithful. So, he addresses all the churches in his archdiocese and tells them to listen to the Spirit’s message. To all victorious believers, the risen Savior will give fruit from the Tree of Life in God’s heavenly Paradise. The Second Death will hurt no one who is victorious. Everyone who is triumphant will eat of the hidden manna, the secret nourishment from heaven, and God will give to each a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one else knows except the one receiving it. So, “To everyone who overcomes – who to the very end keeps on doing things that please Me – I will give power over the nations.”[4]
The reason for the Apostle John’s preceding statement in verse three is that the opposition that promoted difficulty for the Church is already defeated. Nothing, however, is gained by transferring the full stop from the end of verse three to the middle of verse four, any more than from the end of verse two to the center of verse three. The punctuation of the Authorized Version and the Revised Version is preferred. The world hinders obedience to God’s commandments and makes them seem grievous. But everywhere, children born of God conquer the worldliness;[5] it’s by faith. The Greek aorist verb nikaō (“overcome”) marks the victory as already complete. In other words, our success in defeating the world is this – our faith.
Here we see how the Apostle John folds three spiritual dynamics into one: 1) trust in the truth, 2) apply truth to experience, and 3) manifest God’s love to others. The believer who brings these dimensions together is spiritually alive. Keep in mind the word “for” at the beginning of verse four explains what John said in verse two. Applying God’s principles to experience is the key to knowing that we love God’s family. Love in God’s economy involves more than sentimental love; God’s love revolves around His principles. “For” explains that our love for God is synonymous with doing His commandments. Our love for God is at issue here, not God’s love for us.
When we obey divine directives, we demonstrate love for God. Abiding by God’s commandments flows from loving Him and keeps us in the sphere of His will because His guidelines reveal His character.[6] The principle here is that Christians must apply divine directives to their lives not because they fear God but because they love Him. God’s mandates reveal His nature. The believer shows God’s character by applying God’s Word to experience. Each time we convey God’s teachings in His Word to experience, we reveal God’s glory.
So, how is it that some people curse God’s love? If we claim to love God but live contrary to His principles, we blaspheme His name and detract from His glory. People will then speak against the Bible and God’s name because they do not live consistently with His truth. Individuals will say that we are inconsistent.[7] The Word of God is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It is our compass, our plumb line for life, and our measuring stick of truth. The Bible is our standard of living, so biblical Christianity has no situational ethics. Such ethics say that what we do during the week is okay, but not on Sundays. Biblical commands are always valid in every circumstance. They never change. They are the same in every period of history and in every society.
However, the responsibilities under grace are substantially more demanding than in legalism. We could not keep them apart from the strength of the Spirit. As Christians, we are members of a spiritual family composed of fellow believers.[8] Therefore, keeping God’s principles for life requires a heart for God. It is no burden to do something for someone you love. Love is evidence of life. Divine life produces divine love. The single restriction to God’s commands is that they must be followed out of love.[9]
We know that God has given us divine directives in His Word for our good and benefit. Granted, we may not fully comprehend some directions. Nevertheless, no church must not demand them as necessary for our good standing before them and God. Again, we may not understand why and question some of them, but God obligates us to do them to follow His will. Remember, Jesus accused the Pharisees of putting religious burdens on people.[10] But then Jesus offered to lift such religious strains off our shoulders.[11] Faith in Him makes these religious hardships unnecessary.[12] Perhaps, later in eternity, He might explain to us the complete rationale for His principles for life.
COMMENTARY AND HOMILETICS
Additional comments, interpretations, and insights of the Early Church Fathers, Medieval Thinkers, Reformation Theologians, Revivalist Teachers, Reformed Scholars, and Moder Commentators on the verse.
A monk with spiritual insight, Bede the Venerable (673-735), makes the point that overcoming worldly temptations is not accomplished by our efforts. God’s commandments are not burdensome. On the contrary, those who keep them passionately seek the gateway to the heavenly country. So, despite the adversities in this world, they regard its temptations with levelheadedness. They are even willing to the point of looking forward to death. And lest anyone think that we can somehow achieve all this by our efforts, John adds that the substance of our victory is our faith, not our works.[13]
Early Church scholar Theophylact of Ohrid (1055-1107) stated that once you become spiritual brothers and sisters, you must go on to the next stage: overcoming the world. Therefore, those born again of God must reject every kind of unbelief from their midst.[14]
Reformation writer Matthew Poole (1624-1679) sees the Apostle John explaining his statement that God’s commandments are not grievous to the one born again in Him. That’s because such a person experiencing divine birth receives spiritual life and nature, making them far superior to worldly people. It exalts them above it, victorious over the spirit of this world and its desires, fears, false hopes, and pleasures which keep them from obeying God’s commands.[15] This is the victory, or we could say, the instrument, the weapon, by which they overcome the world’s persecution and temptations. Their motivation for holiness stems from the implanted principles of regeneration. Who are they that overcome worldliness, none other than those who believe Jesus is God’s Son?[16]
Reformation fireball John Flavel (1627-1691) tells us that saving faith needs to be valid evidence of our interest in the Anointed One, and conquering sin is the fruit and indication of saving faith.[17] On the one hand, faith overcomes the world’s temptations and terrors by putting to death the affections of worldly things. Yet, simultaneously, a cleansed heart is not easily entangled with the world’s pleasures nor feels sorry over the passion they lost for worldly enticements. This way, the force of the world’s temptations is broken, and the sanctified soul becomes victorious. All of this is by the instrumentality of faith.[18]
Therefore, exercise faith daily if you want to succeed in putting the body’s passions under control. Faith is an excellent instrument for harnessing sinful tendencies.[19] By faith alone, eternal things are discovered to your souls in their reality and excelling glory. These are the great things for the sake of which self-denial and overcoming become accessible to believers. By opposing temporal things for eternal blessings, we resist Satan[20] and put out the fiery darts of the wicked one.[21][22]
5:3Loving God means obeying His commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us,
Such obedience does not diminish love to some mechanical reaction but infuses it with proactive commitment. Unlike those parts of the Apostle’s writings and Christian tradition that struggle to relate “faith” and “works,” John does not attempt to separate “love” and “doing.” Instead, he restates his formula, “observe His commands,”[1] and offers a reminder that such doing is always in relationship to God. [2]
It is Vincent Cheung’s (1952) conclusion that the Bible teaches a different definition of what it means to love God. As Moses said, “Carefully obey the commands, I am giving you today, love the Lord your God, and serve Him with all your heart and soul,”[3] so Jesus told His disciples, “Those who really love Me are the ones who not only know my commands but also obey them. My Father will love such people, and I will love them. I will make Myself known to them.”[4] Thus, we must not define “Love for God” as fondness or admiration but as obedience. And only faithful Christians can love God as defined by these verses – they obey God’s commands and submit to Him in thought and action. Of course, a Christian may be fond of God, but it is insincere affection if they do not obey God’s divine commands.[5]
In emphasizing what the Apostle John says about everyone born of God overcomes the world, Bruce B. Barton (1954) sees this as a victory of Faith over despair. It means that love for God and others does not exist alone in a believer;[6] it must be accompanied by obedience. Therefore, John added, Love for God: is to obey His mandates. It echoes what Jesus said to His disciples, as recorded in the Gospel of John.[7] Jesus had one commandment for them: Love one another.[8] This one directive is not grievous, heavy, or burdensome; it should delight the believer to love God through their obedience.[9] God’s commands do not destroy people’s freedom, creativity, or spontaneity. They are not like the laws of the Pharisees that weighed people down. However, they direct people (freedom doesn’t mean arbitrary action) and restrain them (freedom doesn’t mean giving free rein to human desires). Unfortunately, this world puts so much emphasis on experience and feeling instead of duty and action. God, however, wants Christians’ outward conduct to demonstrate their inward devotion to Him.[10]
As stated in Daniel L. Akin’s (1957) interpretation of this verse, the Apostle John returns to the theme of obedience to God’s mandates.[11] Although John knew that loving God and obeying God was distinguishable, he also knew they were inseparable.[12] Here he adds a new perspective on obedience that is liberating. We find it at the end of verse three, where he says that God’s commands “are not a burden.” How does that work itself out? John says that in the new birth, we receive a new nature. This new nature brings new affections, passions, treasures, and values. Because we now love God instead of hating Him, we treasure and value Him above everyone and everything else. And because we do, our delight is in obeying Him. Now we find why His commands are not a burden but a blessing. They are not a struggle; they are a delight.
Classically thinking, Bruce G. Schuchard (1958) sees these first of six stylized beginning instances with an attention-grabbing “this is” that helps to mark the midpoint of subunit one[13] – for this is the love of God. “This” points emphatically forward both to the related clause “love” and to the completing statement offered by the clause that follows, “for” is self-explanatory.[14] “Of God” describes the object of our love, “when we love God,” in verse two. And yet, “only because God loves us are we able to love one another.”[15] The second of three references to God’s “instruction”[16] reinforces the importance of our adherence to it. Again, the meaning here of “embrace’’ differs little from that of “live for the sake of.”[17]
The weighty adjective “burdensome” is a word that appears only once in this Epistle. The thinking behind John’s statement “runs deep in the biblical tradition.”[18] Having criticized the secessionists for failing to heed God’s instructions, John now demonstrates a pastoral awareness that his “demands” may risk discouraging rather than encouraging his followers. And so, at his Epistle’s end, John attaches to his final reference to the necessity of love, the encouraging reminder that for God’s children, such instruction is never burdensome but is instead a delight. God’s teachings invite us all to receive, cherish, and abide in the communion of the saints that our God is gracious to provide. His mandate summons all believers to faith and a life that is the fellowship of the beloved with the Father and with the Father’s Son,[19] Jesus, the Anointed One, God’s Son. [20]
As modern Bible scholar David Guzik (1961) remarks, someone said that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife as their mother. Even so, the first way for a child of God to love their spiritual brothers and sisters in the Anointed One is to love God and obey Him. And, if you love the parent, you will love the child. It all works together. When our love and obedience for God grows cold, we not only harm ourselves – we wound our spiritual brothers and sisters also. At the very least, the damage occurs because we strain our fellow believers’ spiritual progress. Nevertheless, if we refuse to love and obey God for our sake, we should at least do it out of love for others.
But the Apostle John has good news for both saint and sinner: God’s commandments are not a burden. Here we see how wise and good God’s guidelines are as gifts to show us the best and most fulfilling life possible. God’s instructions are like the “manufacturer’s handbook” for life; He tells us what to do because He knows how we work best. God does not give us His mandates to bind or pain us because God is like an irritated old god. His commandments don’t weigh us down because we receive new hearts that wish to please God by instinct when we are born again. God wrote His law in every believer’s heart as part of the Final Covenant.[21]
So, instead of the burdensome requirement to keep hundreds of little rules and regulations, Jesus says to us, “Love Me and love my people, and you will walk in obedience.” When we love God, we want to obey Him and please Him. When you love someone, it seems little trouble to go through many difficulties to help or please them. You enjoy doing it, though if you had to do it for an enemy, you would constantly complain. Therefore, just as the seven years of Jacob’s service for Laban seemed only a few days to him because of his love for Rachel.[22] So, obeying God’s commands does not seem like a burden when we love Him. An old proverb says, “Love feels no load.”[23][24]
As a lover of God’s Word, Peter Pett (1966) wants the Apostle John to explain how we know that we love our spiritual brothers and sisters. The answer is evident in the fact that we love God and obey His commandments. These commandments show how we should act with specific guidelines: “You must love your neighbor as yourself” – called “the Royal Law.”[25] If we fulfill these, we love our spiritual brothers and sisters in the way required. Here we are told that God’s commandments are not “overweight or too heavy to carry.” The idea here is that they are not “burdensome” or “difficult.”
Also, as Moses stresses, they are near and not far off.[26] They are in their mouths and hearts because they love God.[27] In contrast, Jesus spoke of the Pharisees as those who “bind heavy loads, hard to bear, and put them on people’s shoulders.”[28] So they are not burdensome because we love God and delight in doing His will and because they are a response to God’s love, carried in the heart, and not a way of earning it.[29]
Unorthodox Bible scholar Duncan Hester (1967) says that the Apostle John’s language here implies that being born of God is something done to us, something received rather than of our volition. It is the birth of the Spirit.[30] Also, the language of “overcoming” is used elsewhere in John about the Judaist false teachers and infiltrators,[31] just as the Lord overcame the Jewish world.[32] Overcoming that world is based on faith in the Father and Son. Again, we see a colossal conflict between Judaism, worldliness, and Christians in the Lord Jesus. But, then, the neuter adjective “Whoever” does not identify the gender of the believers.[33]
Bright seminarian Karen H. Jobes (1968) sees the Apostle John reassure believers of eternal life based on God’s love, expressed on the cross, and that love, when properly understood, frees us from fear of God’s coming day of judgment.[34] Perhaps a primary reason so many people have difficulty trusting God’s love is that society at large, and the church, to some extent, let go of the idea that a final exam is coming after this life. Then we will be judged by a holy and righteous God.
Consequently, the gracious atonement for our sin is not viewed as the greatest gift of love but as an irrelevant and outdated belief of primitive religion. Instead of pondering the cross of Jesus the Anointed One, fallen creatures seek God’s love and goodness elsewhere in a fallen creation. Horrible things such as the untimely death of an innocent child, destructive violence, catastrophic natural calamities, and “man’s inhumanity to man” seem to weigh heavily against God’s goodness. All of which causes many to doubt God’s love for us. If there is no sin and no judgment of sin, then Jesus’ death was a horrible farce.[35]
5:3Loving God means obeying His commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us,
We can see, points out Neal M. Flanagan (1908-1986), that the preceding section in chapter four on love,[1] joins verses one to three here in chapter five as an added section on faith. The creedal statement proposed here is that Jesus is God’s Son[2] who is also thoroughly human, both at His baptism[3] and in His bloody death that terminated it. Son of God, yes – but Son of God whose humanity was essential.[4]
It is definite, says Ronald A. Ward (1920-1986), that according to the Apostle John, loving God is more than a feeling. It includes prayer, worship, and fellowship, and “obedience” contains all these virtues.” To love God is to obey Him – to spend time with Him delighting in His Word, to take part in the life and work of the Church – and to love one another.[5] God’s commandments are not a burden but weighty.[6] Jesus promised that with His help, they could feel light.[7] For instance, we cannot lift an automobile to change a tire, but it seems more manageable when we use a ‘car jack.’ It is all a question of power.[8]
As Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016) sees it, the Apostle John warns those unacquainted with God’s Word who rebel against any scripture that contradicts their interpretation and tries to dodge the truth coming at them.[9] Instead of being like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,[10] they look for a place to hide.[11]
It is evident, says Ian Howard Marshall (1934-2015), that the Apostle John’s readers know that love for God is expressed in keeping His commands.[12] Now they are reminded of that fact. It is an appropriate addition, for elsewhere, John has shown that God’s commandments are summed up in the mandate to love one another. However, here the thought is a bridge, leading to the main point that these instructions are not burdensome and the duty of loving one another. They are not beyond our ability to keep. On the contrary, Jesus offers us an easy yoke and a light burden.[13] If tempted to think that the love and obedience demanded of Christians are beyond our powers, this verse comes to us as a welcome source of strength and encouragement.[14]
It is evident, notes John Painter (1935) that the Apostle John refers to God’s “commandments” in the plural. It means we are not subject to one commandment but them all.[15] Thus, a case can be made for reading the singular “commandment” as a reference to the love mandate given by Jesus.[16] But the first use of the singular in verse twenty-three is an apparent reference to instructions given by God. It is less evident in its second use, which could refer to Jesus’ demand to “love one another.”[17][18]
Seeking harmony with the Apostle John, Muncia Walls (1937) proposes that our love for God is the motivating factor that gives us the desire to keep His commandments. Seeking and hungering after righteousness becomes our joy and living a life of love becomes our delight. God’s mandates bring us the freedom and the liberty we so ardently desire. Thus, doing His Word and His Will does not bring us grief. The word “grievous” means something heavy, burdensome, or cruel. God’s guidelines are not like this. Those who truly love God do not find His commands a burden placed upon them but a pleasure and joy to the person in love with the Author of the demands – Jesus, the Anointed One. [19]
Apparently, Michael Eaton (1942-2017) feels that keeping God’s mandates on love does not present a heavy burden too difficult to carry. Some might not be ready to think that the command of love is “not burdensome.” Yes, Love is definable: it has clout and content. But it is not rightly expressed in the Mosaic law, and the implementation is inadequate to articulate what it means to love. But this does not mean that love cannot be expressed in words. The Final Covenant is full of appeals, partial expressions of the love command. Although no list of commands can sum up every requirement for the situation, each practical exhortation is a bright flash of light from the sparkling diamond of the love command. John does not give a list of requirements; promoting a code of Law with a list of demands when loving is keeping the Law would be deceptive. [20]
After a long look at what John is writing, William Loader (1944) became conscious of the tension between obligation and spontaneous love response. Love is a command. Conscious choice is involved. Yet, the Apostle John is not dealing with obligatory mandates or a set of burdensome orders. They do not sit unnaturally on our shoulders as an awkward oppressive weight. They are not troublesome because they make few demands: on the contrary, the call to love is to call to action! Rather, they are not grievous because they flow naturally from who we are as children of God. We are in a relationship with the One who loves us and whose love enables us to love and fulfill His demands. This recalls the invitation of Jesus to come to Him to find rest and put on His light yoke.[21][22]
It is unmistakable, notes David Jackman (1945), that the Apostle John makes it plain that faith not only includes obedience to God’s commands related to love, but it is our way of loving God. It is what gives love its moral fiber. It needs reemphasizing because we live in a generation where the sovereignty of emotions and feelings has come to mean even emptying the word “love” of its moral content. Because we love God, we genuinely want to please Him in our thoughts, words, and actions. For us, it is no longer an external matter of moral duty to obey a law so much as to please our dearly loved heavenly Father. This lies at the heart of Christian discipleship. And the glory of the Final Covenant is precisely the inner love for God which prompts obedience.[23]
After researching these verses, John W. (Jack) Carter (1947) encourages us to note the use of a “chiasmic structure”[24] common in Greek literature and often used for effect. It repeats a phrase with another part added on. The sequence is then repeated in reverse order. Here John adds the simple point that when one truly loves the LORD, they will find obedience to be a pleasure, not a burden. One is burdened by another when there is no love relationship between them. A dictator can easily place a tremendous burden on others. Those in the fellowship acting like little dictators who burden those they work to control. There is little joy in the effort when forcing someone to submit to such authority unwillingly. However, love is the fundamental relationship between the LORD and a person of faith. Now, while using Torah as an overbearing weight on those not born of God through love, God’s Word, including Torah, is a comfort to those who love God.[25]
It is apparent to Robert W. Yarbrough (1948) that verse three concludes this subsection’s commendation of personal faith as love for God. It does so in activist terms. While love can be viewed as an emotion or sentiment and a relational component of affection. As the Apostle John conceives it; here, he portrays it as keeping God’s commandments with an attitude of glad acceptance, if not joy, rather than some grim moral resignation. The verse begins with “For this love for God.” Only 2 John 1:6 offers any close parallel of the near demonstrative pronoun with agápē. John’s statement departs from the previous verse, in which he implies a contrast between love and God’s mandate to love. But later, John makes this connection explicit.[26] This “love for God” God is the object of the verbal action implied in Love. John talks about human love for God, not God’s love for people.[27]
Colin G. Kruse (1950) decidedly points out how the Apostle John reverts to the usual way of contrasting love for God and love for others. He says: The visible mark of loving God is obeying His commands. These instructions always include love for one’s fellow believers.[28] In these verses, John brings the long section 4:7-5:4a to a close by affirming: “And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” The ability to love one another does not prove tiresome for those who have a personal relationship with God, having been born of Him. Thus, love for others born of God is a natural expression. That is why John adds, “for everyone born of God overcomes the world.”[29]
To Ben Witherington III (1951), this is where the Apostle John reiterates that we can define love for God as keeping His commandments. He also tells us that God’s mandates are neither burdensome nor irksome. It means that they are not so oppressive that it squelches the spontaneity in love. However, he certainly does not mean they are easy to carry out. He does not imply that God’s demands upon us are less challenging than we supposed, but that the assurance and strength to fulfill them comes with it. Nor is John suggesting that God does not require believers to give their all to keep them.[30] The early Jewish idea here of heavy/light commandments may be in the background,[31] but more probably, there is an echo of the saying of Jesus about the easy yoke.[32] The point seems to be that these are still commandments, not just suggestions, but they are not unbearable or unfulfillable.[33]
Judith Lieu (1951) feels that the issue of obeying God’s commandment out of love is sufficiently important to require restating, reinforced by “for this” at the start of the verse.[34] Elsewhere the characteristic formula, “and this is,” reminds readers of the certainties they heard and the confidence they experienced.[35] It is not achieved by logical deduction but by induction to something they recognize as accurate to their experience. In addition, the term “love of God” (KJV) is unclear and should read “love for God” (NIV).[36] The Apostle John does not say that love for God leads to obedience as though they were two separate activities. In his Gospel, John notes that Jesus is the object of love, and obedience, is the content of that love.[37]
[33] Witherington, Ben III, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John, op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition
5:3Loving God means obeying His commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us,
It is defendable that love without absolute submission to God is nothing more than human attraction, loyalty to family, or adherence to some group. The test of God’s love is doing His commandments. We know we love our fellow believers when God is the object of our affection, and His mandates are the guide of our conduct. True love can never go outside these commands in ministering to God’s family. No matter how logical the reason, any apparent service that requires disobedience to God is, by that very fact, barred from the sphere of agápē. This test explains that love for God consists of this one thing: we have a continuous and watchful endeavor to keep His directives in our hearts. It means that all instructions from God’s Word will be closely examined and followed. This regard will lead to keeping His guidelines in everyday life. In every case where there is love and obedience to God, we will come to know that we still love our Christian spiritual brothers and sisters, despite misunderstandings, separations, and estrangements.[1]
Manifestly, Erich Haupt (1841-1910) indicates that the first clause of verse three has been made clear. The firm connection between love for God and obedience, previously introduced momentarily, is now definitely established. It is the motivation and the tendency of love to fulfill God’s commandments. Not only from the idea of love but also from how it was brought into our hearts. If love is the reference of one “I” to another “I,” then love for God is the reference and subjection of my will to God’s will. Furthermore, if the genesis of my love for God is that His agápē love has been infused into my nature, God’s will must have become my will. So, with the Apostle John’s directed obedience to the divine mandates, he now proceeds to say it is not that hard.[2]
Take note that the Greek adjective barys primarily means “pressing,” “hard,” and “not easily fulfilled,” but it comes only from the fact that 1) we cannot fulfill them or 2) fulfill them only with much pain. The two meanings come to the same thing. God’s laws are not termed light in themselves, as if they did not require anything complex or complicated. Strictly speaking, nothing is easy or difficult in itself. All struggles to comply involve the relationship between the thing necessary and the power of the individual concerned. Only to Christians are the divine commandments easy; in the power of that faith which links them with the Anointed One, there is the strength of union between their will and the divine will. But in the spiritual realm, the measure of one’s will and willpower are the same. Every sin rests not only on a deficiency of power but also on a lack of will.[3]
To begin with, Ernest von Dryander (1843-1922) reminds us that obedience to a strict master is challenging but always easy for a kind and loving one. Here is a Savior who generates in us what He demands of us. Here is a Redeemer in whose presence all mediocrity must disappear. It involves a spirit that seeks immunity from guilt while reveling in sin. It is like holding heaven’s door open with one hand and leaving the back door unlocked for worldliness to sneak in. Here is a Master we follow who helps us see how horrible and hideous our sins are, yet mercy and goodness are ever more attractive.[4] He is a Master who teaches us to make corruption harder and harder for ourselves and obedience to Him easier and more manageable. Because the more we know and understand Him, the more we realize the truth of what the Apostle John says here in verse three, that God’s mandates are not grievous. On the contrary, obedience to God becomes light to all who allow Him to lead them.[5]
After scrutinizing what the Apostle John is proclaiming here, Aaron M. Hills (1848-1931) asks, “What do we have to say about all these commands?” Is God a heartless tyrant issuing orders to a race of moral beings that are impossible to keep? These mandates are as authoritative as any in the Bible, and if holiness is not attainable, God demands what is impossible. For God to entertain such thoughts is a terrible reflection of His holiness. However, someone has observed that all God’s instructions are enabling. Whatever He requires, He furnishes a gracious ability to perform. The Apostle Paul states, “It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.”[6] A sanctifying Spirit and an indwelling Messiah can live a holy life in us, “which is our reasonable service”[7], because His commandments are not challenging assignments.[8]
Seemingly, says George G. Findlay (1849-1919), the Apostle John’s first characteristic of “our faith” is viewed in its operative force. He then adds a second – the discipline into which Divine love translates itself.[9] In Jesus, the Son of God, humanity found its Master. We have in Him a King to obey, a law to fulfill, a pattern to follow, a work to do, and a Church – His body to serve as limbs and organs. Discipleship spells discipline. Love exhausts itself in fruitless emotions; it exhales lifeless sentiments. Like rivers, it needs banks and channels along natural lines. This way, it turns thousands of mill and power wheels and spreads health, fruitfulness, and beauty over the land. However, left unbridled and unguided, it becomes a stagnant marsh.
There is nothing that sustains and deepens true feelings like self-constraint and the routine of well-planned efforts. What happens to those touched with God’s love and the fire of the new life who are not taught, or refuse to learn, the right ways of the Lord? How will they ever be productive? The Apostle Paul urges believers to recognize the value of those who work hard among them – those who care for them and tell them how to live as followers of the Lord.[10] Wholesome, honest love always means commandment-keeping.[11]
Undoubtedly, remarks Charles Gore (1853-1932), we should take comfort in noting how the Apostle John interprets God’s love as having no other meaning than keeping His commandments and doubtless also the “love of fellow believers” as a willing and whole-hearted service to them. Feelings of affection typically follow such devotion to serving God and mankind. The test is not a matter of sensing or feeling. His commandments are not “grievous” or “heavy.” On the contrary, there seems to be an apparent reference to our Lord’s words about His easy yoke and the light burden we carry.[12][13]
Beyond doubt, notes Alonzo R. Cocke (1858-1901), we are conscious of God’s affection by loving Him supremely. But consciousness is only a subjective test; the objective test is obedience. Therefore, we demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commands instead of a risky effort to keep His mandates. A child of God that loves their Heavenly Father does not hesitate to walk in the path of obedience; they will walk with a wholesome and contented heart. God’s spiritual life is in the believer’s heart, which gives them the strength to keep His words. Power comes with life in the Anointed One.[14]
It is unmistakable, says James B. Morgan (1859-1942), that God’s love for His children is essential to the believer’s character. It cannot exist without it. Therefore, the Apostle John is committed to explaining how the mind produces it. He traces it through faith, regeneration, and God’s love and shows how it results from these principles. First, the sinner believes that Jesus is the Anointed One and finds Him an all-sufficient Savior. Then this born-again child embraces their Savior as a prophet, priest, and potentate. The significant moral change of regeneration accompanies this faith in Jesus. While the mind discerns the truth, the heart is brought under its power and sanctified by it. This miraculous change is due to God’s sovereign grace.
It is freely acknowledged to the glory of God that “He saved us because of His mercy, not because of any good things we did. He saved us through the washing that made us new people. He saved us by making us new through the Holy Spirit.”[15] The soul comes alive with gratitude and “We love Him because He loved us.”[16] The progress of the love of God’s children is natural and easy.[17] This is the theory by which we account for the love of fellow believers. But, being thus inseparably connected with the great principles of the Gospel, it becomes a question of great importance, how shall we be certified that we love all God’s children? To reply to this inquiry seems to be the specific object of John’s statement: “Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-born. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child. The reality test on whether we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep His commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep His commandments, which are not troublesome.”[18][19]
It seems evident that Robert Law (1860-1919) takes the Apostle John’s message as echoing his Master’s words written in John’s Gospel. In doing so, John proclaims that to speak of a love for God does not naturally signify that our moral integrity has the right to speak of what does not and cannot exist. To love God is not only a motive compelling us to obey; it is, in itself, being in union with God. To love God is to love all of “righteousness and true holiness.”[20] It has no other meaning than this: Love for God has shown the necessity of love for our spiritual brothers and sisters in the Lord and our moral trustworthiness. Hence, neither of these can genuinely exist without the other.[21] It is the Apostle John’s last word on Love in this Epistle.[22][23]
In reviewing what the Apostle John said about obeying God’s mandates, Archibald T. Robertson (1863-1934) points out that by using “This” . . . “that” in the first line is similar to what he said in his Gospel,[24] to show what “the love of God”[25] in the objective sense is, not mere oratorical boasting,[26] but obedience to God’s commands, “that we keep on keeping (as present active subjunctive) in His commandments.”[27] This factor is the supreme test that God’s commands are not grievous – not heavy. Love for God lightens His commands.[28]
In characteristic fashion, Alan England Brooke (1863-1939) explains that obedience to God’s commands is the outcome of love for God. There is no such thing as a genuine love for God which does not issue in obedience.[29] But love adds more to obedience than carrying out definite commands. It accepts them as the expression of an underlying principle capable of forming the whole character, which must be kept alive and allowed to grow more mature. Believers are given the necessary power for this through the indwelling Holy Spirit.[30]
[1] Cameron, Robert: The First Epistle of John, or, God Revealed in Light, Life, and Love, op. cit., p. 210
Sometimes when we hear quotes of inspiring words from the past, they do not have that special WOW factor that makes us sit up and take notice. For example, the following words are attributed to Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909), the grand-nephew of Nathan Hale (1755-1776), the American Revolutionary War hero executed by the British for espionage. Edward Hale said, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”[1]
We cannot sense the urgency and passion of these words unless we learn more about the context in which they were spoken. America was in the grip of a terrifying civil war that threatened to tear the great E Pluribus Unum (“out of many, one)” nation apart. Sadly, it was not Americans fighting foreign soldiers, but fellow Americans. Nevertheless, he felt so strongly about keeping the union together that he wrote the article “The Man without a Country” about a Union Army Officer named Philip Nolan who died in the war as a prisoner aboard U. S. Corvette and published by The Atlantic Monthly Magazine.
One reader named Henry Seidel Canby wrote that there are few stories charged with stronger patriotism than the narrative of a man who “loved his country as no other man has loved her.” Not many poems called forth by the intensities of our war period so well embody the strong loyalty engendered by the struggle. And there are few narratives whose last line we can say with stronger conviction. After his death, they looked in his Bible, and there was a slip of paper at the place where he had marked the text in Hebrews 11:16 “They desire a country, even heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He has prepared for them a city.” In 1903 Edward Hale became Chaplain of the United States Senate.
Too often, we fret and express regret over everything we were unable to do or that should have been done by somebody, especially in times of emergencies or dire circumstances, by our church, community, city, state, or country. Could it be they didn’t care or never took the threat seriously, especially today when watching the disintegration of law and order in our cities and eliminating all Biblical values, virtues, and ethics in our educational system, courtrooms, State and Federal legislatures, society, and news media?
But God did not design this world, so every problem would be left to one resource to solve or provide for all needs. So instead, just like the workings of a fine clock, each part, no matter how big or small, is only required to do its job to keep the correct time.
So don’t get caught up in the distress of what should have or could have been done; ask yourself, “Did I do what I was able to do?” If someone is retired and sits home all day reading the Bible and brags about how many chapters they read daily, don’t feel you’re not doing the same when you work two jobs to pay the rent and keep food on the table. I’ve heard preachers proud of spending two to four hours praying each day but won’t reveal it because they don’t have much else to do. All that matters to God is when we stand before Him on judgment day. Then, He will not ask us what we could not do but what we did with the time we had to do it.
[1] Statement published in “A Year of Beautiful Thoughts,” Complied by Jeanie Ashley Bates Greenough, Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Publishers, New York, 1902, p. 172
Down an Unfamiliar Road 