First John: 1 John 5:21-John Solemnly Warns the Recipients of First John to Protect Themselves from Idols Lesson # 207
First John • Sermon • Submitted • 1:02:42
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1 John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (NET)
1 John 5:21 Little children, I solemnly charge each and every one of you to make it your top priority in making every effort to take careful measures in protecting yourselves from the worship of idols. (My translation)
The apostle John brings this epistle to an end by solemnly issuing the recipients of First John a command which required that each and every one of them make it their top priority in making every effort to take careful measures in protecting themselves from the worship of idols.
When issuing this command, he addresses them with the noun teknion which is a term of affection and endearment which expresses his care and nurture for them.
This command might seem out of place since he never mentions idolatry in the letter.
However, we must remember that the recipients of First John were Gentiles who lived in the Roman province of Asia in the first century A.D. and during this period of human history the Gentiles were immersed in the practice of idolatry.
In fact, as we noted in our study of 1 John 5:20, the apostle John describes both the Father and the Son as “true” which means that the Father and the Son are characterized by truth.
It also speaks of being true in the sense of being authentic or genuine as opposed to a counterfeit or what is false.
Idols are a lie since they are not God and do not represent Him and are the invention of Satan and his kingdom to deceive and seduce people from worshipping God.
Consequently, John describes the Father and the Son as “true” (alēthinos) in 1 John 5:20 and issues the prohibition in 1 John 5:21 which required that they continue to reject the practice of idolatry.
Now, by way of definition, idolatry pertains to the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself.
It is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
The practice of idolatry is a violation of the first and second commandments of the Ten Commandments which are recorded in written form for Israel in Exodus 20:3-4.
They are also written on the hearts of every human being whether regenerate or unregenerate according to Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:14-15.
In Romans 1:18-23, Paul describes the entire human race as involved in idolatry.
Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 teach that the worship of idols is connected to the worship of demons since the sacrificing to idols is in reality sacrificing to demons who promote the worship of idols.
Idolatry is the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself.
Scores of references to idolatry appear in the Old Testament.
Joshua 24:2 states that Abraham’s father served idols.
The most noteworthy instance of idolatry in the history of Israel was Aaron’s making of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex 32:1-4).
Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols but came to mean among the Old Testament Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise or the worship of the Lord through visible symbols (Hos 8:5-6; 10:5).
Idolatry is not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to God alone, but also is putting anything ahead of your relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will (1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
Ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
So therefore, when John issues this warning in 1 John 5:21, he is not only speaking of worshipping literal idols, but also anything that would take the recipients of First John away from obeying his Spirit inspired apostolic teaching concerning the person of Jesus Christ.
This teaching we noted was attacked by the proto-Gnostic teachers or docetic Gnostic teachers who John describes as “antichrists” in 1 John 2:18 and non-believers in 1 John 2:19 and “false prophets” in 1 John 4:2.
He asserts in 1 John 2:18-27 and 4:1-6 that they did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and God’s one and only Son.
They did not believe He was human.
Thus, in light of this false doctrine, the mention of protecting oneself from idols, is probably a reference to protecting oneself from the false doctrine taught by these antichrists or false prophets.
Therefore, when John solemnly charges the recipients of First John to make it their top priority in making every effort in taking careful measures to protect themselves from the worship of idols, he did not want them to give to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion, which belongs to the Father and His Son.
It also means that he did not want them to put anything ahead of their relationship with God and which would prevent you from doing His will such as obeying the false doctrine taught by the antichrists (1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
He did not want them to give any human desire a precedence over executing God’s will for their lives which would happen if they literally worshipped an idol or adhered to the false doctrine taught by these antichrists or false prophets (1 Cor. 10:14; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; 1 Peter 4:3).
Now, the manner in which they were to obey this command was obeying the contents of First John.
They would protect themselves by continuing to adhere to John’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching with regards to the person of Jesus of Nazareth, which asserts He is God’s one and only Son and the Savior (cf. 1 John 1:1-3; 2:18-27; 4:1-6; 5:6-11).
They would protect themselves from the worship of idols by confessing their sins to the Father (cf. 1 John 1:9) to be restored to fellowship with God when they sin.
They would maintain this fellowship by obedience to his apostolic teaching (cf. 1 John 2:3-6).
They would protect themselves from idols by also obeying the Lord Jesus Christ’s Spirit inspired command to love one another which they were indoctrinated with from the beginning of their Christian instruction (cf. 1 John 2:7-11).
Also, they would protect themselves from idols by continuing to not love the cosmic system of Satan and the things of this organization and system which is opposed to God (cf. 1 John 2:15-17).
By rejecting the false doctrine taught by the antichrists regarding the person of Jesus Christ and continuing to adhere to John’s apostolic teaching regarding the person of Jesus Christ, the recipients would further protect themselves from idols (cf. 1 John 2:18-27; 4:1-6).
Obeying the teaching of the antichrists would lead them into apostasy and idolatry.
The false doctrine of the antichrists would lead them to a belief in something that was a lie.
Any form of belief that leads people away from obedience to the truth is idolatry.
Furthermore, the recipients of First John would protect themselves from idols by practicing divine righteousness (cf. 1 John 2:29-3:10).
Obeying the command to love one another would result in the recipients of this letter practicing righteousness.
Thus, obeying the command to love one another would protect them from idols (cf. 1 John 3:11-18; 4:7-5:3).
By obeying this command, they would be experiencing fellowship with God and Jesus Christ and by experiencing fellowship with the Father and the Son, they would be experiencing eternal life (cf., 1 John 5:13-20).
Thus, by remaining in fellowship with God and experiencing eternal life by obeying the command to love one another, the recipients of this letter would be protecting themselves from the worship of idols.