Greater Friendship Baptist Church WFFF
Dr. Derrick L. Miles, Pastor
Seeing Through The Eyes Of John
I John 2:15-29
- This is a command implying that action now in progress must cease: “Stop loving the world!”
2. "World" in this example here, is speaking of the sin of the world.
3. Although John often repeats the importance of love and that God is love (4:7-8), he also reveals that God hates a certain type of love: love of the world (John 15:18-20).
4. The false teachers had no such singular love, but were devoted to the world’s philosophy and wisdom, thereby revealing their love for the world and their unsaved state. (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; 1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Peter 2: 12-22).
5. (16) John uses the term negatively here for a strong desire for evil things.
6. Key terms here are lust, flesh, eyes and pride of life.
7. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are what got Eve in trouble in the garden of Eden.
8. (17) John predicts that the temporal world (Greek “Kosmos”), will pass away but that believers who do the will of God will live forever in the age to come.
9. We are born dying.
10. To receive Him means that we receive Life. “The world passeth away”:
11. (18) The antichrist is the ultimate opponent of God, God’s plans and God’s people.
12. John uses the plural to identify and characterize the false teachers who were troubling John’s congregations because their false doctrine distorted the truth and opposed Christ (Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22; Acts 20:28-30).
13. The term therefore, refers to a principle of evil, incarnated in men, who are hostile and opposed to God (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
14. (19) The first characteristic mentioned of antichrists, i.e. false teachers and deceivers (verses 22-26), is that they depart from the faithful (see verses 22-23), for the second characteristic and (verse 26), for the third.
15. They arise from within the church and depart from true fellowship and then they lead people out with them.
16. Many times, these false teachers and prophets, are those who are really opposed to Christ, are pretending to be Christians.
17. (20) “Unction": In the verse above, means anointing.
18. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide.
19. (21) "All things" (in verse 20), is spoken of here as Truth. John is writing to the church, and not to the world.
20. (22) To deny Jesus brings death to the one who denies.
21. These should be sobering words for modern understandings of religion and Christianity which deny Christ His scriptural status by making Him less than fully divine.
22. (23) God has chosen to reveal Himself definitively in Christ, it is not possible to know God personally and truly without fully acknowledging Christ in the fullness of His power and being.
23. (24) John exhorts his readers to persevere in the face of false teaching and belief. The Greek text emphasizes the readers, in contrast to those who have gone out.
24. This is simply saying; reject the false message of the antichrist.
25. (25) We see from this that eternal life is in Jesus.
26. (26) John is writing to them and to us to be aware of these false teachers.
27. (27) In response to such deceivers, the task of the genuine believer is to “walk in truth,” i.e., persevere in faithfulness and sound doctrine (see verses 20-21, 2 John 4; 3 John 4).
28. The "anointing" here, is speaking of the Holy Spirit that is dwelling inside of us which teaches us all Truth.
29. (28) Whenever John refers to abiding he’s referring to persevering in the faith of salvation, which is evidence of being a true believer.
30. The word “confidence” means “outspokenness” or “freedom of speech”.
31. (29) The hope of Christ’s return not only sustains faith (verse 28), but makes righteousness a habit.