When "the Bad Guys" Don't Look So Bad
If it were not so serious, 1 John could be the setting for an exciting detective story. Even within that first century church various erroneous doctrines and practices seem to have arisen. As the aged John considered the situation, he knew that some of those who were claiming to "have fellowship with God" (1 John 1:6), "to know God" (1 John 2:4) and who were asserting "I love God" (1 John 4:20) were not only deceived, but they were confusing those who were faithful. 1 John 2:26 Although these prophets might appear very spiritual as they claimed to be without sin (1 John 1:8,10), John knew that the Church needed to avoid the naiveté of believing every teacher who made fine sounding claims about following God (1 John 4:1). These disciples needed the sophistication required to be able to test those who were teaching in order to be able to winnow out the false prophets (1 John 4:1). John referred to these impostors in a way which is offensive to ears accustomed to hearing the language of inclusion. He called these apparent members of the Christian community "children of the devil." 1 John 3:10
John's response to this situation was to write a brief handbook on how to distinguish between the impostors and those who are faithful to God. This handbook contains a list of markers separating those who have genuinely been born of God from the larger group of those individuals claiming to be children of God. Cf. 1 John 3:10
The Marks of and Promises for Those Who Truly Have Been Born of God
A Comforting Or a Disturbing Message Today?
On the one hand, to those who have embraced the truth about Jesus thus causing them to respond to the Gospel and to live for God, John's message offers the assurance that they can know they have been born of God and that they have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 Such individuals will find their lives bearing the fruit of those who belong to God as with faith in Jesus as the Messiah, they are active in loving others and doing righteousness. Such children of God do not deliberately continue to sin which would have indicated a continuing allegiance to evil. Being born of God involves a change in who the person is because "God's seed" remains in him. 1 John 3:9
However on the other hand, even though someone might claim "I know God and I am walking with God," if that person's life is still characterized by hate toward others and a devotion to sin, then John's message painfully rips the veneer of false security off of that person's heart exposing a life being lived in darkness not in the light. It is not possible for one to be a new creation in Christ while continuing to serve sin. What might cause a person to attempt this self deception? One contemporary reason can be that there is the temptation to glibly treat salvation as an insurance policy for the future, while continuing to "follow my own path" as I always have.
Because of current trends today, the need exists to emphasize that being born of God is not merely a matter of one's moral compass swinging one-hundred and eighty degrees; it also involves ascribing to correct doctrine. Doctrine does matter. In John's situation, one doctrine which was under attack was the nature of Jesus. Responding to that doctrinal crisis, John wrote that in order for one to be born of God requires that one has believed that Jesus is the Messiah (1 John 5:1), the Son of God (1 John 5:5; 3:23) who has come in the flesh (1 John 4:3).
An Important Principle in Interpreting 1 John
It is important to understand the principle that the scope of John's message is limited to discussing those who claimed to be in the Christian community of his day. John's message should only be applied to the body of Christ, not to those living in the world. These "marks" were not intended to inform either a Christian or an unbeliever about how one could become a child of God, rather they describe some of the necessary doctrines and fruits which characterize the genuine conversion of those who have been born of God.
What this means is that John is not telling us who within the world has been born of God, but rather who within the Christian community who claims to know God has not been born of God. By identifying those who belong to God, John is eliminating the imposters. In other words, those who do not exhibit these qualities can not have been born of God. But on the other hand, possession of one or more of these "marks" by someone outside of Christ does not prove that such an individual is therefore a child of God. Like Paul who found it necessary to warn those who had been baptized (I Corinthians. 10) that their baptism and participation in Christ did not prove that everything was OK, John is winnowing out the "children of the devil" from that group which appears to have responded to the Gospel.
In view of John 3:3, 5, which was one of the early church's favorite baptismal texts, some might be surprised that John did not include baptism as being a critical indicator of one having been born of God. That John did not mention this is quite understandable, in light of his historical context. At that time,everyone claiming to follow Christ would have been baptized. The physical act of baptism would not have provided any means to distinguish between those of the light and those of darkness. John's task required going beyond merely asking if one had apparently obeyed the Gospel; he focused upon those critical fruits and beliefs which would be evident in the new life of the one who had truly been born of God.
Dangerous Verses When Taken Out of Context
Imagine someone claiming, "you don't have to be a Christian to go to heaven, even the Bible says that you just need to be a good loving person." In utter disbelief you ask, where did you read that? The person then quotes to you 1 John 4:7 "Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." Or imagine someone saying to you, "you don't have to be baptized in order to become a child of God, even the New Testament says that you just need to believe in Jesus as the Messiah." Once again you ask, where did you read that? This time you are quoted 1 John 5:1: "Everyone who is believing that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God." Undoubtedly in each case the person won't fail to point out to you that the text says 'everyone.' And therefore if 'anyone' does this ("love" or "believe") then he or she must be a legitimate child of God.
Is this what the text is claiming or has John's message been distorted? Two simple and interrelated key observations suggest that such statements are not what John intended to communicate. The first deals with the context and the second is the passive voice which is used in all of these verses that refer to being born of God.
First, we have already noticed that John's discussion is limited to addressing those within his Christian community context who were claiming to know God. John was not making any claims about that person who had not yet responded to the Gospel, but who might possess a certain godly characteristic such as being a loving person. That this is true is evident in 1 John 5:11-12.
In 1 John 5:11-12, John insisted that in order for one to have life one must be in Christ. If someone were to claim that "everyone who is a loving person has been born of God," then this creates the impossible scenario of one being born of God because they were loving but then failing to obtain life because they were not in Christ. It is clear that John was not teaching that as long as anybody demonstrates love this fact alone makes that person a child of God. He was separating out the children of the devil from among those who were truly in fellowship with God. By the same token, John's message does not assert that as long as someone in the world believes that Jesus is the Messiah, this proves that such a one is born of God.
Second, all of these Greek words which speak of one being born of God are in the passive voice (has been born, is begotten, etc.). John's point is to provide Christians with a means to identify some of the results of being born of God as they consider the community around them which claims to be Christian. By identifying the legitimate group within the larger group, John is eliminating false brethren. He message is not additive, that is he is not providing instructions about "how to join" or how to add people to the group. Although they might claim to belong to God, those failing to exhibit these qualities can not have been born of God. These texts do not support considering the possibility that those outside of Christ's covenant community might actually belong to the family of God simply because they exhibit a certain belief or a godly characteristic.
In this letter John is not teaching how someone can become a child of God. Regarding how someone is born of God by "receiving Jesus" and "believing in his name," (John 1:12-13), one should read John 3:1-18 or Galatians 3:26-27.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998, Revised version © 2000
Other articles which might be of interest:
When God Says, "You Belong to Me"