Guarding Yourself from Idolatry, Part 1

1 John 5:18-21

November 16, 2003

 

            This morning we come to the closing section of 1 John. As we do, it is important to remember why he wrote this letter in the first place. He told us that his purpose in writing was so that we might have true, authentic fellowship with the living God through His Son, Jesus Christ. In 5:13 he put his purpose like this: These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. It is this certainty that the Apostle was wanting us to have. His joy will be made full when we have confidence in our fellowship with God (1:4).

            As he closes the letter, he brings up what is the greatest hindrance to our fellowship with God: idolatry. We cannot have fellowship with God and, at the same time, worship and serve idols. Either we will love the true God, or we will worship and serve and devote ourselves to idols. If we are to have fellowship with God, it is essential that we not be idolaters.

            In Exodus 20:4 God gave Moses the second commandment of the ten commandments. God commanded, You shall not make for yourself an idol. That seems simple enough, but yet idolatry is not always obvious. Many times it is insidious and happens to us when we are not aware of it. John Calvin said that the human heart is an idol factory. That statement is proven in the life of the nation of Israel. Before Moses even came down from the mountain where he was meeting with God, the people of Israel fell into idolatry. In Exodus 32:1-6 we are given the account. Moses was delayed in coming down to them, and so the people demanded that Aaron, Moses’ brother, make them a god. Aaron gave in to their wishes, and he formed a molten calf for them. The interesting thing about this account is that the people of Israel were not desiring to worship another god besides the Lord God. In fact, in Exodus 32:5 we read, Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” The people, having made an idol, were about to celebrate a feast to the one true and living God! The idol they had formed was not set up to compete with the true God, but it was set up to represent the true God. It was an image made to give the people a tangible picture of God. These Israelites were not necessarily setting out to be idolaters, but that is what they were.

            Idolatry is not only insidious, it is deadly. Listen to the Lord’s response to Israel’s idolatry in Exodus 32:33-35: The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made. The idolatry of Israel brought punishment upon them. God takes idolatry seriously.

            I believe it is this danger that we all face of idolatry that causes John to end 1 John with this warning, Little children, guard yourselves from idols. Idolatry is a very real danger, and it is essential that we guard ourselves against it. It is essential that we make certain that our fellowship is with the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. But how can we guard ourselves against idolatry? What steps can we take to make sure that we are in real, authentic fellowship with God, and to ensure that we don’t set up an idol in place of the true God? In 1 John 5:18-21 we find the answer to that question. The Apostle gives us three truths we must know to guard ourselves from idolatry. These verses present three truths you must know to guard yourself from idolatry.

 

#1 – Know that you are kept from sin by the Son of God (v. 18)

 

            Look at verse 18. John writes, We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. The first truth you must know to guard yourself from idolatry is this: Know that you are kept from sin by the Son of God. You are kept from sin by the Son of God.

            This truth is to be something that you know. The Apostle, in fact, assumes that this is basic Christian knowledge. He says, we know. This is something that he assumed his readers already knew. When he speaks of knowledge in this context, he means intellectual knowledge of a fact. It is objective information that is true for all believers everywhere. It is something that you should know like you know that two plus two equals four. That two plus two equals four is absolutely true in every situation and every circumstance. It is a truth that never fails, and it is objective information that we can know. It is not so much personal knowledge as it is head knowledge of fact. So it is with this truth. The Apostle is here speaking of undeniable fact. It is not knowledge of a person or of a personal nature so much, but it is doctrinal knowledge. Knowledge that should fill your mind. What is this knowledge? What is it that we should know?

            Well, we can sum it up by saying that we should know that the Son of God keeps us from sin. Jesus, the Son of God, keeps us from sin if we are believers. Here is how John works this out. He begins by saying, We know that no one who is born of God sins. This is one of those absolute statements that we are so familiar with in this Apostle’s writing. He often makes these kinds of statements that are very black or white. There is no middle ground in his mind. You are either in the light or in the dark. You are either a child of God or a child of the devil. John loves to make these types of absolute statements, and his statement here is that no one who is born of God sins. What does he mean by this?

            On the surface, this verse presents a problem for us because we all experience something very different than what this verse appears to be teaching. Everyone who is a Christian has sinned since his or her conversion. There is no one who is born of God who doesn’t sin at different times and in different ways. In fact, this verse appears to contradict other teachings of Scripture. James 3:2 says, We all stumble in many ways, and he goes on to work that statement out for us. Surely by this he means that we all sin in many ways. We all face various trials and temptations, and sometimes we fail to overcome them and we fall into sin. We all face this stumbling that is a part of life in this flesh. So what does John mean when he says, no one who is born of God sins?

            The Apostle means by this statement that no one who is born of God practices sin habitually. No one who is born of God makes a habit or a practice of sinning. In the Greek the word translated sins is in the present tense, and the present tense in this context signifies customary or habitual action. It shows that which habitually occurs. No one who is born of God goes on living in sin. It is absolutely impossible.

            Let me illustrate this for you from Matthew 7:17. Jesus said, So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. The word translated bears in this verse is also in the present tense, and the idea is that of customary or habitual action. Is Jesus saying that the good tree never has one piece of bad fruit ever? No, that is surely not His meaning. Good trees occasionally have a piece of bad fruit, but no good tree habitually bears bad fruit. It is not the common occurrence for the good tree to bear bad fruit. It is not an absolute statement, but a statement of principle. Good trees are known for bearing, on the whole, good, tasty fruit.

            The same is true of what the Apostle is saying in 1 John 5:18. No one who is born of God sins means that sin is not the normal output of the life of a child of God. The child of God bears good fruit. Yes, there will be some bad fruit once in a while, but on the whole, the general life direction and pattern will be righteousness and obedience to God’s Word. Good fruit will be found in the life of those born of God, or it is certain evidence that they are not really born of God.

            I think the Apostle begins this final paragraph with this statement to balance what he has just said in verses 14-17. You remember there we were exhorted to pray for a brother who sins not unto death. Sin is possible in the Christian life, and we all stumble in many ways. That is why it is vital that we pray for one another. But, the Apostle says, no one who is born of God goes on living this way. No one who is born of God goes on sinning. He may sin a sin not unto death, but he will not go on living in it. It is a sheer impossibility.

            True Christians, then, do not practice sin. The life of true Christian is one of good fruit. Christians are the good trees, and while there may, once in a while, perhaps more often than we would like, be bad fruit that grows, on the whole we will produce good fruit. No one who is born of God sins.

            This leads John to show the opposite of this. Rather than living in sin, believers are kept by the Son of God. They do not live in sin, but they are held by the power of Jesus Christ. The Apostle writes, No one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him. The but at the beginning of this phrase shows us that John is showing the contrast, the opposite, of what he just has said. The opposite of living in sin is to be kept by the Son of God. When the Apostle says, He who was born of God, he is referring to our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a reference to the incarnation, when our Lord was born into this sinful world as a baby boy.

            It is the Son of God who keeps the child of God. The word translated keeps is a rich word. It means to watch over, to guard, or to preserve. The Apostle is saying that Jesus Christ guards the children of God. Jesus Christ watches over those who are born of God. He cares for them, protects them from sin, and guards their souls. He is called the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls in 1 Peter 2:25. If you are a Christian, Jesus is the guardian of your soul. He is guarding it, preserving it, watching over it. He is ensuring that it doesn’t end up in destruction and ruin. He is keeping you safe from spiritual death and destruction. Could there be a more comforting thought than to think that our very Lord Himself is concerned with our souls, and that He is in heaven at this very moment guarding them? He is even now watching over your soul if you are a Christian this morning. He cares for it and keeps it safe from harm. Why should we have so many worries and so many cares when our Lord Himself is so mercifully guarding us? He is caring for you this morning if you have been born of God.

            In John 17:15 Jesus was praying for His disciples and all those who would believe, even us this morning, and He prayed, I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. It is the same word for keep in this passage as in 1 John 5:18. Jesus’ prayer was that God the Father would protect and guard His disciples and all of those who would believe upon Him for salvation. Do you know what the answer to that prayer is? The answer is that Jesus Christ Himself has been given charge, and He Himself guards us! He Himself keeps us! His prayer is answered as God keeps us from the evil one through His own beloved Son. We are kept from sin by the Son of God Himself in answer to His own prayer! The glory and wonder of it all, and how it should comfort our hearts and souls!

            But the Apostle goes on and adds this: and the evil one does not touch him. Not only are we “safe in the arms of Jesus” as Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it, but the devil cannot touch us. What does this mean? It means that the devil can no longer lay hold of us. The word translated touch means to cling to, lay hold of, or to fasten oneself to. The Apostle is saying that the evil one cannot lay hold of us; he cannot fasten himself to us. We are protected by the Son of God, and therefore the devil no longer has any ability to control us. The idea is that he cannot assault us to sever our union with Christ. The devil can and will tempt you. The devil can and will shoot his fiery darts at you. He can and will prowl about like a roaring lion trying to devour you. But the simple truth is that he can never tear us from our Lord Jesus Christ. He can never lay hold of us or have the claim to us again. He does not touch us. He does not fasten himself to us. When we resist him, he flees from us.

            Because Jesus exercises watchful care over us, we can be sure that the evil one cannot lay hold of us, and we know that we do not practice sin. It is this care of the Son of God for us that allows us to know without a doubt that we will not, indeed cannot, practice sin as children of God. It is an impossibility. So the first thing you need to know to guard yourself from idolatry is that you are kept from sin by the power of God. You must realize this, and have confidence that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Shepherd and Guardian of your soul.

 

#2 – Know that you are distinct from the world (v. 19)

 

            Not only must we know that we are kept from sin by the Son of God, but we must also know that we are distinct from the world. We see that clearly in verse 19. The Apostle writes, We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Once again, the Apostle speaks of knowledge, the kind of knowledge that is that of knowing a fact. Just as we know without a doubt that gravity is an absolute, fixed law, so we must know these facts as absolute truths that cannot be broken. These things are certain truths that we must know in our heads and make a vital part of our thinking.

            This second fact is that we are distinct from the world. We are separated from it and utterly removed from its realm. The Apostle begins by explaining that we are of God. What does he mean? He means that we belong to God. Another way to translate it would be, We know that we are God’s own. In a sense, it means that we are God’s possession. He has ownership of us. We belong to Him. We are part of His family.

            I know of nothing that can be as wonderful as to know that you are a child of the living God and that you belong to Him. Nothing can be so consoling to you during trials and temptations and difficulties than to know without a doubt that you belong to God and that you are a part of His family. And that is your position if you are a Christian. If you are a Christian this morning, then you must know that you are part of God’s family, and you belong to Him. He bought you with the precious blood of His only Son, and you are no longer your own, but you are His. What a wonderful thing to belong to God and to be His own possession!

            As wonderful as this is, there is an equal and opposite truth, and that truth is that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Just as it is thrilling and wonderful to know that we belong to God, so it is devastating and frightening to realize that the whole world is under the dominion and power of Satan.

            You will notice, if you have a NAS Bible, that the words the power of have been added to the translation. They do not appear in the original Greek text. The verse literally reads, the whole world lies in the evil one. The word for lies appears in Matthew 5:14, where Jesus says, A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. The word translated set in Matthew 5:14 is translated lies in 1 John 5:19. What does it mean that a city is set on a hill? It means that its location is on a hill. It belongs, in a sense, to that hill. In the same way, the whole world can be said to be set in the evil one. It belongs to the realm and dominion of Satan. It is set in his territory. It is in his sphere.

When the Apostle says that the world lies in the evil one, it is a striking contrast to the children of God who belong to God. The whole world lies in the evil one, but we are of God! Do you see how there is to be this great distinction between the Church and the world? The world is in the evil one, while the Church belongs to God. Is there any clearer statement in Scripture that the Church and the world should be utterly and completely opposed to one another? Yet in how many instances have we compromised with the world as the Church? How many times in how many ways have we adopted the world’s practices, the world’s methods, and the world’s standards in the Church of the living God? Can this be anything other than idolatry in its most grotesque form? The Church should be so different in every way that it should never be confused with the world. They should be nothing alike whatsoever!

This goes down even to your own personal life. You are of God if you are a Christian, and the world lies in the evil one. Is it evident in your life? Do you demonstrate this truth in your actions, in your words, in your thoughts, in your desires? You are to be in utter contrast to this world system! The Apostle Paul puts it like this in 2 Corinthians 6:16: What agreement has the temple of the living God with idols? In other words, what do the Church and the world have in common? The temple of the living God is the Church. The physical temple has been torn down, and now we, as the body of Christ, form the temple of the living God. That is what the Apostle means. It is a clear reference that the new temple is the Church. And the question is, What does the Church have in common with idols? Can the church be filled with idolaters? May it never be! They have nothing in common. We are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one! Paul goes on in verses 17-18 to say, “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty. Don’t be idolaters! Come out from their midst, and be separate from the world! You must not live in that sphere, and you must not exist in that realm, for that is the realm of idolatry, and you are the temple of the living God. Are you separating yourself? Are you children of God? Is He your Father? If He is, then you belong to Him, and you have nothing in common with the world, and you are utterly opposed to its system in every possible way. You must not compromise with the world, and you cannot accommodate its whims and ways.

Now, I want you to note how emphatic John is in 1 John 5:19. He says, the whole world lies in the evil one. That means that there is not an inch of ground outside the church that is not in the domain of the evil one, of the devil. Don’t be deceived. There are no unbelievers who are outside the devil’s kingdom and dominion and sway. The whole world means all of it that is not of God. Every single person who is not of God is in the sphere of the evil one. They are all set in Satan and held captive by him to do his will. This includes the most obvious people who are unbelievers, such as drug addicts, drunkards, prostitutes, murderers, thieves, and robbers. And it also includes those who deny Christ but who seem to be nice, moral, good people. All who would deny the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ are part of this system that John calls the world, and he is emphatic at this point that the whole system and the whole realm of the world is in the realm of Satan.

Do you have this knowledge? Do you know that you are of God? Can you say that with confidence? Do you know that the whole world lies in the wicked one? Do you see the world this way? Or do you perhaps see it as, on the whole, good and trying to do its best? Do you realize that this whole world system of godless entertainment, and godless amusement, and godless world leaders, and pride and lust and greed, all of it, is under the sway and in the realm of Satan? Do you realize the condition this world is in? It is not just a little bit off. The world has not just gone slightly wrong. No, but it is completely and entirely wrong. The world is completely and entirely in the realm of Satan and in his domain. It lies in him. It is set in him. And just like he will someday be destroyed and eternally punished, so also this world will follow him into perdition and destruction.

If you are a Christian this morning and you know that the world lies in the evil one while you are of God, you must certainly realize that you are distinct from the world and at odds with it. You will not fit in with the world if you are of God. Don’t expect the world to understand you. Don’t expect the world to like you and love you and welcome you with open arms. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking this spiritual warfare is a game, and the world and the Church can politely agree to disagree. John has already told us in 1 John 3:13, Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. When you realize that you are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one, you should be surprised and concerned if the world does not hate you. There is a great battle going on between God and Satan, and we are of God! Therefore, it must follow that the world lies in the evil one, and we are at war with it. May we never compromise with the enemy and adopt its practices!

These are the first two things you must know to guard yourself from idolatry. You must know that the Son of God keeps you from sin, and you must know that you are utterly at odds and distinct from this world. Do you know these things? Are they as certain to you as two plus two equals four? Or do you wonder if Jesus is really watching over you? Do you wonder if people can live in unrestrained sin and disobedience and really be Christians? Do you fear that the devil is going to destroy you, or do you know that you are safe in the arms of Jesus, and the evil one cannot lay hold of you? Do you know that the world is utterly against you because it lies in the evil one while you are God’s own possession? Do you expect the world to assault you and revile you, or do you try to please the world and fit in with it?

A few weeks ago we talked about revival and why it hasn’t happened in so long. Perhaps one reason why it hasn’t is because we have forgotten that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one. The Church has forgotten that she is of God, and the world is of the devil, and in her forgetfulness of this truth she has partnered with the world and conformed to it. The world has nothing to offer the church of the living God. If you say otherwise, you deny the plain teaching of this very Scripture this morning. What does Satan have to offer you that is good? Absolutely nothing. Well, the whole world is in his domain, so the whole world can only offer you what Satan can offer you, which is nothing short of damnation. But we have the truth because we are of God by His grace and mercy, and we will see that further next week, Lord-willing, when we conclude our series on 1 John. Let’s pray.

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