As the Gospel of John supplements the synoptic Gospels, so the Epistles of John supplement the other New Testament Epistles. I have studied the writings of Paul and Peter, and I appreciate them very much. I have also studied the Epistles of James and Jude. I can testify that if we did not have the Epistles of John, we would sense a great loss. The Epistles of John are an important supplement to all the other Epistles.
Furthermore, the book of Revelation is a supplement to the entire Bible. Imagine what the Bible would be like if it did not include the book of Revelation. If such were the case, the Bible would be lacking a conclusion. What a great loss that would be!
John’s writings are not only supplementary, but also complementary to the entire divine revelation. This means that the writings of John complete the Bible. His Gospel completes the Gospels, his Epistles complete the Epistles, and his Revelation completes the whole Bible. If we realize the importance of the writings of John, we shall surely thank the Lord for them. Praise the Lord for John’s Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation!
In the Epistle of 1 John there are certain verses that I especially like. First John 1:2 and 3 say, “And the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard, we report also to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed the fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” In these verses, John says that the apostles report eternal life to us so that we may have fellowship with them. In what other writing can you find such a word? In the Epistle of 1 John we have the reporting of eternal life for the purpose of fellowship. This means that eternal life produces fellowship. When this life is reported, the result is the fellowship of the divine life. Therefore, in 1:2 and 3 we have the divine life with its divine fellowship.
First John 2:27 says, “And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.” In this verse John says that the Lord’s anointing teaches us concerning all things, and as it has taught us, we should abide in Him. The teaching of the anointing is altogether different from the knowledge of man’s great teachers, including what is called the highest learning of Confucius. May we all have a full realization of the fact that the divine anointing within us is teaching us all the time and that we need simply to abide in the Lord according to the anointing.
Another marvelous verse is 3:9: “Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God.” In this verse, John speaks of those who have been “begotten of God.” John’s writings emphasize the divine birth, our regeneration. It is a great wonder that human beings can be begotten of God, regenerated of Him. As believers in Christ, we have not only been begotten of our father—we have been begotten of God. Whoever is begotten of a human being automatically becomes a human being. In the same principle, whatever is begotten of a dog is a dog. The point here is that a certain kind of life will always beget that kind of life. I would not say that because we have been begotten of God, we are God. However, according to the Scriptures, we can say that because we have been begotten of God, we are children of God with the divine life and nature. God is our Father, and we are His children possessing His life and nature. Just as we have been begotten of our parents to have the human life and nature, so we have been begotten of God to have the divine life and nature.
According to 3:9, everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him. To practice sin is to live in sin habitually. Because we have been begotten of God, we do not practice sin. For example, a cat practices mouse-catching because it has such a life. However, a dog, having a different kind of life, does not have that practice. Anyone who practices sin is not a child of God. No one who is a child of God habitually lives in sin.
The reason someone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin is that God’s seed abides in him. The seed in this verse is God’s life, which we received when we were begotten of Him. This divine seed abides in every regenerated believer. How marvelous that God’s seed abides in us! What a tremendous revelation this is! I cannot say how far this revelation goes beyond the teachings of Confucius concerning the highest learning. Because we have been begotten of God, His seed abides in us. Do you not have the sense that there is something living and organic moving and growing within you? Sometimes we can sense the activity of this seed, and at other times we can sense that it is blossoming.
In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 we see that the Lord Jesus came as a sower to sow Himself as the divine seed into the human heart. Our heart is the soil where the divine seed grows. This seed is nothing less than God Himself. A wheat seed is wheat, and a carnation seed is a carnation. In the same principle, God’s seed is God Himself. Through regeneration God has become an organic life seed growing within us. Eventually, this seed will blossom and bear fruit. Because this seed is divine, it does not practice sin.
First John 5:4 says, “Because everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world,” and 5:18 says, “We know that everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, but he who is begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him.” When we put these verses together, we see that everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world and that the evil one does not touch him. Later we shall see why 5:4 speaks of everything and 5:18 speaks of everyone. At present it is sufficient to see that everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world and the evil one does not touch him.
Christians often complain about how strong the Devil is. But in John’s writings there is a word telling us that we have been begotten of God and that the Devil does not touch us. The Devil knows that his efforts will be in vain if he touches one who has been begotten of God and who is keeping himself.
All these verses from 1 John are unique. We cannot find such verses in the writings of Paul or Peter. I would encourage you to spend some time to pray over these verses. I believe that if you pray over them, you will see something divine. I can testify that I have seen that eternal life has been reported to me, that I have a divine fellowship, that the divine anointing is within me, that I have been begotten of God, that I have the divine seed, and that I may be a person not touched by Satan. May we all see the marvelous revelation contained in these verses and be able to testify boldly concerning them.