When an author decides to compose a writing, he has some basic thoughts in mind as to what he plans to cover. I believe that when the Apostle John wrote this Epistle, the basic matters which he wanted to share were the very items we have covered in our previous messages.
There was within him this matter of the eternal life. Out of this life is the fellowship, the flowing of this life within us. Within John also must have been the fact of the mutual abiding, then the anointing, and then the spirit which has been reborn of God. He wanted to remind his readers of the part within them which was not only created by God but also regenerated by His Spirit with the divine life. Then there must also have been the thought of the seed of God, that is, God Himself sown into mankind as the soil. It is of these basic items that John composed this Epistle.
With this message we come to the conclusion of 1 John, the last six verses.
“If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:16-21, lit.).
John’s conclusion here is also composed of several basic matters. There are five on the negative side and three on the positive. The negative ones are: sin, death, the world, the wicked one, and idols. The positive ones are: God, the Son of God, and life.
It is a help in studying the Bible to take note of the main items. If you do not pick them out, you probably will not notice them. Do not hesitate to mark up your Bible! Then the important themes will stand out, and the light will shine. If you circle the negative items in these verses in black, and then use another color to circle the positive items, your attention will be drawn to them.
It was the work of the Apostle John to mend the broken revelation which had been given to Paul. He surely did a marvelous job! Even in these six verses we can see his wisdom and skillfulness. It is not sufficient for a carpenter to have good pieces of wood; he also needs skill if he is to shape them into fine furniture. In these verses John handled his words in a skillful way.
Like the rest of the Bible, John’s composition is not doctrinal but experiential. He begins his conclusion by speaking of a man seeing his brother sin and asking life for him. What John has in mind is not a doctrine but a case. He is speaking about experience. There is no doctrinal flavor to these verses. They are written from the standpoint of experience.
The Bible is surely not composed in a doctrinal way. Systematic theology is a human invention. The revelation in the Bible is not given in systematized doctrines. Genesis begins by telling us, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” This is not a doctrine. In Genesis 3 we have the account of the subtle serpent who came and beguiled the woman into partaking of the forbidden tree. There is no doctrine of the Devil given. The New Testament likewise begins in a way that is not doctrinal. It says, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham.”
Beware of doctrinal talk. The divisions in Christianity have come about largely over doctrine. If Christians cared more for experience and less for doctrine, there would not be so many divisions.
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