The
Apostle John similarly taught in his first epistle that unbelievers are to come
to faith in Christ and, through the receipt of a new nature, become people of
love who also are to exercise particular acts of faith in Christ (1 John 3:23),[i]
while believers, those who have exercised saving faith and become believing
ones,[ii]
should, by obtaining assurance of their salvation, believe more deeply. Their growth in faith is associated with
their disbelief in false teachers (1 John 4:1)[iii]
because of the failure of such teachers to fit the criteria set forth by the
Apostolic faith in the Word (1 John 4:1-6).
Concluding his epistle, John stated:
“These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son
of God” (1 John 5:13).[iv] The verse indicates
that John writes his epistle to those who are believers[v]
in the Son of God. He wants them to
enjoy the knowledge that they currently possess eternal life.[vi] By possessing assurance, and growing in their
assurance of their personal salvation, they will believe the more deeply and
exercise ever greater faith in the Son of God,[vii]
resulting in full joy (1 John 1:4) and holy living (1 John 2:1).
John’s
teaching in his Gospel and first epistle are in agreement with the teaching of
the Old Testament. Moses knew the
value of greater experiential knowledge of God and of the holy graces that
flowed from such knowledge, and consequently prayed in Exodus 33:13 that because
he had found grace, the Jehovah of the Theophany, the eternal Son of God (John
1:18), would reveal Himself to him, that he might have the more grace, based on
Jehovah’s redeeming covenants with His people:
“Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me
now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and
consider that this nation is thy
people.” The presence of experiential
knowledge and communion in the text was recognized by the LXX translator: “If then I have
found favour in thy sight, reveal thyself to me, that I may evidently see thee;
that I may find favour in thy sight, and that I may know that this great nation
is thy people.” David recorded the Messiah’s promise to His
Father that as the Risen Redeemer He would reveal the Father to His people
after His crucifixion and resurrection:
“I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation
will I praise thee (Psalm 22:22, cf. 22:1-21 & Hebrews 2:12, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of
the church will I sing praise unto thee.”).
The intertestamental Jews also knew that the Lord revealed Himself
to those who believed in Him: “Love
righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth: think of the Lord with a good
heart, and in simplicity of heart seek him. For he will be found of them that
tempt him not; and manifests himself to such as are not disbelieving in him”
(Wisdom 1:1-2).
In
agreement with the teaching of the Old Testament, John makes it clear that communion
with the Father and the Son by the Spirit through the revelation of the Triune
God in His ontology and economy to His beloved people will result in ever
greater degrees of Christ-conformity in the ever more deeply believing
believer. The saints are the possessors
of a real relationship with, sharing in, assocation and fellowship with[viii]
Jehovah; they can say: “truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son
Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). The saint
who is right with God has Christ’s promise:
“I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”
(Revelation 3:20).[ix] The Lord
Jesus does not leave His purchased ones alone, but promises: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you” (John 14:18).[x] They love Christ and keep His commandments,
and are those whom the Son and His Father love, and to whom they manifest
themselves in a manner of which the unconverted world can know nothing, so that
the Divine Persons come to dwell in and with them, that their closeness and
sweet fellowship might grow the more as the Triune Presence is the more
manifest. The Lord Jesus explained:
He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me
shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to
him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and
we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.[xi]
As their Theanthropic Mediator,
Christ makes known to His people by the Holy Spirit the revelation the Father
gave Him for them.[xii] Through the Spirit and mediated by the Son,
they have the Father’s glory revealed to them, and are transformed by this
vision of God’s glory and brought into ever closer union with the Triune God
through the God-Man. Such a revelation
of the Father was the eternal Divine purpose on the heart of God, as appears in
the covenant of redemption among the Divine Persons and the covenant of grace[xiii]
through which the Father would save the elect by the Son through the Spirit,
for this revelation of God, which takes place through the Word, is at the heart
of what is involved in the possession of eternal life:
And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. . . . I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest
me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have
kept thy word. . . . For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;
and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. . . . I have given them thy word . . . sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth. . . . And the glory
which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are
one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast
loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou
lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast
sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them. [xiv]
The supernatural revelation and
manifestation of God’s name, character, and glory through Christ by the Spirit
in the Scriptures to the saints results in their sanctification, in a greater
degree of God’s presence in and with them, and in their possession and manifestation
of all the communicable Divine attributes, so that as they are filled with the
Divine presence they are also filled with Divine love and all other holy
attributes, including faith and faithfulness.
Both
the Old and New Testaments teach that the just—those who receive the imputed
righteousness of Jesus Christ, and who consequently have lives characterized by
justice—will live. They possess
spiritual life and fellowship with God on earth and are certain of eternal life
in Christ’s everlasting kingdom. This
life came to them through the instrumentality of faith. At the moment they believingly embraced
Christ, they were justified. Their
Christian growth is associated with greater and stronger entrustings of
themselves to the Lord Jesus in faith as He draws closer to them and they draw
closer to Him. In this manner their
spiritual life is carried on by faith until the completion of their earthly
pilgrimage and their entry into that glorious realm of sight where faith and
hope are done away and charity only remains.
[i] pisteu/swmen twˆ◊ ojno/mati touv ui˚ouv aujtouv
∆Ihsouv Cristouv,
leading to continuing love, a fruit of regeneration (aÓgapw◊men aÓllh/louß). The first
person plural “we should believe,” and the fact that the audience of 1 John is
believers, indicates that the pisteu/swmen is not limited to the conversion of the
unbeliever. God also commands the
regenerate to exercise particular acts of faith in Christ.
[ii] 1 John 4:16; 5:1, 5, 10, 13; hJmei√ß e˙gnw¿kamen kai«
pepisteu/kamen th\n aÓga¿phn h§n e¶cei oJ Qeo\ß e˙n hJmi√n, through which the
Christian now is oJ pisteu/wn, 1 John 5:1, 5, 10, 13, while the unbeliever is oJ mh\
pisteu/wn because ouj
pepi÷steuken,
5:10. Those who enter into perfect tense
faith possess present tense faith.
[iii] mh\ panti« pneu/mati pisteu/ete.
[iv] Tauvta e¶graya uJmi√n toi√ß pisteu/ousin
ei˙ß to\ o¡noma touv ui˚ouv touv Qeouv, iºna ei˙dhvte o¢ti zwh\n e¶cete
ai˙w¿nion, kai« iºna pisteu/hte ei˙ß to\ o¡noma touv ui˚ouv touv Qeouv.
[v] toiç pisteu/ousin.
[vi] ei˙dhvte o¢ti zwh\n e¶cete ai˙w¿nion. Since ei˙dhvte is from oi•da
the perfect functions as does the present e¶cete. It is unfortunate that the critical Greek New
Testament follows a tiny minority of Greek MSS to corrupt both the purpose
statement of 1 John in 5:13 and the purpose statement of the Gospel of John
(20:31).
[vii] iºna pisteu/hte ei˙ß to\ o¡noma touv ui˚ouv
touv Qeouv.
[viii]
That is, koinwni÷a.
[ix] Revelation 3:20 has absolutely nothing to do with an unsaved
person asking Jesus to come into his heart in order to be saved. The unregenerate need to repent and believe,
not ask Jesus to come into their hearts.
[x] oujk aÓfh/sw uJma◊ß ojrfanou/ß: e¶rcomai
pro\ß uJma◊ß. The Lord Jesus will not
leave His own “without the aid and comfort of one who serves as associate and
friend, orphaned” (BDAG on ojrfano/ß; cf. KJV margin, “comfortless: or, orphans.”)
[xi] John 14:21-23, oJ e¶cwn ta»ß e˙ntola¿ß mou kai«
thrw◊n aujta¿ß, e˙kei√no/ß e˙stin oJ aÓgapw◊n me: oJ de« aÓgapw◊n me,
aÓgaphqh/setai uJpo\ touv patro/ß mou: kai« e˙gw» aÓgaph/sw aujto/n, kai«
e˙mfani÷sw aujtwˆ◊ e˙mauto/n. le÷gei aujtwˆ◊ ∆Iou/daß, oujc oJ ∆Iskariw¿thß,
Ku/rie, ti÷ ge÷gonen o¢ti hJmi√n me÷lleiß e˙mfani÷zein seauto/n, kai« oujci«
twˆ◊ ko/smwˆ; aÓpekri÷qh oJ ∆Ihsouvß
kai« ei•pen aujtwˆ◊, ∆Ea¿n tiß aÓgapaˆ◊ me, to\n lo/gon mou thrh/sei, kai« oJ
path/r mou aÓgaph/sei aujto/n, kai« pro\ß aujto\n e˙leuso/meqa, kai« monh\n
par∆ aujtwˆ◊ poih/somen. The verb e˙mfani÷zw is to “lay open to view, make
visible . . . to provide information, make clear, explain, inform, make a report
. . . of matters that transcend physical sight or mere verbal statement reveal, make known . . . e˙mfani÷sw aujtw◊ˆ e˙mauto/n I
will reveal myself to that person J 14:21” (BDAG). Compare the use of e˙mfani÷zw in
Exodus 33:13 (LXX) and the evidence of inter-testamental Judaism in the use in
Wisdom 1:2.
[xii] John 15:15; 16:13-14, “[A]ll things that I [Christ] have
heard of my Father I have made known unto you. . . . [T]he Spirit of truth . .
. shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you,” pa¿nta a± h¡kousa para» touv patro/ß mou e˙gnw¿risa uJmi√n. . . . to\ pneuvma thvß aÓlhqei÷aß . . . e˙kei√noß e˙me« doxa¿sei,
o¢ti e˙k touv e˙mouv lh/yetai, kai« aÓnaggelei√ uJmi√n. Note that the order of the working in the
economic Trinity reflects the eternal order in the ontological Trinity; the Son who is eternally begotten by the
Father is, in time, sent by the Father and is the Agent for the revelation of
the Father, and the Holy Spirit, who eternally proceeds from the Father and the
Son as from a single principle, is in time sent by the Father and the Son to
reveal to the saints what has been given by the Father to the God-Man
Mediator. Compare also Matthew 11:27;
Luke 10:22; John 1:18; 14:6-9.
[xiii]
The covenant of redemption or pactum salutis is “the pretemporal, intratrinitarian agreement of
the Father and the Son concerning the covenant of grace and its ratification in
and through the work of the Son incarnate. The Son covenants with the Father,
in the unity of the Godhead, to be the temporal sponsor of the Father’s testamentum
in and through the work of the Mediator. In that work, the Son fulfills his sponsio or fideiussio, i.e., his guarantee of payment of the debt of sin in
ratification of the Father’s testamentum.
. . . [T]he idea of the pactum salutis
is to emphasize the eternal, inviolable, and trinitarian foundation of the
temporal foedus gratiae much in the
way that the eternal decree underlies and guarantees the ordo salutis. . . . [The] foedus gratiae [or] covenant of grace; also foedus gratiae gratuitum: gracious or graciously given covenant of
grace; and foedus gratiae evangelicum: covenant
of grace concerning the gospel or evangelical
covenant of grace; considered, first, as a foedus monopleuron, or one-sided covenant, the covenant of grace is
the pact (pactum, pactio) made by God
beginning with the protevangelium,
confirmed and revealed more fully in Abraham, and finally fulfilled in Christ.
It is a foedus monopleuron because it
stands as a gracious promise of salvation given to fallen man apart from any
consideration of man’s ability to respond to it or fulfill it and apart from
any human initiative. Human beings are drawn into covenant by the grace of God
alone. Once they enter covenant, however, and become parties to the divine offer
of salvation, they take on responsibilities, under the covenant, before God.
The foedus gratiae, therefore, also
appears as a mutual pact and agreement between God and man, a foedus dipleuron” (pgs. 120-121, 217, Dictionary of
Latin and Greek Theological Terms, Richard Muller).
It should be noted that the fact that the idea of a
covenant of redemption and covenant of grace has Scriptural support does not
deny the clear Biblical covenantal distinctions affirmed by classical
dispensationalism, nor does the use of such a terminology constitute an
endorsement of Reformed covenant theology or a rejection of dispensationalism,
any more than the acceptance of the covenant of redemption and of grace by
Lewis Sperry Chafer constitute a repudiation of his own theological system by
that outstanding dispensationalist (cf. pg. 42, vol. 1, pgs. 163-165, 232, vol.
4, etc., Systematic Theology,
Chafer).
[xiv] John 17:3, 6, 8, 14, 17, 22-26. au¢th de« e˙stin hJ ai˙w¿nioß zwh/, iºna ginw¿skwsi÷ se to\n
mo/non aÓlhqino\n Qeo/n, kai« o§n aÓpe÷steilaß ∆Ihsouvn Cristo/n. . . . e˙fane÷rwsa¿ sou to\ o¡noma toi√ß aÓnqrw¿poiß ou§ß de÷dwka¿ß moi
e˙k touv ko/smou: soi« h™san, kai« e˙moi« aujtou\ß de÷dwkaß: kai« to\n lo/gon
sou tethrh/kasi. . . . o¢ti ta» rJh/mata a± de÷dwka¿ß moi, de÷dwka aujtoi√ß:
kai« aujtoi« e¶labon, kai« e¶gnwsan aÓlhqw◊ß o¢ti para» souv e˙xhvlqon, kai«
e˙pi÷steusan o¢ti su/ me aÓpe÷steilaß. . . . e˙gw» de÷dwka aujtoi√ß to\n lo/gon
sou . . . aJgi÷ason aujtou\ß e˙n thØv
aÓlhqei÷aˆ sou: oJ lo/goß oJ so\ß aÓlh/qeia e˙sti. . . . kai« e˙gw» th\n do/xan h§n de÷dwka¿ß moi,
de÷dwka aujtoi√ß, iºna w°sin eºn, kaqw»ß hJmei√ß eºn e˙smen. e˙gw» e˙n
aujtoi√ß, kai« su\ e˙n e˙moi÷, iºna w°si teteleiwme÷noi ei˙ß eºn, kai« iºna
ginw¿skhØ oJ ko/smoß o¢ti su/ me aÓpe÷steilaß, kai« hjga¿phsaß aujtou/ß, kaqw»ß
e˙me« hjga¿phsaß. pa¿ter, ou§ß de÷dwka¿ß moi, qe÷lw iºna o¢pou ei˙mi« e˙gw¿,
kaÓkei√noi w°si met∆ e˙mouv: iºna qewrw◊si th\n do/xan th\n e˙mh/n, h§n
e¶dwka¿ß moi, o¢ti hjga¿phsa¿ß me pro\ katabolhvß ko/smou. pa¿ter di÷kaie, kai« oJ ko/smoß se oujk e¶gnw, e˙gw»
de÷ se e¶gnwn, kai« ou∞toi e¶gnwsan o¢ti su/ me aÓpe÷steilaß: kai« e˙gnw¿risa
aujtoi√ß to\ o¡noma¿ sou, kai« gnwri÷sw: iºna hJ aÓga¿ph, h§n hjga¿phsaß me,
e˙n aujtoi√ß hØ™, kaÓgw» e˙n aujtoi√ß.
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