Articles
Guard Yourselves From Idols - 1 John 5:21
The recipients of John’s first letter were being challenged concerning their belief in Jesus. Evidence suggests that Docetism was beginning to gain traction toward the end of the first century AD. Docetists denied the full humanity of Jesus. They believed that His human form was an illusion, a phantasm, or a heavenly body that didn’t truly experience the physical world. In other words, Jesus seemed to be human. The opening lines of John’s letter affirm that Jesus tabernacled in the flesh. John wrote, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the Word of Life” (1 Jn. 1:1). Further, John countered this false teaching by writing, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1 Jn 4:2-3).
The believers who received John’s letter were also being troubled by some (perhaps the same group) who believed they were the true children of God. John provided several guidelines for determining whether or not one is of God. He wrote, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:3-6). The teachings and behavior of the opponents made it clear that they did not know God. In fact, their beliefs and teachings about God were incorrect.
John’s final instruction relates to these two issues. He wrote, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 Jn. 5:21). An idol is a representation or symbol of a worshipped entity. Stephen referred to these kind of idols when he referred to the golden calf (Acts 7:41). Idols can also be understood metaphorically. One lexicon suggests that idols can be “views of God that are divorced from the truth of God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ.” This is the type of idolatry that was threatening believers, and that is why John instructed them to guard themselves from idols. They could do so by abiding in what they had heard from the beginning (1 Jn. 2:24). False beliefs concerning Jesus and fellowship with God are extinguished when believers continually abide in God’s revelation.
What we believe and teach about God and Jesus matters. Let us guard our hearts from false beliefs that diminish the Father or the Son. This is essential to living a life centered on God.
