The Final Warning – 1 John 5:21

Before deploying atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the US Army spread leaflets in the region, giving heed to the residents concerning the coming destruction. Those who heeded the pamphlet’s warning survived, but those who did not heed the warning perished. The Bible is full of similar warnings that precede spiritual destruction– that, if heeded, would save the reader from certain destruction. Among all the warnings in the Bible and especially from the New Testament epistles, John’s warning from 1 John 5:21 carries special gravitas. Because of both the placement and the actual message of the warning, we understand that this is a warning that, if not taken special measures for, would certainly lead to spiritual destruction.

What is idolatry? Idolatry is defined by Martyn Lloyd-Jones as having “anything in our lives that occupies the place that should be occupied by God alone”. Because God demands our worship and does not share it (Is 42:8), to have an idol that we adore more than God would be akin to thievery. We are robbing from God of what rightly belongs to only Him. What constitutes as idols? While anything can become an idol in our lives, the most common areas of idolatry are money, career, and family. These are all things that we are tempted to love above God. Spurgeon gives a great insight regarding these idols, saying, “We must love, but love in such a way that all things loved will take second place to Christ.”

Sometimes we even let things like denominations of church or doctrinal issues become our idols. For example, Calvinists are often worshiping at the altar of Calvin, not the altar of God. They are sometimes divisive and dismissive. We must not be this way.

Another form of idolatry comes from addictions. There are many things to which people become addicted – drugs, sports, pornography, social media, and the like. Succumbing to addiction is like submitting once again to the bondage from which God rescued us. (Gal 4:3)

What is the idolatry that John’s warning his church about? Apostle John is addressing a specific idolatry at the end of his first epistle – the wrong views of God and Jesus. Having the correct view of Christ and God is important. Many Christians today only have a vague understanding of who God is and are not interested in learning about God and Jesus. This kind of ambiguous understanding leads to an ambiguous understanding of salvation. If there is no clear understanding of God in the mind of the confessing Christian, he is at best assuming his own salvation. Until clarity is pursued regarding his salvation, such a man is likely not saved.

What is a wrong view of God prevalent today? Some people believe that God gives health and wealth to all his followers, citing Romans 8:32. The correct reading of Romans 8:32 is that God gives all the spiritual blessings, not the material things that can easily become our idols. God does not tolerate a corrupted view of His love.

What are some wrong views of Jesus prevalent today? Some believe that Jesus is their buddy, not Lord. It should be understood that those who do not consider themselves under the authority of Jesus believe in the wrong Jesus. Some say that Jesus is solely concerned on the welfare of the needy, citing his miracles. Good deeds and charity is important, but those things are not Jesus’ primary concern, because those good works cannot replace the gospel. Some say that Jesus is all about peace, but never in the Scriptures does Jesus call for an ecumenical, inter-religious, intercultural peace and tolerance. Jesus is not an angel of the Lord, nor is He God or man exclusively. Not having the right view of God and Jesus and instead adopting false ideas is idolatry. Such idolatry weakens our spirituality.

Why do we commit idolatry? We commit idolatry when we fail to guard our hearts like John commanded in 1 John 5:21. We can only guard our hearts meditating on God’s Word, as stated in Psalms 1:1-3. We commit idolatry when we fear and panic before trials in our lives. When Moses did not return from his audience with God, the Israelites panicked and demanded Aaron create a tangible image of God. (Ex 32:1) They created an idol to worship, instead of God. We often thirst for God in our distress, but we must not create an idolatrous false image of God in our desperation. We must wait on the Lord, because He is the deliverer, and is faithful to save even in the most improbable of situations, as we read in Jonah 2:10. We commit idolatry when we lose sight of the beauty of God. The moment our excitement about God and His work disappears from our hearts is the moment we begin to feel boredom. Boredom is the birthplace of idols. We must always remind ourselves of God’s majesty and beauty in nature as well as in the Gospel.

How, then, do we guard ourselves against idols? We must adhere only to sound doctrine. We must both desire and commit to it. As we studied last week in 1 John 5:18-20, John repeats the word “Know” as a statement of confidence. We must seek to know God in this way through our sound doctrine. In John 6:68-69, Peter makes a sound analysis of Jesus, both in recognizing Him as the source of truth and our need of Him and His truth. We must also remember Jesus this way, and love Him. We need to resolve to and be in the practice of loving the Lord – over all things, over all people. Before using him as His mouthpiece on Pentecost, Jesus required one thing of Peter – that Peter loved Jesus. (John 21:15-18) If we are to become successful servants of Jesus, we must begin by loving Jesus.

“Little children” is an affectionate title for Jesus’ followers. Because He loves us, even though we may struggle against idols, we can have confidence that we will victor and conquer over them. He has given us the special privilege of repentance. Let us, therefore, examine our hearts for idols, repent, and guard our hearts.