Fighting a war that has already been won . . .

Most people who read the Bible get the gist of it from using a good translation in their own language and from the context of each passage. If anyone wants to go deeper, which is possible in this amazing Book, it is helpful to know a few things about the original languages. For instance, Hebrew is poetic while Greek has more verb tenses than most languages.

That reality about Greek shows up in this passage and keeps me from error in interpreting it:

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:18–21)

The idea that Christians stop sinning comes out in English but in Greek it is more like Christians do not make sin a habit of life. While it is impossible for the rest of the world to stop sinning, Christians can do it. God protects them from the power of the evil one who dominates the rest of the world and keeps His people in Christ and Christ in them. Because of Jesus, it is possible to have a life that overcomes that sin nature that would otherwise doom us to destruction.

The other thing about this last passage in 1 John is its abrupt ending. John doesn’t focus on idols per se, yet he does tell readers not to love the world. I think that means idolatry. Compare what John says to Paul’s words to the church at Corinth:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (1 Corinthians 10:7)

Idolatry is usually associated with carved objects like the golden calf Paul alludes to in the Old Testament. In that situation, he says they were messing with sexual sin and grumbling about their lot in life. They wanted to have fun and they used their idol as an excuse, a god who allowed them to indulge themselves.

John associates this behavior with ‘loving the world’ as he warns that the world is under the control of the evil one. Other passages in the New Testament point out that idols are nothing — the real enemy is the demonic powers behind the idols. The only way to escape the control of these evil beings is to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As John says, “Everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” That also means that the power of idolatry has no hold on those who worship the true God and who have His love in them.

Other NT passages make it clear that Christians are protected yet we are in a battle. The evil powers of this world want to engage and defeat us. Jesus Christ has already defeated those dark powers. By always trusting Him in every way, we are protected. However, if I give in to trusting anything or anyone else, including myself, I am heading into idolatry, the very thing that John tells me to stay away from.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, this is a powerful letter that affirms my safe position in Christ yet at that same time warns me that in You I am standing in a place where I am a target. The enemy cannot defeat me yet wants me to think that he can. If I fall for that lie, I may take a hit, become useless and unfruitful, even fall backward into sin. Yet there is assurance that You are greater, and what You have done is the finale, the end of the story. Wow, and what a story it is. I’m joyful in knowing that You are my Savior and You will bring me through this battle — because You have already won it!

Today’s thankful list . . .

- God’s assurance that I will win this battle over sin.

- encouragement to keep on resisting the enemy’s lies and the world’s temptations.

- homemade chicken soup.

- anticipation for small group get together after a month of delays.

- music and laughter.

No substitutes

John Calvin said that our hearts are idol-making factories. An idol can be a statue or a graven image:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:2–6)

Back in those days, idol worship was for images that represented the gods that supposedly controlled things like fertility, crop production, the weather, and other powers that pagan people did not understand. The Israelites lived among those pagans, but as God’s chosen people, they were warned. God had revealed Himself to them by creation and through the prophets. He told them . . .  

You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 26:1)

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them (Deuteronomy 11:16)

It might be easy to excuse the pagans or even God’s people for their idolatry because of their lack of scientific knowledge, but in our modern world with knowledge of what makes crops grow or fail, people still refuse to worship God and turn to different kinds of idols. That is, an idol does not have to be a fat little statue or a wooden carving.

The New Testament also speaks of idols. The Greeks and Romans of that day had their share of them so that could be an influence on the Christian population, but not necessarily. Paul reminds them of what happened to God’s people in Exodus, no doubt referring to the incident when Aaron made a golden calf as Moses met with God and received the Ten Commandments.

Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (1 Corinthians 10:7)

All of this points to a grim reality – even the people of God are prone to idolatry, and I am one of them. I can put anything in the place of God, and my most common substitute is my own self, my ideas, my way of doing things. The Bible says, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14), but it is impossible to flee from myself. I need to practice fleeing from this tendency because God is worthy of my absolute surrender. He has encouraged me to study the topic using a devotional booklet called “No other Gods” which I will use for the next few weeks. For today, the verse to remember is this theme verse: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)