A Matter of Assurance: An Exposition of First John

By Dennis Prutow

Kevin was a faithful deacon, husband, and father in the local congregation, yet he fought hard against many dark clouds of doubt that robbed him of assurance of grace and salvation. Kevin knew, through bitter experience, the truth of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, Paragraph 3, “This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it.” Over the years, my experience as a pastor was that lack of assurance of salvation is a bigger problem in the church than we are willing to admit. One motive for this little commentary is to help foster assurance of salvation in the lives of people like Kevin. If you, or someone you know, struggles with knowing that you know God, this little book is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis Prutow
• Release date: Feb 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781945305290

Dennis Prutow

Denny Prutow was born in 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point (1959-1963), Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1965-1968), and Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida (1995-1998). Denny was an Army Chaplain, a pastor in both the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, and the Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. He developed Westminster Evangelistic Ministries and remains its administratior. Denny retired in 2013 after forty-five years of active ministry and is now RPTS Professor Emeritus of Homiletics. His books include So Pastor, What's Your Point?, Joyful Voices, Public Worship 101, The Visions of Revelation, You Cannot Escape from God, Biblical Baptism, and What is Saving Faith? He and his wife, Erma, live in Indianapolis, IN. They have three grown daughters and eleven grandchildren.

Book preview

A Matter of Assurance:

An Exposition of First John

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,

so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13)

by

Dennis J. Prutow

Westminster Evangelistic Ministries

Indianapolis, IN

Copyright © 2021 by Dennis J. Prutow

All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted the Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

eBook formatting and cover design by ebooklaunch.com

ISBN 978-1-945305-28-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-945305-29-0 (ePub)

ISBN 978-1-945305-30-6 (kindle)

Westminster Evangelistic Ministries

Indianapolis, Indiana

Contents

Preface

1 – Opening First John

2 – The Purpose of John’s Purpose

3 – Pericope to Purpose to Power

4 – Three Meanings of Meaning

5 – First John and Chiasmus

6 – Eternal Joy and Fellowship (1 John 1:1-4)

7 – The Implications of True Light (1 John 1:5-10)

8 – God’s Perfect Love (1 John 2:1-6)

9 – The New Commandment to Love (1 John 2:7-17)

10 – Of Christ and Ant-Christ(s) (1 John 2:18-29)

11 – The Two Seeds (1 John 3:1-13)

12 – Things You Know (1 John 3:14-24)

13 – The Spirit if Truth and Error (1 John 4:1-6)

14 – God's Love Perfected (1 John 4:7-21)

15 – Life, Love, and Victory (1 John 5:1-12)

16 – Fruits of Assurance (1 John 5:13-21)

17 – Bibliography

Preface

After a short stint as a ruling elder at Second Reformed Presbyterian in Indianapolis, fellow- elder Russ Pulliam, who writes for the Indianapolis Star, urged me, Keep writing. There are many incentives to do so. One is the need of people in our congregations. Kevin was a faithful deacon, husband, and father in the local congregation, yet he fought hard against many dark clouds of doubt that robbed him of assurance of grace and salvation. Kevin knew, through bitter experience, the truth of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, Paragraph 3, This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it. Over the years, my experience as a pastor was that lack of assurance of salvation is a bigger problem in the church than we are willing to admit. One motive for this little commentary is to help foster assurance of salvation in the lives of people like Kevin.

As I explain in the following exposition, the Apostle John seeks to foster assurance through his little tract. Herein lies a supposed difficulty. Although John uses pretty straightforward Greek, his ideas often seem difficult to grasp. So much so is this the case that some raise cautions. For example, I hear that 1 John is less than helpful to seminary students in preparing practice sermons. This stance might be correct without giving students some preliminary instruction on John’s language and purpose. One of my objectives here is to stress the importance of understanding John’s language as he relates it to his primary aim of assurance.

We are grateful that John states his objective. Not all biblical writers so treat us. And even if they do, not all biblical commentaries zero in on the author’s purpose and read his work through the lens of his aim or objective. In the case of 1 John, many commentators maintain that John’s goal is to weigh in against heresies similar to Gnosticism, if not Gnosticism itself. I argue in what follows that we need to give full preference to John’s stated purpose. I also seek to show the importance of using John’s stated purpose as a lens through which to view each section of John’s tract.

In addition, the following exposition seeks to show that literary structure contributes to meaning. The Apostle John was born and bred an Israelite. He grew up hearing the Scriptures read and explained. He listened to and sang the Psalms. He heard and learned the linguistic patterns of Hebrew parallelisms, chiasms, laments, and acrostics. The following study suggests that John employs parallelism and chiasmus to accomplish his purpose of fostering assurance.

There is a final motive, more subjective, for undertaking this commentary. In preparation for another writing project, I read Calvin’s Preaching. In his Preface, T. H. L. Parker mentions being in his mid-seventies when he contemplated writing again. At the time, I recall thinking to myself, There is hope for me yet. Then, upon my retirement from Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, retired pastor Jim Carson poked his finger in my chest and urged, Stay busy. I am grateful for these added incentives. And I hope that this study will help those struggling with assurance of salvation and assist preachers and teachers seeking to encourage men and women facing daily doubts about personal assurance.

Dennis Prutow

Indianapolis, IN

January 2021

Chapter 1

Opening First John

The consensus among commentators is that the Apostle John wrote what we call 1 John late in the first century, perhaps around 90 A.D. The Epistle uses the language and phraseology of the Gospel and thus appears to be written by John (Wescott, 1966, p. xxx). The early church’s testimony seems to confirm this point (Nicoll, 1961b, p. 151-2). Therefore, we call it John’s First Epistle, although it does not have the usual salutation of a letter, nor does John directly identify himself. Instead, he stands among those who are eye-witnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (1 John 1:1-4).

Stephen Smalley (2008) calls 1 John a paper (p. xxv). Alternately, It is probably best to regard it as a tract written to deal with a specific problem; it is a written sermon or pastoral address (Marshall, 1978, p. 14). John probably wrote this piece in Ephesus for circulation among the churches he planted in Asia Minor.

The common perception among readers and commentators is that 1 John weighs in against heresy, particularly Gnosticism, within the Christian community of Asia Minor. Gnostics believed in salvation by enlightenment (Stott, 1981, p. 46). Brooke (1964) puts it succinctly, The connection of the Epistle with Gnosticism is quite apparent (p. xliii). Robertson agrees, The Epistle is not a polemic primarily … Yet the errors of the Gnostics are constantly before John’s mind (p. 200). Marshall (1978) takes exception, It remains, however, doubtful whether Gnosticism in the full-blown sense of the term existed in the first century (p. 52).

Smalley believes that tension developed between two strains of heretical belief, Ebionite and Docetic (2008, p. xxi). Wescott (1966) adds, The main questions of the debate are gathered around the Person and Work of the Lord. On the one side, He was represented as a mere man (Ebionism): on the other side he was represented as a mere phantom (Docetism) (xxxiv). Yes, the Ebionites saw Jesus as a mere man; Both the divinity of Christ and His virgin birth were denied (Berkhof, 1975, p. 44). Also, the Ebionites gave an exalted place to the Jewish law (Smalley, 2008, xxi). This sect really constituted the continuation of the Judaistic opponents of the Apostle Paul and was of the Pharisaic type (Berkhof, 1975, p. 44). They tended toward legalism as a part of their outlook. Marshall (1978) states further that what John condemns is a Docetic or similar christology and a lowering of Christian ethical standards rather than a full-blown Gnostic system of teaching (p. 52). In other words, the Docetic position, in part, manifested antinomianism.

It may be acceptable to explore the false teachings behind the exhortations of 1 John. Such explorations tickle the ears and excite the intellect. However, it is perhaps more useful to take the text at face value rather than seeking to explore what may or may not be in the background. Are there modern counterparts to the Docetic and Ebionite heresies? The problems of both legalism and antinomianism are close at hand. But we can address these aberrations directly in the application of specific texts within this little book. Taking a detour into the thicket of particular heresies emphasizes them. It then seems that John’s primary purpose is to correct particular false doctrines and practices when he has a more profound purpose in mind.

A review of Calvin’s commentary on The First Epistle of John reveals that the great expositor does not mention Gnosticism, Gnostics, Docetism, or the Ebionites. Commenting on the appearance of many antichrists (2:18), Calvin (1961) says that Cerinthus, Basilides, Marcion, Valentinus, Ebion, Arius and the rest were members of that kingdom which the devil afterward raised up against Christ (p. 257, cf. p. 259). He speaks of heretics once in his dedication, once concerning 2:22-23, and twice regarding 4:1-3. The latter text reads as follows,

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 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.

Calvin (1961) says in part, But he only repeats here what we have heard before; that, just as Christ is the object at which true faith aims, so He is the stumbling-block on which all heretics stumble (p. 286). Continuing to comment on verse 2, Calvin (1961) goes on to say, Therefore, the ancient heretics departed from this faith, partly by denying Christ’s divine nature, partly his human … (p. 286).

The Ebionites denied Christ’s divine nature, and Docetism dismissed Christ’s human nature. But Calvin does not pursue these avenues of discussion. Instead, he is anxious to move to contemporary application and points directly at the Papists. Therefore, the ancient heretics departed from this faith, partly by denying Christ’s divine nature, partly his human, so the Papists today (p. 286). Calvin refers to the Papists nine times in his commentary on 1 John.

And so, Calvin sticks close to the text. He does not diverge from the main point of the Epistle. Consider 4:4, You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. As Calvin (1961) says, The apostle’s aim was to encourage believers to resist imposters bravely and undauntedly (p. 287). He adds this word of assurance, As to the general tenor of this passage, it is a great comfort that, with whatever tricks Satan may attack us, we shall stand in the truth of God (p. 287).

This exposition of 1 John does not seek to read between the lines and unravel the alleged thoughts of those to whom John writes. Instead, it follows Calvin’s example. It sticks close to the text rather than a reputed subtext (cf. Prutow, 2020, Location No. 417), and seeks to apply the text to contemporary life. In doing so, the anchor is John’s primary purpose: These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). The resulting emphasis is pro-assurance instead of anti-heresy.

Chapter 2

The Purpose of John’s Purpose

While serving as a seminary Professor of Homiletics, I assigned sermons to students based upon texts from various books of the Bible. We always took class time to discuss the assigned book. In particular, we zeroed in on the purpose of the book. If the writer gives a specific purpose statement, we took a hard look at it. If the writer does not state a purpose, we undertook a study to determine the purpose and formulate such a statement. In doing so, we recognized that an author might have many reasons for writing. However, what we sought was the primary purpose of a given book.

Why is identifying the primary purpose of a book of the Bible so important? A book’s purpose acts as a lens through which we view each section of the book. This lens offers the proper perspective on individual pieces of the book. Using the comparison of a well-cut diamond, the various parts of a biblical book present different facets of the book’s content. A diamond has many facets or faces. Each aspect shows another face of the beauty of the stone. Similarly, each piece of a well-written letter, paper, or story adds substance and depth to the story’s central theme or purpose. As a result, knowing the meaning of individual parts of a letter, paper, or story, depends upon understanding its primary purpose as a whole.

First John was one of the books I used in my preaching classes. Some thought that the concepts 1 John raise are difficult and often confusing. I don’t see it this way. If we take the primary purpose of 1 John seriously, the difficulties melt away. If we look at the various sections of 1 John through the lens of its primary purpose, clarity emerges. Problems arise when we fail to use John’s purpose as a primary guidepost. So, what is the purpose of this little book?

As is true for the Gospel of John, 1 John gives us its purpose. The Apostle John wrote his Gospel for evangelistic purposes. Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:30-31). He wrote 1 John, his tract or paper, to foster assurance. He wrote to believers to encourage them in the experimental knowledge of their eternal life in Christ. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).

That this statement sets forth John’s principal purpose seems clear. To be sure, I review several commentators speaking to 1 John 5:13. First, consider John Calvin (1551), There should be daily progress in faith; and so he says that he is writing to those who already believed, so that they might believe more firmly and certainly, and thus enjoy a full confidence of eternal life (p. 307). Wescott (1883) says, The Apostle looks back upon his work, and records the aim which he set before himself (p. 188). Nicoll (1961b) records this comment, "The purpose for which St. John wrote his gospel was that we might believe in the Incarnation, and so have Eternal Life (xx. 31); the purpose of the Epistle is not merely that we may have Eternal Life by believing but that we may know that we have it" (p. 197). Stott (1960) adds,

The Epistle was written … that ye may know that ye have eternal life … The Gospel was written for unbelievers, that they might read the testimony of God to His Son, believe in the Son to whom the testimony pointed, and thus receive life through faith. The Epistle, on the other hand, was written for believers. John’s desire for them is not that they may believe and receive, but having believed, they may know that they have received (p. 184).

Marshall (1978) comments on John 5:13 as follows, We are fortunate that John has given us in his gospel a statement of purpose in writing it (Jn. 20:31). In the same way, he here summarizes his purpose in the composition of this epistle (p. 243). A few sentences later, Marshall adds, John now sums up by saying that the effect of what he has written should be to give assurance to believers that they do possess eternal life (p. 243). Finally, Smalley (2008) indicates that 1 John 5:13 states one of the aims lying behind 1 John as a whole (p. 276). Although this may be the case, Smalley states that "the primary intention of 1 John can still be delineated as the instruction and encouragement of the faithful (xxix). In his comments under 5:13, Smalley (2008) adds, In favor of this view is the close parallel existing between v. 13 and John 20:31 where the writer sets out the purpose of the Fourth Gospel" (p. 277).

Again, the purpose statement of 1 John is a lens through which to examine and rightly apply sections of the book. Here is an example. First John 1:3-4 relates a secondary purpose. "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be