There are various ways to do the math, but many observers say there are between three and and major divisions of Christianity, including – Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodoxy and Independents. Some of those experts subdivide their major divisions into an incredible number of sects or groups. I’m glad I’m not an expert because I have a hard time saying there are more than 45,000 Christian sects.
How can the one true faith and the single church established by the Lord Jesus break apart like that? I think we know the answer: Someone creates a tradition that differs with another tradition, and there is a split – a division. Those two traditions may believe exactly the same things doctrinally, but their practices separate them. But then, more seriously, someone interprets some scripture one way and someone else disagrees. If the disagreement is severe enough, a new church or even a new sect begins over that interpretation. Sometimes the doctrine links up with the tradition and eventually we have another new denomination. For example, people say that the difference between immersion and sprinkling is nothing but tradition. But further investigation reveals that immersion teaches a different doctrine than sprinkling. And when someone adds the sprinkling of babies to the mix the difference is exacerbated.
I bring this up because people can read I John chapter 1 and reach one of three different assumptions. And two of those assumptions have led to different philosophies and even to different denominations.
People have read verse 8, concluding that sin is so pervasive and invasive there is nothing that can be done. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Since that is the case, then let’s “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” But that is not what John is trying to tell us. He is warning us to never forget that we are sinners, and we are only one step away from our next sin. Then another person quotes verse 9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This man thinks, “If sin is unavoidable, and forgiveness is so easy, then why worry about sin at all?” Since you Bible-believers think that no sin can end your eternal life, it doesn’t matter what sins I commit while I live in this world. I can “eat, drink and be sinfully merry, because tomorrow I’m going to Heaven.” Again, that is not what John is saying.
The Holy Spirit, knowing what sinful people will do to justify their sins, led John to write this epistle. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” “Whosoever abideth in (Christ) sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. “Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as (the Lord) is righteous.” Immediately after appearing to open the door to Christian sinfulness, John is led to write; “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” Don’t you dare sin. Don’t you even think about sinning against the grace that God has bestowed on you. He has saved you from sin, not for sin.
Let’s use three words to examine the first sentence of chapter 2: “progeny,” “pen” and “purity.”
I couldn’t think of a more appropriate word than “PROGENY” to explain the words “my little children.”
This could refer to the fact that John was writing to people he had brought into the family of God. Perhaps he had been the spiritual midwife to these people. Paul used this kind of language in Galatians 4:19: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now.” Don’t parents long to be with their children – ther progeny? And don’t they yearn for the very best for their children and grandchildren? “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” On the other hand, John may have simply may have been referring to his advanced age in comparison to some of his readers. Maybe it is a combination of both: age and relationship. Whichever way we look at it, there should be no doubt that John loved the people to whom he was writing.
An interesting incidental is found in comparing the pronouns used in chapter 1 to those of chapter 2. The word “we” is found in every verse of the first chapter. “WE have heard; WE have seen; WE have fellowship, and WE walk in the light.” “And if WE confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins…” In chapter 1 John never refers to himself as an individual. “I have heard; I have seen; I have fellowship, and I walk in the light.” But in chapter 2 that changes: “My little children, these things write ‘I’ unto you.” Looking for these two pronouns, we find far more “I” than “we” throughout the rest of the epistle. That probably doesn’t mean a lot, but to my mind, I detect a personal and loving relationship once he gets into the purpose of his letter. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.”
John’s heart may have gone back to something the Lord Jesus said to His disciples. In fact, the only time Christ used this term, He had a similar purpose to that of John. Please turn to John 13:31: After Judas left the upper room, “Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Christ told His “little children” that they would be known as His disciples by their LOVE. And John is telling his “little children” they would be known as God’s children by their sanctified living. This epistle is about evidence that we are God’s people.
“LITTLE children” – there could be so much wrapped up in that image. The smaller the child the more vulnerable he or she is, especially in the eyes of the parents. Little children must be treated more gently than older children. And perhaps they require more patience. Furthermore, when it comes to many things, the smaller something is the more valuable it is. Jesus spoke to His little children in Luke 12 saying, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Can we say that God’s little flock is going to be more blessed than the bigger flocks which are filled with goats as well as sheep?
The point John is trying to make is that we are both vulnerable and highly valuable. He loves us, as God’s representative, and he wants the best for us. And that is WHY he says, “These things write I unto you that you sin not.”
In order to convey the message the Holy Spirit had for those children, John had to put his pen to paper.
It may have not been paper as we use it today, or the same kind of pen, but there were equivalents in that day. If I had an opportunity to look on that original epistle, I’d be willing to become a Greek expert so I might truly enjoy it. But at the same time, I believe that God has preserved His inspired word, so I’m not upset that the original no longer exists. In fact it is probably better that it is gone, or it would probably worshipped by some simpleton.
“These things WRITE I unto you.” I got an email the other day from a man who told me he had messaged me on Facebook. But I don’t use that avenue of communication. And similarly, the Apostle John didn’t message or tweet or use X. John didn’t have the opportunity to send a group text or email to everyone. Nor did Paul, Peter or any of the Old Testament prophets and poets. Thank God for that.
And praise God that “these things have been WRITTEN unto us.” There is an entirely different permanency in writing things down. We have Bibles. We have sixty-six books of all the information we need in order to have fellowship with God. In the Bible, we are told about our sin and the Lord’s holiness. We are told that He is light. And what has been written tells us how we who walked in darkness have seen that great light. It has explained how blind men can be given sight by the grace of God. We have been told about the importance of abiding in Christ – abiding in the vine. And “whosoever abideth in him sinneth not” – I John 3:6. “These things write I unto you that you sin not.” “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”
I have hundreds of books in my library, and I am buying more books all the time. But you have my permission to shoot me in that day when I tell you there is a book in my library that is more important to me than my Bible. I admit to a tiny bit of pride in one or two books that I have written and published. But I would be happy to burn everything with my name on it, if it would mean I could keep the Bible with my name on the inside cover. You probably have never noticed, but something was instilled in me by my mentor years ago. I sometimes struggle to keep from putting my hymnal or any other book on top of my Bible in my lap. I don’t take it as far as Pastor Johnson did, but I try not to let anything come above the Bible.
“My little children, these things the Lord has WRITTEN unto us that we might know the most important truths in all the world – in all eternity.” If you want to know what a Christian looks like, don’t look at me; look at your Bible. If you’d like to test your Christianity, listen to what John and others have to say.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, THAT YE SIN NOT.”
That we possess a sin nature does not mean that we have permission to sin. That the Lord is willing to forgive us of our sins is not an encouragement for us to sin. I Peter 2:16 – Don’t “use your liberty (in Christ) for a cloke of maliciousness (wickedness)…” Galatians 5:13 – “Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh…” John says here – at what is the start of his epistle – “Sin not.” And the last words of this epistle are: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” – one specific kind of sin. The written Word of God records our Saviour saying, “Go and sin no more.”
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? “God forbid” – Romans 6. Paul’s next words are “how shall we, that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” Despite the indwelling presence of a sin nature, Christians are no longer slaves to sin. We have a responsibility, and we even have the ability when we are empowered by the Spirit, to live victoriously over sin. That is why John can say “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” Taking John’s inspired word back a few steps to the inspired words of David: “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”
A hundred years ago and long before that, consumption was a terrible, wasting, life-taking disease. It became known as tuberculosis. It is a contagious bacterial infection that can be spread through the air by coughing and sneezing. Consumption no longer consumes as many people as it once did, but it still takes time and effort to cure. I ministered to man in Calgary who eventually moved into a sanatorium because he had TB. He was there for months, but eventually he was released. A hundred years ago, consumptives were kept in sanatoriums for years before they were cured.
Because we are children of Adam, you and I are infected with sin; it is a part of us. It consumes us and will kill us. Because it is a part of us, we from time to time cough, sputter and sneeze its germs into society. But with the medication of the Word of God, administered by the Holy Spirit, we can live victoriously. We can live symptom free. In fact, it is our responsibility to live without the symptoms of sin. By God’s grace we can “go and sin no more.” Our sin nature is neither an excuse to sin nor a spiritual death sentence. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” Oh, and by the way, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”