1 João 2
Wayne Barber · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 2:12-14
Barber asks "Could you say you are overcoming? Well, if you are you are saying, "It’s because I am fully obedient to whatever God wants in my life." The evil one (4190)(ho poneros) - see above. A clear reference to Satan. William Barclay on overcoming the Evil One - There is the gift of victorious strength. John looks on the struggle with temptation as a personal struggle (James 1:13-15-note). He does not speak in the abstract of conquering evil; he speaks of conquering the Evil One. He sees evil as a personal power which seeks to seduce us from God. Once Robert Louis Stevenson, speaking of an experience which he never told in detail, said, "You know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh? Once I met Satan there." There can be none of us who has not experienced the attack of the tempter (cp Mt 4:3, 1Th 3:5), the personal assault on our virtue and on our loyalty (Ed: Now it is doubtful that any of us have ever personally been confronted by Satan himself, for he is finite, not omnipresent, but his minions are continually attacking us with fiery missiles, etc). It is in Christ we receive the power (dunamis) to meet and to defeat this attack. To take a very simple human analogy we all know that there are some people in whose presence it is easy to be bad and some in whose presence it is necessary to be good. When we walk with Jesus, we are walking with Him whose company (and Whose indwelling Spirit) can enable us to defeat the assaults of the Evil One. (1 John 2 - Daily Study Bible) I Howard Marshall sums up the significance of 1Jn 2:12-14 - It is good for Christians to be reminded in this way of their spiritual standing. Too often we have to hedge such declarations with conditions: “We can be sure we know him—if we obey his commands” (1Jn 2:3+). Of course this is necessary to avoid complacency and moral laxity. But it is possible to make Christian salvation into a very precarious possession that needs to be re-possessed every moment; such a faith lacks self-confidence. It is good to remember that in the last analysis our salvation depends on the promise and power of God, so that we can boldly declare that we have peace with God and that we know whom we have believed. John’s statements here are meant to awaken such confidence among his readers (cf. 1Jn 5:13), but the importance of Christian assurance is one of the notes in this Epistle which has aroused surprisingly little echo among expositors. Nor should we be reticent in expressing the joy that comes from this knowledge: "Let those refuse to sing, Who never knew our God; But servants of the heavenly King, May speak their joys abroad." (Isaac Watts) (Borrow The Epistles of John NICNT - 1974)(Bolding Added) Strong (loud, mighty, severe, strong man) (2478) (ischuros from ischuo = to be able) is an adjective which means strong, powerful, mighty (usually referring to inherent physical strength), able, forcible. Strong, having moral power. Inherently strong. Ischuros denotes power or ability and places “stress on the actual power that one possesses rather than on the mere principle of power. Ischuros can describe… (1) People - spoken of the powers both of body and mind, physical and moral (Mt. 3:11; Mk 1:7; Lk 3:16). In Heb 11:34, "mighty in war" meaning able to overcome. (2) Angels (Rev 5:2; 10:1; 18:21) (3) God (Rev. 18:8; In the Lxx Dt. 10:17; Neh. 1:5; 9:32). John the Baptist uses ischuros of Jesus in Mt 3:11, Mk 1:7, Lk 3:16. (4) Things: strong wind (Mt 14:30 - NAS drops the adjective "strong" for some reason), a severe famine (Lk 15:14), or loud (strong) cries of Jesus when on earth as the God-Man (Heb 5:7). The loud (strong) cry of the angel at the fall of Babylon (Rev 18:2). Strong or loud (mighty peals) of thunder (Rev 19.6). Strong encouragement (Heb 6.18). (5) Satan - strong man in Mt 12:29; Mk 3:27. Ischuros is used figuratively in 1Cor 1:27 to convey the sense of strong in influence and authority, mighty, honorable Paul’s letters were strong, “powerful” (serious, impressive, weighty, forceful) (2Cor 10:10). The strong man (Satan) must be bound before his house can be plundered. Jesus accomplished the “binding” of the Evil One (Mt 12:29; Mk 3:27.). God demonstrated His strength in the “weakness” of the Cross, and for this reason His weakness is “mightier” than men's strength (1Cor 1:25), and His weakness puts to shame the “mighty things” of this life (1Cor 1: 27: cf. Rev 6:15).
1 João 2:15
Barber - "If anyone loves this world [present tense again, as a lifestyle loves this world], the love of the Father is (absolutely) not in him." He uses the word for "not" there that means absolutely in no way possible is it in Him. You see, the unbeliever is delighted with the world. If you will read Scripture, you will find out that a person who does not know Christ loves this world and lives in its system. In some churches you ought to just choose a night to worship the dollar bill. Just hang a big dollar bill across the front of the church and have everybody come down and bow down to it because that seems like what everybody is pursuing. It takes their time, their energy and everything else. They love this world. They do it as a lifestyle. They drop in church periodically to pay their token appreciation to God and think for some reason that they know Jesus Christ. No sir! John is asking, "Do you want to know what a believer is? He cannot in any way habitually, consistently, be in love with this world. Whatever else he thinks, he knows the Holy Spirit has separated him and this world is not what is to be pursued." They live for it. The Spirit of God draws the people of the world, but they live for it. The Spirit of God in a believer causes us to be pulled away from the desire of what the world offers and enables us to live in it but not be of it. F B Meyer has the following description of agape love = Wherever there is true love, there must be giving, and giving to the point of sacrifice. Love is not satisfied with giving trinkets; it must give at the cost of sacrifice: it must give blood, life, all. And it was so with the love of God. "He so loved the world, that He gave his only-begotten Son." "Christ also loved and gave Himself up, an offering and a sacrifice to God." (Eph 5:2+) We are to imitate God's love in Christ. The love that gives, that counts no cost too great, and, in sacrificing itself for others, offers all to God, and does all for His sake. Such was the love of Jesus--sweet to God, as the scent of fields of new-mown grass in June; and this must be our model.Not to those who love us, but who hate; not to those who are pleasant and agreeable, but who repel; not because our natural feelings are excited, but because we will to minister, even to the point of the cross, must our love go out. And every time we thus sacrifice ourselves to another for the sake of the love of God, we enter into some of the meaning of the sacrifice of Calvary, and there is wafted up to God the odor of a sweet smell. (Devotional Commentary on Ephesians) The predominant love of the world... is the sure evidence of an unsanctified heart. -- Joseph Alleine Daniel Akin writes "In the book Embracing Obscurity (p.87), a beautiful contrast is drawn between the things of the world and the things of the Father. I make only a few slight adjustments and additions. The differences between the two could not be more striking. THINGS OF THE WORLD THINGS OF THE FATHER The focus is on me. The focus is on God. Make as much money as possible Give as much money away as possible, and spend even yourself on others Live comfortably. Life is not about comfort, but about doing hard things now so that we can reap rewards in the life to come. Make a name for yourself Make His name great. Do whatever makes you happiest. Do whatever makes God happiest. Teach your children to love themselves and seek self-fulfillment. Teach your children to love and obey God. (“Behaving” is often, but not always, a blessed by-product.) Look like a model in a magazine and turn your physical appearance into an idol. Treat your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and cultivate an inner beauty. Offer “acts of service” when you feel like it (on your terms). Be a servant, even when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient. Stay married as long as your spouse meets your needs. Serve your spouse (the way Christ modeled servanthood), and choose to love him or her for life. Come across as powerful, influential, and/or interesting. Give preference to others in words and actions Use (worldly) wisdom to accrue wealth. Value true wisdom (which is the fear of God) over all the treasures on earth. Stay up to date with the fashions. Be content just to have clothes. They are passing away. They will abide forever. I do the will of the world. I do the will of the Father. J C