An Exclusive Gospel (1 John 4:1-6)

Overall, the gospel has turned the entire world upside down. Christianity has made the world into what it is today. Modern society has greatly benefited from the faith, hope, and love transformation brought about through the gospel.

But at the same time, Galatians describes man's tendency to distort the gospel. Men started to create their own little counterfeit versions of the gospel. Why would anyone do that? It's no secret that the world around us doesn't like the true gospel. This causes many to want to modify it to fit their beliefs. But I want us to focus on why that is over the next few months. Today, I would like us to begin evaluating some of the struggles people seem to have with the gospel. These struggles began in the first century, and they continue through today. The first struggle with the gospel we will look at is its exclusivity. To illustrate that and understand it, let's study 1 John 4.

False Prophets

Consider how exclusive this gospel is as we study this text together.

1 John 4:1--2 (ESV) --- 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

John says not to "believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God." Today, we live in a society that wants us to be accepting of everyone. We are going back to a polytheistic mindset. But John calls for Christians not to be accepting of everyone. He calls for them to test men by their spirits. That means testing them by looking at the core of who they are. The spirit is their emotions and their character. That sounds very judgmental. Aren't we supposed to not judge people?

John makes it clear that some people are wrong. He says that many false prophets have gone out into the world. He describes these false prophets as people who do not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. Notice the wording. They don't deny that Jesus has been born. They deny that Jesus came from God and that he is God in the flesh. Today, how many people deny that Jesus came from God and is God in the flesh?

Philippians 2:5--11 (ESV) --- 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Notice verse 6 says, "He was in the form of God." Many people may not believe that he was God, but the apostles of the New Testament tell us that is the truth. The gospel of Jesus is not just that he was a man who died for men, but that he was in the form of God and "emptied himself" to die for men. To deny the divinity of Jesus is to deny the gospel, and so John tells us to be aware of men who deny that.

Antichrists

1 John 4:3 (ESV) --- 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

In verse 3, he calls them antichrists, which were prophesied as coming into the world. Men and women who say that Jesus is not God are denying his perfection and denying his authority. They are working against the gospel of Jesus and trying to deceive their listeners into believing them. So John wants Christians to see through them. John has written this letter to help Christians know that Jesus is God and Christ. He is worthy of our praise and adoration.

Some men and women might say, "Jesus is just a good man." These are anti-Christ. They are against the notion that Jesus is the savior of all mankind. Many of us have loved ones who believe they are going to heaven, but they might fit into this category. They want Jesus to save them from judgment, but they don't want to submit to him, confess his authority, or honor him.

This term "antichrist" is not some extra bad, demonic character from a sci-fi movie. The antichrist is any person who stands firmly against the cause of Christ. According to John, there have been antichrists since the beginning of Christianity, and they continue to live today.

From This World

1 John 4:4--6 (ESV) --- 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

In verse 5, John says that these antichrists are from the world, and the world listens to them. They are men and women who love the world and give in to the world's desires. They seek to fit into the systems where the world approves of them. They strive for comfort, peace, and pleasure from this world and not God. It's easy to be accepted when you only say what everyone wants to hear. That's what they do.

But Christians are called out of the world. We are called to believe in a God who has a greater knowledge of life, death, and everything in between than we do. We are called to believe in wisdom that surpasses human wisdom. The gospel pulls us out of the pursuit of temporary, worldly joy and into the pursuit of eternal joy. It calls us to rebel against the world.

Exclusivity

This text lays out the gospel's exclusivity by dividing people into two camps. Some believe in the gospel. They know God because they listen to the apostles and see through the false prophets, antichrists, and worldly people. Then, some listen to these false prophets and deny the Spirit of God that Jesus gave to the apostles. John makes it binary just like Jesus does. Jesus said all of these things to his disciples previously.

John 15:18--21 (ESV) --- 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

In this text, Jesus says the same thing that John is saying. Men love the world and will be condemned when they refuse to believe the truth. This makes Christianity exclusive. It is not for everyone. The blessings of the gospel are not freely given to everyone who lives. They are restricted to only those who hear the gospel, believe it, and submit to it.

The World Hates You

This is some strong wording by John and Jesus. What does it mean when it says, "The world hates you." People like to do at least two things with exclusive views, like the gospel. They try to judge exclusive views harshly and exclude them from any discussion. Isn't that hypocritical? Or, they try to accept them as long as they stay private and never see the light of day. So today, Christian views are frowned upon in general, especially when spoken in a public setting.

The world around us hates the idea of an exclusive society, and I get it. We don't want religious elites dominating everyone and forcing them to do things. Nor do we want wealthy elites dominating everyone and forcing them to do things. But it's not possible to avoid exclusivity if you believe in any moral standard. To be truly inclusive, we would have to let go of the one thing that makes us human, our conscience. To say that everyone is right means we would thank a thief for stealing our cars because they are just doing what they have justified in their mind as right and just. Why exclude someone from social activities for stealing? Why put them in jail?

We live in an exclusive society, and we always will. The only question is, "Whose exclusions are we going to base society on?" The naturalist or humanist excludes religious people in general, but they do it as though they are not religious. Consider what religion is.

"Religion is a set of answers to the big questions. Why are we here? What is right and wrong for human beings to be doing? What's wrong with the human race, and what will fix it? How do we decide right and wrong? What should we be spending most of our time doing? What are the most important things to be doing? Nobody can operate in life without a set of answers to those questions. Those answers are at least implicitly religious, because you can't prove those things in a lab. Whatever your answer is, it's a faith assumption. It's a religious belief. You may not see it as a religious belief, but it is. (Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).)

The truth is that naturalists and humanists are religious. Their religion is more so a religion of self-worship. So they are just as exclusive as any religion.

Why The Gospel?

So of all the exclusive religions, why this one?

Jesus Represents God

Many people in our society struggle with the gospel's exclusivity. We need to ask a question then, "Of all the different exclusive religions that are out there in the world, why would Christianity be the right one? Haven't Christians been responsible for things like the Crusades? Aren't they harsh and bigoted? Isn't God a genocidal maniac?

These arguments against God dissolve when we see Jesus is God in human form. This is not a God who wants the evil people to die. Just as Jesus cries out, "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I would have loved to take you under my wings, but you were not willing," God does the same thing! In Ezekiel 18:23, he says, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

This makes the gospel so great that everyone should turn to it. The gospel is that Jesus came in the flesh. He was alive from the beginning of time as God, but he became a man for us to understand God. There is nothing like this in any religion, and it was proven true by Jesus rising from the dead and being physically seen by thousands of eye-witnesses. This event shines through the darkness with proof and evidence that is hard to deny when considered reasonably.

1 John 1:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--- 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us--- 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

John says that he looked upon the glory of Jesus. He did this at the transfiguration and after being resurrected from the dead. John says that they have seen it, heard it, touched it, and now they proclaim eternal life. The message of the gospel is not a message of hate and bigotry. It is a message of hope. It's about the hope that God has the power to give eternal life, and God wants to give us eternal life. It is a message of light shining in the darkness of this temporary world.

Out of This World

Christianity is exclusive, but it only excludes those who hear it and refuse to believe and submit to it. It's not like naturalism or humanism, excluding all those with strong convictions. Nor does it exclude all of those who have been born in a particular community or culture. It's not imperialist or elitist. It's not really for the most powerful. It's for the weakest and most humble. It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, or where your family is from. All who submit to Jesus will be saved. Submitting to Jesus means overcoming the world and the internal desires to sin against God's purpose for your life. Your life has to change from the inside out wherever you are from. Look again at our text.

1 John 4:4 (ESV) --- 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

According to the apostles, God wants us to overcome the world. But it's not by our power. It's by the power of God within us. He expects to get rid of the idolatrous aspects of the heart. He wants to affect our behavior so that we interact differently with the world around us. When we love God more than the world, we don't sacrifice our family for the hobby God. We start considering the needs of others. We want to give of our means to support those less fortunate. What our church family needs, we sacrifice to give. We want to go to church service because we want to worship God and show him love. We want to connect with people who submit to God like we are.

1 John 2:15--17 (ESV) --- 15 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

He also expects us to grow spiritually toward loving people as we love ourselves or as Jesus has loved us.