Thoughts on 1 John 1-2

Today's reading: Isaiah 25-26; 1 John 1-2

No truth is so basic or passage of Scripture so well known that we don't need to hear it again, and again, and again.

John is not really writing anything crazy in this letter so far. Yes, it is more nuanced than this, but largely he is saying, "If you are a true follower of Jesus, you should strive to live like Him. If someone is actively indulging a life of sin, that is a good sign they are not a true follower of Jesus." He has said it various ways, and yes, it's not the sole thing in these first couple chapters, but I would argue that for these chapters, as well as going into the third chapter, this is really John's main point. This is a pretty basic and obvious teaching, which makes it all the more remarkable then when he says, "I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth."

Despite how basic to Christianity the truth is that John is laying out, he is not writing to non-believers, or brand new believers, explaining the truth to them for the first time, or to overtly wayward believers who need rebuked and corrected. John writes this basic truth and instruction to them specifically because they already know it.

It can be easy, as you read and learn more of the Bible and of Christian theology in general, to start to feel like you don't need the basic stuff anymore. When the pastor is teaching a passage you already know well (or maybe have even taught yourself in the past), or is drawing out an application that is already all too obvious, it is easy to tune it out and just let your mind wander to other things. When the reading plan is going through a passage that you've already studied or maybe even memorized, it is easy to just skim the reading, not really soaking your mind in it, because what's the point? You already know it! 

As easy as it is to fall into this way of thinking, John has a very different perspective. John writes these basic truths to them, not because they don't know them, but, as I said above, specifically because they already do.

There is a truth and a reality to the fact that we cannot go deeper into understanding the Bible or it's theology if we don't know the basics. I think the quintessential example of this is in Hebrews 5 when the author rebukes his readers for not being further along in their understanding than they are. He says, "About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child." He wants to get into deeper, more difficult to understand theology about Jesus and the priesthood of Melchizedek, but going there requires more of a basic understanding of the Scriptures than the majority of his readers evidently had, so he cannot simply dive into the deeper things like he should be able to. However, as much as these basics are required before going deeper, already being further along and understanding more does not remove your need for the basics.

We need to be regularly grounded in the foundational truths of our faith. If we lay a solid foundation but then neglect it as we build higher and higher, when cracks begin to appear in the neglected foundation, the entire structure will eventually collapse.

Questions about things like the priesthood of Melchizedek, the nature of the Trinity, the mechanics and scope of the atonement, apologetics, the origin of demons, the nature and duration of Hell, etc. are fascinating, fun, and valuable tracks to run down, engaging the Scriptures and seeking deeper understanding. But as valuable as it can be to seek a deeper understanding in any of these areas, or a thousand others, we cannot neglect our foundation for these things. None of these questions is more important than our salvation in Christ by faith, or the basics John is calling us to here today, of seeking to live like our Savior. Think of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, "And if I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." Going deeper, having all knowledge and understanding all mysteries, is only valuable if we do not neglect our foundation to get there.

We need to know the basics before we can go deeper, but no matter how deep we've gone, we still need the basics.

Lord, give us the humility to let you forever transform our hearts and our minds through the simplest truths. Give us hearts that are excited to sit in church under your Word, even when it's a passage or a teaching we've heard before, knowing that you are active through your Word and will bring growth and transformation through it. Give us hearts of anticipation each morning as we read your Scriptures, knowing you can and do always speak through your revealed Word, no matter how many times we have read or studied a particular passage in the past. Thank you for revealing yourself to us as you have, Father.