So when the author of
the first letter of John writes that “this is His commandment” (3:23a), He is
speaking to a group of people that should be in a position to well understand
what is meant by “commandment” and that which “pleases God.” This is
especially so among Jewish believers, as it is borne in mind that Christianity
(to use a general referent) was a Resurrection and creation restoration
movement that had its roots in Judaism, that looked to the one now confirmed to
have been the Jewish Messiah as its founder and resurrected Leader, was
informed and undergirded by the history and prophecies of the Hebrew
Scriptures, and which was understood to be the movement of the Creator God in
fulfillment of His desire and His promise to bless all nations through His
covenant people.
Because of these
things, the reader also does well to remember that the Jewish understanding of
righteousness, covenant, commandment, and Resurrection would be fundamental in
forming the theology of the new movement that was now centered upon Jesus, the
son of Joseph, who was said to have hailed from Nazareth. So even if the
author is writing to a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles, or to a group
predominantly composed of Gentiles, Jewish understanding of the primary
concepts would always have to be front and center in order to make any sense of
the message of Jesus, of the Kingdom of heaven, or of the sovereign, creative,
providential, and covenant God.
With that covered,
one can infer that, with talk of commandments, reference is indeed being made
to covenant markers. Reference is being made to that which denotes a
person as being in positive covenant standing, and therefore part of the kingdom
of the Creator God that was understood to have been unexpectedly inaugurated in
the midst of history with the Resurrection of Jesus, and therefore righteous
(justified) and pleasing to God. This was always an important and
controversial issue within the very early church. There was a group of
believers that firmly believed that the works of the law---the established
covenant markers---needed to be kept in place to identify believers as people
under the covenant. These individuals
should not be painted as enemies, but rather, as those that also sought to live
by faith.
Likewise, and
contrary (in this matter) to those that believed that the established covenant
markers needed to be maintained so that covenant members could be readily
identified, there was a group of believers, of which the Apostle Paul seems to
be the loudest voice, that said that the only thing that was necessary was a
confessed belief in the Gospel of Jesus (He is Lord of all), and that it was
this alone, which sprung from a faith that was somehow gifted by the Holy
Spirit as a gracious and sovereign act of the Creator God, signaled a
believer’s membership in the kingdom of the Creator God, making them righteous
(justified), pleasing to God, and partakers in the covenant God’s promised
blessings for His people.
The author of this
letter seems to be very much in agreement with this second position, as even
though he takes the liberty of redundantly adding “and love one another” (which
would be the natural outworking of a believing union with Christ that would
make one a vehicle for God’s blessings), it is quite clear that he is of the
opinion that believing in Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Son of God
(King of Israel/Messiah), is that which brought one into the covenant, sealing
a person into the kingdom of the Creator God. Belief in Jesus and in His
Gospel (messiah-ship, crucifixion, Resurrection, rule as Lord of all) was
paramount. All else was secondary, flowing from the faith and power
housed within that message.
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