Bible Commentaries
1 John 5

Verses 1-5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 1 John 5:1

As we have said previously, John was the disciple who was closest to Jesus. He learned many things about Jesus that the others did not seem to know. He was the disciple who learned the most about the necessity of a new spiritual birth. He has already mentioned this in 2:29; 3:9 and in 4:7. John clearly spelled out the New Birth in his gospel. When the Pharisee Nicodemus came to Jesus by night asking him questions, Jesus began to speak of the new birth. The learned Nicodemus, although a high religious leader, was astounded by the concept. Finally, Jesus said to him plainly, "You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again'" (John 3:7).

So here is a "must" in scripture and we should take careful note of it. This command applies to every person today. Jesus says simply, "You must be born again." Naturally, we were all born once in the flesh. Now, we must be born in the Spirit. In John 3:3, Jesus says, "…I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." The world of religion often misses this critical information. There are millions of "Christians" and "religious people" who have only one birth, but this will never get them into heaven.

It is clear that the new birth is a spiritual birth. It comes to us by our simply believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah and the divine Son of God. When we believe this with all our hearts, we are suddenly changed and born into a new spiritual world. We immediately begin to breathe spiritual air, which is prayer, and enjoy spiritual food which is the word of God. We suddenly have a new spiritual family as we are born into the family of God, or the true church of Jesus. Pett exclaims of these, "They have received new life imparted to them by God, they are a new creation, they have received a life of such quality that it is called 'eternal life'"^(F1)

We see here that if we love him who begat (the Father) we will love the one begotten of him (Jesus). We cannot love the Father as many claim today and bypass Jesus. Jesus is the way to the Father. In John 14:6, Jesus boldly claims, "…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." If we love God we will also love Jesus. It is just that simple. We will also love the family of God or the true church. Culpepper says "The family metaphors are especially important in the Gospel and Epistles of John."^(F2)

Godbey speaks of this faith/love connection saying, "Here faith and divine love are set forth as inseparable concomitants, like Siamese twins…constituting the two hemispheres of the beautiful celestial globe of human salvation, faith our side, and love God's counterpart."^(F3) The reader should not miss the universal invitation to accept God by coming to Jesus Christ (cf. 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).^(F4) This is what the gospel is all about.

"This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands" (5:2). Throughout his little epistle, John has been continually emphasizing the tests of knowing God. They are simple tests consisting of faith, obedience and love.^(F5) It is by these simple tests that we can know that we know God (v. 13). Yes, the Bible does assure us that we can know that we know. We do not have to wonder anymore.

How do we know that we know God? We know it by loving his Son Jesus. We also know it by loving his children who are adopted by grace and faith, and these children make up the church of God. When we carry out God's commands we must love one another. As the greatest command states, we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then, we should love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31). We should love God and others with the agape or God-kind of love.

Scholars Kenneth Barker and John Kohlenberger note here, "This statement troubles commentators because it reverses what is expected…Even as one cannot love God without loving his children, so also it is impossible to truly love the children of God without loving God…."^(F6)

There is a big problem in the western churches. Many so-called Christians today do not feel it is necessary to attend church and be with the Lord's people. In fact, the mid-90s survey of Wade Clark Roof discovered that already 54 percent of evangelical Christians felt it was more important to be alone and meditate than to worship with others. Roof supposed that this was due to the rise of the new "sovereign self" in the West.^(F7)

According to tracking information provided by the Barna Group in 2014, American church attendance had dropped from 43 percent in 2004 to 36 percent in that ten year period. The groups hardest hit in this drop were the younger Americans, the Millennials and Gen Xers.^(F8)

What a contrast the western churches have with the amazing rise of Christianity on the continent of Africa for instance! Some of these vibrant churches beg their members to limit their attendance to every second or third Sunday in order to give other people a chance to come in and hear the message.^(F9) The great reformer Calvin says concerning all this, "He has hitherto taught us that there is never a true love to God, except when our brethren are also loved."^(F10) James calls this law of love to one another the "Royal Law" (James 2:8).

"In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…" (5:3). Jesus makes this important statement concerning his commands in Matthew 11:29-30, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." John has already spoken quite a bit about the Lord's commandments (cf. 2:3-8; 3:16,21-23; 4:21). We should be aware by now that we Christians are not rid of commands. We are rather charged to keep them, but with the new dynamic of the Holy Spirit living and working within us. John says, "If you love me, keep my commands" (John 14:15).

We need to understand that the Law of God is not something evil but it is something good. The law is even claimed to be perfect (Psalm 19:7). As Martin Luther once said, "Grace makes the law lovable to us…and the law is no longer against us but one with us."^{Matthew 23:4)'" (Stott, p. 173).">(F11)} We remember how Jacob labored seven years for Rachel and they seemed but a few days because of his great love for her (Genesis 29:18-20).

The problem arises when we have the wrong attitude toward the law. Paul says, "We know that the law is good if one uses it properly" (1 Timothy 1:8). Much like the Holy Spirit, the law convicts of sin. In this sense the law is holy, righteous and spiritual (Romans 7:12 &14). It would be difficult for us to define sin were it not for the law (Romans 7:7). Much revival preaching in the past thus focused strongly on the law and its commands. We are sorely missing this kind of message today. The law pointed out sin, and in that respect it actually made sin increase, so that grace could also increase (Romans 5:20). The law is like an x-ray, in that it is diagnostic and shows up our sin, however, the law is not therapeutic.^(F12) It cannot heal us. Only Jesus can do that. One of the purposes of the law was to prove conclusively that people could not keep it. The law is perfect but we are imperfect.

We have previously spoken of how Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, but he is definitely not the end of the law (cf. Romans 10:4 – NKJ). Jesus actually came to write the law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). He did not come to abolish it but to fulfill it in us (Matthew 5:17). However, if we try in our flesh to live by the law as some, we have made a grievous error. Galatians 3:10, assures us, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'"

Human nature is adverse to God's law. Wiersbe says, "Everything in creation-except man – obeys the will of God – 'Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word' (Psalm 148:8). In the book of Jonah, you see the winds and waves, and even the fish, obeying God's commands, but the prophet persisted in disobeying. Even a plant and a little worm did what God commanded. But the prophet stubbornly wanted his own way."^(F13)

John continues, "for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (5:4). We are becoming aware that the word "overcome" is a favorite with John. He has already spoken of overcoming in 2:13-14; and 4:4. In the Book of Revelation he will speak of it in 2:11,17,26; 3:5,12,21; 17:14 and 21:7. The word for overcome is the Greek nikaō. As Wuest says, it means, "to carry off the victory, come off victorious."^(F14) The word originally referred to Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. No doubt, we have noted that many tennis shoes in our day carry on this name.^(F15)

We are instructed to overcome the world system by our faith in Jesus. In John 16:33, Jesus promises us, "…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John has already said in 1 John 4:17, "…in this world we are like Jesus." Barker and Kohlenberger comment here, "It is best to interpret this statement as referring to a past event; John is emphasizing that the victory he refers to has already been won. By faith we now have access to what was once accomplished by and through the appearance of Jesus on earth."^(F16) We must make one thing clear. There is really only one overcomer and that is Jesus. All the overcoming we will ever do is a result of Christ, and his living in us.

"Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (5:5). John comes back to his basic confession, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Those who had failed to believe this were overcome already but those who believed it, and all that it implied, were overcomers. So it is today, if we believe in Jesus as the divine Son of God and commit our lives to him, we too can be overcomers. We can overcome the world system that is directly opposed to God. We can overcome it because Jesus has already overcome it. In him we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Verses 6-8

JESUS, WHO CAME BY WATER AND BY BLOOD

This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 1 John 5:6

When we approach this section it is important to remember that John was the only one of the twelve disciples present at the crucifixion. During the crucifixion he apparently witnessed something spoken of in John 19:34. When Jesus was at last pierced with a spear, both blood and water gushed out of his dead body. In verse 35, John testifies that he saw this and he relates this apparent miraculous event so that people could believe in Jesus and be saved.

This has been a difficult passage for interpreters, so we want to go slow and try to understand it. Many theories have been given throughout church history as to the significance of the water and the blood, as well as the Spirit who is also mentioned. Some in the past have tried to connect these things with the new birth or with individual baptism but these explanations seem cumbersome.

Perhaps the best explanation is the oldest one given by the early church father Tertullian (c. 160-c. 225). He wrote that John, in speaking of the water, was referring to Jesus' baptism. He continued saying that the blood referred to his crucifixion.^(F17) These things are witnesses of Jesus and his mission and we see in scripture that the Holy Spirit also came as a witness at Jesus' baptism. Today, a number of modern scholars and commentators have adopted this view.

With his baptism he thoroughly identified with sinful humanity (Matthew 3:14-15). Although he had no sin he allowed himself to be baptized in order to make that identity with our fallen race. At his baptism the Holy Spirit also came upon him in the form of a dove and God himself witnessed that Jesus was his Son in whom he was well pleased (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10-11). So the water and blood were sure witnesses of his Incarnation, that he was truly human and truly God. As Barnes says, "the idea is, that the water and the blood were clearly manifest during his appearing on earth, or that they were remarkable testimonials in some way to his character and work."^(F18)

This statement of John may well have been included to counter the heresy of Cerinthus, who felt that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism and left him before his death on the cross. Barclay sums it up saying, "Cerinthus taught that Jesus became divine at the baptism, that divinity left him before the Cross and that he died simply a man."^(F19) Such a teaching obviously cuts the heart out of the gospel. Barker & Kohlenberger state, "Water and blood become, therefore, the key words of the true understanding of the Incarnation…This coming by water and blood is the basis of our salvation."^(F20)

"For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement" (5:7-8). Verse seven has been an exceedingly difficult one for translators and scholars over the centuries. For instance, in the old King James Version, verse seven reads, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." While this would be a great verse in our Christological debates, the verse was in none of the original Greek texts of the New Testament. Also, for the first 450 years of the church's existence the verse was never used in the raging Christological controversies over the Trinity.^(F21)

The debates over verse seven are too complicated for us to get into here. The verse as seen in the King James Version did not appear in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century. However, it did appear as notes in the margins as early as the eleventh century.^(F22) The Greek scholar Wuest says, "There is general agreement among textual critics that the contents of this verse are spurious…"^(F23) Barclay adds, "modern scholarship has made it quite certain that John did not write it and that it is a much later commentary on, and addition to, his words; and that is why all modern translations omit it."^(F24) This is good reason for us to rely on the more scholarly and up-to-date modern translations. The word of God in its original form was true and we can live by every word from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). However, through the centuries certain mistakes have sometimes crept into the various translations.

We can truly say about verses seven and eight that there are three witnesses to Christ mentioned here, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and that the three witnesses all agree together. As Vincent says, "they converge upon the one truth, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come in the flesh."^(F25) We know that according to the word of God there had to be two or three witnesses to a matter in order to establish it (Deuteronomy 19:15; John 8:17-18). Augustine comments, "The church is signified as being born from this blood and water." Leo the Great (c. 400-461) adds, "This means the Spirit of sanctification, the blood of redemption and the water of baptism, which three are one…"^(F26)

Verses 9-12

THE TESTIMONY

We accept human testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 1 John 5:9

All of us are very quick to accept man's testimony. If a motorist tells us that the highway is blocked ahead, we immediately turn around and find some other way. Although we do not even enquire about the motorist's name, or how the person got his information, we simply turn around. But how slow we are to accept the sure testimony of the Bible, and of God himself? God has gone to great extremes to testify about his Son, but so few people of the world's vast population accept this testimony today.

Wuest says of the Greek here, "God has borne testimony concerning his Son with the present result that that testimony is on record…The verb is in the perfect tense, speaking of a past act of bearing testimony with the result that the testimony is on record at the present time."^(F27)

"Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son" (5:10). The testimony of Jesus as the divine Son of God lives in the believer's heart. However, for those who do not believe, they are not only missing eternal life that is given by God (John 12:50), but they are actually making God out to be a liar. They, by their unbelief, are blaspheming God. As Stott says, "Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied; it is a sin to be deplored."^(F28) "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son" (5:11). How wonderful! God has offered us free of charge the gift of eternal life. This is the very life of God. It is a life of inexpressibly great quality that goes on forever and ever. What an offer to humanity! However, this life is only available in Jesus his Son. This life can be found nowhere else on earth or in heaven. Guzik says, "John's confidence is impressive. He wants us to know that we have eternal life. We can only know this if our salvation rests in Jesus and not in our own performance."^(F29)

"Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" (5:12). Here it is plain and simple. If we have Jesus living in our hearts we have eternal life. We are, in fact, already enjoying that eternal life to some degree. We have the daily, inward testimony of the Holy Spirit that we have this life and that we are children of God already (Romans 8:16). The world has nothing that can compare with the quality of this life.

The popular Christian philosopher, William Lane Craig, in comparing the Christian life with atheism, says, "The atheistic worldview is insufficient to maintain a happy and consistent life. Man cannot live consistently and happily as though life were ultimately without meaning, value, or purpose. If we try to live consistently within the framework of the atheistic worldview, we shall find ourselves profoundly unhappy."^(F30)

Verses 13-15

JOHN'S CONCLUDING REMARKS

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13

We cannot miss the fact that John wants us to really know that we have eternal life. What a blessing it is to be able to know that we have it! How few people today are there who can testify that they really know this? Stott says, "…it is common today to dismiss any claim to assurance of salvation as presumptuous, and to affirm that no certainty is possible on this side of death."^(F31) John would disagree, for this knowledge of eternal life for him is almost the theme of his epistle (cf. 1:4).^(F32)

Stott points out that while the Gospel of John was written for unbelievers, in order that they may have life, this little epistle was written for believers, so that having believed, they may know (eidete) that they have eternal life.^(F33) According to Wuest, this Greek word is not speaking of experiential knowledge but rather an absolute positive knowledge that is beyond a doubt.^(F34)

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us" (5:14). John now turns his thoughts to prayer and that prayer is based upon the certain knowledge of God. Someone has said that prayer is like breathing. It is the lifeline of the Christian. Clarke says, "Prayer is the language of the children of God. He who is begotten of God speaks this language."^(F35)

We note in this verse that we are to pray according to the Lord's will (cf. Matthew 6:10; Mark 14:36). There are many instructions and promises made in the Bible regarding prayer. James says, "…You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:2-3).

We cajole God to do certain things, particularly things we think he should do. However, Robert Law once said, "Prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven. It's getting God's will done on earth."^(F36) There are many beautiful promises made about prayer in the scripture. In 2 Corinthians 1:20, we read, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God." In Psalm 84:11 it is written, "… no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless."

People have ceased doing a lot of truly religious things today. They do not go to church, they do not read their Bibles and they do not pray. Many take a casual attitude toward the whole subject of Christianity, or even poke fun at it. The comedian and actor Rodney Dangerfield remarked, "I put a seashell to my ear and got a busy signal."^(F37)

The great Oswald Chambers gives this beautiful summary of prayer:

We hear it said that a person's life will suffer if he doesn't pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer…To say that "prayer changes things" is not as close to the truth as saying, "Prayer changes me and then I change things." God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person's inner nature.^(F38)

Wiersbe tells how George Mueller fed thousands of orphans solely by prayer. Mueller said, "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of God's willingness."^(F39) God wants to do a lot of things but we hinder his work by not cooperating with him in our prayers. We should pray and not faint (Luke 18:1). We should literally pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

"And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him" (5:15). In verse 14 he again uses the Greek word parresia for "confidence." The word means not only confidence but it means "free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance."^(F40) When we have this kind of confidence we can know that we will receive whatever we ask. John's statement is very similar to what Jesus says to us in Mark 11:24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Verses 16-17

THE SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death." 1 John 5:16-17

Here John lays another difficult passage on us. We might ask, "What in the world is the sin unto death?" Undoubtedly, even many Christians have worried themselves about this sin through the centuries. It is strange indeed that after John has given us instruction on prayer and urged us to pray, that suddenly he tells us not to pray.

It seems that the question boils down (after almost endless commentary found on the subject) to whether this sin speaks of natural death or spiritual death. A number of commentators think it is a reference to natural death, but this does not seem to match up with John's description here. We must remember that John's context has to do with false antichrist-type teachers and some supposed believers who have absolutely abandoned their faith. The sin unto death thus makes more sense if it is a reference to spiritual death. Culpepper affirms this saying, "In the case of 1 John…it is more likely that the elder had in mind the Christological heresy of his opponents."^(F41) Other modern commentators such as Brooke, Law and Dodd, also see this sin as total apostasy, the denial and renunciation of the faith.^(F42) The early Christian writer Andreas (seventh century) says, "It is the sin of heresy, or of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which leads to death."^(F43)

Obviously, when the verse begins, it is speaking of a brother or sister in Christ who commits a sin that does not lead to death. For them we should pray, and as James says, our prayer will not only raise up the sick brother or sister, but that God will forgive their sins (James 5:14-15). As John continues though, he no longer speaks of a brother or sister but he speaks of those who are apparently apostates or antichrists. Some of these could have come out of the church membership for sure, but they obviously were not of the church (1 John 2:19). A prime example of this type thing was Judas Iscariot. Judas was called and even selected as a disciple, yet Jesus knew he was a devil (John 6:70). He was exposed to a great deal of spiritual light, even participating in evangelistic work, but he renounced all this and betrayed the Lord. It would have been totally useless to pray for such a one. John says, such people who deny the Father and Son should not even be greeted and certainly not invited into their houses (2 John 1:10).

Wuest comments, "…the 'sin unto death' refers in the context in which John is writing, to the denial of the Incarnation, and that it would be committed by those whom John designates as antichrists, who did not belong to the true Christian body of believers, but were unsaved."^(F44) This sin may be in some ways connected with the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as seen in Matthew 12:28-31; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-29; and 2 Peter 2:20,21.

W. T. Conners in his Christian Doctrine adds, "When this rejection becomes definite and wilful, it becomes the sin unto death (1 John 5:13-17). It thus becomes moral suicide. It is putting out one's own spiritual eyes. It does not take place except in connection with a high degree of enlightenment. It is deliberate, wilful, malicious rejection of Christ as God's revelation, knowing that he is such a revelation. It is deliberately calling white black."^(F45)

Verses 18-21

THE TRUE GOD AND THE LIFE ETERNAL

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 1 John 5:18

Once again, John is emphasizing that a born again person cannot continue in a habit of sin (cf. 3:6; Hebrews 10:26). That person may have an occasional sin but he or she cannot live in sin, thus making sin a lifestyle. The true believer hates sin and tries every way to avoid it. As Plummer said, "A child of God may sin, but his normal condition is resistance to evil."^(F46) John knows for certain about this, since he uses the Greek word oidamen, representing clear certainties.^(F47)

It is not so much that we are able to keep ourselves from sin, but that the one born of God or begotten of God (Gk. gennetheis) keeps us from sin. This is no doubt a reference to the indwelling of Christ in us through his Holy Spirit. Because Christ is in us, the evil one cannot harm us. The Greek word is haptetai and it does not speak of just a touch but rather it speaks of Satan grasping and laying hold on the saint of God.^(F48) The devil is a very powerful enemy but he cannot mess with us if we have established Jesus on the throne of our hearts.

"We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one" (5:19). John well knows that although we are God's children, the rest of the world is under control of the evil one. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Satan is called the ruler of the kingdom of the air in Ephesians 2:2. In John 12:31, he is also called the prince of the world. Although in this same verse we see him cast out, we must remember that at this time he is still here and that he has great power.

Stedman reminds us of some areas of his power today. He holds great influence over the present age in the things that are worshipped. "There is the worship of Narcissus, the god who fell in love with himself. Is this not perhaps the supreme god of mankind, the worship of self, the worship of man, the exaltation of man?…Bacchus, the god of pleasure, the god of wine, women and song; the worship of Venus, the goddess of love, enthroned in Hollywood and all that Hollywood stands for; Apollo, the god of physical beauty; Minerva, the goddess of science. Everywhere we have enthroned science."^(F49)

"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life" (5:20). Jesus has given us the true understanding (Gk. dianoian), that we might really know God and that we might grasp what is true and what is not. There is much to do about reality today with all the so-called reality shows. However, even these shows have no basis in reality. Jesus is reality and he is Truth. Wiersbe feels that reality has been the underlying theme of this whole letter and as he closes he reminds us of it again. He says that, "He [Jesus] is the Original: everything else is a copy…Christians live in an atmosphere of reality. Most unsaved people live in an atmosphere of pretense and sham."^(F50)

Living in unreality is a hazardous thing as Wiersbe jokingly points out:

Shed a tear for Jimmy Brown;
Poor Jimmy is no more.
For what he thought was H₂O
Was H₂SO₄!^(F51)

By John's last statement in this verse, mentioning Jesus Christ as the true God, several commentators see this as a proof that Jesus is God. We know this from a number of places in scripture but here it is not a one-hundred percent certainty in the Greek.^(F52)

"Dear children, keep yourselves from idols" (5:21). Guzik says here, "This may seem like a strange way to end John's letter, but it fits in with the theme of a real, living relationship with God."^(F53) It does seem strange that John would mention idols here when he has not mentioned them in the rest of the letter. Of course, the saints in Ephesus were surrounded by idolatry and they, in fact, had just come out of an idolatrous lifestyle.

Barclay mentions that the Temple of Diana in Ephesus was one of the wonders of the ancient world. He cites the philosopher Heraclitus who was a resident of Ephesus who said "…that the darkness to the approach of the altar of the temple was the darkness of vileness; that the morals of the temple were worse than the morals of beasts; that the inhabitants of Ephesus were fit only to be drowned, and that the reason that he could never smile was that he lived in the midst of such terrible uncleanness."^(F54)

While the lure of the temple must have been great, this may not have been John's concern. Stott citing Brooke notes, "It is more likely, however, that the allusion to 'the untrue mental images fashioned by the false teachers.'"^(F55) Smith agrees saying, "John is thinking, not of the heathen worship of Ephesus- Artemis and her temple but of the heretical substitutes for the Christian conception of God."^(F56) We can be certain that in Ephesus and the Province of Asia, like in Israel of old (1 Kings 19:18), there were still thousands (of Christians) who had not bowed their knee to Baal.