Keep Yourselves From Idols
1 John 5v21
8th December 2023
If you've been with me through the study of 1 John, I hope you'll agree that it's a beautiful and very important letter. In it, John set out the basis of our eternal adoption as God's children, and the vital importance of faithfulness to the true Gospel and the true God, of holiness of living and sound doctrine. As we saw last time, the second to last verse of this letter is:
And we are in him who is true - even in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Following on from this, John concludes his letter with these words:
1 John 5v21
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Some may be tempted to think this is a rather abrupt end to the letter. They may think that in this verse John is introducing a new subject, and then leaving it after just one sentence. That is a misreading. This last verse, coupled with the previous verse, sum up the entire letter. Together, they are thus a most fitting conclusion for it. Having written to warn us against accepting false doctrine, false morality and false faith, it's logical for John to end by assuring us that eternal life is in Jesus Christ and warning us against false gods.
Choose both to believe the true Gospel and to reject false teaching. Choose both to accept the Bible, the written word of God, and to reject anything opposed to it. Choose both to accept Jesus and to reject all false gods. Don't try to hold on the truth while dallying with falsehood. Don't try to hold on Jesus while also worshipping false gods. Anybody who has been saved from his sins through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and has been included in Jesus, has no business worshipping any other god.
To be clear, since Jesus is the true God, any worship of a god who is not Jesus Christ is idolatry. Never believe it when people tell you that all people worship the same god really. We worship Jesus Christ as God. Followers of other religions do not. God is not an idea; God is a person. If Jesus is not God, then Christians are deluded. If Jesus is God, then non-Christians are deluded. Each person must make his choice of whom to worship, but the wrong choice has terrible consequences. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
The apostle John, the author of this letter, was almost certainly writing to a church or a group of churches in Ephesus or in the area around it. Ephesus was the center of the worship of the false God Artemis, and much of its commerce and culture were based on that false religion. John knew what harm idolatry can do. Inevitably, idolatry harms us because we are worshipping as God something or someone who is not God. All falsehood is damaging. All spiritual falsehood is very damaging. Idolatry twists us away from the true God and, gradually perhaps, from all spiritual truth. Worst of all, idolatry is an insult to God. He alone is worthy of worship. God hates idolatry.
In the Old Testament God accused the Israelites of idolatry many times, threatening judgement if they persisted in it. Here's one example:
Jeremiah 16v18
"I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they
have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have
filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”
For an Israelite or a Christian to worship an idol is faithlessness towards God. For this reason, God compares idolatry to adultery is several passages, including:
Hosea 1v2
... the land is guilty of the evilest adultery in departing from the Lord.
As a man and wife are joined in marriage, so we are joined to God in covenant relationship. Just as an adulterous husband betrays his wife, an idolater betrays God. Idolatry is cheating on God.
An idol need not be a statue, or the false god of a false religion. Anything that you worship is an idol. It can be whatever you treat as the most important thing in your life. If you car, or your job, or your money, or your family, or (ridiculously) your football team means more to you than God, then it's an idol. It's taking the place that God should rightfully take. Jesus said:
Matthew 6v24
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other,
or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both
God and money."
But money is just one example. Consider:
Ephesians 5v5
... No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Colossians 3v5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Don't let anything or anyone become more important to you than Jesus. Money is secondary. Career is secondary. Family is secondary. Ministry is secondary. Popularity and respect from others are secondary. Jesus, the only Son of God, who died in your place, is far more important than everything else put together. Please, today, settle this in your heart. Decide now and for ever that Jesus comes first. Don't let anything become an idol for you.
When we get or first priority right, everything else falls into line behind it. If we will put Our Lord and God Jesus Christ first, then life will become so much simpler. If we will seek Him first, we needn't worry about the other stuff (Matthew 6v33-34).
Jesus meets all our needs. He fills our hearts and minds with love, joy and peace. He helps us to see things as they really are. He gives life real meaning and real purpose. We don't need to ask ourselves "Do I want this job?, Do I want this car? Where do I want to live?" Instead we begin to ask, "Does God want me to take this job? Does God want me to buy this car? Where does God want me to live?" Of course, this involves submitting our will to God. Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer. It begins:
Our Father in heaven
hallowed be your Name (and not mine)
Your kingdom come (and not mine)
You will be done (and not mine)
Life with Jesus is real life. Accept no imitation.
The kingdom of God is real peace, real power, real joy. Accept no imitation.