“IDOLS”

21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

1 John 5:21

Since the Fall, people have been sinning. And at the very core of sin is corruption. We come to this world as heirs of the sins of our forefathers, the most wicked of which is the worship of idols. The Bible shows God’s anger toward this specific sin. Why?

In our previous blog, we were reminded that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and the only way to heaven.

We have come to the last verse of the entire epistle, where the Apostle John gives his final exhortation. He tells the believers to keep themselves from idols.

In context, he gives a word of caution against teachings that contradict the truths he discussed. He calls for discernment and wisdom to allow believers to guard themselves from any misconceptions about God and the teachings of the Apostles.

What does he mean by “idols”?  The Greek term “eidōlon” refers to an image, i.e. whatever represents the form of an object, either real or imaginary. It means “a false god.” Therefore, an idol is a false substitute that takes the place of the true. Based on John’s exhortation in this passage, an idol is a false teaching. The heretics of his time were teaching not the worship of the Living God but a false one. Subscribing to a false teaching is turning away from the truth. To believe in such a thing is no better than worshiping a carved image—something humans crafted with their hands.

Our study of this book gave us a front seat to John’s Christology (study of Christ). His teaching highlights Jesus as the Son of God, who is eternally holy but came down to earth in human form, died for sinners, and rose again on the third day. Jesus is the only hope of restoration of this world marked with fallenness. He is coming back to reinstate what was lost and make all things new.

The question is: how have you been preparing for that day?

Pursue the Savior today!