Do you know anybody who is a handwringer? Not one who uses their hands as a bell ringer, but one who expresses worry with writhing hands. John had empathy enough to see this in certain members of the ancient church and much of this letter aims at those unsettled by spiritual worry. He attempts to replace their concerns with something greater. They already have someone greater, but their thoughts, their minds, their hearts need a layering on of reminders that they might properly replace concern with truth. Look here at 1 John 4:4.
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4–ESV)
Toward their uncertainty, John sends a phrase that has taken on iconic proportions in the church. The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
The concerned heart can appropriate this to combat many, many things. In 1 John, however, it is about false viewpoints. The world’s offerings are both persuasive and pervasive. God’s offering, however, is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who lives inside the believer, and he is the living viewpoint. His power loosens and unties the tangles of these perspectives. When God unties the knots of your soul, the freedom is real, but the freedom sits on the counter of your soul until it is picked up in faith.
While there are myriad false viewpoints, there is only one truth. While non-God offers a variety of false flavors, there is a single truth, and God provisions us with that.
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