5:19 “We know that we are out of God, and the whole world is lying in the evil one.”
Now John states his second concluding we know: “we are out of God.” Like the first “we know,” this is a summary of a principle that has been already covered in the letter.
John speaks of being “out of God” in 3:9, 3:10, 4:1, 4:2, 4:4, 4:6, 4:7, 5:1, and 5:4, and if you were to include references to us also being “in God” you could add at least nine more references to that list! This point is probably the most important in the whole letter. “We are of God.” We can be sure of our position in Christ, and we can be sure that the false teachers who claim that we are not as close to God as they are, are dead wrong!
There’s a strong us-them feel here: “”we are of God, but the world lies in the evil one” (emphasis mine). “The relationship of the church to God is widely different from that of the world to the evil one… ‘out of God’ and ‘in the evil.’ The first describes the absolute source of being; the second the actual (but not essential) position… the evil one [is not] ‘laying hold on’ the world as from without… it has been placed ‘in him.'” (Westcott 194ff)
I have rendered the verse literally from the Greek source, but most English translations add a word or two to make it more sensible to our language: “the whole world lies ‘in the power of’ (NASV) / ‘under the control of’ (NIV) the evil one.” The KJV takes the phrase literally translated “the evil” and renders it “wickedness.” I think that “the evil one” is a better translation though, not only because it appears to be a euphemism for satan, but also because it contains a definite article.
What does it mean to “lie in the evil one?” John has already mentioned how the typical traits of the world are lust, pride (2:16), hate (3:13), and the practice of sin (3:8). These are the antithesis of the traits of a child of God. Which side are you on? Either you are in God or you are in the devil; there is no middle ground!
Notice also that the contact between us and the world/evil can be mutual. We may be kept in such a way that the evil one does not touch us (5:18), but we also, by not loving the world (2:15), do not touch the evil one! Are you striving to keep such contact with the evil one cut off? I know all too many Christians who like to blur the distinction between us and the world, but we must be different. We must not have any traffic with the evil one!
By Nate Wilson.
