1 João 5
Steven Cole · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 5:1
Cole writes "Regeneration (or the new birth) is totally a work of God. We cannot play an active role at all, in that we are spiritually dead. Many mistakenly think that being born again is a matter of our “free will” or choice. Certainly, we must choose to trust in Christ (John 1:12). But the question is, how can a dead sinner do that? John 1:13 states, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Just as none of us had any say in whether we would be born physically, neither did we determine that we would be born spiritually. It is entirely a work of God according to His sovereign will. (See Wayne Grudem's chapter on Regeneration - scroll to page 606 Systematic Theology) In other words, the Bible teaches that the reason you choose to trust Christ is that God has quickened you from the dead. Otherwise, no one could or would choose to trust in Christ. The new birth is essential. For some reason, even the New American Standard Bible, which is usually quite literal, obscures the sense of the Greek verb in verse 1. The English Standard Version translates correctly, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God….” The Greek verb (perfect tense) indicates an action that took place in the past with continuing results in the present and future. In other words, John is emphasizing that faith is the result or evidence of the new birth, not the cause of it. A person who has been born of God in the past will be characterized by ongoing faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. So one way that you can tell if you’ve been born again is to answer the question, “Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?” Many evangelicals object to the teaching that regeneration precedes saving faith. (By precedes, I mean logically as the cause, not chronologically. Chronologically, faith occurs immediately after regeneration.) Critics say, “How can God (or preachers) call upon people to believe in Christ as Savior if they cannot believe?” So they make faith the means of regeneration, rather than the result. But I would counter, how could Jesus command a dead man, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43)? Isn’t it futile to command a dead man to do anything? Yes, unless it is the will of Jesus to raise him from the dead! Then, with the command, God imparts the power of new life, so that Lazarus can obey the command. Lazarus’ coming forth is clear evidence that he had already received new life from God. Faith is the evident result of the new birth, not the cause of it. Gary Burge agrees that "In 1Jn 5:1a we learn that holding a true confession (ED: CONTINUALLY BELIEVING) of faith is evidence of rebirth (ED: NOT THE CAUSE OF IT). (SEE The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible) Faith and love are each expressions of the work of God in a person’s life. M A Thompson explains believes (pisteuo - present tense - continues to believe) this way - Two parallel statements in 1Jn 5:1 both begin, everyone who … (ED: NAS = "WHOEVER...") One points to the importance of faith in Jesus, the other to the importance of loving each other. These are not two separate commands that one must keep in order to become a child of God; rather, they are two expressions of what the child of God does. Faith and love are each expressions of the work of God in a person’s life. (See 1-3 John - Page 129) A present action of believing is evidence of a past experience of begetting. Sam Storms adds "John says in 1Jn 5:1 that whoever is presently believing in Christ has in the past been born or begotten of God. I.e., a present action of believing is evidence of a past experience of begetting....When one examines these texts where the terminology of regeneration is used, one finds that John is concerned with describing the consequences or fruit of the new birth: Question: "How may I know that regeneration has occurred? How may I know if someone has been born again?" Answer: "That person will not practice sin (1Jn 3:9; 5:18). That person will practice righteousness (1Jn 2:29). That person will love the brethren (1Jn 4:7). That person will believe in Christ (1Jn 5:1). And that person will overcome the world (1Jn 5:4)." John's point is simply that these activities are the evidence of the new birth and hence of salvation. Their absence is the evidence that regeneration has not taken place. He makes this point, not because he wants to demonstrate the cause/effect relationship between regeneration and faith, but because he wants to provide the church with tests by which to discern between true and spurious "believers". Faith is both the condition and the proof of regeneration. -- James Smith Phil Newton says it this way first asking "What does it look like when we’re born of God?" He then lists the 5 evidences in 1Jn 5:1-5. "We keep believing in Jesus as the Messiah...(2) We keep loving God as Father....(3) We keep loving those born of God... Calvin aptly wrote, “There is never a true love to God, except when our brethren are also loved”.....(4) We keep doing God’s commands....(5) We keep overcoming the world." The regenerate Christian (past) must constantly live out (present) his faith in Jesus as Messiah, and also give his sustained allegiance to the love command. Stephen Smalley - The evidence of standing in a proper relationship to God, he says, consists of faith (ED: pisteuo - present tense - continues to believe) in Jesus as Messiah (cf. John 1:12, where faith is described as the condition of spiritual regeneration; elsewhere John describes right behavior [1Jn 2:29; 1Jn 3:9–10] and love [1Jn 4:7] as indications of birth from God).....The perfect tense of γεγέννηται (gennao)(literally, as in our translation, “has been born”) indicates, as often in 1 John, a past act with continuing effects in the present. The regenerate Christian (past) must constantly live out (present) his faith in Jesus as Messiah, and also give his sustained allegiance to the love command. (Borrow 1, 2, 3 John page 266) Barker - “Believing” in Jesus (present tense in Gr) is a direct consequence of our “having been born” (perfect tense in Gr) of God and therefore becomes a “test” or proof of that birth. (See The Expositor's Bible Commentary - Abridged Edition) D Edmond Hiebert - John’s assertion “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” declares the content and result of saving faith. Rick Williamson - The present participle seems to emphasize continuous believing—everyone who keeps on believing—not a once-for-all moment of spiritual rebirth. Ongoing belief and obedience (v 2) provide evidence that one is born of God. (1-3 John - Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition) A E Brooke makes an interesting comment - Where true faith in Jesus as God’s appointed messenger to men is present, there the new birth has taken place. The writer does not state whether faith is the cause or the result of the new birth.....But incidentally the tenses “make it clear that the Divine Begetting is the antecedent, not the consequent of the believing.” “Christian belief, which is essentially the spiritual recognition of spiritual truth, is a function of the Divine Life as imparted to men” (Law). Brian Bill asks "Do you ever doubt that you’re a Christian? Every wonder if someone you know who claims to be a Christian is a true Christ-follower? These signs will help us see what salvation is all about. Signs of our Salvation. Belief. The first sign is belief. (COMMENT - Notice that while faith in Christ alone saves, Bill is saying that faith itself is a sign of genuine conversion! So if you made a profession of Christ 10 years ago and you are still believing that Jesus is the Christ, your belief serves as a sign to authenticate or validate the reality of your salvation. In other words, you are "safe and secure" for all eternity! That's the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!) THOUGHT - As mentioned at the beginning of these notes, a number of preachers do not interpret this first clause as explained in the preceding comments. In other words, they do not see one who keeps on believing as evidence of the new birth. They interpret John as describing what a person has to do to be saved and that is to believe in Jesus as the Christ, which of course is a true statement, but does not appear to be the thrust of this passage which in context is to show the signs that demonstrate one is born again. Let me give you one example from Thomas
1 João 5:5
Cole explains our faith in 1Jn 5:4 - Faith in faith itself or faith in some vague, “I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows,” is not saving faith. Saving faith believes in the person of Jesus. Specifically it believes that He is the Christ (1Jn 5:1), the Son of God (1Jn 5:5). To believe that Jesus is the Christ means that the historic person, Jesus of Nazareth, is God’s Anointed One (or Messiah), the one promised and prophesied of in the Old Testament. He is the one who would “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). To believe that Jesus is the Son of God means that He is the eternal God, the second person of the Trinity, in human flesh. The Jews of Jesus’ day clearly understood that His references to Himself as the Son of God were a claim to deity. When Jesus stated (John 5:17), “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working,” the Jews sought to stone Him because (Jn 5:18) He was “calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” Jesus responded to these charges, not by correcting their understanding as being wrong, but by affirming His equality with God (John 5:19-47). John (Jn 20:31) affirms that the purpose of his gospel was “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” To believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, means that you entrust your eternal destiny and your right standing before God not to anything in yourself, including your faith, but entirely to Jesus and His substitutionary death on the cross for your sins. You believe that He paid the debt to God that you owe. Your faith rests completely upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. (ED: AND YOUR PRACTICE OF OVERCOMING THE WORLD IS LINKED TO YOUR BELIEF THAT HE OVERCAME THE WORLD AND THAT THROUGH HIS VICTORY ON THE CROSS THE WORLD HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED TO US - Gal 6:14+). Glenn Barker - Observe the progression of thought in what John says about how victory over the world is gained. It begins with the new birth, the begetting act of God (1Jn 5:4a). It moves on to the believer’s experience and act of faith (1Jn 5:4b). It culminates in the confession that Jesus is the Son of God (1Jn 5:5). The victory requires the whole process. The victory assures us that we too can love God and the children of God and that we too can obey his commands (v. 3). Belief, love, and obedience are the marks of the new birth. (See The Expositor's Bible Commentary - Abridged Edition) Son of God, eternal Savior, Source of life and truth and grace, Son of Man, whose birth incarnate Hallows all our human race, Thou, our head who, throned in glory, For Thine own dost ever plead, Fill us with Thy love and pity; Heal our wrongs, and help our need. - Somerset Lowry Danny Akin on he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God - The birthmark of a child of God is that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God and that only Jesus is the Son of God. This believing, this faith, is both particular and persevering. Jesus and only Jesus is the object of this faith confession. And this confession is continuous and ongoing. “Believe” is a present tense verb noting continuous action. This is not a one-time belief. It is a lifetime belief! And it is a personal and individual belief. No one else can believe for me. No one else can believe for you. You must believe the good news of the gospel for yourself. You must trust Jesus Christ the Son of God for yourself. (See Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John - Page 127) Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and forever more be Thine. SON OF GOD Son of God is synonymous with Christ, i.e., Messiah - "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God, [even] He who comes into the world… but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 11:27HCSB, John 20:31HCSB) Halley's Bible Handbook asks - Was Jesus the Son of God? This is the most important question for the Christian faith. Jesus undoubtedly was a great teacher and a great example, but if that was all He was, He can't do much for us, since we find ourselves again and again unable to live by His teachings and follow His example. The best He can do for us then is make us feel guilty. But the Bible leaves no doubt that He claimed to be the Son of God and that others knew that He was the Son of God. Jesus is called the Son of God in all four Gospels: Matthew 3:17; 4:3, 6; 8:29; 14:33; 16:16; 17:5; 26:63; 27:54 Mark 1:1, 11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 14:61-62 Luke 1:32, 35; 3:22; 4:41; 9:35; 22:70 John 1:34, 49; 3:16, 18; 5:25; 9:35; 10:36; 19:7; 20:31 What Jesus Said About Himself - Jesus called Himself the Son of God (John 5:25), thus making Himself equal with God (John 5:18). Three times Jesus categorically said that He was the Son of God (Mark 14:61-62; John 9:35-37; 10:36). What Others Said About Jesus Mark called Jesus "the Son of God" (Mark 1:1). John called Jesus "the Son of God" (John 3:16, 18; 20:31). John the Baptist called Jesus "the Son of God" (John 1:34). Nathanael called Jesus "the Son of God" (John 1:49). Peter called Jesus "the Son of God" (Matthew 16:16). Martha called Jesus "the Son of God" (John 11:27). The disciples called Jesus "the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). The angel Gabriel called Jesus "the Son of God" (Luke 1:32, 35). God Himself called Jesus His own "beloved Son" (Mt 3:17 KJV; 17:5; Mk 1:11; 9:7; Lk 3:22; 9:35). Evil spirits called Jesus "the Son of God" (Matthew 8:29; Mark 3:11; 5:7; Luke 4:41). It was commonly recognized that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God: "If you are the Son of God… " (Matthew 4:3, 6). "Truly you are the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross" (Matthew 27:40 KJV). "He said, 'I am the Son of God'" (Matthew 27:43). "Surely he was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54). "He claimed to be the Son of God" (John 19:7). The Rock on which Jesus said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18) was the truth that He is the Son of God. Jesus is Himself called God (John 1:1; 10:33; 20:28; Romans 9:5; Colossians 1:16; 2:9; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 1:8; 1 John 5:20; Jude 25). Son of God - 43x in 43v in NT - Matt 4:3, 6; 8:29; 26:63; 27:40, 43, 54; Mark 1:1; 3:11; 15:39; Luke 1:35; 3:38; 4:3, 9, 41; 22:70; John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31; Acts 8:37; 9:20; Rom 1:4; 2 Cor 1:19; Gal 2:20; Eph 4:13; Heb 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29; 1 John 3:8; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12f, 20; Rev 2:18. Note how Satan's first ploy was to call into question the fact that Jesus is the Son of God (Mt 4:3, 6 = "If you are the Son of God… "). QUESTION - What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God? | GotQuestions.org WATCH VIDEO ANSWER - Jesus is not God’s Son in the sense of a human father and a son. God did not get married and have a son. God did not mate with Mary and, together with her, produce a son. Jesus is God’s Son in the sense that He is God made manifest in human form (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is God’s Son in that He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 declares, “The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’” During His trial before the Jewish leaders, the High Priest demanded of Jesus, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). “‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (Matthew 26:64). The Jewish leaders responded by accusing Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65-66). Later, before Pontius Pilate, “The Jews insisted, ‘We have a law, and according to that law He must die, because He claimed to be the Son of God’” (John 19:7). Why would His claiming to be the Son of God be considered blasphemy and be worthy of a death sentence? The Jewish leaders understood exactly what Jesus meant by the phrase “Son of God.” To be the Son of God is to be of the same nature as God. The Son of God is “of God.” The claim to be of the same nature as God—to in fact be God—was blasphemy to the Jewish leaders; therefore, they demanded Jesus’ death, in keeping with Leviticus 24:15. Hebrews 1:3 expresses this very clearly, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.” Another example can be found in John 17:12 where Judas is described as the “son of perdition.” John 6:71 tells us that Judas was the son of Simon. What does John 17:12 mean by describing Judas as the “son of perdition”? The word perdition means “destruction, ruin, waste.” Judas was not the literal son of “ruin, destruction, and waste,” but those things were the identity of Judas' life. Judas was a manifestation of perdition. In this same way, Jesus is the Son of God. The Son of God is God. Jesus is God made manifest (John 1:1, 14). Overcomes (3528)(nikao) means to conquer, to be victorious or to prevail in the face of obstacles. Overcome describes the quality of a true saint who may stumble and fall but who God always picks up and he continues onward and upward in the power of the Spirit and motivated by victory Christ has won for us on the Cross. Nikao implies there is a battle and in context the enemy is the world system opposed to God and His Son Jesus and all of the disciples of Jesus (that's us beloved)! Nikao "was a popular term among the Greeks, who believed that ultimate victory could not be achieved by mortals, but only by the gods. They even had a goddess named Nike, the goddess of victory who aided Zeus in his battle against the Titans. Against that pagan backdrop, it was stunning for the New Testament to assign to Christians the invincibility associated only with the gods." (MacArthur)
1 João 5:8
Cole - John’s point is that God’s threefold witness to His Son—the Spirit, the water, and the blood—is trustworthy. In a court of law, truth is established when numerous witnesses say the same thing and when those witnesses are shown to have credible character. John shows us that the three witnesses all agree, and they are not just the testimony of men, but of God Himself. (1 John 5:5-13 Is Christianity Merely Psychological?) Daniel Akin - On August 9, 1874 Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon entitled “The Three Witnesses” on 1 John 5:8. He began that message with these words, “Christianity puts forth very lofty claims. She claims to be the true faith, and the only true one. She avows her teachings to be divine, and therefore infallible; while for her great Teacher, the Son of God, she demands divine worship, and the unreserved confidence and obedience of men… Now, to justify such his claims, the gospel ought to provide strong evidence, and it does so. It does not lack for external evidence.” Spurgeon’s statement anticipated the spiritual fog and declension we now find ourselves in. “Prince Charles Launches Campaign for Interfaith Cooperation” LONDON (RNS) A campaign for members of all the different faiths in Britain to go out of their way to aid those of other faiths has been launched by Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. “Over the past year we have seen -- internationally, nationally and locally -- all too many examples of intolerance to others,” the Prince of Wales said Monday (April 29, 2002) in Birmingham, England. “Tolerance is an easy word to pronounce, but it seems to be very difficult to enact in our lives. And yet it is such a tragedy that, when the various faith communities have so much in common, its members should so often be divided by the different ways we have of interpreting the inner meaning of our existence.” Non-believers on Rise, Conference Hears MONTREAL (RNS) The number of Canadians who claim to have no religion at all more than doubled in 13 years to 27 percent in 2000, according to a senior social scientist with Statistics Canada. “By any means this is an extraordinary shift,” Paul Reed told last week’s Pluralism, Religion and Public Policy conference at McGill University. British Columbia led the country with 55 percent of residents claiming to be non-believers, Reed said. It was followed by the Prairies at 33 percent, Ontario (28 percent), Atlantic Canada (17 percent) and Quebec (7 percent). Reed said that while 43 percent of Canadian adults say they never attend church, a growing number is looking outside organized religion for spiritual fulfillment. Agreement (one)(1520) heis W. E. Vine - the first cardinal numeral, masculine (feminine and neuter nominative forms are mia and hen, respectively), is used to signify (1) (a) "one" in contrast to many, e.g., Mt. 25:15; Ro 5:18 "one (trespass)," i.e., Adam's transgression, in contrast to the "one act of righteousness," i.e., the death of Christ; (b) metaphorically, "union" and "concord," e.g., John 10:30; John 11:52; John 17:11, 21, 22; Rom. 12:4, 5; Phil. 1:27; (2) emphatically, (a) a single ("one"), to the exclusion of others, e.g., Matt. 21:24; Rom. 3:10; 1 Cor. 9:24; 1 Tim. 2:5 (twice); (b) "one, alone," e.g., Mark 2:7 (AV, "only"); Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19; (c) "one and the same," e.g., Rom. 3:30 "God is one," i.e., there is not "one" God for the Jew and one for the Gentile; cp. Gal. 3:20, which means that in a promise there is no other party; 1 Cor. 3:8; 1 Cor. 11:5; 1 Cor. 12:11; 1 John 5:8 (lit., "and the three are into one," i.e., united in "one" and the same witness); (3) a certain "one," in the same sense as the indefinite pronoun tis, e.g., Matt. 8:19 "a (scribe)," marg., "one (scribe)," AV, "a certain (scribe);" Matt. 19:16, "one;" in Rev. 8:13, RV marg., "one (eagle);" heis tis are used together in Luke 22:50; John 11:49; this occurs frequently in the papyri (Moulton, Prol., p. 96); (4) distributively, with hekastos, "each," i.e., "every one," e.g., Luke 4:40; Acts 2:6, "every man" (lit., "every one"); in the sense of "one … and one," e.g., John 20:12; or "one …" followed by allos or heteros, "the other," e.g., Matt. 6:24; or by a second heis, e.g., Matt. 24:40, RV, "one;" John 20:12; in Rom. 12:5 heis is preceded by kata (kath') in the sense of "severally (members) one (of another)," RV (AV, "every one … one"); cp. Mark 14:19; in 1 Thess. 5:11 the phrase in the 2nd part, "each other," RV (AV, "one another"), is, lit., "one the one;" (5) as an ordinal number, equivalent to prōtos, "first," in the phrase "the first day of the week," lit., and idiomatically, "one of sabbaths," signifying "the first day after the sabbath," e.g., Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2. Moulton remarks on the tendency for certain cardinal numerals to replace ordinals. (Pdf - Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words) 1 John 5:7 Commentary <> 1 John 5:9 Commentary
1 João 5:10
Cole - If we believe in Jesus as the Son of God, we have the testimony in ourselves. John is referring to the inner witness of the Spirit to the truth regarding Jesus Christ. The external witness is the objective testimony of the New Testament, through the apostles, to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. That is the primary foundation that shows that Christianity is not merely psychological. But, when you believe that testimony about Christ… it is because God has changed your heart. You have become a new creature in Him (2Cor 5:17). You were dead in your sins (Eph 2:1), but now you are alive to God in Christ. (Eph 2:4-5) You were blind to the truth of God’s Word, but now you see (2Cor 4:4-6). You were a rebellious God-hater, but now you are an obedient God-lover. When you believe, you have this inner witness in yourself. (1 John 5:5-13 Is Christianity Merely Psychological?) The external witness faithfully accepted becomes internal certitude. -- Alfred Plummer Hiebert explains how the believer has the testimony in himself - Following his regeneration there develops in the believer the growing inner conviction that the things that the Spirit has borne witness to are true and that they are true in his own life. He experiences the inner reality of Romans 8:16. (Cp Gal. 4:6.) The Gospel message “which for others is external is for the believer experiential,” becoming in him “an inner conviction of life and cleansing and redemption.” The realities which the Holy Spirit vitalizes (animates, gives life to) in his own heart are grounded in and thoroughly consistent with the external testimony of God as now recorded in Scripture. James Merritt well says of the Holy Spirit, “The witness of the Spirit is God’s witness to us, in us, and through us. Just as the arrow of a compass always point towards the North, the Spirit of God always points to Jesus. Note on the phrase believes in - While it might be a bit technical, it is worth noting that John follows pisteuo (believe) with the preposition eis (1519) which is used to convey motion or direction to or toward some object. In this case the object is the Son of God. The only other passage in 1John where John follows pisteuo with eis is 1Jn 5:13+. By now you must be asking "Okay, what's your point?" Jackman explains that "The preposition eis (in), which follows, shows that John means much more than simply believing what Christ says, in the sense of understanding or even accepting it. To believe ‘in’ or ‘on’ Christ is to commit oneself to Him as fully as one knows in faithful reliance on Him. This is, of course, John’s favorite description of saving faith in his Gospel, where he uses pisteuo eis on over forty occasions (Ed: Jn 1:12, Jn 2:11, Jn 3:18, Jn 3:36, Jn 4:39, Jn 6:29, Jn 6:35, Jn 6:40, Jn 7:31, Jn 7:38-39, Jn 7:48, etc). It is as we meet the historical Jesus, through the apostolic testimony and the work of the Spirit (cp Jn 3:5-8, Jn 16:7), that the objective realities of all that He accomplished for us in His death and resurrection become internalized in our experience now. The new birth takes place and following it there develops the growing inner conviction that these things are true and they are true in and for us as individuals." W E Vine comments on pisteuo eis noting that "This is the first time in this epistle where the verb “to believe” is followed by the preposition eis, which, in this construction, combines the thoughts of the direction in which faith is exercised and the rest it reposes (places in confidence) on its object. Faith thus exercised involves the fullest trust in, and reliance upon, a person. The construction is found some forty times in the Gospel of John." William
1 João 5:10
Cole - The one who rejects God’s testimony to His Son through unbelief makes God to be a liar, which is a serious matter! None of us likes to be called a liar, especially in the context of trying to help someone. If I offered a street person a check for $100 and he grabbed me by the lapel and said, “Prove to me that this check is good,” I’d have good reason to take my check back and leave him to his misery. If he ripped my check in two and threw it back at me, he would not experience the blessing I offered him. If a critic angrily says, “Prove to me that Jesus is the Son of God and I’ll believe,” he is doing far worse than tearing up my check. He is calling the only true God a liar. He is trampling on the gift of God’s Son, Who would forgive all his sins if he would receive Him (cp Heb 10:29+). God has given more than sufficient testimony to His Son. If you receive that external testimony, God will give you the additional inner testimony that He is true. If you reject His external testimony, you will also lack the internal witness. (1 John 5:5-13 Is Christianity Merely Psychological?) WHY AN UNBELIEVER IS CALLING GOD A LIAR Because (hoti) is a term of explanation which should cause us to pause and ponder what is John explaining? Obviously John is explaining how it is a non-believer can call God a liar. He is underscoring the evil nature of unbelief. Belief in the Father cannot be separated from belief in His Son. -- Daniel Akin He has not believed (pisteuo - perfect tense) in the testimony (marturia) that God has given (perfect tense) concerning His Son - Not believed in the perfect tense means at some time in the past he refused to consider truthful and trustworthy what God's Word clearly said about His Son. The perfect tense also indicates the abiding effect of the negative response to God's testimony concerning His Son. The perfect tense of God has given emphasizes His message has been clearly stated in the past and it endures forever. You cannot say that you believe in God and at the same time reject God's testimony about Jesus Christ. -- Simon Kistemaker Could there be a more trustworthy witness (a rhetorical question of course)? Where did God testify? The Bible. Both the Old Testament (see the testimony of the incredible Messianic Prophecies) and the New Testament are replete with passages that identify the Man Jesus as the long expected Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of God. In contrast to those who did not believe and made God out to be a liar, there was a remnant of souls like Martha who had a different response, Martha declaring to Jesus "Yes, Lord; I have believed (perfect tense) that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, even He Who comes into the world." (Jn 11:27+) The testimony (marturia) that God has given is more literally "the testimony (marturia) that God has testified (martureo)" where testified is in the perfect tense which speaks of the permanence of God's testimony! The Testimony of God stands and will stand forever and ever. Amen! As Isaiah testified "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isa 40:8) Jesus affirmed this truth declaring "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." (Luke 21:33+) THOUGHT - Only 2 things on earth will last forever - souls and Scripture! Are you investing in eternity? Are you boldly sharing the Gospel? Are you treasuring the Word of God in your heart? Dear brother, dear sister, let us redeem the time for the days are evil! (Eph 5:16+) Wuest quotes Smith's summation of 1Jn 5:10 - A subtle and profound analysis of the exercise of soul which issues in assured faith. Three stages: (1) “Believe God”, accept His testimony concerning His Son, i.e., not simply His testimony at the Baptism (Mt. 3:17) but the historic manifestation of God in Christ, the Incarnation. God speaks not by words but by acts, and to set aside His supreme act, and all the forces which it has set in operation is to make Him a liar by treating His historic testimony as unworthy of credit. (2) “Believe in the Son of God”, make the believing self-surrender which is the reasonable and inevitable consequence of contemplating the Incarnation and recognizing the wonder of it. (3) The Inward Testimony. The love of Jesus satisfies the deepest need of our nature. When He is welcomed, the soul rises up and greets Him as “all its salvation and all its desire,” and the testimony is no longer external in history but an inward experience (cf. 1Jn 4:9+), and therefore indubitable. These three stages are, according to the metaphor of Rev. 3:20, (1) hearing the Saviour’s voice, (2) opening the door, (3) communion. The talk about trying to believe is a mere pretence... What hope can there be for the one who persists in hearing what God says, and calling Him a liar? David
1 João 5:11
Cole - Eternal life is God’s gift, not something we gain through our good works or efforts. It does not require some special secret knowledge, as the heretics taught. Like any gift, you must know about it (in this case, God has testified about it) and you must receive it (cp Jn 1:11-13). If you have to earn it, it’s not a gift (cp Ro 4:1-5+)....God’s gift is eternal life. Nothing could be a greater gift! Because of our sins, we were spiritually dead (Eph 2:1-3+), alienated from the life of God (Col 1:21+, Ro 5:10+). God gives us as our present possession, not only unending life, but also His very life (Col 3:4+). He is the Author of life (cp Acts 3:15NIV, Heb 2:10+, Heb 5:9+, Heb 12:2+). Jesus promised that if we believe in Him, we shall live even if we die, and that everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die (John 11:25-26). In other words, physical death will not rob us of this eternal life with God. (1 John 5:5-13 Is Christianity Merely Psychological?) The gift of life is a witness only where it has been received. -- A E Brooke Westcott notes that has given refers "to the historic facts by which this life was communicated to humanity. That which before Christ’s coming was a great hope, by His coming was realized and given. The gift, as far as St John here regards it, was made to Christians, who appropriate it.....The Mission of His Son, which He attested, was the gift of life (John 10:10, 10:28; 17:2), of life in His Son (John 20:31). J. Hampton Keathley, III on eternal life - "Eternal life is a life with eternal ramifications that are not only future, but is to so encompass our daily existence that it becomes a controlling and directing force… Our need is to take hold of our eternal life and live in the light of its significance and meaning both for time and eternity." Marvin Vincent on eternal life - “Your new spiritual life is no longer in the sphere of the earthly and sensual, but is with the life of the risen Christ, Who is unseen with God.” John Stott on eternal life - Three important truths are taught in these verses about eternal life. First, it is not a prize which we have earned or could earn but an undeserved gift. Secondly, it is found in Christ, so that, in order to give us life, God both gave and gives us his Son. Thirdly, this gift of life in Christ is a present possession. True, it is further described as eternal, aiōnios, which means literally ‘belonging to the age’, i.e. the age to come. But since the age to come has broken into this present age, the life of the age to come, namely ‘eternal life’, can be received and enjoyed here and now. (Borrow The Letters of John page 186) David Jackman observes that eternal life "means literally the life of eternity, the life of the world to come. Yet this is something which God has already given to those who believe in Jesus. It is the present possession of every Christian believer… Supremely, the life of eternity is life that has overcome the grave, and that life can be found in Christ alone who triumphed over death by his glorious resurrection. This life is in his Son." (Borrow The Message of John's Letters) (Bolding added) One wonders if we more fully grasped the profundity of the truth that we even now possess eternal life, would that realization not significantly impact how we live in time? Vincent on eternal life - Compare the phrase ten zoen ten aionion - the life, the eternal life (1Jn 1:2), and e aionios zoe = the eternal life (John 17:3). For the distinction between the phrases see note on 1Jn 1:2 (Note on 1Jn 1:2 = The Word Himself who is the Life. Compare John 14:6; 5:26; 1Jn 5:11, 12. Life expresses the nature of the Word John 1:4). The phrase, the Life, besides being equivalent to the Word, also indicates, like the Truth and the Light, an aspect of His being.). The phrase here, without either article, merely defines the character of the life. THOUGHT - I would add it speaks not of the quantity but of the quality of life. Some might refer to it as "Abundant Life" (Jn 10:10a), the "Christ life" or the "Exchanged Life." In any event, it is life as God intended it to be lived, for our good and His glory. Amen. Stephen Smalley on eternal life - It is the highest kind of spiritual and moral life, irrespective of time, which God enables the believer to share in relationship with Jesus. (Borrow 1, 2, 3 John page 286) Life eternal is life with Christ and in Christ. Robert W. Yarbrough on eternal life - The divinely bestowed gift of blessedness in God's presence that endures without end. This relates especially to the quality of life in this age, and to both the quality and duration of life in the age to come. (Excerpt from article on Eternal Life - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology) Eternal life speaks of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God. -- Kenneth Wuest John
1 João 5:12
Cole - Jesus Christ is everything. If you have Him, you have eternal life. If you don’t have Him, you do not have the life. As someone has said, “Christianity is Christ!” All of God’s promises are yes in Him (2Cor. 1:20). All that God offers us, He offers in Jesus Christ. He is the only sure, solid foundation for your faith. The most important question in the world is the one Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt. 16:15). Peter’s answer, inspired by God, is the only correct one (Mt. 16:16), “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” Do you believe this testimony that God has given about His Son? If so, you have eternal life. If not, you do not have the life and you will perish if you do not repent and believe! (1 John 5:5-13 Is Christianity Merely Psychological?) NET Note on He who has the Son - From the parallel statement in 1Jn 5:10a it is clear that believing in the Son and thus having God’s testimony in one’s self is the same as “having” the Son here in 1Jn 5:12a. This is essentially identical to John 3:16: “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” In contrast, the negative statement in 1Jn 5:12b reflects the author’s evaluation of the opponents: “the one who does not have the Son does not have (eternal) life.” The opponents, in spite of their claims to know God, do not possess (nor have they at any time possessed, cf. 1Jn 2:19) eternal life. Forever here my rest shall be, Close to thy wounded side; This all my trust and all my plea, For me the Saviour died. Grant Osborne - Those who have the Son of God living in them have eternal life now—not life someday, not life later on, not conditional life, but life, eternal life, now. (Cornerstone Commentary) Wuest on the life - The definite article (Gk = ten; Eng = the) appears before the word “life,” pointing out a particular life, that life which God is and which He gives sinners who place their faith in the Son. (Eerdmans Publishing - used by permission) C H
1 João 5:13
Cole - “If they believe in the Name (= Person) of the Son of God, then they may know that they have eternal life. John doesn’t want us to hope so, but to know so. You can know because God’s testimony about His Son is trustworthy. Your faith must rest in Jesus Christ Alone, not in anything or anyone else. If your faith is in Christ, then you have the inner witness of His Spirit, that you are a child of God (cp 1Jn 4:13+, Ro 8:14-16+). You have the evidence in your life that He has changed your heart. You now believe the truth about Jesus. You obey God’s commandments (1Jn 2:3+). You love God and others (1Jn 5:2+). John’s Gospel (John 20:31+) was “written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His Name.” His first epistle was written so that you who already believe in the name of the Son of God would not be shaken by false teaching, but rather, “so that you may know that you have eternal life.” If you don’t know whether or not you have eternal life, nothing is more important than to make sure. Go back and read again God’s testimony to His Son in the Gospels. See the witness of the Spirit throughout the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. God’s testimony to Jesus is the foundation of our faith. Christianity is not just a psychological experience. It rests on this solid witness. But, then, you must believe God’s testimony about His Son. If you’re neutral or ambivalent about it, you are not believing it. Worse, you’re calling God a liar. John Stott writes (The Letters of John p. 182), “Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied; it is a sin to be deplored. Its sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts the word of the one true God and thus attributes falsehood to Him.” Repent of your unbelief, of the audacity of calling the God of truth a liar. Accept His testimony to His Son and receive as a gift the eternal life that only the living God can impart. (1 John 5:5-13 Is Christianity Merely Psychological?) Assurance of eternal life constitutes the first Christian certainty -- John MacArthur John
1 João 5:14
Cole - God is a prayer-hearing God (Ps. 65:2). But at the same time, I can’t gloss over the tremendous difficulty that our text creates for my prayer life. It is simply not true to my experience. John, who is echoing here the repeated promises of Jesus (Mk 11:22-24; Jn 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:24), says that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He will answer favorably. “No” is not an acceptable answer. It must be “yes” every time! Over the years, my “prayer batting average” is pretty low. I have prayed for the salvation of people who have not gotten saved. I have prayed for the restoration of sinning Christians, who have not repented and been restored. I have prayed for the reconciliation of many Christian marriages that have broken up. Some try to get God off the hook by saying, “He gives people free will.” But if God cannot subdue a sinful person’s will, then He can’t do any-thing! That means that sinful man, not God, is sovereign! And it means that prayer is useless and impotent. If God promises to answer our prayers, then He has the power to answer them! I’m sure that the fault is with me, not with God’s promise! I am probably lacking in understanding God’s perfect will and lacking in faith. But I could not find any preachers on this text who admit to having the difficulties that I have. So this has not been an easy message to prepare, because if I’m honest, I have to expose my own failures in prayer to you! My prayer has been that perhaps by sharing my struggles, you will be motivated to keep “swinging” in your prayer life. Maybe we’ll all improve our batting averages!" (1 John 5:14-17 Confidence and Carefulness in Prayer) Earlier John had spoken of confidence in prayer writing "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." (1Jn 3:21+, 1Jn 3:22+) Cole makes four observations from 1Jn 5:13 (1) We should have confidence when we approach God in prayer. Our confidence is never in ourselves, but rather in Christ. After reminding us of our sympathetic high priest, the author of Hebrews states (Heb 4:16), “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (see also, Eph. 3:12). Our confidence is never in anything in ourselves, but only in Jesus Christ, whose blood gives us access to the very throne of God. (2) We must come into His presence when we pray. We have confidence before Him (1Jn 5:14). Prayer is not just mumbling through a list or repeating some rote formula. Prayer is coming before the living God, humbling ourselves in His presence. If we have not come before God, we haven’t prayed. (3) We must come confidently into His presence and ask. As James (James 4:2) pointedly reminds us, “You do not have be-cause you do not ask.” He adds (James 4:3), “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” We need to be sure to ask (not assume), but we need to ask with the proper motives, that our requests would further God’s purpose and glory. (4.) If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us… Since God hears everything and even knows the unspoken secrets of our hearts, John means that He hears us favorably by coming to our aid. I’ve been at church gatherings where many children were playing as the adults sat eating or talking. Suddenly one mother jumped up and ran for her child. Why? Because she heard his cry. None of the other parents heard the cry, or if they did, they knew that it was not their child. But the mother knows the cry of her own child, and she responds to his need. Our heavenly Father knows the cry of His children. He hears our prayers. (1 John 5:14-17 Confidence and Carefulness in Prayer) Prayer becomes not only a time for petitioning but of yielding one’s life to the will and work of God. -- Glenn Barker John Stott - Christian confidence belongs not just to the future, to the parousia (1Jn 2:28) and the judgment day (1Jn 4:17), but to the here and now. It describes both the manner of our approach to God, free and bold (1Jn 3:21), and our expectation of its outcome namely that … he hears us. In 3:22 the condition of answered prayer is whether our behaviour accords with God’s commands; here whether our requests accord with His will. (BORROW The Letters of John page 188) THE QUALIFICATION: ACCORDING TO HIS WILL That (hoti) is a term of explanation, explaining how we can draw near to God in confident prayer. John says we can do so when we ask according to His will. “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of God’s willingness.” If we ask (aiteo) anything according to His will (thelema), He hears (akouo present tense) us - If we ask is a third-class condition which means potential action. While the promise that God hears is a precious promise, the phrase according to His will is the critical caveat! Is what we are asking in His will? (See Topic Will of God) Hears in the present tense means He continually hears our voice and listens with divine attention. This is an amazing thought that God listens to us! Why are we so reticent to talk to Him (speaking from personal experience)?
1 João 5:15
Cole comments that "The idea of 1Jn 5:15 is that we know that we presently have whatever we have asked in accord with His will. We may not actually see it for many years, but it’s as good as done. Abraham prayed for a son and God promised to give him that son. But it was 25 years before Abraham held Isaac in his arms. There is much in Scripture about waiting on God. So we would be mistaken to think that God is promising that if we pull the prayer lever, all the goodies instantly come out of the chute. Sometimes in His purpose and wisdom, God delays the answers to our prayers for years. Yet, in another sense, He has already granted the requests. Usually, we should continue praying until the request is actually granted (Lk 18:1-8). At other times (I can’t give you a rule for this), you should stop praying and begin thanking God, even though you haven’t yet received what you were praying for." (Confidence and Carefulness in Prayer) Know (1492)(eido in the perfect tense = oida) means speaks not of experiential knowledge, but of absolute, beyond a shadow of a doubt knowledge. It means to know with a settled, absolute, intuitive knowledge. Eido/oida is distinguished from ginosko because ginosko generally refers to knowledge obtained by experience or "experiential knowledge". Eido/oida often refers more to an intuitive knowledge, although this distinction is not always clear cut. Generally speaking, eido/oida is not so much that which is known by experience as an intuitive insight that is drilled into one's heart. Eido/oida is knowledge that is characterized by assurance, something known with certainty. Eido/oida is an intuitive knowledge which in the case of believers can only be given by the Holy Spirit. In sum, for believers eido/oida suggests Spirit given fullness of knowledge, absolute knowledge (that which is without a doubt), rather than a progress in knowledge (cp ginosko). EIDO IN JOHN'S EPISTLES - MOST USES (5) ARE FOUND IN CHAPTER 5 - 1 Jn. 2:11; 1 Jn. 2:20; 1 Jn. 2:21; 1 Jn. 2:29; 1 Jn. 3:2; 1 Jn. 3:5; 1 Jn. 3:14; 1 Jn. 3:15; 1 Jn. 5:13; 1 Jn. 5:15; 1 Jn. 5:18; 1 Jn. 5:19; 1 Jn. 5:20; 3 Jn. 1:12; Requests (155)(aitema) refers to the things asked, the petitions, the requests. The only other use is by Paul "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Phil 4:6) Ask (154) aiteo means to ask for something or make petition. It can mean to ask with a sense of urgency and even to the point of demanding. Aiteo is never used to describe Jesus' prayers to His Father. Aiteo means to ask for, with a claim on receipt of an answer. As noted aiteo more frequently suggests attitude of a suppliant, that is, of the petition of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition is made, as of men in asking something from God (Mt 7:7, Jas 1:5 1Jn 3:22), as of a child from a parent (Mt 7:9-10), as of a subject from a king (Acts 12:20), as of priests and people from Pilate (Lu 23:23) or finally as of a beggar from a passer by (Acts 3:2). ILLUSTRATION - H A
1 João 5:16
Cole - John does not say, “If anyone sees his brother sinning, go tell the pastor so he can deal with it.” Nor does he say, “If anyone sees his brother sinning, call up all of your friends and tell them about it so that they can pray.” That is a thin spiritual cover for gossip. Nor does he say, “If anyone sees his brother sinning, he should shake his head in disgust and ask, ‘How could he do such a thing?’” That is called “judging your brother.” Rather, he says that if you see a brother in sin, pray for God to give life to him. While we all are responsible for our own sins, only God can truly deliver us from sin, because only God can impart life. So we’re dependent on God to deliver, but at the same time the sinning brother is responsible to turn from his sin and take the necessary steps not to fall into it again. Also, before we speak to a brother about his sin, we need to speak to God about the brother. Prayer is essential in the restoration process! But, John’s words set up an interpretive dilemma. If this person is a brother, then why does he need life? Don’t believers already have new life from God? This had led interpreters into two camps. Some say that John is using the word “brother” loosely, to refer to a professing Christian, who is not truly saved. They interpret life to mean conversion, moving from spiritual death to spiritual life (see 1Jn 3:14). But others say that brother means a true Christian, and thus they interpret life to mean either restoration to fellowship with God or preservation of physical life. (1 John 5:14-17 Confidence and Carefulness in Prayer) A SIN LEADING TO DEATH There is a sin (hamartia) leading to death (thanatos); I do not say that he should make request (erotao) for this - The natural question is which sin is this? James writes that "when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth (births) death." (James 1:15+). So there is a sense in which all sin deals a death blow! However clearly that is not John's intended meaning here because he distinguishes between sin that does not lead to death and sin which leads to death. Click here for one of several discussions on the sin leading to death. Notice that John does not strictly command we should still not pray for the one that commits a sin leading to death, he certainly does not encourage such prayer. He however alludes to the fact that it will not be efficacious praying. Interestingly in the OT God specifically instructed His prophet Jeremiah not to pray for Judah (Jer 7:16, 11:14, 14:11). I will not attempt to unravel the various interpretations but will leave that for your viewing pleasure in the articles below. Kenneth Wuest (one of my favorite NT commentators who is seldom stumped) - The present writer confesses his utter inability to understand this verse except that the sin unto death is the denial of the incarnation, and that it is committed by an unsaved person who professes to be a Christian. The rest of the verse is an enigma to him, and he will not attempt to offer even a suggestion as to its possible interpretation. JACK ARNOLD'S EXAMPLE OF SINNED UNTO DEATH - I had a good friend that was from a Christian home and was probably saved sometime in college. He was an active witness, led some people to Christ and went off to seminary. In seminary, he began to drift from the Lord. He left school and went out in the secular world to become a lawyer. He became quite immoral, living with a woman, drinking, and involving himself in all kinds of immorality. Yet through all this he still called himself a Christian and even witnessed once in a while. He married an unsaved girl and became a successful lawyer. He had everything, including his own airplane. He loved to do stunt flying and one day he did a loop and the plane crashed to the ground. A young man of 29 years of age was dead. An accident? I think not. I’m convinced that this was the discipline of God upon this rebellious young man. This man was a bigger hindrance to God than a help on this earth, so God took him home. I had a preacher friend who had a man in his congregation that owned a liquor store and he was a professing Christian. The man was under great conviction about being in the alcohol business as a Christian but just did not want to get out because he was doing very well financially. He knew he was wrong. The first judgment of God was that his store caught on fire but he still didn’t learn and just built the business back up again. The next judgment of God came just two days after the doctors had pronounced this man physically fit. He died very suddenly of a heart attack. Just an accident? I hardly think so. This was the discipline of God. COMMENT - I recall a similar story of a pastor in East Texas who was beginning to have an illicit affair and was taken out in a head on crash before the affair became public. Admittedly, this is a second hand story from another pastor's daughter who lived in East Texas, so you need to take it "with a grain of salt." SIN UNTO DEATH Clearly this commentary will not provide a definitive answer to this question which has bothered commentators for almost 2000 years! What follows is a summary of the three general categories that have been proposed as the sin leading to death (and much of this is based on John Stott's excellent comments). Following this discussion are several other article you will want to read. If you arrive at a dogmatic answer please email me so I can put it in the commentary. (1) A Specific Sin - One recalls certain sins in the OT for which the perpetrator was sentenced to death (Lev 20:1-27, Nu 18:22) Stott adds that "in the Old Testament generally a distinction was drawn between sins of ignorance, committed unwittingly, which could be cleansed through sacrifice, and wanton or ‘presumptuous’ sins (Ps. 19:13), committed ‘with a high hand’, for which there was no forgiveness. The same distinction was ‘common among Rabbinic writers’ (Westcott), and certain early Christian fathers carried it over into the gospel age." Stott then summarizes this candidate writing "although the rendering is ‘a mortal sin’ in RSV and ‘a deadly sin’ in NEB, it is doubtful whether John is referring to specific ‘sins’ at all, as opposed to ‘sin’ (as in 1:8), that is, ‘a state or habit of sin willfully chosen and persisted in’ (Plummer)." The Bible does mention specific sins that resulted in death. Jack Arnold gives examples of 3 sins that resulted in death: Moses (Nu 20:8-13+): God commanded Moses to speak unto the rock and out from the rock would flow water for Israel. Moses lost his cool and in anger struck the rock. God in grace gave the water but Moses was forbidden to take the children of Israel into the land and he was left to die on Mount Nebo. Why? Because of disobedience. Disobedience can have serious consequences. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11+): These two had kept back part of their possessions, giving another part to the Lord’s work. But they lied to the Apostles about the part that was not given. This was willful disobedience and they were struck dead immediately. Dishonesty and lying can have serious consequences. (SEE Why did God kill Ananias and Sapphira for lying? | GotQuestions.org) Drunken Christians (1 Cor. 11): Some of these Christians were partaking of the Lord’s Table in a drunken state, showing selfishness and ill-behavior towards other Christians. Thus Paul says “many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep (ED: EUPHEMISM FOR DEATH).” (1Cor 11:30+). Perhaps much of the physical weakness that is apparent among Christians today may arise from this very cause. Not all physical weakness comes from this, not all premature deaths arise from this, but some very likely do. It arises from willful rebellion against clear knowledge of the truth. Arnold concludes - John’s point is that if a professing Christian goes on in rebellion and shows no signs of repentance, there is nothing we can do and there no need to pray. There is nothing you can do but let God’s judgment wake him up. Perhaps God in grace will deal patiently with him, give him a time of sickness or weakness, and that will bring him to his senses. But if not, God will take him home. (2) Apostasy - "The second suggestion, favored among modern commentators by Brooke, Law and Dodd, is that the sin that leads to death is neither a specific sin, nor even a ‘backsliding’, but a total apostasy, the denial of Christ and the renunciation of the faith… It seems clear, unless John’s theology is divided against itself (Ed: e.g., his statements that a true Christian cannot persist in sin - 1Jn 3:9), that he who sins unto death is not a Christian. If so, the sin cannot be apostasy. We are left with the third alternative." (Stott) (3) Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In summary this sin as "committed by the Pharisees, was a deliberate, open-eyed rejection of known truth. (See Mk 3:29, Mt 12:32)… the outcome of his sin will be spiritual ruin, the final separation of the soul from God, which is ‘the second death’, reserved for those whose names are not ‘written in the book of life’ (Rev. 20:15). But, it may be objected, if the ‘sin leading to death’ is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit committed by a hardened unbeliever, how can John call him a brother? To be exact, he does not. It is the one whose sin does not lead to death who is termed a brother; he whose sin lead to death is neither named nor described. Nevertheless, supposing John thinks of each as a brother, we must still assert that neither can be regarded as a child of God. The reasons for denying that he who sins ‘unto death’ is a Christian have already been given; what can be said about him whose sin does not lead to death? An important point, to which commentators surprisingly give no attention, is that he is given life in answer to prayer. This means that, although his sin does not lead to death, he is in fact dead, since he needs to be given life. For how can you give life to one who is already alive? This person is not a Christian, therefore, for Christians have received life, and do not fall into death when they fall into sin. True, ‘life’ to John means communion with God, and the sinning Christian cannot enjoy fellowship with God (1Jn 1:5–6), but John would certainly not have said that when the Christian sins he dies and needs to receive eternal life again. The Christian has ‘passed from death to life’ (1Jn 3:14; cf. John 5:24). Death and judgment are behind him; he ‘has life’ (1Jn 5:12) as a present and abiding possession. When he stumbles into sin, which he may (1Jn 2:1), he has a heavenly Advocate (1Jn 2:2). He needs to be forgiven and cleansed (1Jn 1:10), but John never says he needs to be ‘quickened’ ‘made alive’, or ‘given life’ all over again. If this is so, then neither he whose sin leads to death nor he whose sin does not lead to death is a Christian, possessing eternal life. Both are ‘dead in transgressions and sins’ (Eph. 2:1). Each ‘remains in death’ (1Jn 3:14). The difference between them is that one may receive life through a Christian’s intercession, while the other will die the second death. Spiritually dead already, he will die eternally. Only such a serious state as this would lead John to say that he does not advise his readers to pray for such." (John Stott) I would add one more possibility and that is physical death of a brother who is disciplined by the Lord (although I cannot explain why we should not pray for such a one). I have seen situations where a minister was involved in a heinous sin that if exposed to the public would have brought great shame to the body of Christ and the sin was not exposed because the minister was taken out (by a fatal car wreck). Obviously this is a speculative consideration. Frankly, I think passages such as this will only be satisfactorily resolved when we are in the presence of our Lord one day future! QUESTION - What is the sin unto death? | GotQuestions.org WATCH VIDEO ANSWER - 1 John 5:16 is one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament to interpret. “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him 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 he should pray about that.” Of all the interpretations out there, none seem to answer all the questions concerning this verse. The best interpretation may be found by comparing this verse to what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1–10 (see also 1 Corinthians 11:30). The “sin unto death” is willful, continuous, unrepentant sin. God has called His children to holiness (1 Peter 1:16), and God corrects them when they sin. We are not “punished” for our sin in the sense of losing salvation or being eternally separated from God, yet we are disciplined. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son” (Hebrews 12:6). 1 John 5:16 says there comes a point when God can no longer allow a believer to continue in unrepentant sin. When that point is reached, God may decide to take the life of the stubbornly sinful believer. The “death” is physical death. God at times purifies His church by removing those who deliberately disobey Him. The apostle John makes a distinction between the “sin that leads to death” and the “sin that does not lead to death.” Not all sin in the church is dealt with the same way because not all sin rises to the level of the “sin that leads to death.” In Acts 5:1–10 and 1 Corinthians 11:28–32, God dealt with intentional, calculated sin in the church by taking the physical life of the sinner. This is perhaps also what Paul meant by “the destruction of the flesh” in 1 Corinthians 5:5. John says that we should pray for Christians who are sinning, and that God will hear our prayers. However, there may come a time when God decides to cut short a believer’s life due to unrepentant sin. Prayers for such an unheeding person will not be effective. God is good and just, and He will eventually make us “a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27). To further that end, God chastens His children. May the Lord preserve us from the hard-heartedness that would cause us to commit the “sin unto death.” QUESTION - What is the sin that does not lead to death in 1 John 5:16–17? ANSWER - A sin that does not lead to death (and a sin that does lead to death) is alluded to in 1 John 5:16–17: “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.” John wrote his gospel so that people would believe in Jesus and have life in His name (John 20:30–31). He wrote his first epistle, in part, so that those who believe in Jesus would know that they have eternal life (1 John 5:13). John wants believers to have confidence in their position in Christ and mentions in that context that there are a couple types of sin. One type of sin does not lead to death, and another does. We find an example of a sin that leads to death in Acts 5. There, Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3), and they die as a result. Paul mentions another example of a sin that leads to death in 1 Corinthians 11:30. Some who were abusing the Lord’s Supper had become sick and had even died. These are the only two clear instances in the New Testament of believers who committed sins unto death. John mentions a sin unto death in his first epistle, but he does not offer any specifics regarding what the sin is. He is speaking of categories of sin, not pointing out specific sins. The context is John’s teaching on prayer. John explains that we can have confidence that, in anything we ask of God according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14). To ask something according to His will is to ask for something that God has communicated to us that He desires. When we ask for something that He wants, then we are asking for something that we should be asking Him for. John goes further, explaining that, when God hears these kinds of requests, we have what we have asked for (1 John 5:15). Believers are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and, as Jesus said in John 14:12–14, the Father is glorified in the Son when His disciples pray in His name. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray according to His will or pray as if Jesus Himself were asking the Father. But we discover in 1 John 5 there are different types of sin, and that impacts what we should and should not be asking for. The church must recognize the seriousness of sin, avoid continuing in sin, and pray as God has designed. It is important to note the qualifier that John (and Jesus) places on prayer. God does not promise to do whatever we ask without condition. He affirms that He will grant what is asked according to His will, in the name of Jesus. Jesus was not referring to a magic formula or mantra or suggesting we should add the phrase in Jesus’ name to our prayers in order to ensure they are granted. We should be asking God for what He has revealed He wants for us. But there are some things that John explains we ought not to ask for. He provides an example: if a brother commits a sin not unto (or does not lead to) death, then the one observing the sin should ask for God’s mercy for the offender so that death does not result (1 John 5:16). On the other hand, there is a sin that does lead to death, and John does not suggest one should pray on behalf of the one committing that type of sin (1 John 5:16). John distinguishes between these two kinds of sin even as he acknowledges that all sin is unrighteousness (1 John 5:17). The distinction John makes between the sin that does not lead to death and the sin that does lead to death illustrates that there are some requests not in accordance with God’s will and, thus, some requests the believer should not expect to be granted. This principle is simple and straightforward. If we’re praying for things outside of God’s will, then we should not expect an answer. The challenge for interpreters is that nowhere in the context does John detail what sins he is talking about. He speaks of those sins as broad categories. If he had specific sins in mind, no doubt his original readers would understand to what he referred. Because of the ambiguity, it is probably best to simply acknowledge the principle being taught about prayer rather than try to identify what John doesn’t provide in the context—the specific nature of the sin that does not lead to death and the sin that does. Wuest has note quoting at length from Henry Alford - For the exposition of this difficult verse, we turn to Alford, and his canons or rules of interpretation. He says: “Our first canon of interpretation of ‘the sin unto death’ and ‘not unto death’ is this, that the ‘death’ and the ‘life’ must correspond. The former cannot be bodily death, while the latter is eternal and spiritual life. This clears away at once all those commentators who understand the sin unto death to be one for which bodily death is the punishment, either by human law generally, … or by sickness inflicted by God (Ed: Which rules out my consideration given above!). “Our second canon will be, that this sin unto death being thus a sin leading to eternal death, being further explained to the readers here, must be presumed as meant to be understood by what the Evangelist has elsewhere laid down concerning the possession of life and death. Now we have from him a definition immediately preceding this, in verse 12, ‘The one who has the Son has the life. The one who does not have the Son of God, the life does not have.’ And we may safely say that the words ‘unto death’ here are to be understood as meaning ‘involving the loss of this life which men have only by union with the Son of God.’ And this meaning they must have, not by implication only, which would be the case if any obstinate and determined sin were meant, which would be a sign of the fact of severance from the life which is in Christ (see 3:14, 15, where the inference is of this kind), but directly and essentially, i.e., in respect of that very sin which is pointed at by them. Now against this canon are all those interpretations far too numerous to mention, which make any atrocious and obstinate sin to be that intended. It is obvious that our limits are thus confined to abnegation of Christ, not as inferred by its fruits otherwise shown, but as the act of sin itself. “Our third canon. will help us decide, within the above limits, which especial sin is intended. And it is, that by the very analogy of the context, it must be not a state of sin, but an appreciable ACT of sin, seeing that that which is opposed to it in the same kind, as being not unto death, is described by ‘if anyone see his brother sinning.’ (The verb “see” is aorist subjunctive, speaking of a single act of seeing. K.S.W.) “In enquiring what this is, we must be guided by the analogy of what St. John says elsewhere. Our state being that of life in Christ Jesus, there are those who have gone out from us, not being of us (1Jn 2:19), who are called antichrists, who not only ‘have not’ Christ, but are Christ’s enemies, denying the Father and the Son (1Jn 2:22), whom we are not even to receive into our houses nor to greet (2John 1:10, 11). These seem to be the persons pointed out here, and this is the sin, namely, the denial that Jesus is the Christ, the incarnate Son of God. This alone of all sins bears upon it the stamp of severance from Him who is the Life itself. As the confession of Christ, with the mouth and in the heart, is salvation unto life (Ro 10:9), so denial of Christ with the mouth and in the heart, is sin unto death.” From the above we are led to the conclusion that “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. In view of the foregoing interpretation which is based upon the historical background and the context in which John is writing, we can now proceed with the exegesis of this verse. We will look at the Greek text itself. “See” is aorist subjunctive, speaking of a single act, not a continuous viewing. The sin in question here therefore is not an habitual one but a single act. The word “unto” is pros, “near, facing.”
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Cole - Although I have not studied it since my high school days, I enjoyed studying geometry. It fascinated me how you could prove theorems based on certain axioms. If those axioms were true, the rest followed in logical, step-by-step fashion. You could conclude something with certainty based on the truth of the axioms. Throughout First John, the apostle has been concerned about what we as Christians can know for certain. He began the letter with the certainty of his firsthand, eyewitness testimony of Jesus Christ (1Jn 1:1-4). In 1Jn 2:3, he wrote, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” He writes to the fathers, because they know Him who has been from the beginning (1Jn 2:13). He writes to the children, because they know the Father (1Jn 2:14). He says (1Jn 3:14), “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.” In my English concordance, I counted 36 instances of the word know in First John. As he concludes the letter, John drives home this theme. He sums up his purpose (1Jn 5:13), “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” In 1Jn 5:15, “And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” Now, in the final section, three times again he uses this word, at the beginning of 1Jn 5:18, 19, 20: “We know… we know« we know«.” John wants us to be certain about these important truths. He is still countering the false teachers and their destructive claims of secret knowledge. 1Jn 5:18, 19, and 20 are in one sense just a review of what has already been said. You tend to read these verses and think, “Got it! Got it! Got it!” You think that you’ve passed the course, that you’ve got the material down just fine. Then John throws a final fastball right by us (1Jn 5:21): “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” You stand there flat-footed, thinking, “Where did that come from?” He hasn’t been saying anything about idolatry. He hasn’t mentioned it in the entire book. So, at first glance, it seems out of context. But as you think about it, it sums up his entire message. Idolatry is making up your own god as a substitute for the one true God, who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. The false teachers were doing just that. They were offering a false god of speculation, not the one true God of revelation. So John’s final words are a warning against adopting the errors of man-made religion. We can sum up his message in 1Jn 5:18-21: Because of what we know about our relationship with God, we must guard ourselves from idols. (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) Beloved, be aware (like a Berean Acts 17:11+) that there is an aberrant (that is euphemistic!) teaching going around in "evangelical" circles and this teaching says you can be saved and then spend the rest of your days on earth living in sin (Zane Hodges is a proponent of this "Gnostic-like" doctrine - see The Unusual Teachings of Zane Hodges). The test of genuine faith is conduct! A person who continues to live in sin is living a life totally incompatible with the supernatural life received from God! "A child of God may sin; but his normal condition is one of resistance to sin." --Alfred Plummer Steven Cole on this "aberrant" teaching says "that is exactly what the Gnostics in John’s day claimed. They drew a distinction between the material body and the spirit. If you confronted them with frequenting prostitutes, they would have claimed, “That was just my body; my spirit is not tainted by that, it is pure!” John is saying, “That is nonsense!” He says (1Jn 3:7-8a), “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil.” You can normally tell by looking at a man whether he is a child of God or not. So, both in chapter 3 and in our text, John is saying that the new birth has an obvious result, namely, a righteous life. (Ed: Notice he did not say "perfect" life for that must await our day of glorification. Maranatha, Lord Jesus. Amen) While true believers do fall into sin, they cannot live in it indefinitely. The changed nature results in changed behavior. If a pig falls into a mud hole, he wallows in it and doesn’t try to get out, because that is its nature. But if a sheep falls in a mud hole, it wants to get out, get cleaned up, and avoid that hole in the future, because it has a different nature. So it is with a true child of God. (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) GOD KEEPS HIM DEVIL DOES NOT TOUCH HIM But - While this normally introduces a strong contrast, in the present context it seems more plausible to see it as giving the reason that those born of God cannot sin habitually. Why? In a word, God keeps (guards, watches over) him!" Note that the KJV has "keeps himself" but all modern translations favor keeps him, so that the keeping is not a result of our power but God's power! That certainly would be what we see elsewhere. E.g., Peter writes that believers "are protected (tereo in the present tense) by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1Pe 1:5+) He who was born (gennao - aorist tense) of God keeps (tereo - present tense) him, and the evil (poneros) one does not touch (haptomai - present tense) him - Note that was born is thought by some to speak of Jesus but others favor that it refers to the the man fathered by God (A difficult distinction - see Technical Note). If it refers to Christ as the One born of God, it would make Christ the One Who keeps or protects. If the one born is man, then the one who keeps him is God (presumably the Father). Either way the saint is divinely, supernaturally kept or protected! Keeps is in the present tense emphasizing that God is continually watching carefully over us, protecting us, guarding us from evil! “There is no comfort in the thought that we are in our own keeping; our security is not in our grip on Christ but His grip on us.” -- David Smith Hiebert on God keeps him - "Well aware of his own weaknesses and failures, the Spirit-guided believer can rejoice in the assurance that his own safekeeping does not depend solely upon his own efforts. “Our security is not our grip on Christ but His grip on us.” (David Smith) This, of course, does not imply that he can be indifferent to or relax his efforts to keep the commandments of God (ED: I.E., NOT "LET GOD, LET GO!"), but he knows that apart from the divine empowerment his own efforts would be ineffectual. He rejoices in the fact that “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13+). (ED: LET GOD, LET'S GO!)" “Our security is not our grip on Christ but His grip on us.” -- David Smith David Smith titles this verse "Our Security through the Guardianship of Christ. The child of God may fall into sin, but he does not continue in it; he is not under its dominion. Why? Because, though he has a malignant foe, he has also a vigilant Guardian." It is not the quality of strength in the life of the believer that gives him hope of prevailing but the presence of the power of God. -- Glenn Barker In His prayer to His Father, Jesus alludes to His keeping power declaring "While I was with them, I was keeping (tereo in the imperfect tense = continued to keep, over and over, again and again watched over and preserved) them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded (phulasso ~ like a sentinel guarding his post) them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." (John 17:12). Similarly in Jesus' words to the church at Philadelphia, He declared "Because you have kept (tereo) the word of My perseverance, I also will keep (tereo) you from the hour of testing, that [hour] which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth." (Rev 3:10+) Jude also refers to God's keeping power - "Now to Him Who is able (dunamai in the present tense - continually has the inherent ability or power) to keep (phulasso ~ like a sentinel guarding his post) you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, [be] glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25+) And the evil (poneros) one does not touch (haptomai - present tense) him - The mention of the evil one emphasizes the believer's great need for God's keeping power. Evil (poneros) one underlines the malicious, evil-minded nature of the Devil as the active enemy of the believer. As
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Cole adds that the idea is the evil one "cannot lay hold of us to make us captives of sin for the rest of our lives. We may fall into his evil clutches and end up in Doubting Castle, as Bunyan’s pilgrim did, but we have the key to escape and get back on the path to the Celestial City. John says that we know that no one born of God continues in sin. But in light of the false teaching that true Christians can live apart from the lordship of Christ, I wonder if we really do know this today!" (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) David Allen says the Greek word for touch "was used in papyri for setting fire to something. Satan cannot “set you on fire”; that is, he cannot harm you eternally or otherwise, because Jesus has made sure your wood is wet! Satan cannot undo your salvation. You are eternally secure in Christ. If Satan cannot drag you to Hell, the next thing he wants to do to you is to mar your Christian testimony. I like what Paul says in Romans 16:20: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Notice that it is God who defeats Satan. John is talking about a certainty of Christian power, the ability to live a successful Christian life and overcome the sin problem day by day as you walk with Jesus and serve him." (Preaching the Word – 1-3 John: Fellowship in God's Family) Bruce Barton - Apparently God sometimes grants the enemy permission to shoot fiery darts at his children (Job 1:6-12; Luke 22:31-32), but these kinds of testings always come with the promise of protection (the armor of God—Ephesians 6:10-17) and the promise of power (the ability to overcome temptations—1 Corinthians 10:13). Furthermore, our Savior prays for us (Luke 22:32; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). If you are being tested right now, you may feel desperate, even abandoned. Persevere one more day, knowing that these God-allowed attacks cannot ultimately harm you and will, in fact, ultimately help you to become what God wants you to be (James 1:2-4). (See 1, 2, and 3 John - Page 119) In a sense John's words are an amplification of Jesus' prayer to His Father, in which He repeatedly alluded to our protection from the world system and its evil leader - "And I am no more in the world; and [yet] they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep (tereo in the aorist imperative which conveys a sense of urgency) them in Thy name, [the name] which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We [are.] 12“While I was with them, I was keeping (tereo) them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded (phulasso like a sentinel on guard duty!) them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 “But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep (tereo) them from the evil [one.] (Jn 17:11-15+) J
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Cole comments that the phrase of God "means that Christ “gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age” (Gal 1:4+). Or, as Paul also wrote (Col. 1:13-14+), “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We now belong to and serve a new Master. He gave us new life, so that in every sense, we are “of God.” So our lives should be God-centered and God-focused. We should be taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2Cor 10:5+). John says that we know this. But in light of many recent surveys, which show that there is no discernible difference in morals or values between those claiming to be born again and the population at large, it is not out of line to ask, ´Do you know this? Is there a fundamental difference between your priorities and goals and those of your non-Christian neighbors? Are you living for God and His glory and kingdom, or do you just attend church services a little more often than the rest of the population? It is axiomatic: “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1Jn 5:19). (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) (Bolding added) Either you are “of God” and separate from this evil world, or you are of the world and you lie in the arms of the evil one. Steven Cole sees this verse essentially as a restatement of 1 John 2:15+ (“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”) commenting that "throughout the letter, John has drawn a sharp line between believers and the world (1Jn 3:1, 13; 1Jn 4:4, 5; 1Jn 5:4, 5). He does not allow for a middle category, of true believers who keep one foot in the world. Either you are “of God” and separate from this evil world, or you are of the world and you lie in the arms of the evil one. John described the world (1Jn 2:16-+) by the three phrases, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life,” and said that such things “are not from the Father.” Believers must not live to gratify the flesh or to pursue the outward, material things that consume the world’s fancy. Life is short and hangs by a thread (Jas 4:14). To take pride in this life or in this evil world is to trust in what will soon perish (1Jn 2:17). Only that which is eternal is worth pursuing." (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) And that the whole (holos) world (kosmos) lies (keimai present tense continually) in the power of the evil (poneros) one - And (kai) in this context sets out a clear contrast between of God versus the evil one. Notice that there is stress on the adjective whole (holos) which is accentuated by rendering it "the world, the whole of it.” Holos is used in the great phrase whole world in 1Jn 2:2+. Hiebert points out that "The position of the adjective whole implies that the indicated relationship applies to all humans who belong to the world in its estrangement from God." Lies (keimai) in the present tense describes Satan's grip on this world as continual… at least during this present evil age (Gal 1:4+). The power of (NIV = "control of", HCSB = "under the sway of") is added by the translators indicating the evil one exerts his evil power over evil men, all the unsaved world! The only key that is able to release those enslaved to the evil one is the Gospel! Are you proclaiming the Gospel with your life and your lips? We know these truths beyond a shadow of a doubt! Did you know this? You need to know and believe because what you believe dictates (or should dictate) how you behave! THOUGHT - How should these truths impact our progressive sanctification and our interactions with this fallen world system? This is essentially a rhetorical question - (cp Col 3:2+, Jn 17:11+, Php 3:20,21+) Most agree that the evil (poneros) in this context is used to describe Satan (ho poneros = "Evil one"), the god of this age, who is blinding, corrupting man and dragging unsaved souls to eternal destruction (See detailed discussion of Schemes of the Devil). Recall that in the temptation of Jesus, the devil made an unusual offer to our Lord. "He led Him (Jesus) up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil (diabolos) said to Him, “ will give You all this domain (exousia ~ the right and the might) and its glory; for it has been handed over (paradidomi = to give over to the power of another and in the perfect tense = handed over at a point in time [when Adam sinned] and speaks of his continuing authority, but only until the true Ruler returns! Rev 19:11-16+) to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." (Lk 4:5-7+) Notice that Jesus did not debate the devil's proclamation that the world was his domain in this present evil age! In Jesus' high, priestly prayer to His Father, He repeatedly alluded to the believer's relationship to the world and asked for our protection from the world system "And I am no more in the world; and [yet] they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, [the name] which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We [are.] 12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 “But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil [one.] 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. 18 “As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, [art] in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. 22 “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. 24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world." (Jn 17:11-25+) Vine observes that there is "a connection with 1Jn 5:18. While believers are beyond the power of the evil one to separate them from Christ, the rest of mankind, who constitute “the world,” are in his power (see John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11); they are controlled by him as “the prince of this world,” (Eph 2:2+) and their condition is therefore that of spiritual death (Eph 2:1+) (contrast 1Jn 5:20+). The separation which exists between Christ and the evil one should find its counterpart in the separation of the believer from the world… There is no contradiction between this verse and what is said in 1Jn 2:2+ ("whole world"); for the propitiation made by Christ for the world was provisional and potential; it becomes actual only through faith." Hiebert on lies - John paints a vivid word picture with this verb keimai which means "to lie, recline, (and) pictures the world as characteristically nonresistant to and passively dependent upon the power that grips the lost masses of humanity; that power John identifies here as tō ponerō, which the KJV renders “in wickedness."… John did not say that the world is “of” (ek, “out of”) the evil one (Ed: like he did when he said we "are of God" = "ek tou Theou"), for the Devil is not the source of their being; he did not create them. He holds control over those in the world as a usurper, one “who controls it with tyrannical authority, organizing and orchestrating its life and activities to express his own rebellion and hatred against God.” Thus Jesus portrays the Devil as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31 NASB; 14:30; 16:11). Steven Cole on lies adds that the picture of the verb keimai "is not of frantic captives, desperately trying to escape this depraved tyrant. Rather, they lie quietly in his evil clutches, oblivious to their tragic plight. The god of this world has blinded their minds (2Cor. 4:4-+). They can wear “Life is Good” T-shirts, oblivious that they are wandering perilously close to the edge of the abyss. They don’t realize that “in due time their foot will slip” (Deut. 32:35 [Ed: This is the text for Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon -Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God]) and they will face God in judgment. Rather, they are sleeping peacefully in the arms of the evil one who will destroy them!" (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) THOUGHT - Beloved there are only two kingdoms - all the world can be divided into either children of the devil or children of God. As Hiebert says "It is a matter of lordship. For John there is no middle ground between these two spiritual masters and the realms which they head. As a free moral agent, man is free to choose his master, but he is not free to be without a master." (cp Mt 6:24+). On the child of God the Evil One does not so much as lay his hand, the world lies in his arms. On the other hand, the child of God lies in God’s arms. --David Smith John
1 João 5:20
Cole comments on Son of God - Jesus came and John and his fellow apostles had to recognize Him as the Son of God. That was a title of deity. For example, Jesus said (Luke 10:21-22), “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Jesus there claims a unique relationship with the Father that all others lack. Only He can reveal the Father to us, according to His sovereign will. If Jesus doesn’t reveal the Father, we cannot know Him. In John 5:17-18, Jesus claimed that God is His Father, which the Jews understood as blasphemy, because he was making Himself equal with God. Rather than denying their charges, Jesus went on to state some of the strongest affirmations of His deity in all of Scripture. He claimed to have the power to give life to whom He wishes, to judge everyone, and to receive the same honor as the Father (John 5:21-23). He claimed that the day is coming when those in the tombs would hear His voice and come forth, either to a resurrection of life or of judgment (John 5:28-29). John and his fellow apostles recognized Jesus as the Son of God, because He had opened their eyes. This points to the historical foundation of the Christian faith. (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) David Smith - “The assurance and guarantee of it all—the incarnation, an overwhelming demonstration of God’s interest in us and His concern for our highest good. Not simply a historic fact but an abiding operation—not ‘came’ (ēlthe) but ‘hath come and hath given us.’ Our faith is not a matter of intellectual theory but of personal and growing acquaintance with God through the enlightenment of Christ’s Spirit (ton alethinon), “the real” as opposed to the false God of the heretics.” Has come (hēkō) means to have come, have arrived, be present.
1 João 5:20
Cole - This divine gift of understanding brings us into a personal relationship with the only true God, so that we come to know Him. Here John uses a different word for know, which means, to know experientially. There is a great difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing the person himself. Through the understanding that Christ gives, we come personally to “know Him who is true.” The word “true” means “genuine” or “authentic.” He is the only genuine God; all others are fakes or impostors. (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) Understanding (1271)(dianoia from dianoéomai = to agitate in mind in turn from dia = through + noeo = to think, nous = mind) is literally "a through mind (which) denotes the ability to pass beyond the external and superficial to discern and understand true reality. Dianoia (John's only use of this word) signifies a process of the mind leading to a conclusion, hence denoting the faculty of forming a conclusion from certain facts. In context what is involved is the mental ability to discern the significance of the coming of Christ (Messiah as prophesied over in the OT), specifically the incarnation of the Son of God. This enlightenment also enables John and all true believers in Christ to see through and refute the heretical claims of the false teachers. It is the work of the Holy Spirit as God’s “anointing” (1Jn 2:27-+) that gives the believer this understanding." (Hiebert) Vine - The word dianoia, “mind,” is not merely, like nous, the seat of the faculty of perception, it is the thinking faculty of reflection itself, a disposition (not a function, but a product), which may be good, e.g., He 8:10-+ and He 10:16-+, or evil, as here (Col 1:21-+) and in Luke 1:51, “imagination.” So that (hina) is a term of purpose which should always cause us to pause and ponder what is the purpose? As the NET Note says here hina "gives the purpose of the preceding affirmation: “we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight (so that we may) know Him who is true.” (NET Note) In other words the chief objective of the gift of understanding is to lead us into a growing (present tense) personal (experiential) knowledge of God. EXPERIENTIAL KNOWING We may know (1097)(ginosko) refers to knowledge gained by experience, a knowing intimately and not just intellectually. Ginosko is in the present tense which signifies that we continually know or we have the constant experience of knowing.
1 João 5:21
Cole - John tells us to “guard” ourselves from idols, which implies that we have something valuable that the enemy is trying to steal.
1 João 5:21
Cole has a pithy application of John's warning against idols - In the most basic sense, an idol is anything that takes the rightful place of God in your life. Paul equated covetousness or greed with idolatry (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5). Your career, your pursuit of money, your possessions, excessive devotion to leisure and recreation, or even putting a human relationship ahead of your relationship with God, may all become idols. Putting your intellect above God’s revelation is idolatry. Watching hours of inane or immoral TV shows each week or spending hours playing computer games, while not having time to spend with God or serve Him, is idolatry. At the root of all of these is the idol of self. The idolater has not yielded the throne of his life to the true God. Rather, he wants his will and his way, and he tries to use God to get what he wants. If his god delivers, he sets the god back on the shelf until the next time he needs something and then uses it again. If it doesn’t de-liver, he’ll shop around for a better god who gets him what he wants. But the idolater does not submit to the living and true God. I fear that even many who claim to be born again Christians are only trying to use God to get happiness or peace or a better life. If He brings trials, they look for a new god. That is idolatry! (1 John 5:18-21 Knowing This, Guard Yourself) Thompson - An idol is a false picture of God that causes one to stumble and fall away from a relationship with the true God. The Elder’s readers are to keep themselves from every kind of false belief, for loyalty to a false god leads to death, but allegiance to the true God brings eternal life. (Concluding Assurances and Admonitions) Man’s nature … is a perpetual factory of idols -- John Calvin John