The Way - Day 207 (1 John 5)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
1 John 5:1-12
As John closes out his letter to these believers, he re-emphasizes the characteristics of those who are the children of God. First, "whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God..." (5:1). This belief in Jesus is not just a belief in His existence, but also a belief in His identity as the Savior from sin. A person's belief in Jesus is always expressed in his actions and John reminds his readers of what he has already written, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (5:2-3). Belief in Jesus Christ will lead a person to love God, love others, and obey God's commandments. Although a follower of Christ is not perfect in all of his ways, these characteristics are consistently evident in his attitudes and actions. The opposite is true also. Those whose lifestyles do not habitually model these characteristics reveal that their faith is not genuine, regardless of what they claim. So that his readers will not be discouraged by the deceitfulness of the world and those who spread lies, John reminds them of the victory they have in Jesus Christ, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (5:4-5) The believer is promised to overcome daily trials, temptations, and struggles of the world through faith in Jesus. This promise does not mean that all hardship will be removed from the path of the Christian, but it does mean that God provides the strength to endure without losing hope.

John has just described that all believers have victory and hope through Jesus Christ and in 1 John 5:6-12 he confirms the sufficiency of Jesus as the object of our faith. Since the false teachers questioned the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, John presents Him as the divine One whom God the Father also sent as a man in order to die for the sins of those who believe. John writes, "This is He who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ; not only by water [baptism], but by water and blood [death]. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth (5:6). Jesus' baptism as well as His death testified to His observable humanity, but the Holy Spirit also confirmed the testimony of God through His inner witness. John was probably writing these things to combat a specific dualistic false teaching which said that the divine Christ entered the human man, Jesus, at His baptism and then departed before His death; however, John wanted his readers to know that Jesus' deity (and humanity) was not only evident in His baptism, but also His death. Beyond the earthly witness of the Holy Spirit, Jesus' baptism, and Jesus' death (5:8), there were three heavenly witnesses - God the Father, God the Son (the Word), and God the Holy Spirit (5:7). As one, their witness establishes truth. If a person willingly receives human testimony, how much more should they be willing to receive the testimony of God? (5:9-10)

John then writes regarding the end result of those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior from sin, "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (5:11-12). John probably inserts this reminder for those false teachers who claimed that believers could not have eternal life through Jesus Christ. To imply that eternal life can be given outside of belief in Jesus Christ is a lie and anyone who teaches this invites God's judgment. It is important that we accept only one way to eternal life -belief in Jesus Christ - and anyone who teaches otherwise must be rejected.

1 John 5:13-21
This letter has been written in order to assist the church in recognizing the characteristics of those whose faith in Jesus Christ is genuine and by recognizing these character traits it would help believers understand how to distinguish between truth and error. John was concerned about the false teachers who had entered the church seeking to deceive the faithful, but he hoped his words would help them see the true character of those who claim to represent God. So, what characteristics are demonstrated in the life of a Christian? Genuine faith will be manifest through continuing in the truth which God has revealed through Jesus and the apostles (1:1-4; 2:22-27; 4:1-6), obeying God's commandments (2:3-6, 15-21; 3:1-9), and loving God as well as others (2:7-14; 3:10-23; 4:7-5:5). Although a believer is not perfect, these characteristics will be consistently modeled in their life.

In the conclusion of his letter, John provides the main purpose in writing to the believers, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (5:13). John wanted them to be confident in their faith and continue in God's ways. As they continued in their faith, John reminded them of the benefits of faith in Jesus Christ. First, God would hear and answer their prayers (5:14-17). John writes, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him" (5:14-15). The key in answered prayer is that a person asks according to God's will, which is revealed in His word. This is not a prayer of selfish requests, but rather a prayer for God's will to be done. Whenever our desires are matched with God's will, our prayers will be answered. John then illustrates what it means to pray according to God's will when he refers to a sinning man who is being prayed for by another believer. Since it is not God's will for anyone to sin, a believer can pray that a sinning person would stop sinning and his prayers will be answered; however, John does make a statement that the person sinning must be committing a "sin which does not lead to death" (5:16). Obviously, all sin eventually leads to death but those who continue in sin without repentance may be swiftly judged by death (5:17). Such was the case for Annanias and Sapphira in the book of Acts (Acts 5:1-11). Prayers for those who continue in sin without repentance, although not prohibited, will probably not be answered (5:16b).

John provides a second benefit of faith in Jesus Christ - victory over sin (5:18-19). To explain what he means, John writes, "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (5:18-19). Those who are children of God have the ability to resist sin and overcome the temptations of the devil. Again, John is not implying that a person of faith can reach perfection in this life, but he can be consistently victorious over sin and the devil.

The final benefit of faith in Jesus Christ is having the knowledge of the truth (5:21). Instead of giving themselves over to false teachings and worship (5:21), a believer can know the truth through knowing God's Son, Jesus. Writing his final words to his readers, John reminds them that "we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" (5:20).

Dear God, thank You for the benefits of having faith in Jesus Christ. I know that You will answer all prayer according to Your will. I know You will provide victory over sin as I submit to Your control. I can also know the truth through knowing Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for the truths You revealed to John so that we could understand and obey You.