By James Riley Strange, Ph.D.
Professor of New Testament, Samford University
SURE OF SALVATION
1 John 5:1–5, 11–13, 18–21
Today we complete our lessons in 1 John. In the last chapter, John repeats most of his teachings from previous chapters, including the love commandment. Re-read the letter for context.
I can know I am born of God because Jesus is the Christ. (1–5)
Chapter 5 begins with what is probably a claim of the “false prophets” (4:1) and “antichrists” (2:18; 4:3): Jesus was not the “Christ” or “Messiah,” for He had no body (4:2). Remember, if Jesus did not “come in the flesh,” then He neither died for sins nor rose again. Hence, He was not the full revelation of God’s love for the world.
John picks up what he introduced in 4:7. There he said, “Everyone who loves is born of God.” Now he says the same of “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ.”
For John, to accept Jesus as the Christ and to love one another are equivalent. No wonder he says, “Everyone who loves the Father also loves the person who has been born from Him.”
We cannot say in English, “The one who faiths that Jesus is the Christ” (5:1) or, “The one who faiths that Jesus is the Son of God” (v. 5). It is possible in Greek, however. For John, therefore, to “believe” in Jesus is to be faithful to Him.
Thus, John speaks of believing/faith as conquering: Obedience to God’s commands is what conquers the world (compare 2:13, 14).
I can know I have eternal life because God’s word says so. (11–13)
The “testimony” John speaks of comes not from a human but from the Spirit (5:6). John is referring to a truth his readers already know (see 2:7, 13–14, 21–25, 27): They have a life that John calls “eternal” (1:2; 2:17, 25; 5:20). This word can mean “everlasting,” but note John’s use of past and present tenses: “God gave eternal life” (compare John 5:24) and we “have eternal life.” This means, in addition to being a quantity of life lived with God after death, it is a quality of life lived now.
This explains John’s earlier metaphors for living: “walking” in the light as Jesus walked (1:7; 2:6, 9–11); and “remaining” or “abiding” in the Son and the Father (2:6, 24, 28; 4:13–16). John wants his readers to know they have this life now. How can they live it otherwise?
I can know I am saved because my life has changed. (18–21)
Earlier John condemns those who claim not to sin (1:8–2:2; 3:4, 8), but he goes on to say that those who “abide in Him” and who “are born from God” do not sin (3:6, 9).
Here he is probably speaking of failing to love, or outright hating a fellow believer, the sin he most often addresses. This sin violates Jesus’ “new commandment” (2:7; John 13:34).
John emphasizes this with a play on words: “Everyone who has been born from God does not sin [by hating].” Why not? Because “The One born from God [Jesus] protects them.” To be born anew from God is to come under the protection of God’s Son.
“The evil one [the devil; 2:13–14; 3:7–10] does not touch” those born from God. Why not? Because they counter his deception by knowing who their Father is and by keeping the understanding that the Son has given them.
They will learn more as the love of God comes to completion in them, but for now, what they know is sufficient.
John’s abrupt ending reveals that most of his readers converted from Roman state religion, and there must have been tremendous social pressure to return to it. We are no less tempted by the things that lure us from God.
Thanks be to God, Who has given us everything we need to remain faithful.
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