Chapter 5
-John concludes this book with many important theological
truths concerning the Son of God, Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him as
believers. If we have believed, we have been born of God and love Him with all
our heart (1 John 5:1). It will then naturally be our desire as new creatures
born of the Spirit to obey His commandments, which all revolve around love and
our not burdensome. This will be our key to overcoming the world…our faith in
the only begotten Son of God from the Father (1 John 5:2-5).
-Jesus came with this three-fold witness that testifies of
His Divinity. The water (His baptism where the Father acknowledged Him as the beloved
Son in whom He was well pleased, Matthew 3:17), the blood (His shed blood for
the remission of sins during His passion, Matthew 26:28, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews
9:22), and the Holy Spirit (the One who is the power of God and testifies of
His grace with indwelling of the believer among many other things, John 1:33; 14:26;
20:22). These three all agree and increase our knowledge and faith in the Son
through their testimony for the purpose of eternal life. “Whoever has the Son
has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John
5:6-12).”
-These things have all been written for the purpose of believing
people being able to have the assurance of eternal life (1 John 5:13). This is
the confidence we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will He hears us and we can have the requests that we have asked of Him (1 John
5:14-15). A primary application of this is given regarding a brother committing
a sin not leading to death. What this means exactly is a bit difficult to
interpret. There is definitely sin that does lead to death; we are not supposed
to pray for that. What it has to entail is unrepentance of some manner and
resolute rejection of the Son of God and His mercy. In other words, it becomes impossible
for us to pray intercessory prayers on behalf of people who do not want God’s
grace and remain stubborn in their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). The believer that
is in tune with the Lord will not keep on willfully sinning in disobedience
because the Holy Spirit protects him, and the evil one does not touch him (1
John 5:18). Therefore, the summation is this: Christians are from God and the
rest of the world lies in the power of the evil one who has his authority over
the unbeliever. “The Son of God has come” in the flesh and “given us
understanding, so that we may KNOW Him who is true; and we are IN Him who is
true, IN His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little
children keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:20-21).” *Application* What a
blessing it is to know that we can have complete confidence in Jesus Christ to
save us from all sins and give us a new birth of the Spirit for eternal
redemption. He holds us and will never let us go if we have truly received Him
and His great salvation. To God be the glory through His magnificent promises
fulfilled through His Son Jesus Christ!
Verse to Memorize: 1
John 5:4, 12, 14
No comments:
Post a Comment