1 John 5:13-21 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is 1 John 5:13-21. Let’s go!
1 John 5:13-15 (NIV)
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.
On verses 13-15: John writes so that his readers would have confidence in their salvation (v13) and confidence that God hears their prayers (v14-15). As those who believe in the name of the Son of God, we can have the same confidence as well.
1 John 5:16-17 (NIV)
16 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.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
On verses 16-17: In addition to being confident that we have eternal life and being confident that God hears our prayers, we can be confident that when we pray for others who confess their sins to us, God uses our prayers to restore and strengthen them. The sole exception is when a person commits the “sin that leads to death” (v16).
What is the “sin that leads to death”? I believe the best interpretation is that the sin that leads to death is the total rejection of Jesus as Saviour. Elsewhere Jesus calls this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10). It’s where a person’s heart is so hard that they continually reject the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, persist in their refusal to believe in Jesus and consciously renounce any faith in Him for as long as they live. Only in connection with such sin does Jesus say the sinner will not be forgiven (Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10).
1 John 5:18-19 (NIV)
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
On verses 18-19: While the evil one is said to be in control of the world (v19) and while he will try to attack God’s children, the evil one cannot do permanent harm to God’s children or cause them to lose their salvation (v18). If you’ve ever wondered, “Can a Christian be possessed by the devil?” the answer is no because demon possession requires that the devil takes possession of the person’s spirit, soul and body. That is something the devil cannot do to Christians, because Christians have already committed their lives to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit take possession of it. While it is possible for the devil to attack or oppress a Christian, the devil cannot possess a Christian.
1 John 5:20 (NIV)
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.
On verse 20a: Jesus came so that we could understand and know “him who is true”, that is God the Father.
1 John 5:20 (NIV)
20 …And we are in him who is true–even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
On verse 20b: Through Jesus, not only can we know and understand the Father, but we can also be in the Father (that is, have an everlasting relationship with Him) and in His Son Jesus Christ. The last sentence in this verse speaks to Jesus being divine, for when John writes, “He is the true God”, he is referring to Jesus. Jesus is our way to understanding and knowing God, and Jesus is God Himself.
1 John 5:21 (NIV)
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
On verse 21: With the help of the Spirit we can know Him who is true (that is God the Father) and His Son Jesus Christ. Thus we have no need for worshiping anything else. That is why John ends his letter with the command, “keep yourselves from idols”.
Father, thank You that because of Jesus we can be confident that we have eternal life, confident that You hear our prayers, confident that our prayers can help our fellow brothers and sisters, confident that we are safe and secure from the enemy, and confident that we can know You personally. It’s all because of Jesus. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
This ends our look at 1 John. What were the most important lessons you learned in this book? I encourage you to look back and make a list of them and keep them as a bookmark in your Bible so that whenever you come across 1 John in the future you can remember what you learned.
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
