1 John 5
CHAPTER 5
God’s children
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God; and whoever loves Him that begat, loves him also that is begotten of Him. 2 Hereby we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and do His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatever is begotten of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. 5 And who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. 7 And it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 For there are three who testify, the spirit and the water and the blood; and the three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For the witness of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 He that believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that does not believe God has made Him a liar; because he has not believed in the witness that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the witness is this: that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He that has the Son has life. He that does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Assurance and encouragement
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we obtain the requests we have asked of him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask and God will give him life for them that sin not to death. There is a sin unto death. Not concerning this do I say that he should make requests. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death.
18 We know that whoever is begotten of God does not keep on in sin; but he that was begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one touches him not.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God came, and has given us an understanding so that we truly know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
Commentary
5:13 The Bible teaches that we are mortal and don’t consciously survive death. We “have eternal life” in the sense that from God’s perspective He remembers us after our death and knows we will be immortalized at Christ’s return. Further, insofar as we live the kind of life which we will eternally live in the Kingdom, we have and can live the eternal life right now.
5:14 Answered prayer is therefore a great encouragement to us that we are of God.
5:16 God is prepared to forgive some sins for the sake of others’ prayers to Him about them. If third party prayers are this powerful, we should like Paul be praying for our fellow believers all the time.
5:21 Anything that detracts our focus from the simple fact that we shall live eternally in God’s Kingdom is an idol, and we should shun it.
