1st JOHN CHAPTER FIVE

INTRODUCTION

Chapter five concludes John’s first epistle to the church in Ephesus.  John drives home on living in the light, for God is light.  Verses 1-12 deal with overcoming the world.  Verses 13-21 John deals with non-deadly sin and deadly sin.

Overcoming the world

1  Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 

See also I John 4:15.

The false teachers (antichrist) were saying Jesus could not be God because God could not die.  Therefore Jesus was a man only, and not the Christ who was God.

John using logic refutes these false teachings; saying Christians who believe Jesus was all man and all God are truly children of God the Father.  Those who declare love for the Father must therefore declare love for His only begotten Son.  John writes in John 8:42  Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.

The love we show our brethren is a testimony of our love of God.  We keep God’s commandments because of our love for God.

Bruce Barton writes:  - Just as believers’ love for their brothers and sisters is the sign and test of their love for God, so their love for God (tested by obedience, 1Jn 5:3) is the only basis of their love for Christian brothers and sisters. John was not contradicting what he had written in 1Jn 4:20–21; rather, he was insisting that love for God and love for fellow believers cannot be separated. Christians cannot love God without loving their brothers and sisters in Christ; they can know that they love God, as well as other believers, if they are obeying him. John first urged the effect (love for others); now he urged the cause (love for God).

3  For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

God has given us commandments (rules) to live by.  These rules are not meant to be difficult.  Christians who love God do not find these rules a burden.  These rules are given to us to keep us from transgressing against God and other Christians, and by obeying these rules we show our love and respect for God.  It is those who do not know God, who find God’s commandments burdensome. 

4  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  5  Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 We who are born again can overcome the world through Jesus, who Himself overcame the world.  By His example, and through His strength, we, as Christians who love Jesus, can draw on this strength to overcome the world as well.

It is our faith and trust in Jesus, which enables us to resist the temptations of the evil world, and to become victorious over this world; and as a result of this, to be set apart from the world as adoptive children of God.

Ian Macervoy writes: “Only those people who trust in Christ overcome the world. To win in this fight we have to believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that he is the Son of God. He is God and he became a man. As God and man, he overcame the world. Nobody else can give us the power to win in this struggle. We trust in Jesus. Then we share in what he has done. So, he makes us able to overcome.”

6  This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

“water and blood” represents baptism and His death.

Jesus did not need to be baptized, but chose to do so as an example to others.  After His baptism, a voice from heaven proclaimed the deity of Jesus the Christ (Mark 1:11).  Jesus’ death was the final sacrifice for sin for those who would accept this gift.  Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God.

Adam Clark writes: Moses came only by water, Aaron only by blood; and both came as types. But Christ came both by water and blood, not typically, but really; not by the authority of another, but by his own. Jesus initiates his followers into the Christian covenant by the baptism of water, and confirms and seals to them the blessings of the covenant by an application of the blood of the atonement; thus purging their consciences, and purifying their souls.

7  For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

According to Hebrew law in order to attest to the truth of an event there must be three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15).  

John Wesley writes: “The Spirit, and the water, and the blood - This verse is supposed to mean "the Spirit - in the word confirmed by miracles; the water - in baptism, wherein we are dedicated to the Son, (with the Father and the Holy Spirit), typifying his spotless purity, and the inward purifying of our nature; and the blood - represented in the Lord's Supper, and applied to the consciences of believers: and all these harmoniously agree in the same testimony, that Jesus Christ is the Divine, the complete, the only Savior of the world." 

9  If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.

The testimony of men has been proven to be unreliable and in some cases untrue.  God is righteous, and never speaks falsehoods.  His omnipotent word can be trusted and relied upon.

In today’s world mankind will listen to science before God, and will believe whatever science tells them.  Recently science has discovered that at the moment of conception life begins with a flash of light.   God is light.   I believe this flash of light is the union of soul and body.  Science conclusion supports what God has said from the beginning “life begins at conception” (Jerimiah 1:5).  You probably will not hear about this discovery in todays’ liberal press, because it would show abortion for what it really is, murder. 

10  The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.

All who have accepted Jesus as their Messiah are saved.  All who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit know in their hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, for the Spirit testifies of Jesus (John 5:36 & 1 John 5:7-8).

Once again John is talking about the false teachers in the church of Ephesus, who were taught about Jesus the Christ, and yet did not know Him as the son of God. They were in fact calling God a liar by denying Jesus as being the Son of God.

Those who have not accepted Jesus as Messiah; the Son of God, will not understand the deity of Jesus, because they do not have the Holy Spirit’s, testimony of Him. 

11  And the testimony is this that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

Those who have accepted Jesus’s gift of eternal life will live with Him forever in paradise.  Because Jesus was born, died, and rose to eternal life, He is the giver of eternal life. Those who believe in Him, and because we are in Him and He in us we too have eternal life through Him.

Adam Clarke  writes:  “This is the record - The great truth to which the Spirit, the water, and the blood bear testimony. God hath given us eternal life - a right to endless glory, and a meetness for it. And this life is in his Son; it comes by and through him; he is its author and its purchaser; it is only in and through Him. No other scheme of salvation can be effectual; God has provided none other, and in such a case a man's invention must be vain.”

12  He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

Life is in the Son; for only He was victorious over the grave; rising to eternal life in heaven.  Man cannot obtain eternal life by any works, but only through Jesus the living Son of God.  The false teachers of yesterday and today denied Jesus was God’s only Son, therefore He could not give eternal life.

             

Sin Verses Non-deadly Sin

13  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Note here; John says to believe in the NAME of the Son of God.  What does John mean?

Jesus’s Hebrew name was Yeshua which means salvation.  The title Messiah means deliverer.  We can deduce that John was telling them, and us, Salvation (Yeshua) who’s title is Messiah (deliverer) is the true path to eternal life.  Anyone who believes in His name will have eternal life, through Him.  This eternal life begins with a person's rebirth as a believer in Yeshua (Jesus) and never ends from that day forward. 

Adam Clarke  writes; “for Christ dwells in the heart only by Faith, and faith lives only by Love, and love continues only by Obedience; he who Believes loves, and he who Loves obeys. He who obeys loves; he who loves believes; he who believes has the witness in himself: he who has this witness has Christ in his heart, the hope of glory; and he who believes, loves, and obeys, has Christ in his heart, and is a man of prayer.”

14  This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

The believer abides in God’s will.  The believers will and God’s will are the same will.  God’s desire is for His children to worship Him and Him alone, and to love one another as He loves us.  The Christian who loves his brother or sister will not ask for any evil to befall them, but rather will ask for only that which is good and righteous.  Therefore God hearing your prayer in His will answers your prayer. 

John gives this assurance so the believers will go to God in prayer, boldly (confident) knowing He will hear them.  Does any godly parent ignore the pleas of their children, when they ask for that which is good for them?

Many Christians become disappointed when asking God for things in their own lives, and not receiving them.  We do not know God’s ways but He knows our needs, and will give to us according to our needs.

15  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

We can have confidence in knowing that God hears our prayers.  God determines when, where, and how those prayers will be answered.  God the Father did not ignore the requests of His Son Jesus, nor will he ignore our request, when prayed in His Son’s name.

Therefor be confident that whatever you ask in the name of Jesus, according to His will, is going to be given to you.

16  If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.

What then is a sin leading to death; we have been told the penalty of all sin is death?

Why is John differentiating between sin and sin leading to death if the punishment for all sin is death (Romans 6:23) .

To answer this question we must acknowledge, only God forgives sin, through the sacrifice of His perfect Lamb, Jesus.  Anyone who refuses to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, the sacrificial Lamb of God, will surely die in their sin.  This therefore is the sin leading to death.  We cannot pray for a person to be forgiven sin if they refuse to believe in the name of Jesus.

17  All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

John tells us the rest of the story.  We saw how deadly sin is when a sinner refuses to accept Jesus.  Now John tells us even if we were to sin Jesus will once again forgive us of that sin.

It is possible John spoke of this because the false teachers of the time were teaching various levels of sin.  For example, they may have taught murder was the worst sin (a mortal sin) where stealing (a menial sin) was not so bad.  This could not be further from the truth; all un-repented sin carries the same penalty; death.  This concept may be hard for the average person to accept, being that murder is so horrific.

Adam Clarke  writes: “All unrighteousness is sin - Πασα αδικια, every act contrary to justice is sin - is a transgression of the law which condemns all injustice.”

18  We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

Christians will occasionally sin, not intentionally, but rather from ignorance.  All unrighteousness is sinful.  Anyone born again who remains faithfully in the will of God, has a powerful advocate in Jesus.  Jesus protects his children from the evil forces of this world.  The key is remain faithful in His will. 

This does not mean we can carelessly wander through life, without regard for our own safety.  When Satan confronted Jesus, saying “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up …” (Matthew 4: 5-7).  By being careless with our own wellbeing, we are unconsciously putting God to the test.  This does not mean we will never get sick, even unto death, for these things are natural occurrences in this world, and not directly caused by Satan.

19  We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

We became children of God upon accepting Jesus as our Messiah.  We live in a hostile environment, with natural dangers around every corner.  Satan has power in this world to test men and to propagate unrighteousness among nonbelievers.  Satan influences these nonbelievers to commit every kind of immoralities with, and against, mankind.  This is the same world environment Jesus overcame, and through Him, we can overcome as well. 

John Wesley writes: “Satan influences these nonbelievers to commit every kind of immoralities with, and against, mankind.  This is the same world environment Jesus overcame, and through Him, we can overcome as well.” 

20  And we know that the Son of God has come, and has 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. This is the true God and eternal life.

At this point let us review some facts the apostle John has given us:

1.  God is righteous and there is no deceit in Him (1John 2:29) .

2.  Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, became flesh and did dwell among men (John 1:14; John 8:42; John 17:3 ).

3.  Jesus is God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind (John 14:6) 

4.  Jesus is the only way to salvation (John 14:6).

5.  Jesus was, and is eternal (John 1:1&2).

Ian Mackervoy writes: “We live in unity with God the Father. We live in God because we belong to his Son Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, is the true God. To know him is to have eternal life. That life is in him. Jesus said, ‘this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God. And that they may know Jesus Christ whom you have sent’ (John 17:3).”

21  Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

What is an Idol?  An idol is anything or any person who takes the rightful place of God in your life.

Idols were a big problem throughout Asia Minor.  These Idols were made by man and were made of wood, stone and semiprecious and precious materials.  These Idols were the pagan, Greek, and Roman gods. 

The Greeks were raised in a culture of worshiping these false gods.  The Jews through their exposer in Egypt also had a tendency to worship false gods.

John saw the dangers in slipping back into the old ways and habits.  The moment we cease to abide in Jesus, we will fall prey to the evils of this world.  We must therefore, continually search ourselves and ask the question; is there anything in my life or in my home that has taken the place of God.

CREDITS AND CITATIONS

[1] – All verses are copied from the New American Standard Bible

[2]- Greek translation are derived from Crosswire.org/study bible and Strong’s Ehaustive concordance

[4] – Wikipedia.org

[5] – commentary The Scofield bible and it’s commentaries.

[6] – Commentary Christian beliefs and behavior By:  Ian Mackervoy

[7] – Commentary Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown

[8]- Commentary by Adam Clarke

For other commentaries visit the online Preceptaustin

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1st JOHN CHAPTER FOUR - God is Love

INTRODUCTION

In the first six verses of this chapter John tells us not to blindly trust what others are telling us; to test what spirit is talking through them the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deceit.  In verses seven through twenty one John returns to stressing love.

Listen to EVS version of 1st John Chapter four

TEST THE SPIRIT

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Jesus warned His followers of many people who would come in His name (Matthew 24:5).  There are many spirits in this world, whose purpose is to deceive those who would follow Jesus.  These false teachers would claim their inspiration was from the Holy Spirit of God, and therefore, what they were saying was trust worthy. 

How are we to know who to listen to and who to run from?  In verse 1 above John tells the Ephesians and us to test what is told to us.  Reporters are trained to validate the source of the story before printing it.  Does the information come from a reliable source? John explains the test which should be applied to all that is told to us in the net two verses.

2  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Sounds like a simple test doesn’t it?  These false teachers are cunning and will appear as sheep but are actually sheep in wolfs clothing (Matthew 7:15).   They confess Jesus as Lord and they even agree He is the Son of God but not the Messiah.  This would have easily convinced the Jewish converts because they were waiting for a deliverer, who would save them from the oppressive rule of Rome. 

In today’s world the false teachers portray Jesus as just a prophet and nothing more.  Some go so far as to say Jesus was not raised from the dead, and therefore was not the Son of God, but just a mortal man.  These teachers are the antichrists, because they deny the deity of Jesus and the deliverer of men’s souls.

4  You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Ian Mackervoy  writes: “God lives in us by his Holy Spirit. God has given the Spirit to be in us. The devil lives in those of the world. So the spirit of the false Christ comes from the devil.”

John is giving those who remained faithful an ata-boy.  These faithful did not believe the false teachings and did not leave the church.  They remained steadfast in the true teaching of the apostles, and resisted the teachings of the false prophets. 

True believers will hear only the voice of the Shepherd, following after only Him, forsaking all others (John 10:4-5).

All who believe, and have accepted the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, have God inside them; who is more powerful than the spirits of Satan and the spirits of this world.

5  They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

Henry Alford  describes the nature of the world thusly: "unregenerate human nature, ruled over and possessed by Satan, the prince of this world"

Those who live in the world, but have been regenerated as a new creation, seek Jesus; listening and abiding only to His teachings.  Whereas those in the world who are unregenerate, seek the pleasures of this world, which is ruled by Satan the prince of the air.

6  We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

As an apostle (one who received a mission from God), John is saying that what he is telling them is the truth; because the Holy Spirit of God speaks through him.  Conversely, those who teach false doctrine, being of this world, speak the words of the spirit of Satan.

Adam Clarke writes: “Abideth in him - He who not only professes to have known Christ, but also that he has communion with him, and abides in his favor, should prove the truth of his profession by walking as Christ walked; living a life of devotion and obedience to God, and of benevolence and beneficence to his neighbor. Thus Christ walked; and he has left us an eample that we should follow his steps.

To be in Christ, 1 John 2:5, is to be converted to the Christian faith, and to have received the remission of sins. To abide in Christ, 1 John 2:6, is to continue in that state of salvation, growing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

GOD IS LOVE

7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

God is  the origin of love.  Those who abide in Him, and He in them, have love for their brethren.  It is this very God given love, that distinguishes Christians from those of the world.

Jesus said in Matthew 19:19 “Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” and in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

We will know God If we keep His commandments (I John 2:3 ).

8  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

This is the test.  If we love God we will know God because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  God is the source of love, and therefore He is love.  Conversely if we show no love for our fellow believers then we do not truly have God in us.

9  By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

The word manifested was translated from the Greek: “5319 phaneroo fan-er-o'-o from 5318; to render apparent (literally or figuratively):--appear, manifestly declare, (make) manifest (forth), shew (self). see GREEK for 5318”. [2]

God’s love is shown through us by our love for one another.

John wrote in John 3:16 “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have ever lasting life.”

   Jesus was God the Father’s  blood sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  God did what mortal man could not due; He gave His life that we may live.  Jesus was all God and all man. In John 15:13  Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The word Love and loved is translated from the Greek:  “25 agapao ag-ap-ah'-o perhaps from agan (much) (or compare 5689); to love (in a social or moral sense):--(be-)love(-ed). Compare 5368. see GREEK for 5689 see GREEK for 5368” [2]

The emphasis here is, God loved us first!  When Jesus took our place on Calvary, purchasing our lives at the cost of His own, He showed us the highest form of love (Romans 5:8).  Paul describes this sacrifice as being reconciled to God, that is, made pure, as Adam and Eve were before the fall (Romans 5:10).

The word propitiation a word we have seen before was translated from the Greek: “2434 hilasmos hil-as-mos' atonement, i.e. (concretely) an epiator:--propitiation.” [2] 

11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

John, using logic, asked this rhetorical question; if God loved us and we are God’s children should we, at the very least, love our brethren?

Adam Clarke writes: “If God so loved us - Without any reason or consideration on our part, and without any desert in us; we ought also, in like manner, to love one another, and not suspend our love to a fellow-creature, either on his moral worth or his love to us. We should love one another for God's sake; and then, no unkind carriage of a brother would induce us to withdraw our love from him; for if it have God for its motive and model, it will never fail.” [8]

12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

John is rebutting the false teachings of the antichrists in this verse; who claimed to have seen God.  Not only did these antichrists claimed to have seen God, they also claimed to have special knowledge of God.

13  By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

Once again John is stressing to his readers, to love one another.  The Holy Spirit is given to all who accept Jesus as their Christ.  Love is the first fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  Therefore the love we share comes from God through His Holy Spirit. 

Adam Clarke  writes etensively on this verse

14  We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

John writes of Jesus’ testimony of Himself and the father in (John 5:36 ).

John includes all the disciples who saw, and knew Jesus in the flesh. They knew the Father sent his Son.  Jesus was transfigured to John, James, and Peter (Matthew 17:1-3).  Luke records the following in Luke 22:70 “And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.”

Jesus said I have come into the world not to judge the world but to save it (John 3:17).

 15  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

John is stressing the importance of acknowledging the deity of Jesus.  He does this to further correct false teachers who were saying Jesus was just a man, and not the incarnation of God. 

Those who do confess with their lips, that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore is the promised Messiah; God’s Holy Spirit will abide in them, and they in Him.  This holds true today for us as well.

John stresses confessing Christ to separate them from the antichrists who taught Jesus was not the Christ.

Does this mean; if a person wants to accept Jesus as savior and Lord in their lives, they must verbally confess this to all in the church?

Anyone who will confess Christ abides in Jesus and He in them.  A true believer never hesitates in proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

16  We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Christians know the depth of God’s love for us, and we can depend on that love to be enduring, and never failing.  Gods very nature is love, and anyone who abides in Him and He in them will know this love.

Adam Clarke writes the following on God’s love:  “Christians can be sure that the love of God is real. They can depend on it. They know that God loves them. His love can never fail. God loves all people but not just in general. God loves each person and each one is precious to him.”

17  By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

I think Ian mackervoy summed it up very nicely when he wrote: “We love God and we Christians love each other. We live in God. God lives in us. This gives us confidence for that future day when God is the judge. Love is complete in us when we love God. This is the confidence that we have in him.

The apostle Paul uses the word boldly in lieu of confidence, both are applicable here.  God will perfect our love for one another; so that we may be more like Him, for He is perfect love.

We all will stand before the judgement of Christ saints and sinners.  Saints before the Bema and the sinners before the seat of judgement.

18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.  19 We love, because He first loved us.

Christians do not fear their death, for we know there will be no punishment for us.  We strive in our lives to be Christ like, that we may receive a “well done good and faithful servant” from our Lord (Matthew 25:21) .  

No-one fears the one they love if they know they are also loved.  As Christians we love God who perfected love in us. We know the love of God by His sacrifice for us.

Adam Clarke wrote extensively on this verse.  Click here to read his commentary.

20  If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Our love for God will be shown through the love we have for each other.  There is no room in the heart for hate where there is love.  If you feel hate for a brother or sister in Christ you had better do some soul searching, and praying for forgiveness.

There are many things in this world which can bring about hate, especially for one who lingers in this world.  Love is the only antidote for hate.

John appeals to their logic in this verse.

21  And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Ian Mackervoy writes:  “Verse 21

The first command is that we should love God. But to love God is to love our Christian brothers and sisters. We cannot separate the two loves. They are one. If we love God, we will obey him. And his command is that we love each other. [6]

CREDITS AND CITATIONS

[1] – All verses are copied from the New American Standard Bible

[2]- Greek translation are derived from Crosswire.org/study bible and Strong’s Ehaustive concordance

[4] – Wikipedia.org

[5] – commentary The Scofield bible and it’s commentaries.

[6] – Commentary Christian beliefs and behavior By:  Ian Mackervoy

[7] – Commentary Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown

[8]- Commentary by Adam Clarke

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