1 John | Chapter 5

1 John 5:1-5

“Characteristics of a Christian”

 

  • Introduction
  • 1-5 What is a Christian?

 

Introduction

The apostle John throughout this letter has established what he believed to be the most important truth in life the possibility of: Fellowship with God!!! John described this in an encounter that had happened to him as a young man some 70 years prior, but he says that he had enjoyed the lasting effects throughout his life! Even though he had lived in Judaism throughout his young life prior to his encounter with God; the religion that had been created by the leaders had obscured the truth of the revelation of God that the Word had revealed. But that encounter with Jesus that day by the Sea of Galilee changed his life forever. The Light of the world, the Word of God became visible and dwelt among those disciples for 3 ½ years! As we close this letter, it is very clear that John didn’t want people to miss the single most important thing for all humanity…fellowship with the Living God. John understood this not to be religious instead relational. To aide in this desire, John wrote of three self-tests that the professing believer could take to determine if they were indeed a true follower of Christ. Interestingly enough, these three tests didn’t test a person’s knowledge or intellect, instead they tested a person’s change of behavior, their transformation.

  1. Moral: Having encountered the Living God who by His very nature is Holy has our New Birth produced a change in what we practice morally? If there has been no change in our behavior, then we have not come into a true relationship with our Holy Father!
  2. Social: If we have come into a relationship with God who is loving, and such love has transformed us then this love will operate through us towards others in a love that is called out from us towards others not because of them but instead in spite of them.
  3. Relational: Finally, if we have encountered the Living God who is true; then how He has chosen to reveal Himself to us we will agree with, even if it went against what our religion taught us. This related to the person and work of the Messiah, the Son of God who at His incarnation humbled Himself to dying of a cross for our sin.

Vs. 1-5 What is a Christian?

At the close of this letter the Apostle John will again address those three tests only from a different angle this time by asking indirectly: What are the characteristics of a Christian? Look now at these five verses and note the three choruses John presents as they will provide the outline to the passage as well as John’s definition of the characteristics of a person Born of God.

  1. 1, 4 Born of God: Here we note that the first and primary characteristic of a Christian is NEW BIRTH. A Christian’s is not a person who becomes one by education, environment, or effort. John also informs his readers that a Christian is “Born that way” but not by natural means such as a person being born into the right lineage, a Christian home or nation. The only way a person becomes a Christian is by being BORN of GOD. It is supernatural! Just because it is supernatural, this doesn’t mean that the characteristics are invisible; instead, it is the opposite, because since we are Born of God this New Birth is by its very nature TRANSFORMATIONAL!
  2. 1-3 Loves Him/God: Here John brings up the truth that the person who has encountered the Living God will see a transformation in what they love and how they love.
    • What they love: They will awake after their New Birth with a new love and that will be for the things of God and no longer a thing of the former life and world. Oh, they may stumble in the former loves as a child learns to walk but they will no longer want to live in the loves of the flesh! Their appetites will change as they mature and come to realize how great God’s love for them truly is. This will produce a security that is greater than any other thing or any person they have ever loved. The Christian is never asked to first leave that which they have loved, instead they discover that the things they have loved kept them from enjoying Him who has loved us in spite of us and the security this alone brings.
    • How they love: It will also transform the way we love as we are changed by God’s love that has so loved us in spite of us and not because of us, so we will begin to love one another the same way. We won’t love one another in a selfish way that only precipitates love because of how they make us feel. Instead, we will start loving the way God loves us! This love will grow because His love is perfected in us, and we will love in spite of who they are and because of Who God is.
  3. 4-5 Over comes the world: The final characteristic the apostle John points out is a simple observation that the Christian lives victoriously. The Christian is not immune to the difficulties and adversities of life if anything they are made more difficult by their New Birth. It isn’t the avoidance nor the outcome that causes the Christian to live a victorious life. The Christian isn’t living in the prison of looking for better situations and circumstances to produce happiness. Instead, the victorious Christian has come to realize that it isn’t the situations and circumstances that produce joy, it is instead joy that changes us in the midst of adverse situations and circumstances. The victorious life comes about due to three:
  4. The victory comes NOT from avoidance nor is it limited to our expectations of things working according to our plan and timing. The victorious Christian has a victory that cannot be defeated by those limitations and instead has the understanding that NOTHING will ever be successful in separating us from the only PERSON we MUST have, our Lord whom we are told will never leave us nor forsake us!
  5. The victory also comes by the truth that even during adverse situations and circumstances there is a work in them that is perfecting us. These trials are not Random Attacks instead they are Planned Actsthat are designed for our maturity and growth. Victory does not ask us to enjoy the planned processbut to instead rejoice in the beauty it will produce! (James 1:2-4)
  6. The victory also comes by the truth that the three things that hinder us: The devil, the world system, and our fleshly old nature, will be defeated once for all! The victorious Christian has the hope that awaits us that all we face now that hinder us but in the blink of the eyes and that we will enter a new and glorious sphere where none of those three things shall ever keep us down again and will enjoy for eternity an existence that escapes earthly descriptions.

 

1 John 5:1-5

“The Bible is a love letter”

 

  • Introduction
  • 1 Born of God to love like God
  • 2-3 God’s love lightens the load
  • 4-5 Victory over the world

 

 Introduction

We shall take a bit of a more detailed look at these first 5 verses of the 5th chapter of 1st John. The apostle John had at this point in life looked back at what he believed to be the most important truth in life the possibility of: Fellowship with God! It is clear that John didn’t want people to miss out on fellowship with the Living God. So, the Holy Spirit led John to write of three tests that the professing believer could take to determine if they were indeed in fellowship with God. These three tests didn’t test a person’s knowledge or intellect instead they tested a person’s change in their behavior, their transformation.

  1. Moral: If there has been no change in our behavior then we have not truly come into a relationship with our Holy Father!
  2. Social: If we have come into a relationship with God who is loving, then we will operate in this love that is called out from us towards others not because of them but instead in spite of them.
  3. Relational: If we have come in contact with the Living God who is true; then we will agree with the way in which He has chosen to reveal Himself to us.

The Apostle John in this chapter addressed the question of: What are the characteristics of a person who has fellowship with God, or if you will, what is a Christian? These are discovered in the text under three chorus of words or phrases that John presents.

  1. 1, 4 Born of God: Here we note that the first and primary characteristic of a Christian is NEW BIRTH. A Christian is not a person who becomes one by education, environment, or effort. The only way a person becomes a Christian is by being BORN of GOD. It is supernatural! But this supernatural New Birth doesn’t make these characteristics invisible; instead, they are very visible as they show up in our TRANSFORMATION!
  2. 1-3 Loves Him/God: Second, John brought out the truth that the person who has fellowship with God will be visible in both “What they love and how they love”.
    • What they love: They will awake after New Birth with a new love and that will be for the things of God and no longer a thing of the former life and world.
    • How they love: But not just what they love will be visible but HOW THEY LOVE! They won’t love one another in a selfish way based upon how the person makes us feel. They will love the way God loves us!
  1. 4-5 Over comes the world: The final characteristic the apostle John points out is a simple observation that the Christian lives victoriously. Though the Christian is not immune to the difficulties and adversities of life, they nonetheless live a joy filled life. This isn’t accomplished by avoidance nor an outcome that we deem favorable. The victorious life comes about due to three truths:
  2. The Victorious Christian has a victory that cannot be defeated by those limitations and instead has the understanding that NOTHING will ever be successful in separating us from the only PERSON we MUST have, our Lord whom we are told will never leave us nor forsake us!
  3. The victory also comes by the truth that these trials are not “Random Attacks” instead they are “Planned Acts” to which we CAN rejoice in the beauty they will produce! (See James 1:2-4)
  4. Lastly, the truth that the three things that hinder us: The devil, the world system, and our fleshly old nature, will be defeated once for all because He has overcome them.

 

Vs. 1 Born of God to love like God

Vs. 1. The Gnostics denied the identity of Jesus as the Messiah by denying His incarnation. John writes that to do so is to deny the ONLY person that can give a person fellowship God. What John was writing about wasn’t mere intellectual assent to the fact of the incarnation but a heart dependance upon this truth. A person may know that they need air to breath, but what John describes here is the person who is dependent upon consistently taking a breath which demonstrate that they believe with all their heart the truth as to the identity of their Messiah. It is this heart dependancethat has resulted in being “Born of God”. Furthermore, it is only the person who has been born of God that has the divine opportunity to love their brothers and sisters with the same kind of love that God has loved them with. We have a Common Father who sustains us by His continual love that enables us to love others with this love. It is possible that the Christian may try to escape this opportunity by posing a question, “What does a Christian look like that I am supposed to love?” It is a sad reality that much evangelism is never attempted because the believer fails to love the people enslaved to sin. But it is equally true that Christians often fail to love even those who share the same fellowship with God. So, John gives them the answer to the excuse posed by that hypothetical question. Love with God’s love those that have been born of God because the heart dependance on the person of Jesus, God the Son! The Baptist, the Pentecostal, the Calvinist and the Arminianist, none of these divisions should ever keep the follower of Christ from operating in God’s love towards those who are Born of God even though we differ of theological equations. It would do all those Born of God to read the Bible NOT as a TEXTBOOK but instead as a LOVE LETTER!

Vs. 2-3 God’s love lightens the load

Vs. 2-3 The words “by this” are in the Greek “IN THIS” and John’s use of the word IN tells the reader that what he wrote about was not a mere sentiment but the VERY REASON why we can now love as the Children of God. Our loving God’s children with God’s love comes from our FIRST loving God seen in our obedience to His Word. When we allow God’s Word to penetrate the hardest substance known to humanity, our own heart, then we place ourselves in the right position to loving God’s children with God’s love! Loving with God’s Love is NEVER divorced from loving God and obeying His word in our own lives. The love of God is not some mushy emotional sentiment. It is Truth demonstrated in actions, and those commandments John declares are NOT burdensome, and the word used here in the Greek is grievous or heavy. The reason for this is that God’s love for us makes the lifting light and a delight instead of a burden. Jesus never laid upon a person to carry a commandment without first equipping them and enabling them to carry it. To carry the commandment is another demonstration of God’s love through us. The opposite is also true according to the apostle John in that: “If the Christian disobeys the God’s Word, they will soon lose the security that such a life produces, and this will cause a loss of confidence towards God Himself.” This will lead to a dishonesty and bitterness towards God and His people! In the end all that will be left from this disobedience will be only the burden of religion by which this poor person has been reduced to trying to please God in their own power. What we learn is these two truths:

  • God’s love lightens the load whereas disobedience to God’s Word adds weight that we cannot move!
  • God’s perfecting love produces a joy filled obedience!

John reminds his readers that fellowship with God is one that practical and relational and not a loveless intellectualismthat was characteristic of the law.

 

Vs. 4-5 Victory over the world

Vs. 4-5 The reason that God’s commands are not heavy is due to the reality that they came after our new birth instead of a prerequisite to new birth. God changed us before we were given the blessed opportunity to live out what we have been transformed to do. It is this very new birth that causes us to be victorious in our new life in Christ. The context of the use of the word here is that of God’s maturing love and John’s point is that God’s maturing love overcomes all obstacles. The reason for this is that with just our flesh we find it natural to disobey God’s commands but because we are born of God and given His nature it is now natural for us to obey His word by His spirit! Thus, our victory comes about by our faith and trust in His nature and His spirit within us. Our faith must be in who Jesus IS and that is God the Son, not what the false teachers wanted to make Him. There is NO power in the name of Jesus if He is merely a good teacher, prophet, created being or any other person other than God the Son! If not then our faith would be misplaced in a big case of mistaken identity. When we trust in THE person and THE work of the Son of God, our trust is rewarded. Someone could recommend a mechanic for my car that doesn’t run by saying, “You need to go so Fred, he is the best mechanic ever and He can fix your car and get you going.” That may very well be true but what if you towed your car to where you thought was Fred’s shop only it wasn’t the right place, but it the owner shared the same name. You would have to identify specifically who Fred was to ensure that he could make new what wasn’t running! Faith IS NOT Believing in spite of EVIDENCE; it is instead OBEYING in spite of CONSEQUENCES. Our foe is the world that would include anything and anyone apart from God. With a transformed life comes a far easier lift of the commandments of God when compared to the bondage of the world! Our victory is guaranteed because of new birth through our continued trust in the same Son of God that saved us, being more than able to sanctify us as we travel towards Him being more than able to transform us.

 

 

1 John 5:6-10

“THE FACT of faith, Part 1”

 

  • Introduction
  • 6 The Spirt is truth

 

Introduction

As we are nearing the end of this letter John revisits the truths that were placed upon his heart by the Holy Spirit. The point of the letter was to convey the greatest event that can happen upon any individual in life…. that they can enter through New Birth a sphere by which they can enjoy “Fellowship with God”. Humanity was designed for this encounter but lost it at the fall. It is not reinstated by humanities quest through the means of education, environment, or effort. NO, a person becomes a Christian only by being BORN of GOD. This supernatural encounter is not invisible; instead, it is visible as they show up in our TRANSFORMATION! This is noticeable in a person who is enjoying fellowship with God’s love as well as how they love. Another characteristic that the apostle John pointed out was a simple observation that the Christian just lives victoriously. Though not immune to the difficulties and adversities of life they nonetheless live a joy filled life. Furthermore, this isn’t necessitated upon avoidance to adversity neither is it accomplished through favorable outcomes. Instead, the victorious life comes about due to three truths:

  1. The understanding that NOTHING will ever be successful in separating us from the only PERSON we MUST have, our Lord Jesus, whom we are told will never leave us nor forsake us!
  2. The victory also comes by the truth that these trials are not “Random Attacks” instead they are “Planned Acts” to which we CAN “rejoice in the beauty they will produce”! (See James 1:2-4)
  3. Lastly, the truth that the three things that hinder us: The devil, the world system, and our fleshly old nature, will be defeat once for all because He has overcome them.

The question that John addresses in the final verses of this letter is: “How can a person be confident in this conviction that they have fellowship with God?” Humanity has always strived after certainty. People are always looking for something or someone that will establish confidence that the course in life that they have chosen is the right one. Such a quest has produced numerous counterfeits like:

  • Astrology, (confidence in the stars)
  • Tarot Cards, (confidence in the cards)
  • Palm Readers, (confidence in our hands)
  • Fortune Tellers, (confidence in those who have died).

Unfortunately, these counterfeits to confidence have also found the same opportunity within the walls of the church in the form of personal prophecies these false prophets inevitably blame the person they offered their false assurances to when what they “named and claimed” that was to cause confidence, NOW only brings about calamity.

How wonderful it is that God understands our need for confident in our conviction and gives us His Divine certainty. His answer towards our FAITH is that our assurance is based upon a FACT! As we look out through the rest of the 5thchapter of 1st John, we will see that our confidence, or our faith is based upon a single fact! Furthermore, this fact will produce four assurances! In other words, our confidence in this FACT will cause four consequences in our life:

  • THE FACT: Vs. 6-10 Jesus is God the Son
  • The Consequences: Vs. 11-21
  1. 11-13 Confidence in this truth will change our destiny. Our assurance of Eternal life.
  2. 14-15 Confidence in this truth will change our communication. Assurance of answered prayer.
  3. 16-19 Confidence in this truth will change our direction. Assurance of continued transformation.
  4. 20-21 Confidence in this truth will change our confidence. Assurance of the completion of our race.

Those blessed assurances are all built upon the ONE FACT, the Divine Certainty that is wrapped up NOT in a principalbut in a Person, Jesus Christ who is in FACT the Son of God. It is this fact that will examine before we look at the assurances that our confidence in this fact produces.

 

Vs. 6 The Spirt is truth

Vs. 6 This verse starts with the words “This is He” and that should cause the reader to ask, who is He? And the answer to that is to be found in verse 5 where the Apostle John tied the victorious Christian life is dependent upon our faith being only in the Son of God! As I said, this is only as secure as the truth that it is dependent upon. The Christian’s confidence is NOT based upon a person’s opinion or testimony as John will point out in verse 9. People will believe what others tell them all the time. So what John offers the Christian is Someone far more reliable to establish our confidence as he reminds his readers of “Three Witnesses” that testified to the Deity of Jesus at his incarnation. This is why John will contrast this testimony to the testimony of the false teachers in verse 9. In this verse John uses words that were designed to counter the Cerinthian Gnostic heresy that was popular at this time. These false teachers taught that was “Jesus was only a person, only human, and not God the Son. Their teaching was that the divine elemen,t the CHRIST came upon a normal human at his baptism and this divine element left Jesus before his death upon the cross.” To counter this false teaching John presents THESE truths. There are three words used here that state the truth that we need to be aware of in this verse: “This is HE WHO CAME by water and blood—-JESUS CHRIST.” Most people would focus upon the statement “by water and blood” and miss what John says in the words “HE WHO CAME—-JESUS CHRIST”. The words HE WHO CAME identify Jesus as the same person who John calls the Son of God in verse 5 and says that This “Jesus, the Son of God CAME INTO TIME AND SPACE THAT WAY!” This is further strengthened by the use of the words “Jesus Christ” which as you know is not His first and last name and instead link together the person with His purpose and having said that Jesus came into His purpose already being God the Son and it was NOT bestowed upon Him at His baptism as these false teachers claimed.

Now we examine the words “by water and blood” as we now understand the context of this passage being to bring in the truth to the Cerinthian Gnostic heresy of the divine element the CHRIST came upon a normal human at his baptism and this divine element left Jesus before his death upon the cross makes the interpretation a bit more obvious as John goes right after their false claim by mentioning “WATER” which these false teachers claimed that the divine elementcame upon him at “baptism”. Thus the “BLOOD” refers to Jesus’ bloody death upon the cross, where the false teachers claimed the divine element left Jesus. What John points out in verse 9 was that there were many professing Christians who were quick to trust the testimony of false teachers with regards to the identity of Jesus while not believing the God’s own testimony! We only need to read the gospel accounts to find out what the truth: There are three times that God the Father gave His testimony of His Son’s identity, and they are at the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry at His baptism, then in the middle of His ministry at Jesus transfiguration and lastly on the cross. Next, we will examine in more detail the other two testimonies of God concerning His Son and why this fact produces confidence that will have great consequences in our lives!

 

 1 John 5:6-10

“THE FACT of faith, part 2”

 

  • Introduction
  • 6, 8 This is He
  • 17:1-6 Transfiguration
  • 3:13-17 Baptism

 

 

Introduction

As previously stated, the Apostle John finishes this letter with a summation of what he has been writing. His topic was that of Fellowship with God through New Birth. This condition wasn’t unknown to humanity as we were designed “to walk with God in the cool of the day” but instead was lost at the fall. It was not reinstated by humanities quest through the means of education, environment, or effort. NO, a person becomes a Christian only by being BORN of GOD.

The question that John addresses in the final verses of this letter is hypothetical: “How can a person be confident in this conviction that by trusting in Jesus they have fellowship with God?” What John addresses is the need of humanity to be “certain”. People are always looking for something or someone that will establish “confidence” that the course in life that they have chosen is the right one. God understands humanities need for confidence in our conviction and John reveals that He has given us His “Divine certainty”. John states that our FAITH is founded upon a FACT! The rest of the 5th chapter of 1st John we will see that THIS confidence…. or “our faith” based upon “a single fact produces “four assurances”! In other words, our “Confidence in this FACT will cause four consequences” in our life:

  • THE FACT: Vs. 6-10 Jesus is God the Son
  • The Consequences: Vs. 11-21
  1. 11-13 Confidence in this truth will change our destiny. Assurance of “Eternal life”.
  2. 14-15 Confidence in this truth will change our communication. Assurance of “Answered prayer”.
  3. 16-19 Confidence in this truth will change our direction. Assurance of “Continued transformation.”
  4. 20-21 Confidence in this truth will change our confidence. Assurance of the “Completion of our race.”

 

Vs. 6, 8 This is He

The 6th verse introduces the original readers to the TRUE identity of the only person that could restore our fellowship with God. John does this by starting with the words “This is He”. This causes the reader to go back to verse 5 where the Apostle John tied the victorious Christian life to dependence upon our trust in “Jesus being the Son of God!” What John offers the Christian is far more reliable in establishing our confidence as he reminds his readers in verse 8 that there are “Three that bear witness on earth: The Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” It is these threefold testimony to the Deity of Jesus that John offers is a contrast to the Cerinthian Gnostic heresy that taught that Jesus was “Only a person, only human and not God the Son. Their teaching was that the divine element the CHRIST came upon a normal human at his baptism and this divine element left Jesus before his death upon the cross.” So, John writes concerning Jesus that: “This is HE WHO CAME by water and blood—-JESUS CHRIST.” This “Jesus, the Son of God came into time and space that way!” God the Son was NOT bestowed upon Him at His baptism He had always been God the Son.

Notice the wording of this threefold witness of the Fact of our faith: In verse 6 John after mentioning Jesus coming “by water and blood” informs the reader that it is “The Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.” Then we note his words in verse 8 where we read, “For there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” The words “agree as one” in the Greek are “these converge upon this one truth that Jesus is God and that because of our faith in this fact we enjoy eternal life.” The threefold testimony of the Spirit, the water and the blood agree. The Spirit is truth and was given to bring to remembrance all that Jesus said and did according to John in his gospel 15:26, 16:14. The importance of this is that we weren’t present at the baptism and the cross, but The Holy Spirit was as He is still active upon the earth today as He was when Jesus was physically upon the earth! John uses the words “by water and blood” as the context of this passage is to bring the truth to the Cerinthian Gnostic heresy. What John points out in verse 9 was that there were many “professing Christians” who were quick to trust the testimony of false teachers with regards to the identity of Jesus while not believing God’s own testimony! We only need to read the gospel accounts to find out what the truth is: There are three times that God the Father gave His testimony of His Son’s identity, and they are at the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry at His baptism, then in the middle of His ministry at Jesus transfiguration and lastly on the cross.

 

 

Matt. 17:1-6 Transfiguration

For the purpose of the text, we will look at the one that isn’t referenced in this passage first:

  1. Transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-6 God the Father spoke up on behalf of His Son in verse 5 saying,“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” As you go back to this passage you are at once taken back by the simplicity BUT profound words Matthew writes with when he tells what transpired in verse 2 saying that Jesus, “was transfigured before them.” The word “transfigured” is the word metamorphosized in the Greek and is the same word that describes what happens to caterpillar inside a cocoon. This word describes a change on the outside that comes from the inside. What this means is extremely important as it relates to the text in 1st John and that is that Jesus’ glory was NOT reflective it was radiant. We are further told that His face shown like the sun. Again, Matthew is NOT describing something that was like a spotlight on Him; instead, Matthew proclaims that the light was NOT shining upon HIM it was coming from within HIM! In verse 3 we are told that Moses also appeared to the three and bible students will remember that Moses had prayed in Ex. 33:18 “Please, show me Your glory.” To which in the 20 verse God replies, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Well here Moses’ request is granted to these three. The miracle of the transfiguration was not this moment rather it was that He did not radiate this glory all the time. John spoke of this moment in his life in John 1:14 where he wrote, “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” It is interesting whom God brought along to witness to the three: Moses who represented the law and Elijah who represented the prophets. In other words, the sum of Old Testament revelation comes to meet Jesus as He was transfigured. That is the testimony given us in Heb. 1:1-3 where we are told that, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Moses is seen as a guy that dies and goes to glory.” I’m sure that Peter did not mean to say that all three of these guys were on the same level but that is what he said and because of this with have God the Father’s correction in verse 5 “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, Hear Him!” God the Father breaks through everything and reaffirms the truth of His Son. You cannot put anything or any anyone on the same plain as Jesus. Peter would some time later say that there is no other name under heaven whereby men might be Jesus is the final authority; He is the Alpha and Omega of revelation. It is not Jesus plus the law or works. It is not Jesus plus my experience. It is Jesus as seen in the word of God.

 

 

Matt. 3:13-17 Baptism

Baptism: Matt. 3:13-17 There are three specific events recorded by Matthew concerning the baptism of Jesus:

  • 13-15 The baptism
  • 16 The anointing
  • 17 The Voice from heaven.

The great question of Jesus baptism is the reason for it: This was something that even John the Baptist in verse 14 of Matt. 3 understood as we read, “John tried to prevent the baptism, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” John’s struggle was: Why did the sinless Jesus need to be baptized with the baptism of a repentance? To “repent” means a change of mind which results in a change of direction but Jesus was not going the wrong direction; mankind clearly was. So why was He baptized? The reason for these three events is that they reveal three truths and all of which identify Jesus as God the Son, the King of King’s, and the Lord of Lords:

A.) First, Baptism: Here Jesus as KING accepting responsibility for the subjects of the

kingdom! In so doing He would be identifying with the people, and their great needs. Jesus’

Baptism was His oath taking on the responsibility to care for His subjects!

B.) Second, Anointing: He was recognized as having the crown of Authority and power to

 accomplish and execute His office. This always took place after identifying with the people as

Jesus is being recognized as having the anointing or power necessary to accomplish what is

 needed for the good of the subjects of the kingdom.

C.) Third, Voice from heaven: Here we note the declaration from God the Father Himself

 that His Son is the ONLY One for the job. This would naturally follow the Baptism and

Anointing as it is the statement of truth and authority that the Chosen One is not only the

right and only One for the job, He is ready to go out on the mission to which he has been appointed to.

Jesus was the King, the Messiah, coming to begin His earthly reign, that makes His baptism His coronation! By Jesus going down into those waters where the people had acknowledged their sins and failures; He alone takes the responsibility for their failure and commits Himself to the cause of saving them! Verse 16 records the Anointing and it is interesting that the High Priest, upon the day of the king’s coronation would first ceremonially wash the King with water hence (baptized)! Then the king would be “anointed with oil” which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The greater question is how are we to understanding the “anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit”?

A.) First, Jesus and the Holy Spirit had a permanent relationship between them, for they had

been together for all of eternity.

B.) Second, according to Matt. 1:20 Jesus’ incarnation was a result of the Holy Spirit. Jesus as in no other person was Born of the Holy Spirit into time space and matter. Jesus was “conceived, begotten” physically of the Holy Spirit to enter His mission.

C.) Thirdly, according to Luke 2:40, 52 Jesus’s development, physically as well as spiritually had been under the control of the Holy Spirit. We read that, “the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

As Jesus came to the baptism, He was a Man of the Spirit of God more than any other man that had ever been. He was a man that lived totally dependent upon the Spirit of God, in complete fellowship with Him at all times. He lived under the Spirit’s power, and illumination. Therefore, without question this is a special anointing and a public one as He entered His public life. The Spirit of God never appears under the figure of dove anywhere else except here. The dove, like the lamb, are both types of animals used for the sacrifice. The book of Leviticus reveals the types of sacrifices that were used for sin-offerings. Upon reading of the dove descending upon Jesus the Jew’s would think of the sacrifice for sin, the lowest offering for those who could not afford anything else. This was an anointing NOT for preaching but for living in order that He might be sacrificed for our sin offering! NOT just for the wealthiest, but for those who could not afford anything else. Jesus was crowned with power to be our sacrifice!

 

The Voice from Heaven Vs.17:  It is important to see that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all manifested at the same time. The Holy Spirit descending, upon Jesus the Son, while the voice of the Father is heard. Now according to Deut. 6:4 the foundational teaching of Judaism we read, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”  The word “one” is a compound unity 1x1x1. Not three gods, but One God existing in three persons, as seen here. The moment the Jews would have heard this they would have thought of Psalm 2:7 where we read, “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” In this Psalm Gods King is asking for the nations for an inheritance. And at this moment this prophecy was fulfilled on the banks of the river with where the Father declares that Jesus, the Son of God is going to possess the nations as an inheritance. Jesus is the Fathers only choice therefore He is our only choice. At Jesus’ baptism the Father is setting Jesus out on the mission that for all eternity that He was called to, winning back those that trust in Him. At this baptism: Jesus assumes responsibility for sinning mankind; He is anointed or crowned with power to be that sacrifice, and the Father declares that He is the only right choice for that office.

 

 

1 John 5:6-10

“THE FACT of faith, part 3”

 

  • Introduction
  • At the cross

 

 

Introduction

The Apostle John finishes this letter with a summation of what he has been writing. His topic: Fellowship with God through New Birth. Such fellowship is not gained by education, environment, or effort. John teaches that a person can only come into fellowship with the Living God by New Birth or if you will by being BORN of GOD.  Having established this truth John then addresses the hypothetical question of: “How can a person be confident in this conviction that by trusting in Jesus they have fellowship with God?” What John addresses is the need of humanity to be certain. It seems as though John looked at this issue intently and discovered the reality that God understood humanities need for confidence in our conviction as John reveals that as such God has given us His “Divine certainty”. The 5thchapter of 1st John shows us that our faith is based upon a single fact that will bring forth four assurances that when trusted continually by the believer will cause four consequences in our life:

THE FACT: Vs. 6-10 Jesus is God the Son

 

The Consequences: Vs. 11-21

  1. 11-13 Confidence in this truth will change our destiny. Assurance of “Eternal life”.
  2. 14-15 Confidence in this truth will change our communication. Assurance of “Answered prayer”.
  3. 16-19 Confidence in this truth will change our direction. Assurance of “Continued transformation.”
  4. 20-21 Confidence in this truth will change our confidence. Assurance of the “Completion of our race.”

The 6th verse of chapter 5 introduces the TRUE identity of the only person that could restore our fellowship with God through New Birth. John does this by starting with the words “This is He” and this causes the reader to go back to verse 5 where the Apostle John tied the victorious Christian life to dependence upon our trust in “Jesus being the Son of God!” John offers the Christian confidence as he reminds his readers in verse 8 that there are “Three that bear witness on earth: The Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” It is this threefold testimony to the Deity of Jesus that John offers is a contrast to the Cerinthian Gnostic heresy that taught that Jess was “Only a person, only human and not God the Son. Their teaching was that the divine element the CHRIST came upon a normal human at his baptism and this divine element left Jesus before his death upon the cross.” John contrasts this heresy by writing concerning Jesus that: “This is HE WHO CAME by water and blood—-JESUS CHRIST.” This Jesus, the Son of God, came into time and space that way! God the Son was NOT bestowed upon Him at His baptism He had always been God the Son. In verse 8 we read, “For there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” The words agree as one in the Greek are these converge upon this one truth that Jesus is God and that because of our faith in this fact we enjoy eternal life. The Spirit is truth and was given to bring to remembrance all that Jesus said and did according to John in his gospel 15:26, 16:14. The importance of this is that we weren’t present at the baptism and the cross, but The Holy Spirit was as He is still active upon the earth today as He was when Jesus was physically upon the earth! John uses the words “by water and blood” as the context of this passage is to bring the truth to the Cerinthian Gnostic heresy. We only need to read the gospel accounts to find out what the truth is: There are three times that God the Father gave His testimony of His Son’s identity, and they are at the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry at His baptism, then in the middle of His ministry at Jesus transfiguration and lastly on the cross.

  1. Transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-6 God the Father spoke up on behalf of His Son in verse 5 saying,“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” As you go back to this passage you are at once taken back by the simplicity BUT profound words Matthew writes with when he tells what transpired in verse 2 saying that Jesus, “was transfigured before them.” The word “transfigured” is the word metamorphosized in the Greek and is the same word that describes what happens to caterpillar inside a cocoon. This word describes a change on the outside that comes from the inside. What this means is extremely important as it relates to the text in 1st John and that is that Jesus’ glory was NOT reflective it was radiant. We are further told that His face shown like the sun. Again, Matthew is NOT describing something that was like a spotlight on Him; instead, Matthew proclaims that the light was NOT shining upon HIM it was coming from within HIM! John had previously written of this in John 1:14 “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
  2. Baptism: Matt. 3:13-17 There are three specific events recorded by Matthew concerning the baptism of Jesus:
  • 13-15 The baptism
  • 16 The anointing
  • 17 The Voice from heaven.

The great question with regards to Jesus’ baptism is the reason for it: This was something that we notice in the words of John the Baptist in verse 14 of Matt. 3 as we read, “John tried to prevent the baptism, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” John’s struggle was: Why did the sinless Jesus need to be baptized with the baptism of a repentance? To “repent” means a change of mind which results in a change of direction but Jesus was not going the wrong direction; mankind clearly was. The reason for these three events is best understood in the context of the coronation of a King. The Gnostics claimed that Jesus wasn’t the King of Kings and that he only received a temporary anointing for a brief time. John reveals Jesus as ALWAYS being the King and that His Baptism isn’t as the Gnostics claimed an anointing of an ordinary man for a special work but the coronation of a King for what He had always been. So, as we examine Matthew’s words, we note the three aspects of this moment all of which identify Jesus as God the Son, the King of King’s, and the Lord of Lord’s:

A.) First, Baptism: Here Jesus as KING accepting responsibility for the subjects of the kingdom! In so doing He would be identifying with the people, and their great needs. Jesus’ Baptism was His oath taking on the responsibility to care for His subjects!

B.) Second, Anointing: He was recognized as having the crown of Authority and power to accomplish and execute His office. This always took place after identifying with the people as Jesus is being recognized as having the anointing or power necessary to accomplish what is needed for the good of the subjects of the kingdom.

C.) Third, Voice from heaven: Here we note the declaration from God the Father Himself that His Son is the ONLY One for the job. This would naturally follow the Baptism and Anointing as it is the statement of truth and authority that the Chosen One is not only the right and only One for the job, but He is also ready to go out on the mission to which he has been appointed too.

 At Jesus’ baptism we see the King coming to claim what was always His: Jesus assumes responsibility, for sinning mankind; He is anointed or crowned with power to be that sacrifice, and the Father declares that He is the only right choice for that office.

At the cross

The last of the three times that the Father testified publicly concerning the true identity of His Son is found in several locations: The statement of the Father in John 12:28 prior to the Cross, then the threefold Supernatural evidences found in Matthew 27:45-53. As the above examples these were in view due to the Gnostics false claims that Jesus lost his special anointing at the cross. John’s points out that the cross was not when Jesus “LOST” his temporary anointing but rather when the Father proclaimed the victory of what had been planned before time. The author of Hebrews interprets Isaiah 6:8 in light of this in Hebrews chapter 10:5-7 when he writes of a conversation of Jesus with the Father before time began saying, “When He (Jesus) came into the world. He (Jesus) said: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I (Jesus) said, Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me (Jesus)—To do Your will, O God.” To illustrate this, we will examine the text of John 12:28 which was the Father’s response to His Son, Jesus’, prayer of Glorifying the Father’s name when Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem on the final week of His earthly life at the “Triumphal entry”. We will then look at three Supernatural evidences in Matthew 27:45-53 that demonstrated Who Jesus had always been. And finally, we will see that this three Supernatural evidences were clear enough to illicit the proper response from even a Roman Centurion in Matthew 27:54.

  1. John 12:24-28: The incident in which Jesus delivered the parable of the “grain of wheat” occurred around two days before Jesus’ experience in the garden. This reveals, that Jesus clearly saw beyond the crisis of the cross to the Glory of obedience. Jesus used the image of a seed to illustrate the great spiritual truth that there can be no glory without suffering, no fruitful life without death, no victory without surrender. Notice that Jesus didn’t say “What shall I do?” but “What shall I say?” He knew what His purpose was, and it was that which guided Him not anything else. In Jesus words He is honest, “now My soul is troubled” as Jesus pondered the reality of the cross, He realized its implications that becoming man’s sin offering brought a momentary separation from loving fellowship with the Father as sin separates from fellowship with God. Jesus clearly had a choice, “what shall I say? Father save Me from this hour?” “Shall I put My desire above My calling and obedience?” Then instantly comes His own reply, “But for this purpose I came to this hour.” Jesus describes this purpose in His conversation with the Father as He says, “Father, glorify Your name.” What follows is the third time the voice of the Father thundered from heaven. Those around Jesus just heard thunder but Jesus heard the words and so Jesus must have conveyed the Fathers words to them. What Jesus does is proclaim that the outcome was not in doubt the moment the decision to go to the cross was made, sin and satan were going to be defeated. This isn’t as the false teaching of the Gnostics said was a time that the anointing departed Jesus but the time that victory was WON! This is demonstrated by threefold Supernatural evidence found in Matthew 27:45-53.
  2. Matthew 27:45 Darkness: It is interesting to note that throughout the whole time of the trial and crucifixion, God the Father is silent. At Jesus’ baptism He spoke “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” Then at the Mount of transfiguration God the Father again spoke and said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased, hear Him.” Yet at this time though there was supernatural evidence it was framed in the silence of darkness that fell upon the land. Jesus was put on the cross around 9: AM and at about noon darkness covered the land that lasted for three hours. You can search history in different cultures and find that they all speak of a time when the sky went dark. The Roman historian Tertullian speaks of this darkness at the time of Jesus’ death which is recorded in the Roman archives. What is interesting is that we know that it was a full moon because it was Passover season which always was held during a full moon. This means that this could not have been an eclipse as you cannot have an eclipse during a full moon because the moon is on the opposite side of the sun!
  3. Matthew 27:51a Temple Veil: Before we look at the spiritual implication of the veil being torn in two from top to bottom, we need to look at the veil and its purpose. The veil separated the Holy Place which was made up of tables of show bread and the alter of incense from the Holy of Holies which is where the Ark of the Covenant was at. The veil was massive, 60 feet tall, 30 feet wide, and 10 inches thick. It was made of 72 braids, each braid had 24 cords. It was so heavy that it took 300 priests to put it up or move it. Originally behind the veil is where the visible presence of the Lord was seen in the Shkinah glory. This was between the wings of the cherubim over the mercy seat on the Arch of the Covenant. No light was in the Holy of Holies, and no one ever entered the Holy of Holies accept the high priest once a year, on the Day of Atonement. On that day the high priest would go through the veil into the small room called the Holy of Holies and he would sprinkle blood about the mercy seat and intercede on behalf of the nation and its sin. The veil of the temple excluded everyone from God except the High Priest once a year. According to Lev. 17:11 “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Heb. 9:22 says, “without shedding of blood thereis no remission.” If there is no remission of our sin, then there can be no fellowship between God and us. All the other high priests offered the blood of animals every year for the sins of the people, but Jesus the Great High Priest had just offered Himself as the sacrifice! And what He did He did once for all! (Heb. 7:27) That is why the veil was torn, it was torn from top to bottom. It was God the Father who created the access to Himself by the sacrifice of His own Son. Jesus’ death wasn’t when the anointing left Jesus; it was instead, when Jesus opened the DOOR to the Father! God is open, not just once a year, at a certain place, by only certain people. You can come anytime, anyplace, any person as long as you come in Jesus’ atonement!!!
  4. Matthew 27:51b-53 Earthquake: In these verses we see the third of the three Supernatural evidences. These three things happened in succession.
  5. The earth quaked, and the rocks split: Earthquakes were not uncommon events, instead it’s the timing of it in light of the words of Jesus a week earlier that make it a sign. In Luke 19:40 as the crowds worshipped Jesus when He entered Jerusalem the religious leaders rebuked Jesus commanding Him to tell them to stop to which Jesus replied, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” The rocks were quaking and splitting out a worship song that was declaring that the curse had been lifted!
  6. 52 Second, because of the earthquake the stones that covered the tombs they now opened. The word “raised” in this verse would better be rendered “appeared”. What happened is that the bodies of the some of the believers were made visible! This sign is better understood when we consider 1 Cor. 15:55-58 you read, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God was showing that death could not hold the saints in the grave.
  7. 53 Lastly, it says that these same believers came out of the graves after Jesus’ resurrection and went into Jerusalem appearing to many. The word “appear” means to “to exhibit (in person) or disclose (by words), declare (plainly), to inform.” Paul tells us in Eph 4:8-9 that when Jesus “ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:19 that Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison,” These Old Testament saints that had been waiting for the Messiah is who Jesus, went to share the liberty of his sacrifice that they had looked forward to, thus they were out there sharing that only through Jesus could you be made perfect!

It is clear in part that according to Matthew 27:54 the Centurion who witnessed the threefold sign understood the Father’s testimony that “Truly this was the Son of God

 

 

1 John 5:11-13

“Faithful assurances part 1”

 

  • Introduction
  • 11-13 A change in destiny…Eternal life

 

 

Introduction

As noted, the Apostle John finishes this letter with a summation of what he has been writing. His topic: Fellowship with God through New Birth. The question John emphasizes has to do with how can a person truly know if they are SAVED? Is our salvation just an intellectual profession? Is it just a matter of having the right answers? Throughout this letter the Apostle teaches that our salvation isn’t about having the right information, instead it’s about having a right relationship with the RIGHT PERSON, Jesus who is God the Son.

This can NOT be seen in having just the right information, but instead by being personally TRANSFORMED which will be seen two ways:

  1. What a person loves: NOT the things of the world, but instead the same things that Jesus loves!”
  2. How a person loves: NOT because of the object of our affection, but instead in SPITE of it!”

The 5th chapter of 1st John has shown that our faith is based upon a single fact that Jesus is God the Son and that trusting in Him alone comes with four assurances that when trusted continually by the believer will cause four consequences in our life:

THE FACT: Vs. 6-10 Jesus is God the Son

The Consequences: Vs. 11-21

  1. 11-13 Confidence in this truth will give us: Assurance of Eternal life which will produce the consequence of a change in our destiny
  2. 14-15 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of Answered prayer which will produce a consequence of a change in our communication.
  3. 16-19 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of Continued transformation. Which will produce the consequence of a change in our direction.
  4. 20-21 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of the Completion of our race. Which will produce the consequence of a change in our confidence.

Let’s examine the first of these four assurances: The Assurance of Eternal life.

 

Vs. 11-13 A change in destiny…Eternal life

Vs. 11 The result of the believers trust in Jesus is not only their salvation, but their Eternal life John declares. There can be no assurance of Eternal Life apart from the acceptance of the Father’s testimony as to Whom our salvation was dependent upon, God the Son.

Life is in the Son which John will reemphasize in verses 12-13. The Apostle offers this assurance that has permanently changed our destiny and in so doing I notice that John emphasizes, Four truths about our Eternal Life. These Four Truths are based upon Four Words that John uses in these verses.

  1. Vs. 11 GIVEN: We read that, “God has given us eternal life”. There are 4 truths in this verse that are designed to qualify the Gift of eternal life.
  • The Giver: Eternal life is a gift that even before we are given the understanding of it, the reader can best understand it by knowing Who gave it. Some presents we receive do NOT need to be opened for us to be excited about the contents as the moment we read the name on the tag we already know that what’s inside will be amazing because we Know the Name of the Giver. As such it screams into our hearts Open this one NOW, before all the others!
  • The words Eternal Life are best understood in the context of the Giver who is God. The word Eternal doesn’t just convey the continuation of life. Instead, Eternal Life is qualified by the phrase “and this life is in His Son”. That phrase doesn’t just speak of the only way in which a person can receive this gift of eternal life, but it also qualifies the gift as the continuation without end of all that we enjoy now because of Jesus. God’s love, His Peace, His Joy, and a His Fellowship that will never be interrupted by our sin! Union without communion, quantity apart from quality is NO gift. A continuation of life without Christ is hell not heaven! Instead, we are granted the duration of the Divine Gift of communion with the Living God! And because of this life is in the fullest possible degree above anything that we can now imagine. We also must never forget that Eternal Life is a GIFT and not obtainable by, education, effort, or environment!
  • The Means: Notice that Eternal Life is not just a present, it is a present that is a Person, Jesus Christ! Look again at the phrase and this life is IN His Son. Observe that Eternal Life is not only FROM Christ but according to John it is also equally only IN CHRIST! Eternal life is only possible because it is FROM Christ and only be fully enjoyed IN Christ! A person may EXIST in the natural sense apart from a relationship with Jesus but only in a relationship with Jesus will a person manifest all that life in Christ has to offer!
  • The Destination: The last thing I notice is the two-letter word US. We have noticed that the label of the Gift was FROM God, but His handwriting was also used on the “to part” of the label as we read that it is TO US! And the US has already been determined are those who have trusted ONLY in Jesus as being the Son of God! God doesn’t scatter His gifts to those who do not wish to receive them! There is NO salvation apart from transformation and no eternal life for those who have made the decision that that they don’t want to spend eternity with the Only One who has given His life for that opportunity.

2. Vs. 12 HAS: The second thing John reveals about Eternal Life is that it has two amazing features that are both explained by this one word HAS:

  • “He who HAS the Son HAS life”: This first quality of Eternal life is found in the Present tense, and it describes that was gained in the past that we can enjoy in the present! This quality also confers the truth that our of enjoyment can START NOW and doesn’t have to wait until the future! Because of faith in the Person and work of Christ; Eternal Life is not a gift that we have to wait for until we can enjoy it. The moment we opened the gift when we trusted in Jesus, we started to enjoy eternal life and will continue to enjoy it forever and ever! Jesus is both the only means to OBTAIN as well as RETAIN our possession of eternal life!“
  • He who does not HAVE the Son of God does not HAVE life”: Though this is placed in the negative so as to reveal to unbeliever the seriousness of NOT having the Son of God, the opposite of this is true for those who HAVE the Son of God. The word HAVE is a word in the Greek that means to have and to hold which speaks of a certainty of not mere hopefulness. The person who doesn’t want Jesus will be given what they wish for all eternity as Jesus said in John 5:40 “You are not willing to come to Me, that you may have life.” But that negative certainty also possesses an equal positive certainty and that is equally as true and that is the believer in Jesus as the Son of God can know now that they will enjoy eternal life and not have to wait and see!

 

3. 13a BELIEVE: “These things I have written to you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God.” In John’s gospel in 20:31 John wrote that the purpose of recording the events were so that you may BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ. The gospel was written primarily to those who were not yet Christians in order to lead them to become Christians. It was written to assure the reader that Jesus is the Christ. But here in 1st John the difference is that John IS writing to Christians and the purpose he says is to lead them into full assurance regarding their salvation and its benefits. He writes this letter so that the reader can make sure that we are Children of God. The Gospel of John exhibits Jesus as the Son of God whereas the letter of 1st John commends Jesus as the Son of God. The phrase, “the name of the Son of God” speaks of the character and attributes of a person. For a person to HAVE eternal life the Object of their faith must be ONLY in Jesus possessing the character, nature, and attributes of the Godhead apart from this they don’t have eternal life as it is ONLY in the Son. What God GIVES we can only obtain by FAITH that God Himself has bestowed that we can believe. Faith is the key to receiving, possessing, and knowing! To not believe is to make God a liar but to believe will lead to a greater and growing in God’s abundant grace.

4. 13b KNOW: “that you may KNOW that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” The knowledge that is referred to here is not experiential knowledge instead it is absolute knowledge. Only those who believe have the possibility of this absolute knowledge of eternal life… Oh what blessed assurance of the blessings that God has granted us because our faith in the Son. All such failures in our life come from the lack of confidence in the unsearchable treasures that are already ours in Christ! We all have a continual need to know that we are and will always belong to God.

 

 

1 John 5:14-21

Faithful Assurances part 2

 

 

  • Introduction
  • 14-15 Change our communication … Answered prayer
  • 16-19 Change in our direction… Continued transformation
  • 20-21 Change in our confidence…Completion of our race

 

 

Introduction

The 5th chapter of 1st John has shown that our faith is based upon a single fact that Jesus is God the Son and that trusting in Him alone comes with four assurances that when trusted continually by the believer will cause four consequences in our life:

THE FACT: Vs. 6-10 Jesus is God the Son

The Consequences: Vs. 11-21

  • 11-13 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of Eternal life which will produce the consequence of a change in our destiny
  • 14-15 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of Answered prayer which will produce a consequence of a in change our communication.
  • 16-19 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of Continued transformation. Which will produce the consequence of a change in our direction.
  • 20-21 Confidence in this truth will give us an: Assurance of the Completion of our race. Which will produce the consequence of a change in our confidence.

When we last left off our study, we examined the first of these four assurances: The Assurance of Eternal life. There we took note that John emphasized, Four truths about our Eternal Life based upon Four Words that John uses in these verses.

  • vs. 11 GIVEN: We read that, “God has given US eternal life”: Eternal life is a gift that even before we are given the understanding of it, the reader can BEST understand it by knowing Who gave it. Eternal Life is qualified by the phrase “and this life is in His Son”. Furthermore, we see that Eternal Life is not just a Present it is a present that is a Person, Jesus Christ! The last thing I notice is the two-letter word US.
  • vs. 12 HAS: The second thing John reveals about Eternal Life is that it has two amazing features that are both explained by this one word HAS. This first quality of Eternal life is found in the Present tense, which describes the enjoyment can START NOW and doesn’t have to wait until the future! It is stated by John in the negative so that the believer in Jesus as the Son of God can know NOW that they will enjoy eternal life and not have to wait and see!
  • vs. 13a BELIEVE: John writes this letter so that the reader can make sure that we are Children of God. What God gives we can only obtain by faith that God Himself has bestowed that we can believe. Faith is the key to receiving, possessing, and knowing! To not believe is to make God a liar but to believe will lead to a greater and growing in God’s abundant grace.
  • vs. 13b KNOW: The knowledge that is referred to here is absolute knowledge. What blessed assurance of the blessings that God has granted us because our faith in the Son. All such failures in our life come from the lack of confidence in the unsearchable treasures that are already ours in Christ! We all have a continual need to know that we are and will always be long to God.

 

Vs. 14-15 Change our communication … Answered prayer

Vs. 14-15 We can now take up the second of the four assurances; that when trusted continually by the believer, will cause four consequences in our life. The first thing of note is the difference between the absolute knowledge in verse 13 and what it produces in the believer in verse 14 which is confidence. In the Greek the word in verse 14 confidence is free and fearless confidence. What makes this amazing is found when we consider both aspects of our communication: Ourselves and to Whom this free and fearless confidence in communication is with. It is then that the greatness of this gift is realized. We mortals struggle in our communication, it is what often leads to our disagreements as we lack the confidence to speak our heart for fear of being rejected. But dear saint, think of this great gift as we have been grantedconfidence “to speak our heart to the only one who fully knows our hearts!! The assurance is not first that God guarantees our request, but that our Heavenly Father HEARS us!!

The Greek word ask is to ask for something to be given. What is even more blessed is the phrase anything according to His will. This is not a condition but a PROMISE; that before we ask if we allow Him, He will FIRST transform our request from what we THINK we need to what ONLY GOD KNOWS WE NEED! Thus, guaranteeing the promise of verse 15 “That whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” That is the assurance in our communication that it if we allow Him to rein in our hearts, He will start with changing our heart bending it to His, which is always in our best interest and for His glory. Prayer no longer needs to be in uncertainty if we first allow God to transform our hearts as we can pray in confidence and assurance!

Prayer in the heart of this kind of saint is a mighty instrument not for getting my will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth. The Apostle John reveals here that Prayer (our communication with God) is NOT overcoming God’s reluctance and instead is laying hold of God’s willingness! Prayer is God’s ordained way of communication to give His children what they need. He ordains the means and guarantees the end. It is this communication that is the true thermometer of our relationship that keeps us in close contact with Him daily. It was writer Shakespeare that wrote, “We, ignorant of ourselves, beg often for our own harms, which God denies us for our good, thus we find profit in our not receiving what we ask in prayers.” When we learn to ask what God wants, we will always receive what He has!

Vs. 16-19 Change in our direction… Continued transformation

Vs. 16-19 This third assurance comes with a difficult passage that we will need to address first so we can enjoy the gift that the apostle brings to his readers. First, we will need to start our examination of this passage by ASKING the right questions as well as carefully noticing Johns words as it relates to the answers.

  • First question: What is the sin that leads to death?
  • Second question: Why is it ineffective to pray for a person who has committed a sin that leads to death.

What we know based upon this from John’s words:

  • vs. 16a Describes a Believers sin as John refers to this type of sin as his brother and furthermore describes it as visible as John says that we will see this. John says that praying for this kind of believers’ sin is effective as God will grant life for this person.
  • vs. 16b-17 Describes the ineffectiveness of prayer in the specific case when a person who has sin leading to death and it is differentiated by the phrase: “All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.” Sin, by its definition causes separation and is against all that is right. But John is clear here that in a specific condition it is irreversible by prayer. The question is what is this specific condition?
  • vs. 18 Seems to offer clarification that the person of verse 16 who is a believing brother born of God is NOT the person that is the specific case of verse 16b-17. Simply put the true believer cannot commit the sin that leads to death, but they can clearly commit sin that is unrighteousness that leads to separation from experiencing the benefits of our relationship with God.

The Apostle’s point in writing this was to cause the reader to make certain that they had truly experienced the transformative encounter with the Living God through God the Son. As noted, there were among the first century church those that denied the divinity of Christ and had no relationship with Jesus of the Bible, but instead one of their own imaginations. In Mark 3:28-29 we read Jesus words, “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is subject to eternal condemnation.” And it seems that this is what John is referring to here. This unpardonable sin is dying apart from receiving Christ. This is further brought out in the writer of Hebrews in 6:4-6 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” The specific person that the apostle John speaks of here that Jesus mentioned, and Hebrews further explained is the person who has experienced the revelation of the Holy Spirit with regards to the true identity of Jesus as not only being the Messiah but being the God the Son. This person’s problem is not ignorance of the revelation, but rather rejection of the revelation and willful disobedience and prayer cannot reverse this as they already have all they need for faith and if continued in this hardened heart condition will lead to eternal separation from the truth!

So, what is the assurance? It is that even if true believer sins, it need not be a permanent condition and is reversable by those of us praying for them. It is essentially what Paul wrote about in his letter to the Philippians in 1:6 where we read: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”. Satan, the world system, and our flesh cannot permanently disrupt the fellowship of the believer. God offers the believer an intersession from each of us if we notice a fellow believer astray from fellowship! Peter’s courage failed and His faith dimmed, but it didn’t fail as the Lord prayed for him. We are in the Lord’s keeping and Jesus said to the Father in John 18:9 that “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none”. We may wonder from time to time, but we will never be lost as He will always find us and be faithful to bring us back to Himself.

 

Vs. 20-21 Change in our confidence…Completion of our race

Vs. 20-21 The fourth and final assurance is not based upon mere intellectual agreement but proven transformative relational knowledge. The Christian life is not a theological theory but instead it is a personal growing intimate relationship with God through the finished work of Jesus. Here the assurance is not that we have a hold of Him who alone is eternal life which is the point above, but even greater is that our relationship is with HIM who will never let go of us. God promises He will never leave us or forsake us. As much as we long to be with Him, God is infinitely more desiring to be with us. He proved this while we were yet sinners by sending His only Son to make it possible. Every other pursuit is an empty idol that is lifeless and only in a relationship with God will we ever find what we have always longed for!