Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
1 John 5:20

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 20. We know that the Son of God is come — In the flesh, and has made his soul an offering for sin; and hath given us an understanding-a more eminent degree of light than we ever enjoyed before; for as he lay in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him unto us; and he hath besides given us a spiritual understanding, that we may know him who is true, even the TRUE GOD, and get eternal life from him through his Son, IN whom we are by faith, as the branches in the vine, deriving all our knowledge, light, life, love, and fruitfulness from him. And it is through this revelation of Jesus that we know the ever blessed and glorious Trinity; and the Trinity, Father, Word, and Holy Ghost, in the eternal, undivided unity of the ineffable Godhead.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Practical results of assurance (5:13-21)

When Christians know with assurance that God has accepted them and given them eternal life, they will have confidence to come to him with their requests. First, however, they must consider God’s will, and not make requests from the wrong motives. They can then be assured that God will hear and answer their prayers (13-15). John encourages them to pray for one another, but he points out that there may be some cases where a person, through his sin, sets in motion a course of events that no amount of prayer can reverse. Christians must train themselves to see the difference between those cases where they should pray and those cases where they should not (16-17).
Sin is not a characteristic of Christians, because Christ keeps them from coming under the power of Satan. Since they belong to God, their lives are different from those of worldly people in general (18-19). John repeats that Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died for sinners, is the true God and he gives believers eternal life. The substitutes invented by the false teachers are false gods and must be avoided (20-21).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

This is the third of the three great certainties with which John concluded his epistle; and it is rather an extensive certainty. Note: We know that the Son of God is come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He hath given us an understanding (of all things that pertain to life and godliness). We know Christ who is the true one. We are "in Christ," having believed in him and having been baptized into the "one body," Christ's spiritual body. This is the true God (an unqualified designation of Jesus Christ as God). As a result of Christ's redemptive work, we enjoy eternal life (presently, in the joys of Christian service, and ultimately, throughout all eternity).

The dispute among scholars as to whether the last sentence of this verse is an affirmation of Christ's deity or not may be resolved quite easily: (1) Grammatically, there can hardly be any doubt the "true God" is a reference to Christ. (2) Theologically, it is absolutely in keeping with all that John wrote, both here and in the Gospel, to read it as a reference to Christ; and that is exactly the meaning this writer has always understood as being in the verse. Due to the extensive New Testament teaching elsewhere affirming in the most unequivocal manner the deity of the Son of God, we are compelled to agree with Plummer who wrote that, "It is of not much moment whether this particular text contains the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ or not";A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 143. and, of course, this is surely true in a sense. However, the very prevalence of the doctrine so frequently in view throughout the rest of the New Testament should also enter into one's willingness to see it here. It is exactly what one should have expected from the apostle John. The very discerning scholar, J. W. Roberts, pointed out the use of "eternal life" in this whole paragraph. Indeed, throughout the epistle, the fact of Jesus himself being "eternal life" is reiterated. "Jesus is eternal life."J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 147. With that in mind, we may view the affirmation of Christ's deity here as "the climax of John's claim for the person and work of Jesus Christ in this epistle, just as Thomas' exclamation, My Lord and my God (John 20:28) is the climax of the Gospel."Ibid., p. 148.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And we know that the Son of God is come - We know this by the evidence that John had referred to in this Epistle, 1 John 1:1-4; 1 John 5:6-8.

And hath given us an understanding - Not an “understanding” considered as a faculty of the mind, for religion gives us no new faculties; but he has so instructed us that we do understand the great truths referred to. Compare the notes at Luke 24:45. All the correct knowledge which we have of God and his government, is to be traced directly or indirectly to the great Prophet whom God has sent into the world, John 1:4, John 1:18; John 8:12; John 9:5; Hebrews 1:1-3; Matthew 11:27.

That we may know him that is true - That is, the true God. See the notes at John 17:3.

And we are in him that is true - That is, we are united to him; we belong to him; we are his friends. This idea is often expressed in the Scriptures by being “in him.” It denotes a most intimate union, as if we were one with him - or were a part of him - as the branch is in the vine, John 15:4, John 15:6. The Greek construction is the same as that applied to “the wicked one,” 1 John 5:19, (ἐν τῷ ἀληθινᾧ en tō alēthinō.)

This is the true God - ^o There has been much difference of opinion in regard to this important passage; whether it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, the immediate antecedent, or to a more remote antecedent - referring to God, as such. The question is of importance in its bearing on the doctrine of the divinity of the Saviour; for if it refers to him, it furnishes an unequivocal declaration that he is divine. The question is, whether John “meant” that it should be referred to him? Without going into an extended examination of the passage, the following considerations seem to me to make it morally certain that by the phrase “this is the true God,” etc., he did refer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) The grammatical construction favors it. Christ is the immediate antecedent of the pronoun “this” - οὗτος houtos. This would be regarded as the obvious and certain construction so far as the grammar is concerned, unless there were something in the thing affirmed which led us to seek some more remote and less obvious antecedent. No doubt would have been ever entertained on this point, if it had not been for the reluctance to admit that the Lord Jesus is the true God. If the assertion had been that “this is the true Messiah;” or that “this is the Son of God;” or that “this is he who was born of the Virgin Mary,” there would have been no difficulty in the construction. I admit that his argument is not absolutely decisive; for cases do occur where a pronoun refers, not to the immediate antecedent, but to one more remote; but cases of that kind depend on the ground of necessity, and can be applied only when it would be a clear violation of the sense of the author to refer it to the immediate antecedent.

(2) This construction seems to be demanded by the adjunct which John has assigned to the phrase “the true God” - “eternal life.” This is an expression which John would be likely to apply to the Lord Jesus, considered as “life,” and the “source of life,” and not to God as such. “How familiar is this language with John, as applied to Christ! “In him (i. e. Christ) was life, and the life was the light of people - giving life to the world - the bread of life - my words are spirit and life - I am the way, and the truth, and the life. This life (Christ) was manifested, and we have “seen it,” and do testify to you, and declare the eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us,” 1 John 1:2.” - Prof. Stuart’s Letters to Dr. Channing, p. 83. There is no instance in the writings of John, in which the appellation life, and “eternal” life is bestowed upon the Father, to designate him as the author of spiritual and eternal life; and as this occurs so frequently in John’s writings as applied to Christ, the laws of exegesis require that both the phrase “the true God,” and “eternal life,” should be applied to him.

(3) If it refers to God as such, or to the word “true” - τὸν ἀληθινόν (Θεὸν) ton alēthinon (Theon) it would be mere tautology, or a mere truism. The rendering would then be, “That we may know the true God, and we are in the true God: this is the true God, and eternal life.” Can we believe that an inspired man would affirm gravely, and with so much solemnity, and as if it were a truth of so much magnitude, that the true God is the true God?

(4) This interpretation accords with what we are sure John would affirm respecting the Lord Jesus Christ. Can there be any doubt that he who said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;” that he who said, “all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made;” that he who recorded the declaration of the Saviour, “I and my Father are one,” and the declaration of Thomas, “my Lord and my God,” would apply to him the appellation “the true God!”

(5) If John did not mean to affirm this, he has made use of an expression which was liable to be misunderstood, and which, as facts have shown, would be misconstrued by the great portion of those who might read what he had written; and, moreover, an expression that would lead to the very sin against which he endeavors to guard in the next verse - the sin of substituting a creature in the place of God, and rendering to another the honor due to him. The language which he uses is just such as, according to its natural interpretation, would lead people to worship one as the true God who is not the true God, unless the Lord Jesus be divine. For these reasons, it seems to me that the fair interpretation of this passage demands that it should be understood as referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. If so, it is a direct assertion of his divinity, for there could be no higher proof of it than to affirm that he is the true God.

And eternal life - Having “life in himself,” John 5:26, and the source and fountain of life to the soul. No more frequent appellation, perhaps, is given to the Saviour by John, than that he is life, and the source of life. Compare John 1:4; John 5:26, John 5:40; John 10:10; John 6:33, John 6:35, John 6:48, John 6:51, John 6:53, John 6:63; John 11:25; John 14:6; Joh 20:31; 1 John 1:1-2; 1 John 5:12.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

20And we know that the Son of God is come As the children of God are assailed on every side, he, as we have said, encourages and exhorts them to persevere in resisting their enemies, and for this reason, because they fight under the banner of God, and certainly know that they are ruled by his Spirit; but he now reminds them where this knowledge is especially to be found.

He then says that God has been so made known to us, that now there is no reason for doubting. The Apostle does not without reason dwell on this point; for except our faith is really founded on God, we shall never stand firm in the contest. For this purpose the Apostle shews that we have obtained through Christ a sure knowledge of the true God, so that we may not fluctuate in uncertainty.

By true God he does not mean one who tells the truth, but him who is really God; and he so calls him to distinguishing him from all idols. Thus true is in opposition to what is fictitious; for it is ἀληθινὸς, and not ἀληθής A similar passage is in John

“This is eternal life, to know thee,
the only true God,
and him whom thou hast sent,
Jesus Christ.”
(John 17:3)

And he justly ascribes to Christ this office of illuminating our minds as to the knowledge of God. For, as he is the only true image of the invisible God, as he is the only interpreter of the Father, as he is the only guide of life, yea, as he is the life and light of the world and the truth, as soon as we depart from him, we necessarily become vain in our own devices.

And Christ is said to have given us an understanding, not only because he shews us in the gospel what sort of being is the true God, and also illuminates us by his Spirit; but because in Christ himself we have God manifested in the flesh, as Paul says, since in him dwells all the fullness of the Deity, and are hid all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom. (Colossians 2:9.) Thus it is that the face of God in a manner appears to us in Christ; not that there was no knowledge, or a doubtful knowledge of God, before the coming of Christ,, but that now he manifests himself more fully and more clearly. And this is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6, that

God, who formerly commanded light to shine out of darkness at the creation of the world, hath now shone in our hearts through the brightness of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Christ.

And it must be observed, that this gift is peculiar to the elect. Christ, indeed, kindles for all indiscriminately the torch of his gospel; but all have not the eyes of their minds opened to see it, but on the contrary Satan spreads the veil of blindness over many. Then the Apostle means the light which Christ kindles within in the hearts of his people, and which when once kindled, is never extinguished, though in some it may for a time be smothered.

We are in him that is true By these words he reminds us how efficacious is that knowledge which he mentions, even because by it we are united to Christ; and become one with God; for it has a living root, fixed in the heart, by which it comes that God lives in us and we in him. As he says, without a copulative, that: we are in him that is true, in his Son, he seems to express the manner of our union with God, as though he had said, that we are in God through Christ. ⁽⁹⁷⁾

This is the true God Though the Arians have attempted to elude this passage, and some agree with them at this day, yet we have here a remarkable testimony to the divinity of Christ. The Arians apply this passage to the Father, as though the Apostle should again repeat that he is the true God. But nothing could be more frigid than such a repetition. It has already twice testified that the true God is he who has been made known to us in Christ, why should he again add, This is the true God ? It applies, indeed, most suitably to Christ; for after having taught us that Christ is the guide by whose hand we are led to God, he now, by way of amplifying, affirms that Christ is that God, lest we should think that we are to seek further; and he confirms this view by what is added, and eternal life. It is doubtless the same that is spoken of, as being the true God and eternal life. I pass by this, that the relative οὗτος usually refers to the last person. I say, then, that Christ is properly called eternal life; and that this mode of speaking perpetually occurs in John, no one can deny.

The meaning is, that when we have Christ, we enjoy the true and eternal God, for nowhere else is he to be sought; and, secondly, that we become thus partakers of eternal life, because it is offered to us in Christ though hid in the Father. The origin of life is, indeed, the Father; but the fountain from which we are to draw it, is Christ.

(97) It is rendered by some, “through his Son Jesus Christ.” Our version, “even in his Son Jesus Christ,” seems not to be right, as it makes “him that is true,” to be the Son, while the reference is to God, as in the previous clause. The true meaning would be thus conveyed, “And we are in the true God, being in his Son Jesus Christ;” for to be in Christ, is to be in God. Three MSS., the Vulgate, and several of the Fathers, read thus, “and we are in his true Son Jesus Christ”. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chuck Smith

Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him ( 1 John 5:1 ).

So I say, "I love Jesus. He is the Messiah. Yes, I'm born again. Oh, and how I love Him." Well, if I love Him who has begotten me into this new life, then I will also love those who have been begotten--the family of God, my brothers and sisters in Jesus.

And by this we know [another proof of how we know what we know, by this we know] that we love the children of God, when we love God, and we keep his commandments ( 1 John 5:2 ).

Jesus said, "A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another even as I have loved you" ( John 13:34 ). Now, when John seeks to bring down the commandments of Jesus, Jesus gave us the Old Testament commandments in a concise form. "Love God supremely, love your neighbor as yourself, in this is all the law and the prophets." And it's all wrapped up right here, very concise. Now John also capsulizes, gives us the essence of the commandments of Jesus. He does that over there in chapter 3, and this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment ( John 3:23 ). This is the commandment, and he gives us a condensed, concise form. Just believe on Jesus and love each other. That's what it's all about. That's what Christianity is all about. That's the heart of Christianity. That's the essence of Christianity. That we believe on Jesus Christ and that we love one another. There it is, you've got the whole thing right there.

Now, hereby I know that I love God. I can say that I love God, but I might just be mouthing empty phrases. By this I know, when I love the children of God, I keep His commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous ( 1 John 5:3 ).

They're not that hard. Now tell me, what's . . . well, I take it back. Well, the first one is not so bad, believing on His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, the second is more difficult, loving each other as we love ourselves. That is more difficult, and that does take a work of God's Spirit within my heart. I can't just say, "Well, I'm gonna love him." You know, I've done that. I've tried to mesmerize myself, self-hypnosis. "Well, he's not such a bad guy. He's got some good traits, and I really shouldn't feel that way about him. He's loud and he's brash, and he says stupid things, but yet, he's not that bad. And I shouldn't really feel this animosity towards him. Although, I like him, I guess. He's not too bad. I can tolerate him." I try to talk myself into, you know . . . well, like we used to say when we were kids, "Well, I love you only enough to get to heaven." And you've got yourself all psyched into, "Hey, you know, he's not so bad." And then he shows up at a party. And as he comes in, loud mouthed, crude, says some stupid thing, and you think, "Oh, you jerk. Why didn't you just stay home?" And all of the mesmerizing out the window, all of these hours of building myself up for this next time that I meet him. You know, "He's not too bad. I sort of like him." And then, poof. All the effort of bringing my mind into a loving state is gone.

Yes, it's true; there are people with whom you are incompatible. They're too much like you. It's amazing how horrible our sins look when some one else is committing them. You know, if I'm committing them, they're not too bad. But if you start committing my sins, well, they are ugly and horrible. I can't stand you.

This kind of love takes a special work of God's Spirit within my heart. I can't do it. I can't manufacture agape love. I can't psyche myself into agape love. And that's why it's a proof to me that it is God. As God has given to me love for people that I could not stand in the natural. And to experience God's love working in my heart, and changing my heart and my attitude towards these people, I know it's God's love being perfected in me. And there many times that I've had to pray, "Now, Lord, I know that You require that I love them, but that's impossible for me. I can't do it. But, Lord, I want You to work in me and give me Your love for them. I know that I don't love them, but I know that You do. So give me Your love for them."

You know, in these kind of things I think that it is extremely important that we be totally frank and honest with God, because it's, you know, if anything else, you're only fooling yourself. You don't fool God. And so many times we are trying to snow God with our prayers, "Oh, God, thank You for this great love that You have given to me. Oh Lord, I love everybody. Now there's one fellow, Lord, and I'm having difficulty loving him with the intensity and degree that I should be loving him. So, Lord, increase that intensity of love in my heart." You're not being honest with God. God can't do anything for you. Now you need to be straightforward and honest with God. You say, "God, I hate him. I can't stand his looks or anything else. And so, God, if there is gonna be any love coming from me in his direction, You're gonna have to do it. But I'm willing, Lord, for You to do it. Please work within my heart. Take away the hatred and give me Your love." And if you're honest, then God can deal with it, and God will deal with it and work. As long as you try to snow God, you're not gonna get anywhere, because He knows the truth of your heart. And, you know, we try to paint a pretty nice picture of ourselves when we come before God, and all the while God knows the whole ugly truth.

"His commandments are not grievous."

For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith ( 1 John 5:4 ).

Now, we read in the book of Revelation that when Satan is cast out of heaven that, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony, loving not their lives unto death" ( Revelation 12:11 ). Here our victory is our faith in Jesus Christ. We overcome the world and the things of the world through our faith in Him. And how is that faith developed? By knowing Him. And how can I know Him? By studying the revelation of Himself, the Bible.

It is awfully hard to trust somebody you don't know. If a total stranger walks up to you on the street and asks to borrow fifty dollars, "I'll meet you here tomorrow and pay you back." If any of you are prone to give it to him, let me know. I'd be anxious to meet you. I need fifty dollars. No, but I mean, boy, anybody can... You'd say, "I don't know you. How can I trust you to be here to pay me back? I don't know you." Hard to believe or trust someone you don't know, because we know that there are a lot of shams and a lot of, you know, frauds and everything else. A lot of scams going on. But when you know someone, know them well, know that they have a tremendous reputation for honesty, uprightness, character, then you don't have any trouble trusting them.

Your problem in trusting God is that you just don't know Him. Your problem in trusting Jesus Christ is the lack of knowledge. That's why Jesus said, "Learn of Me. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me" ( Matthew 11:28-29 ). Why does He want you to learn of Him? Because there is where your faith is increased. The more you know Him, the easier it is to trust Him. And so we overcome by this faith.

And who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ( 1 John 5:5 )

My faith in Jesus Christ brings me victory over the world. Now,

This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth ( 1 John 5:6 ).

What does it mean, "He came by water and He came by blood, not by water only but water and blood"? There are two general opinions of the commentators. The first opinion is that it is referring to His baptism. He was baptized in water and then later baptized in blood. When John and James came to Him and said, "Lord, you know, we would like a favor. When You establish Your kingdom, let him sit on your right side and let me sit on Your left side." And Jesus said, "You don't know what you ask." He said, "Are you able to be baptized with the baptism wherein I'm going to be baptized?" "Oh yes, Lord, we are." Jesus said, "You don't know what you are saying." But He was referring to the cross as a baptism. So when he refers here, "He came not only by water, but by blood," it was a reference to His water baptism and then His crucifixion.

The other field of thought of the commentators is that it is a reference to the crucifixion itself, when the soldier pierced His side and there came forth blood and water. And it is a reference to that cleansing flow from Jesus by which our sins are cleansed, the poring forth of the water and the blood.

And so I leave the theologians to argue it. I say that you can take either opinion and you're not gonna be too far from wrong. Just exactly what John means by this I am not sure. But, "This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is truth." And so the Spirit bears witness of the truth to our hearts.

Now, verse 1 John 5:7 did not appear in any of the early manuscripts. It did not appear the manuscripts until about the tenth century. And so this verse probably was not original in John's writing, because of the fact that it doesn't exist in any early manuscripts that exist before the tenth century. So verse 1 John 5:7 probably should not be here in the scriptures. This is the only verse of which I would declare that in the New Testament. But evidence of it existing in the early manuscripts is non-existent. There is an early church father who quoted from an ancient manuscript, no doubt, in which he quoted this particular passage. Now, what manuscripts he had, we don't know. But there is only one church father that made reference to it, early church father, and so it is generally conceded that this does not belong as a part of the original text. But you should go from verse 1 John 5:6 to verse 1 John 5:8 .

The Spirit bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. Of what does the Spirit bear witness?

And there are three that bears witness in the earth, the spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three all agree ( 1 John 5:8 ).

So the Spirit bearing witness of Jesus Christ, and of that salvation that we have through Jesus. Either the baptism in water and the baptism of crucifixion, or the blood and the water that poured forth from His side, John said, "We bear record of it. We saw it. It is true, and we bear record of it that you might believe." In testifying in the nineteenth chapter of the spear, when the soldier pierced Him with the spear there came forth blood and water.

There is an interesting aspect to that from a physiological standpoint. The doctors say that the fact . . . you know, Jesus was dead when the soldier came, and they were gonna break His legs. But when they came to Jesus they found He was already dead. They were sort of surprised that He was already dead, but He had dismissed His Spirit. He said, "No man takes My life from Me." Who killed Jesus? Nobody. Jesus said, "No man takes My life from Me. I give My life. I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again."

Now Jesus had divine powers and He had the power to just dismiss His Spirit. Now, we don't. I can't say to my spirit, "Awe, you had it. You might as well leave." Jesus had the power of dismissing His Spirit, of laying down His life and of taking it up again. So while He was there on the cross, it says, "And He dismissed His Spirit." He said, "Okay, you can go now. It's finished. All right, you can go." And He dismissed His Spirit. So that when they came, they were surprised that He was already dead. So they didn't break His legs, in order that the scriptures might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of Him shall be broken," but instead, the soldier took his spear and pierced His side in order that the scriptures might be fulfilled, which said, "And they pierced Him."

Now, there came forth blood and water. From a scientific standpoint, the fact that when they pierced His heart, and of course, that's where he put the spear through His heart, the fact that blood and water came forth would indicate that His death, from a physical cause, was that of a ruptured heart, broken heart. His heart actually ruptured. When your heart ruptures, there is a sack around the heart that fills with a water-like substance. So when they pierced the heart, the blood and water coming forth indicated death by a ruptured heart, or by a broken heart, from a physiological standpoint. From a spiritual standpoint, He just dismissed His Spirit.

The Spirit bears witness that the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed cleanses us from all sin. Three that bear record, the record of God that there is forgiveness provided for you and for your sins from God through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for you.

Now, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. What is our whole jurisprudence system based upon? The witnesses of men. You have been charged with a crime, you are arrested for robbing the Security Pacific Bank. You plead innocent. You get a good attorney. The prosecuting attorney introduces the first witness, your name, your occupation. You're a teller at Security Pacific Bank. "On March the fifteenth, at two o'clock in the afternoon, what happened?" "Well, a man came up to my window and he handed me a paper bag and a note, and it said, 'I have a gun and I'm going to shoot you unless you fill the bag with money and hand it to me.'" "Do you see this man in the courtroom?" "Yes, he's sitting right over there." "Are you sure that's the man?" "Oh yes, I'm sure." "What makes you so sure?" "Well, I noticed this scar down the side of his face, and I'm sure it's him." He calls his next witness, "Where were you on the afternoon at two o'clock?" "Well, I happened to be standing in line in the bank and I noticed this man go up to the window and . . . " you know, they tell their story. "And do you see the man in the courtroom?" "Oh, yeah, he's sitting right over there." "Are you sure that's the man?" "Oh, yes, yes. I couldn't be mistaken. I'm sure it's him." And they get three or four people and they say, "Oh yes, I saw him. I saw him running out. I was standing at the door and he almost knocked me over as he went running by. And I turned to yell at him, but he was already gone and . . . but, oh man, I faced him and I saw a gun in his hand and all. Yeah, he's right over there." "Guilty."

The witness of men, we accept it. Our jurisprudence system is based upon the witness of man. You've got two or three people that give you an identical story and they put the finger on the same fellow, and you say, "Yeah, it's got to be the fellow." He's guilty. They've built up the case. They show all the evidence to show your guilt, and you are judged guilty because of the witness of men.

Now, if we will accept the witness men, then ought we not to accept the witness of God and of God's Spirit?

If we accept the witness of men, the witness of God is greater ( 1 John 5:9 ):

And it is interesting that there are men who will believe men but won't believe God. They'll accept the word of men who are often untrustworthy, "But he told such a convincing story, you know. I was sure his grandmother was dying. You know, he cried." And we believe the word of men. Well, if we believe the word of men, the witness of God is greater, we ought to believe God.

and this is the witness which he has testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God then has this witness in himself ( 1 John 5:9-10 ):

The Spirit bears witness, the Spirit within me, and so there is that internal witness within me testifying to the truth of Jesus Christ to my heart. That's why there are no doubts. I know because of the witness of the Spirit within my heart. There is that oetis of the Greek. This intuitive, internal knowledge that I have by the witness that is within me, the witness of God's Spirit.

Now,

he that believeth not God has made God a liar ( 1 John 5:10 );

If you don't believe the witness of God, you are, in essence, saying that God is lying. And that's a pretty horrible charge to make against God. But that's the charge you make when you refuse to believe God's witness to your heart, and that's what basically the sin against the Holy Spirit is. It's not believing the witness of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Your only hope of eternal life is in Jesus Christ, and if you don't believe that, that's unpardonable. God's made no other provision for your salvation apart from Jesus Christ. And so that's the sin against the Holy Spirit. You're calling Him a liar when He bears witness to you of your need for Jesus and surrendering your life to Him. So this is the record, you've called God a liar.

because you did not believe the record that God gave of his Son ( 1 John 5:10 ).

What is the record that God gave of His Son? What is the witness that God has made of His Son? Just this,

This is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. And he who has the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life ( 1 John 5:11-12 ).

That's God's witness to you. God has given to us eternal life, but the life is in His Son. You cannot have eternal life apart from the Son. And as we pointed out this morning, eternal life is much more than quantity or duration of time. It is a quality of life.

You know, I can think of nothing more horrible than living forever in this decrepit body that I have that is getting more decrepit year by year. Looking forward to 1985, to see what is going to go wrong. Though the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day. Thank God for His work of His Spirit within my heart, or else I'd really be discouraged. The inward man being renewed, you see. The outward man is wearing out, decaying, going to pieces, but the inward man is getting stronger every day. Now, as the body continues to deteriorate, if I should live to be a hundred and fifty, that would be horrible, because I'm sure by then I wouldn't be able to see at all. I wouldn't be able to get out of bed at all. I'd probably lose all my senses, wouldn't be able to taste chocolate anymore. And to go on forever in a body that isn't functioning.

You see, the Bible teaches that the real me isn't this body. The real me is spirit. The body is just the instrument through which my spirit can express itself. And when, through age, the body can no longer fulfill the purposes for which God designed it, when it can't really express me anymore, then God, in His love, is going to release my spirit from this body. I don't want to rot away in some old folk's home, senile and walking around just . . . . I want God to take me long before that. I don't want to rust out. That's why I keep going, I want to wear out. And if the Lord should take me some day suddenly by some means, an accident, heart attack or whatever, just rejoice with me. Because you can be sure I'll be rejoicing that I have been delivered from a body of weakness.

Hey, I don't mean that I'm decrepit yet, but I'm getting there. And I'm not trying to say that I'm on the verge of toppling, you know or whatever. I feel strong and healthy and great, and God is good. And I'm not speaking disparagingly of God's gift to me, this body. I thank God for the strength and all that He has given to me. I thank God for the energy that I have. I thank God for the strength that I have, and I rejoice in that. But I am also practical enough to realize that I don't have as much strength as I used to have. I don't have as much physical abilities that I used to have. I have more pains than I used to have. I can't see as well as I used to see. I can't hear as well as I used to hear. I mean, things are going and I can recognize that. But that age-abiding life that I have is not just a quantity of life, but it's a quality. It's a quality of life that is rich and full, it is a life that is marked by joy.

The kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but it's righteousness, peace, and joy, and that's the quality of life that we have in God's kingdom. It's a life of righteousness, a life of peace, and a life of joy. So this is the record that God has given to us, this age-abiding life, this life of joy, this life of righteousness, this life of peace. And this life is in the Son. So it immediately gives us the contrast.

You remember in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, an old man, sort of embittered, tried everything. He had gone the full ten yards. I mean, there wasn't anything he didn't try. In fact, he said, "All that my eyes or my heart desired I did not withhold anything from them" ( Ecclesiastes 2:10 ). "Hey, I did everything. I didn't hold back anything that my heart desired." So he had reached the epitome of wealth, the epitome of education, sciences, the whole thing. He had gone the full distance. Anything that could be done under the sun, he did. And what does he say, "Hey, emptiness, emptiness. Everything is empty and frustrating under the sun." Life under the sun he found to be intolerable. He had tried it all and it was all empty, life under the sun.

But life in the Son, a whole different story. That's an age-abiding, eternal life, a quality of life that is rich and full and glorious. Too bad Solomon didn't know the life in the Son. Maybe you're living a life under the sun, and it can be pretty miserable, pretty frustrating, pretty empty. You need to try life in the Son. "This is the record, God has given to us eternal life and this life is in the Son. And he who has the Son has life, but he who has not the Son of God hath not life." Jesus said this in John 3:36 . He said, "He that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life." But then He added, "but the wrath of God abides on him."

Now John said,

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God ( 1 John 5:13 );

Why did John write this epistle? Chapter 1, he wrote it that we might have fellowship with God and the fullness of joy that comes from that fellowship. "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" ( 1 John 1:3-4 ). Chapter 2, verse 1 John 5:1 , "These things write we unto you, that ye sin not." Now, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God." Why did he write?

that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you might believe on the name of the Son of God ( 1 John 5:13 ).

So the purpose of the epistle: to bring you assurance of that eternal life. This is the record God has given: that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in the Son, and I write these things to you that you might have this eternal life and that you might believe on the name of the Son of God.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him ( 1 John 5:14-15 ).

Notice though, the conditions there is that if we ask anything according to His will. You just can't ask God for anything and get it. James said, "You have not because you ask not, and then you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you might consume it on your own lust" ( James 4:2-3 ). Now we have this confidence in prayer, if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. You see, the purpose of prayer is not to get your will done, and that's a common mistake that people make about prayer. They think that it's some genie in a bottle that's going to pop out and grant you your three wishes. Not so. The purpose of prayer is to get God's will done. So I have this confidence in prayer, if I ask anything according to His will He hears me, and if He hears me, then I've received the petitions that I've desired of Him. If I ask not according to His will, then He's going to be good enough and gracious enough to not listen and not answer.

I am just as thankful for the unanswered prayers that I have as I am for the answered prayers. God knew so much better than I did. And had He answered all my prayers, we would all be in a mess. And so I have this confidence in prayer, that if I ask anything that is according to His will, because that's the purpose of prayer is to get God's will done. Always the thrust of prayer is God's will, to get it accomplished here upon the earth.

Now,

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death ( 1 John 5:16 ).

There are sins that are not unto death. There are sins that we commit. The word sins means "missing the mark." And a lot of people miss the mark. In fact, we have all missed the mark. We are told that in the first chapter. And if we say that we haven't missed the mark, then you are only deceiving yourself and the truth isn't in you. We've all missed the mark, and if you see a brother missing the mark, he is sinning, but it's not unto death. What is the deadly sin? The rejection of Jesus Christ, that's the sin unto death. When a man turns his back deliberately and willfully upon Jesus Christ, that's the sin unto death. And John said,

I don't say for you to pray for that ( 1 John 5:16 ).

You see, that's a line that God won't cross. God won't cross your free will. He has given you the power of choice and then He honors it. He won't cross your free will and He won't save you against your will. You don't have to worry. God's not going to force you to be saved; God's not going to force you to be with Him in heaven. If you don't want to be with God, then He doesn't want to make you miserable. "You don't have to be with Me." But you have chosen your own misery; God didn't make you miserable, you made yourself miserable.

So when a brother is sinning, we should pray for them. Now, quite often they cannot see their own error, Satan is very deceptive and he comes as a angel of light to deceive. He brings a strong delusion that man might believe a lie rather than the truth. And I could write his script, I've heard it enough times. "Well, my wife never understood me, and I never really did love her. I know I married her, but I never did love her. But this woman, she understands me. We have a communication. Ours is special, you know. And she's so spiritual, and we feel so close to God when we are with each other." I could write this stupid script. Satan's lies. And so you see a brother taken in a sin, a fault, a sin not unto death, pray for him, because Satan has blinded his eyes; he can't see what he is doing himself. He is deceived, pray for him. Pray that God will open his eyes and cause him to see the deception that Satan has pulled over his eyes. Pray that God will set him free from the blinding power of the enemy that has distorted his true sense of values. That God might give him life, and cause him to see and deliver him.

But if a person deliberately and willfully turns his back and rejects Jesus Christ, then pray also for him, but not, "God, save him." Because God won't save him against his will. Pray that God will bind Satan's power and work, and God will open his heart to the truth. You can't really say, "God, save him," because that's something God won't do against a person's will. So,

There is a sin unto death: I do not say that you should pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death ( 1 John 5:16-17 ).

A lot of things we do that are wrong, but they're not going to damn your soul eternally. And I disagree with that kind of preaching that gets on these little issues and hangs you over the pit and tells you that you are going to hell. And, "You'll wish you had listened to me when you are kicking coals in hell," and this kind of stuff. I don't believe in that. I believe in the grace of God, and I think that there is only one sin that can damn your soul, and that's the rejection of God's love in Jesus Christ. That's the sin unto death. And God is so gracious and merciful, and there is a sin that's not unto death.

We know that whosoever is born of God doesn't practice sin ( 1 John 5:18 );

Because I have a new nature.

Paul said, "How can we who are dead to sin live any longer therein?" That old nature is dead, so I cannot practice sin. I know that whosoever that is really born of God, born again, can't practice sin. Now, we may sin, but you know what? You're going to find out something very interesting. Once you're born again you can't get away with your sin. You may have been very good at getting away with sin in the past. You know, before you were born again, you may have cheated and gotten by with it, but once you are born again, God won't let you get by with it. He will nail you every time. That's because He loves you, and He knows it wouldn't be good for you to get by with it. So God will see that it is exposed. Hey, if you're getting by with it, better look out, could be you're not born again. You know, "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourges every son He receives" ( Hebrews 12:6 ). That means He doesn't let you get by with it. So "We know that whosoever is born of God does not practice sin,"

but he that is begotten of God ( 1 John 5:18 )

Who is it that was begotten of God? Jesus Christ. And so, you should correct the capitalization here: "He that is begotten of God," He should be capitalized.

He that is begotten of God keepeth him, and the wicked one toucheth him not ( 1 John 5:18 ).

I am kept by the power of Jesus Christ. He, Jesus, who is begotten of God, keeps me, and the wicked one touches me not.

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world is lying in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. And this is the true God, and eternal life ( 1 John 5:19-20 ).

So he now closes out with, "We know, we know, we know, we know that whoever is born of God does not practice sin. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in wickedness. We know that the Son of God has come and given us the understanding that we may know the truth."

The word know is the word ginosko, and that is, we know by experience the truth. We have experienced now that which is true. That we are in Him who is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

And then the final exhortation,

Little children, keep yourself from idols ( 1 John 5:21 ).

But what an important exhortation, because it is so easy for us to get hung up with idols. Oh, I don't believe that any of you have a little statue in your room with a candle in front of it and you sit and chant in front of it in the evening hours. We are too sophisticated for that. Your idol probably has one eye and is in your living room or family room. And you stare at it for hours on end. Sometimes bursting out in laughter, sometimes yelling and screaming, but very devoted to your idol. You give it more time than anything else, more time than your wife or anyone else, especially this time of the year. Your idol could be that car that you drive by and look at every day. You've gone up and sat in it, and one of these days it's going to be yours. And all you can think about is that car, and how great it's going to be to sit behind the wheel and drive that thing. It's yours. I don't know what your idol may be, but there are many idols. Anything that takes the place of God in the devotion of my life, anything that comes between God and me, anything that begins to occupy my mind and my heart and displace God in my life is an idol that I must keep myself from. I cannot allow anything to come between my relationship with God. It can be a person, it can be an object, "But little children, keep yourself from idols." Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Shall we pray.

Father, we thank You again for the opportunity of studying Your Word tonight, and just basking in the richness of Thy truth. Thank You, Lord, for the Holy Spirit and His anointing upon the Word and upon our hearts that we might hear and receive Thy truth. And now, Lord, help us to believe and trust in Thee more. Increase our faith, Lord. And Father, perfect in our lives Your love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

The last Sunday night of 1984, and you are doing the very best thing a person can do the last Sunday night of 1984, learning more about God. Glorious. May the Lord be with you and the Lord guide as you begin 1985. May His hand be upon your life and the anointing of the Spirit. And may you increase in your knowledge and your understanding of God's love and of God's grace, and may you walk in the Spirit. And may the evidence of the Spirit of God upon your life just flow forth in that love, love for God, and love for each other. May God give us one of the most beautiful loving years as we share His love with a needy world, than we have ever known before. May this be the greatest year yet in the work of God within our midst in making of us a witness to the world that God is love. In Jesus' name. "

Contending for the Faith

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

And we know that the Son of God is come: The third certainty is one that John has tried to demonstrate over and over, the incarnation of Christ. "Know" again speaks of absolute knowledge. John and his readers know with certainty that the only begotten Son of God "is come." Wuest says,

"Is come" is heko, "to have come, have arrived, be present." John does not use erchomai here, a verb which speaks only of the act of coming, but heko, which includes in the idea of coming, the fact of arrival and personal presence. It is, "the Son of God has come (in incarnation), has arrived and is here" (183-184).

Jesus came, and we are still enjoying the benefits of His presence.

and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true: "Understanding" has to do with "the faculty of understanding" (Vincent 374), "the faculty of knowing, understanding, or moral reflection" (Vine 69), or "insight, comprehension" (Moulton 94). Jesus "is come" and has given us an insight the world does not possess, an understanding that makes it possible for us to know God in an intimate relationship. (Compare 1 Corinthians 2:14.) "Know" here is ginosko, knowledge by experience. It is present tense and thus speaks of a growing knowledge of God. "True" is alethinos and speaks of that which is genuine. "Him that is true" is God. The God Who is real, true, and genuine is a far cry from the false and counterfeit gods of the false teachers. What a gracious gift our Lord has bestowed on us that we might get to know the real and genuine God in a very intimate relationship! (Read John 17:3.) Before Jesus came, the mind of man was ever turned upward in search of his Creator; but of himself and by himself, man could not know God in the fullest sense. Jesus came that we might really know God.

and we are in him that is true: Jesus made it possible for us to both know God in intimate fellowship and dwell in Him in constant communion. There is a constant refrain that runs throughout this epistle, pointing us to the fact that we are in God or that we dwell in Him (2:5; 3:24). This terminology repeatedly tells us of the great fellowship we enjoy with Him as we "walk in the light" or as we dwell in God. Jesus has given us understanding by which we can know by experience this tremendous communion with God.

even in his Son Jesus Christ: "Even" is supplied by the translators. Lenski suggests that it should be translated "And we are in the real One (God) in his Son Jesus Christ" (541). Berry agrees with this rendition in his literal translation. This translation also agrees with other passages. In order for us to be in God we must be in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19). The only way to God is through Christ (John 14:6). When one is baptized "into Christ" (Galatians 3:27), he enters into fellowship with the Father.

This is the true God, and eternal life: This declaration clearly refers to Jesus as the "true God, and eternal life." It is Jesus who is called "eternal life" in chapter one, verse 2, " (For the life was manifested, and we have see it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)." Once again, John validates the deity of Jesus by calling Him "the true God." (Jesus is called "God" in John 1:1.) He also certifies that He is the source of life, eternal life. It is fitting that John begin his epistle affirming that life comes through Jesus and then close his epistle with the same grand truth.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

VI. CHRISTIAN CERTAINTIES 5:18-21

John concluded this epistle by synthesizing the major thoughts he had presented to reinforce and review them for his readers. "We know" many things as a result of what Jesus taught and what John taught.

"The writer’s fundamental thought here is that if the readers perceive the truths he mentions, they will be fortified against the allurements of the idolatrous pagan practices around them." [Note: Hodges, The Epistles . . ., p. 241.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Finally, we have spiritual understanding through our anointing with the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20) whom Jesus Christ sent (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:15-16). Consequently we can come to know God intimately and can abide in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the true God and eternal life (cf. John 14:6). The full title "His Son Jesus Christ" appears only at 1 John 1:3 as well as here in this epistle providing bookends for what John wrote (another inclusio). This verse contains one of the clearest announcements of the deity of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

"Eternal life, for John, is a relationship with the Father and the Son. It begins in the present when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, but it continues uninterrupted into the age to come." [Note: Harris, p. 232.]

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 5

LOVE WITHIN THE DIVINE FAMILY ( 1 John 5:1-2 )

5:1-2 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has experienced the birth which comes from God; and everyone who loves the father loves the child. This is how we know that we must be loving the children of God, whenever we love God and keep his commandments.

As John wrote this passage, there were two things in the background of his mind.

(i) There was the great fact which was the basis of all his thinking, the fact that love of God and love of man are inseparable parts of the same experience. In answer to the questioning scribe Jesus had said that there were two great commandments. The first laid it down that we must love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength; and the second laid it down that we must love our neighbour as ourselves. Than these commandments there are none greater ( Mark 12:28-31). John had in mind this word of his Lord.

(ii) But he also had in mind a natural law of human life. Family love is a part of nature. The child naturally loves his parents; and he just as naturally loves his brothers and sisters. The second part of 1 John 5:1 literally runs: "Everyone who loves him who begat, loves him who was begotten of him." Put much more simply that is: "If we love a father, we also love his child." John is thinking of the love which naturally binds a man to the father who begat him and to the other children whom the father has begotten.

John transfers this to the realm of Christian thought and experience. The Christian undergoes the experience of being reborn; the father is God; and the Christian is bound to love God for all that he has done for his soul. But birth is always into a family; and the Christian is reborn into the family of God. As it was for Jesus, so it is for him--those who do the will of God, as he himself does, become his mother, his sisters and his brothers ( Mark 3:35). If, then, the Christian loves God the Father who begat him, he must also love the other children whom God has begotten. His love of God and his love of his Christian brothers and sisters must be parts of the same love, so closely interlocked that they can never be separated.

It has been put: "Man is not only born to love, he is also born to be loved." A. E. Brooke put it: "Everyone who has been born of God must love those who have been similarly ennobled."

Long before this the Psalmist had said that, "God gives the desolate a home to dwell in" ( Psalms 68:6). The Christian by virtue of his rebirth is set within the family of God and as he loves the Father, so must he also love the children who are of the same family as he is.

THE NECESSARY OBEDIENCE ( 1 John 5:3-4 a)

5:3-4a For this is the love of God, that we should keep his commandments; and his commandments are not heavy, because everything that is born of God conquers the world.

John reverts to an idea which is never far from the surface of his mind. Obedience is the only proof of love. We cannot prove our love to anyone other than by seeking to please him and bring him joy.

Then John quite suddenly says a most surprising thing. God's commandments, he says, are not heavy. We must note two general things here.

He certainly does not mean that obedience to God's commandments is easy to achieve. Christian love is no easy matter. It is never an easy thing to love people whom we do not like or people who hurt our feelings or injure us. It is never an easy thing to solve the problem of living together; and when it becomes the problem of living together on the Christian standard of life, it is a task of immense difficulty.

Further, there is in this saying an implied contrast. Jesus spoke of the Scribes and Pharisees as "binding heavy burdens and hard to bear, and laying them on men's shoulders" ( Matthew 23:4). The Scribal and Pharisaic mass of rules and regulations could be an intolerable burden on the shoulders of any man. There is no doubt that John is remembering that Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" ( Matthew 11:30).

How then is this to be explained? How can it be said that the tremendous demands of Jesus are not a heavy burden? There are three answers to that question.

(i) It is the way of God never to lay a commandment on any man without also giving him the strength to carry it out. With the vision comes the power; with the need for it comes the strength. God does not give us his commandments and then go away and leave us to ourselves. He is there by our side to enable us to carry out what he has commanded. What is impossible for us becomes possible with God.

(ii) But there is another great truth here. Our response to God must be the response of love; and for love no duty is too hard and no task too great. That which we would never do for a stranger we will willingly attempt for a loved one. What would be an impossible sacrifice, if a stranger demanded it, becomes a willing gift when love needs it.

There is an old story which is a kind of parable of this. Someone once met a lad going to school long before the days when transport was provided. The lad was carrying on his back a smaller boy who was clearly lame and unable to walk. The stranger said to the lad, "Do you carry him to school every day?" "Yes," said the boy. "That's a heavy burden for you to carry," said the stranger. "He's no' a burden," said the boy. "He's my brother."

Love turned the burden into no burden at all. It must be so with us and Christ. His commandments are not a burden but a privilege and an opportunity to show our love.

Difficult the commandments of Christ are, burdensome they are not; for Christ never laid a commandment on a man without giving him the strength to carry it; and every commandment laid upon us provides another chance to show our love.

We must leave the third answer to our next section.

THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD ( 1 John 5:4 b-5)

5:4b-5 And this is the conquest which has conquered the world, our faith. Who is he who conquers the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

(iii) We have seen that the commandments of Jesus Christ are not grievous because with the commandment there comes the power and because we accept them in love. But there is another great truth. There is something in the Christian which makes him able to conquer the world. The kosmos ( G2889) is the world apart from God and in opposition to him. That which enables us to conquer the kosmos ( G2889) is faith.

John defines this conquering faith as the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. It is belief in the Incarnation. Why should that be so victory-giving? If we believe in the incarnation, it means that we believe that in Jesus God entered the world and took our human life upon himself. If he did that, it means that he cared enough for men to take upon himself the limitations of humanity, which is the act of a love that passes human understanding. If God did that, it means that he shares in all the manifold activities of human life and knows the many and varied trials and temptations and sorrows of this world. It means that everything that happens to us is fully understood by God and that he is in this business of living along with us. Faith in the incarnation is the conviction that God shares and God cares. Once we possess that faith certain things follow.

(i) We have a defence to resist the infections of the world. On all sides there is the pressure of worldly standards and motives; on all sides the fascinations of the wrong things. From within and without come the temptations which are part of the human situation in a world and a society not interested in and sometimes hostile to God. But once we are aware of the presence of God in Jesus Christ ever with us, we have a strong prophylactic against the infections of the world. It is a fact of experience that goodness is easier in the company of good people; and if we believe in the incarnation, we have the continual presence of God in Jesus Christ.

(ii) We have a strength to endure the attacks of the world. The human situation is full of things which seek to take our faith away. There are the sorrows and the perplexities of life; there are the disappointments and the frustrations of life; there are for most of us the failures and discouragements of life. But if we believe in the incarnation, we believe in a God who himself went through all this, even to the Cross and who can, therefore, help others who are going through it.

(iii) We have the indestructible hope of final victory. The world did its worst to Jesus. It hounded him and slandered him. It branded him heretic and friend of sinners. It judged him and crucified him and buried him. It did everything humanly possible to eliminate him--and it jailed. After the Cross came the Resurrection; after the shame came the glory. That is the Jesus who is with us, one who saw life at its grimmest, to whom life did its worst, who died, who conquered death, and who offers us a share in that victory which was his. If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we have with us always Christ the Victor to make us victorious.

THE WATER AND THE BLOOD ( 1 John 5:6-8 )

5:6-8 This is he who came through water and blood--Jesus Christ. It was not only by water that he came, but by water and by blood. And it is the Spirit which testifies to this, because the Spirit is truth; because there are three who testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three agree in one.

Plummer, in beginning to comment on this passage says: "This is the most perplexing passage in the Epistle, and one of the most perplexing in the New Testament." No doubt, if we knew the circumstances in which John was writing and had full knowledge of the heresies against which he was defending his people, the meaning would become clear but, as it is, we can only guess. We do, however, know enough of the background to be fairly sure that we can come at the meaning of John's words.

It is clear that the words water and blood in connection with Jesus had for John a special mystical and symbolic meaning. In his story of the Cross there is a curious pair of verses:

One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once

there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne

witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the

truth--that you also may believe ( John 19:34-35).

Clearly John attaches particular importance to that incident and he guarantees it with a very special certificate of evidence. To him the words water and blood in connection with Jesus conveyed an essential part of the meaning of the gospel.

The first verse of the passage is obscurely expressed--"This is he who came through water and blood Jesus Christ." The meaning is that this is he who entered into his Messiahship or was shown to be the Christ through water and blood.

In connection with Jesus water and blood can refer only to two events of his life. The water must refer to his baptism; the blood to his Cross. John is saying that both the baptism and the Cross of Jesus are essential parts of his Messiahship. He goes on to say that it was not by water only that he came, but by water and by blood. It is, then, clear that some were saying that Jesus came by water, but not by blood; in other words that his baptism was an essential part of his Messiahship but his Cross was not. This is what gives us our clue to what lies behind this passage.

We have seen again and again that behind this letter lies the heresy of Gnosticism. And we have also seen that Gnosticism, believing that Spirit was altogether good and matter altogether evil, denied that God came in the flesh. So they had a belief of which Irenaeus tells us connected with the name of Cerinthus, one of their principal representatives and an exact contemporary of John. Cerinthus taught that at the baptism the divine Christ descended into the man Jesus in the form of a dove; Jesus, allied as it were with the Christ who had descended upon him, brought to men the message of the God who had hitherto been unknown and lived in perfect virtue; then the Christ departed from the man Jesus and returned to glory, and it was only the man Jesus who was crucified on Calvary and afterwards resurrected. We might put it more simply by saying that Cerinthus taught that Jesus became divine at the baptism, that divinity left him before the Cross and that he died simply a man.

It is clear that such teaching robs the life and death of Jesus of all value for us. By seeking to protect God from contact with human pain, it removes him from the act of redemption.

What John is saying is that the Cross is an essential part of the meaning of Jesus and that God was in the death of Jesus every bit as much as he was in his life.

THE TRIPLE WITNESS ( 1 John 5:6-8 continued)

John goes on to speak of the triple witness.

There is the witness of the Spirit. In this John is thinking of three things. (i) The New Testament story is clear that at his baptism the Spirit descended upon Jesus in the most special way ( Mark 1:9-11; Matthew 3:16-17; Luke 3:21-22; Acts 10:38; John 1:32-34). (ii) The New Testament is also clear that, while John came to baptize with water, Jesus came to baptize with the Spirit ( Mark 1:8; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 2:33). He came to bring men the Spirit with a plenitude and a power hitherto quite unknown. (iii) The history of the early church is the proof that this was no idle claim. It began at Pentecost ( Acts 2:4), and it repeated itself over and over again in the history and experience of the Church ( Acts 8:17; Acts 10:44). Jesus had the Spirit and he could give the Spirit to men; and the continuing evidence of the Spirit in the Church was--and is--an undeniable witness to the continuing power of Jesus Christ.

There is the witness of the water. At Jesus' own baptism there was the witness of the Spirit descending upon him. It was, in fact, that event which revealed to John the Baptist who Jesus was. It is John's point that in the early church that witness was maintained in Christian baptism. We must remember that thus early in the Church's history baptism was adult baptism, the confession of faith and the reception into the Church of men and women coming direct from heathenism and beginning an absolutely new way of life. In Christian baptism things happened. A man plunged below the water and died with Christ; he emerged and was resurrected with Christ to a new life. Therefore, Christian baptism was a witness to the continuing power of Jesus Christ. It was a witness that he was still alive and that he was indeed divine.

There was the witness of the blood. The blood was the life. In any sacrifice the blood was sacred to God and to God alone. The death of Christ was the perfect sacrifice; in the Cross his blood was poured out to God. It was the experience of men that that sacrifice was availing, that it did redeem them and reconcile them to God and give them peace with God. Continuously in the Church the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, was and is observed. In it the sacrifice of Christ is full displayed; and in it there is given to men the opportunity not only to give thanks to Christ for his sacrifice made once for all, but also to appropriate its benefits and to avail themselves of its healing power. That happened in John's time. At the Lord's Table men met the Christ and experienced his forgiveness and the peace with God which he brings. Men still have that experience; and, therefore that feast is a continuing witness to the atoning power of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The Spirit and the water and the blood all combine to demonstrate the perfect Messiahship, the perfect Sonship, the perfect Saviourhood of this man Jesus in whom was God. The continued gift of the Spirit, the continued death and resurrection of baptism, the continued availability of the sacrifice of the Cross at the Lord's Table are still the witnesses to Jesus Christ.

Note on 1 John 5:7:

In the King James Version there is a verse which we have altogether omitted. It reads, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one."

The English Revised Version omits this verse, and does not even mention it in the margin, and none of the newer translations includes it. It is quite certain that it does not belong to the original text.

The facts are as follows. First, it does not occur in any Greek manuscript earlier than the 14th century. The great manuscripts belong to the 3rd and 4th centuries, and it occurs in none of them. None of the great early fathers of the Church knew it. Jerome's original version of the Vulgate does not include it. The first person to quote it is a Spanish heretic called Priscillian who died in A.D. 385. Thereafter it crept gradually into the Latin texts of the New Testament although, as we have seen, it did not gain an entry to the Greek manuscripts.

How then did it get into the text? Originally it must have been a scribal gloss or comment in the margin. Since it seemed to offer good scriptural evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, through time it came to be accepted by theologians as part of the text, especially in those early days of scholarship before the great manuscripts were discovered.

But how did it last, and how did it come to be in the King James Version? The first Greek testament to be published was that of Erasmus in 1516. Erasmus was a great scholar and, knowing that this verse was not in the original text, he did not include it in his first edition. By this time, however, theologians were using the verse. It had, for instance, been printed in the Latin Vulgate of 1514. Erasmus was therefore criticized for omitting it. His answer was that if anyone could show him a Greek manuscript which had the words in it, he would print them in his next edition. Someone did produce a very late and very bad text in which the verse did occur in Greek; and Erasmus, true to his word but very much against his judgment and his will, printed the verse in his 1522 edition.

The next step was that in 1550 Stephanus printed his great edition of the Greek New Testament. This 1550 edition of Stephanus was called--he gave it that name himself--The Received Text, and it was the basis of the King James Version and of the Greek text for centuries to come. That is how this verse got into the King James Version. There is, of course, nothing wrong with it; but modern scholarship has made it quite certain that John did not write it and that it is a much later commentary on, and addition to, his words; and that is why all modern translations omit it.

THE UNDENIABLE WITNESS ( 1 John 5:9-10 )

5:9-10 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne testimony about his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has that testimony within himself. He who does not believe God has made God a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God bore to his Son.

Behind this passage there are two basic ideas.

There is the Old Testament idea of what constitutes an adequate witness. The law was quite clear: "A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offence that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained" ( Deuteronomy 19:15; compare Deuteronomy 17:6). A triple human witness is enough to establish any fact. How much more must a triple divine witness, the witness of the Spirit, the water, and the blood, be regarded as convincing.

Second, the idea of witness is an integral part of John's thought. In his gospel we find different witnesses all converging on Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is a witness to Jesus ( John 1:15; John 1:32-34; John 5:33). Jesus' deeds are a witness to, him ( John 5:36). The Scriptures are a witness to him ( John 5:39). The Father who sent him is a witness to him ( John 5:30-32; John 5:37; John 8:18). The Spirit is a witness to him. "When the Counsellor comes...even the Spirit of truth... he will bear witness to me" ( John 15:26).

John goes on to use a phrase which is a favourite of his in his gospel. He speaks of the man who "believes in the Son of God." There is a wide difference between believing a man and believing in him. If we believe a man, we do no more than accept whatever statement he may be making at the moment as true. If we believe in a man, we accept the whole man and all that he stands for in complete trust. We would be prepared not only to trust his spoken word, but also to trust ourselves to him. To believe in Jesus Christ is not simply to accept what he says as true; it is to commit ourselves into his hands, for time and for eternity.

When a man does that, the Holy Spirit within him testifies that he is acting aright. It is the Holy Spirit who gives him the conviction of the ultimate value of Jesus Christ and assures him that he is right to make this act of commitment to him. The man who refuses to do that is refusing the promptings of the Holy Spirit within his heart.

If a man refuses to accept the evidence of men who have experienced what Christ can do, the evidence of the deeds of Christ, the evidence of the Scriptures, the evidence of God's Holy Spirit, the evidence of God himself, in effect he is calling God a liar--and that is the very limit of blasphemy.

THE ESSENCE OF THE FAITH ( 1 John 5:11-13 )

5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life and that that life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son has not life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

With this paragraph the letter proper comes to an end. What follows is in the nature of a postscript. The end is a statement that the essence of the Christian life is eternal life.

The word for eternal is aionios ( G166) . It means far more than simply lasting for ever. A life which lasted for ever might well be a curse and not a blessing, an intolerable burden and not a shining gift. There is only one person to whom aionios may properly be applied and that is God. In the real sense of the term it is God alone who possesses and inhabits eternity. Eternal life is, therefore, nothing other than the life of God himself. What we are promised is that here and now there can be given us a share in the very life of God.

In God there is peace and, therefore, eternal life means serenity. It means a life liberated from the fears which haunt the human situation. In God there is power and, therefore, eternal life means the defeat of frustration. It means a life filled with the power of God and, therefore, victorious over circumstance. In God there is holiness and, therefore, eternal life means the defeat of sin. It means a life clad with the purity of God and armed against the soiling infections of the world. In God there is love and, therefore, eternal life means the end of bitterness and hatred. It means a life which has the love of God in its heart and the undefeatable love of man in all its feelings and in all its action. In God there is life and, therefore eternal life means the defeat of death. It means a life which is indestructible because it has in it the indestructibility of God himself.

It is John's conviction that such a life comes through Jesus Christ and in no other way. Why should that be? If eternal life is the life of God, it means that we can possess that life only when we know God and are enabled to approach him and rest in him. We can do these two things only in Jesus Christ. The Son alone fully knows the Father and, therefore, only he can fully reveal to us what God is like. As John had it in his gospel: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" ( John 1:18). And Jesus Christ alone can bring us to God. It is in him that there is open to us the new and living way into the presence of God ( Hebrews 10:19-23). We may take a simple analogy. If we wish to meet someone whom we do not know and who moves in a completely different circle from our own, we can achieve that meeting only by finding someone who knows him and is willing to introduce us to him. That is what Jesus does for us in regard to God. Eternal life is the life of God and we can find that life only through Jesus Christ.

THE BASIS AND THE PRINCIPLE OF PRAYER ( 1 John 5:14-15 )

5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have towards him, that, if we ask anything which is in accordance with his will, he hears us; and, if we know that he hears anything that we ask, we know that we possess the requests that we have made from him.

Here are set down both the basis and the principle of prayer.

(i) The basis of prayer is the simple fact that God listens to our prayers. The word which John uses for confidence is interesting. It is parrhesia ( G3954) . Originally parrhesia meant freedom of speech, that freedom to speak boldly which exists in a true democracy. Later it came to denote any kind of confidence. With God we have freedom of speech. He is always listening, more ready to hear than we are to pray. We never need to force our way into his presence or compel him to pay attention. He is waiting for us to come. We know how we often wait for the knock of the postman or the ring of the telephone bell to bring us a message from someone whom we love. In all reverence we can say that God is like that with us.

(ii) The principle of prayer is that to be answered it must be in accordance with the will of God. Three times in his writings John lays down what might be called the conditions of prayer. (a) He says that obedience is a condition of prayer. We receive whatever we ask because we keep his commandments ( 1 John 3:22). (b) He says that remaining in Christ is a condition of prayer. If we abide in him and his words abide in us, we will ask what we will and it will be done for us ( John 15:7). The closer we live to Christ, the more we shall pray aright; and the more we pray aright, the greater the answer we receive. (c) He says that to pray in his name is a condition of prayer. If we ask anything in his name, he will do it ( John 14:14). The ultimate test of any request is, can we say to Jesus, "Give me this for your sake and in your name"?

Prayer must be in accordance with the will of God. Jesus teaches us to pray: "Thy will be done," not, "Thy will be changed." Jesus himself, in the moment of his greatest agony and crisis, prayed, "Not as I will, but as thou wilt.... Thy will be done" ( Matthew 26:39; Matthew 26:42). Here is the very essence of prayer. C. H. Dodd writes: "Prayer rightly considered is not a device for employing the resources of omnipotence to fulfil our own desires, but a means by which our desires may be redirected according to the mind of God, and made into channels for the forces of his will." A. E. Brooke suggests that John thought of prayer as "Including only requests for knowledge of, and acquiescence in, the will of God." Even the great pagans saw this. Epictetus wrote: "Have courage to look up to God and say, Deal with me as thou wilt from now on. I am as one with thee; I am thine; I flinch from nothing so long as thou dost think that it is good. Lead me where thou wilt; put on me what raiment thou wilt. Wouldst thou have me hold office or eschew it, stay or flee, be rich or poor? For all this I will defend thee before men."

Here is something on which to ponder. We are so apt to think that prayer is asking God for what we want, whereas true prayer is asking God for what he wants. Prayer is not only talking to God, even more it is listening to him.

PRAYING FOR THE BROTHER WHO SINS ( 1 John 5:16-17 )

5:16-17 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which is not a sin whose end is death, he will ask life for him and he will give it to him, that is, to those whose sin is not a sin whose end is death. There is a sin whose end is death. It is not about that that I mean he should ask. All wrongdoing is sin; but there is a sin whose end is not death.

There is no doubt that this is a most difficult and disturbing passage. Before we approach its problems, let us look at its certainties.

John has just been speaking about the Christian privilege of prayer; and now he goes on to single out for special attention the prayer of intercession for the brother who needs praying for. It is very significant that, when John speaks about one kind of prayer, it is not prayer for ourselves; it is prayer for others. Prayer must never be selfish;, it must never be concentrated entirely upon our own selves and our own problems and our own needs. It must be an outgoing activity. As Westcott put it: "The end of prayer is the perfection of the whole Christian body."

Again and again the New Testament writers stress the need for this prayer of intercession. Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "Brothers, pray for us" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:25). The writer to the Hebrews says: "Pray for us" ( Hebrews 13:18-19). James says that, if a man is sick, he ought to call the elders, and the elders should pray over him ( James 5:14). It is the advice to Timothy that prayer must be made for all men ( 1 Timothy 2:1). The Christian has the tremendous privilege of bearing his brother man to the throne of grace. There are three things to be said about this.

(i) We naturally pray for those who are ill, and we should just as naturally pray for those who are straying away from God. It should be just as natural to pray for the cure of the soul as it is to pray for the cure of the body. It may be that there is nothing greater that we can do for the man who is straying away and who is in peril of making shipwreck of his life than to commit him to the grace of God.

(ii) But it must be remembered that, when we have prayed for such a man, our task is not yet done. In this, as in all other things, our first responsibility is to seek to make our own prayers come true. It will often be our duty to speak to the man himself. We must not only speak to God about him, we must also speak to the man about himself. God needs a channel through which his grace can come and an agent through whom he can act; and it may well be that we are to be his voice in this instance.

(iii) We have previously thought about the basis of prayer and about the principle of prayer; but here we meet the limitation of prayer. It may well be that God wishes to answer our prayer; it may well be that we pray with heartfelt sincerity; but God's aim and our prayer can be frustrated by the man for whom we pray. If we pray for a sick person and he disobeys his doctors and acts foolishly, our prayer will be frustrated. God may urge, God may plead, God may warn, God may offer, but not even God can violate the freedom of choice which he himself has given to us. It is often the folly of man which frustrates our prayers and cancels the grace of God.

SIN WHOSE END IS DEATH ( 1 John 5:16-17 continued)

This passage speaks of the sin whose end is death and the sin whose end is not death. The Revised Standard Version translates "mortal" sin.

There have been many suggestions in regard to this.

The Jews distinguished two kinds of sins. There were the sins which a man committed unwittingly or, at least, not deliberately. These were sins which a man might commit in ignorance, or when he was swept away by some over-mastering impulse, or in some moment of strong emotion when his passions were too strong for the leash of the will to hold. On the other hand, there were the sins of the high hand and the haughty heart, the sins which a man deliberately committed, the sins in which he defiantly took his own way in spite of the known will of God for him. It was for the first kind of sin that sacrifice atoned; but for the sins of the haughty heart and the high hand no sacrifice could atone.

Plummer lists three suggestions. (i) Mortal sins may be sins which are punishable by death. But it is quite clear that more is meant than that. This passage is not thinking of sins which are a breach of man-made laws, however serious. (ii) Mortal sins may be sins which God visits with death. Paul writes to the Corinthians that, because of their unworthy conduct at the table of the Lord, many among them are weak and many are asleep, that is, many have died ( 1 Corinthians 11:30); and the suggestion is that the reference is to sins which are so serious that God sends death. (iii) Mortal sins may be sins punishable with excommunication from the Church. When Paul is writing to the Corinthians about the notorious sinner with whom they have not adequately dealt, he demands that he should be "delivered to Satan." That was the phrase for excommunication. But he goes on to say that, serious as this punishment is and sore as its bodily consequence may be, it is designed to save the man's soul in the Day of the Lord Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 5:5). It is a punishment which does not end in death. None of these explanations will do.

There are three further suggestions as to the identification of this mortal sin.

(a) There is a line of thought in the New Testament which points to the fact that some held that there was no forgiveness for post-baptismal sin. There were those who believed that baptism cleansed from all previous sins but that after baptism there was no forgiveness. There is an echo of that line of thought in Hebrews: "It is impossible to restore again to repentance, those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy" ( Hebrews 6:4-6). In early Christian terminology to be enlightened was often a technical term for to be baptized. It was indeed that belief which made many postpone baptism until the last possible moment. But the real essence of that statement in Hebrews is that restoration becomes impossible when penitence has become impossible; the connection is not so much with baptism as with penitence.

(b) Later on in the early church there was a strong line of thought which declared that apostasy could never be forgiven. In the days of the great persecutions some said that those who in fear or in torture had denied their faith could never have forgiveness; for had not Jesus said, "Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" ( Matthew 10:33; compare Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26). But it must always be remembered that the New Testament tells of the terrible denial of Peter and of his gracious restoration. As so often happens, Jesus was gentler and more sympathetic and understanding than his Church was.

(c) It could be argued from this very letter of John that the most deadly of all sins was to deny that Jesus really came in the flesh, for that sin was nothing less than the mark of Antichrist ( 1 John 4:3). If the mortal sin is to be identified with any one sin that surely must be it. But we think that there is something more to it even than that.

THE ESSENCE OF SIN ( 1 John 5:16-17 continued)

First of all, let us try to fix more closely the meaning of the mortal sin. In the Greek it is the sin pros ( G4314) thanaton ( G2288) . That means the sin which is going towards death, the sin whose end is death, the sin which, if continued in, must finish in death. The terrible thing about it is not so much what it is in itself, as where it will end, if a man persists in it.

It is a fact of experience that there are two kinds of sinners. On the one hand, there is the man who may be said to sin against his will; he sins because he is swept away by passion or desire, which at the moment is too strong for him; his sin is not so much a matter of choice as of a compulsion which he is not able to resist. On the other hand, there is the man who sins deliberately, of set purpose taking his own way, although well aware that it is wrong.

Now these two men began by being the same man. It is the experience of every man that the first time that he does a wrong thing, he does it with shrinking and with fear; and, after he has done it, he feels grief and remorse and regret. But, if he allows himself again and again to flirt with temptation and to fall, on each occasion the sin becomes easier; and, if he thinks he escapes the consequences, on each occasion the self-disgust and the remorse and the regret become less and less; and in the end he reaches a state when he can sin without a tremor. It is precisely that which is the sin which is leading to death. So long as a man in his heart of hearts hates sin and hates himself for sinning, so long as he knows that he is sinning, he is never beyond repentance and, therefore, never beyond forgiveness; but once he begins to revel in sin and to make it the deliberate policy of his life, he is on the way to death, for he is on the way to a state where the idea of repentance will not, and cannot, enter his head.

The mortal sin is the state of the man who has listened to sin and refused to listen to God so often, that he loves his sin and regards it as the most profitable thing in the world.

THE THREEFOLD CERTAINTY ( 1 John 5:18-20 )

5:18-20 We know that he who has received his birth from God does not sin, but he whose birth was from God keeps him, and the Evil One does not touch him.

John draws to the end of his letter with a statement of the threefold Christian certainty.

(i) The Christian is emancipated from the power of sin. We must be careful to see what this means. It does not mean that the Christian never sins; but it does mean that he is not the helpless slave of sin. As Plummer put it: "A child of God may sin, but his normal condition is resistance to evil." The difference lies in this. The pagan world was conscious of nothing so much as moral defeat. It knew its own evil and felt there was no possible escape. Seneca spoke of "our weakness in necessary things." He said that men "hate their sins but cannot leave them." Persius, the Roman satirist, in a famous picture spoke of "filthy Natta, a man deadened by vice...who has no sense of sin, no knowledge of what he is losing, and is sunk so deep that he sends up no bubble to the surface." The pagan world was utterly defeated by sin.

But the Christian is the man who never can lose the battle. Because he is a man, he will sin; but he never can experience the utter moral defeatedness of the pagan. F. W. H. Myers makes Paul speak of the battle with the flesh:

"Well, let me sin, but not with my consenting,

Well, let me die, but willing to be whole:

Never, O Christ--so stay me from relenting--

Shall there be truce betwixt my flesh and soul."

The reason for the Christian's ultimate undefeatedness is that he who has his birth from God keeps him. That is to say, Jesus keeps him. As Wescott has it: "The Christian has an active enemy, but he has also a watchful guardian." The heathen is the man who has been defeated by sin and has accepted defeat. The Christian is the man who may sin but never accepts the fact of defeat. "A saint," as someone has said, "is not a man who never falls; he is a man who gets up and goes on every time he falls."

(ii) The Christian is on the side of God against the world. The source of our being is God, but the world lies in the power of the Evil One. In the early days the cleavage between the Church and the world was much clearer than it is now. At least in the Western world, we live in a civilization permeated by Christian principles. Even if men do not practise them, they still, on the whole, accept the ideals of chastity, mercy, service, love. But the ancient world knew nothing of chastity, and little of mercy, and of service, and of love. John says that the Christian knows that he is with God, while the world is in the grip of the Evil One. No matter how the situation may have changed, the choice still confronts men whether they will align themselves with God or with the forces which are against God. As Myers makes Paul say:

"Whoso hath felt the Spirit of the Highest,

Cannot confound nor doubt him nor deny:

Yea with one voice, O World, tho' thou deniest,

Stand thou on that side, for on this am l."

(iii) The Christian is conscious that he has entered into that reality which is God. Life is full of illusions and impermanencies; by himself man can but guess and grope; but in Christ he enters into the knowledge of reality. Xenophon tells of a discussion between Socrates and a young man. "How do you know that?" says Socrates. "Do you know it, or are you guessing?" "I am guessing," is the answer. "Very well," says Socrates, "when we are done with guessing and when we know, shall we talk about it then?" Who am I? What is life? What is God? Whence did I come? Whither do I go? What is truth and where is duty? These are the questions to which men can reply only in guesses apart from Jesus Christ. But in Christ we reach the reality, which is God. The time of guessing is gone and the time of knowing has come.

THE CONSTANT PERIL ( 1 John 5:21 )

5:21 My dear children, guard yourselves from idols.

With this sudden, sharp injunction John brings his letter to an end. Short as it is, there is a world of meaning in this phrase.

(i) In Greek the word idol has in it the sense of unreality. Plato used it for the illusions of this world as opposed to the unchangeable realities of eternity. When the prophets spoke of the idols of the heathen, they meant that they were counterfeit gods, as opposed to the one true God. This may well mean, as Westcott has it, "Keep yourselves from all objects of false devotion."

(ii) An idol is anything in this life which men worship instead of God and allow to take the place of God. A man may make an idol of his money, of his career, of his safety, of his pleasure. Again to quote Westcott: "An idol is anything which occupies the place due to God."

(iii) It is likely that John means something more definite than either of these two things. It was in Ephesus that he was writing, and it was of conditions in Ephesus that he was thinking. It is likely that he means simply and directly, "Keep yourselves from the pollutions of heathen worship." No town in the world had so many connections with the stories of the ancient gods; and no town was more proud of them. Tacitus writes of Ephesus: "The Ephesians claimed that Diana and Apollo were not born at Delos, as was commonly supposed; they possessed the Cenchrean stream and the Ortygian grove where Latona, in travail, had reposed against an olive tree, which is still in existence, and had given birth to these deities.... It was there that Apollo himself, after slaying the Cyclops, had escaped the wrath of Jupiter: and again that father Bacchus in his victory had spared the suppliant Amazons who had occupied his shrine."

Further, in Ephesus there stood the great Temple of Diana, one of the wonders of the ancient world. There were at least three things about that Temple which would justify John's stern injunction to have nothing to do with heathen worship.

(a) The Temple was the centre of immoral rites. The priests were called the Megabyzi. They were eunuchs. It was said by some that the goddess was so fastidious that she could not bear a real male near her; it was said by others that the goddess was so lascivious that it was unsafe for any real male to approach her. Heraclitus, the great philosopher, was a native of Ephesus. He was called the weeping philosopher, for he had never been known to smile. He said that the darkness to the approach of the altar of the Temple was the darkness of vileness; that the morals of the Temple were worse than the morals of beasts; that the inhabitants of Ephesus were fit only to be drowned, and that the reason that he could never smile was that he lived in the midst of such terrible uncleanness. For a Christian to have any contact with that was to touch infection.

(b) The Temple had the right of asylum. Any criminal, if he could reach the Temple of Diana, was safe. The result was that the Temple was the haunt of criminals. Tacitus accused Ephesus of protecting the crimes of men and calling it the worship of the gods. To have anything to do with the Temple of Diana was to be associated with the very dregs of society.

(c) The Temple of Diana was the centre of the sale of Ephesian letters. These were charms, worn as amulets, which were supposed to be effective in bringing about the wishes of those who wore them. Ephesus was "preeminently the city of astrology, sorcery, incantations, amulets, exorcisms, and every form of magical imposture." To have anything to do with the Temple at Ephesus was to be brought into contact with commercialized superstition and the black arts.

It is hard for us to imagine how much Ephesus was dominated by the Temple of Diana. It would not be easy for a Christian to keep himself from idols in a city like that. But John demands that it must be done. The Christian must never be lost in the illusions of pagan religion; he must never erect in his heart an idol which will take the place of God; he must keep himself from the infections of all false faiths; and he can do so only when he walks with Christ.

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

FURTHER READING

John

J. N. S. Alexander, The Epistles of John (Tch; E)

A. E. Brooke, The Johannine Epistles (ICC; G)

C. H. Dodd, The Johannine Epistles (MC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

Tch: Torch Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

1 John 5:20

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And we know that the Son of God is come,.... That the second Person in the Godhead, who is equal to the Father, and of the same nature with him, is come from the Father, from heaven into this world, not by local motion, but by assumption of nature; that he is come in the flesh, or is become incarnate, in order to work out salvation for his people, by his obedience, sufferings, and death; and this John and others knew, for they had personal knowledge of him, and converse with him; they saw him with their eyes, heard him, and handled him: he dwelt among them, preached to them, wrought miracles before them, which proved him to be what he was; and it may be known that the Messiah must become, since Daniel's weeks, which fixes the time of his coming, are long ago up; the sceptre is departed from Judah, and the second temple is destroyed, neither of which were to be till the Messiah came; and that Jesus of Nazareth is he who is come may be known by the characters of him, and the works done by him:

and hath given us an understanding; not a new faculty of the understanding but new light into it; a knowledge of spiritual things of himself, and of God in him, and of the truths of the Gospel, and of all divine and heavenly things; for he, the Son of God, is come a light into the world, and gives spiritual light to men:

that we may know him that is true; or "the true God", as the Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read; that is, God the Father, who is the true God, in opposition to the false gods of the Heathens, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit; and the spiritual knowledge of him as the Father of Christ, and as a covenant God and Father in him, is only given to men by Christ, and this is life eternal; see

Matthew 11:27;

and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ; the words "Jesus Christ" are left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin version; however, certain it is, that Jesus Christ is meant by his Son, who is the Son of the true and living God, and is himself "true"; not only true God, as hereafter asserted, but true man, having a true body and a reasonable soul, and was true and faithful in the discharge of his offices, as prophet, priest, and King; he faithfully declared the whole will of God, and taught the way of God in truth; he was faithful to him that appointed him, by securing his glory when he made reconciliation for the sins of the people; and all the administrations of his kingly office are just and true; yea, he is truth itself, the substance of all the types, in whom all the promises are yea and amen, and who has all the truths of the Gospel and treasures of wisdom in him; now his people are in him; they were secretly in him before the world was, being loved by him, chosen in him, put into his hands, preserved in him, and represented by him; and openly, at conversion, when they are anew created in him, brought to believe in him, and live upon him, and he lives in them, and they are in him as branches in the vine; and this is known by his Spirit being given them, by the communication of his grace unto them, and by the communion they have with him.

This is the true God and eternal life; that is, the Son of God, who is the immediate antecedent to the relative "this"; he is the true God, with his Father and the Spirit, in distinction from all false, fictitious, or nominal deities; and such as are only by office, or in an improper and figurative sense: Christ is truly and really God, as appears from all the perfections of deity, the fulness of the Godhead being in him; from the divine works of creation and providence being ascribed to him; and from the divine worship that is given him; as well as from the names and titles he goes by, and particularly that of Jehovah, which is incommunicable to a creature; and he is called "eternal life", because it is in him; and he is the giver of it to his people; and that itself will chiefly consist in the enjoyment and vision of him, and in conformity to him.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.   19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.   20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.   21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

      Here we have,

      I. A recapitulation of the privileges and advantages of sound Christian believers. 1. They are secured against sin, against the fulness of its dominion or the fulness of its guilt: We know that whosoever is born of God (and the believer in Christ is born of God, 1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:1) sinneth not (1 John 5:18; 1 John 5:18), sinneth not with that fulness of heart and spirit that the unregenerate do (as was said 1 John 3:6; 1 John 3:9), and consequently not with that fulness of guilt that attends the sins of others; and so he is secured against that sin which is unavoidably unto death, or which infallibly binds the sinner over unto the wages of eternal death; the new nature, and the inhabitation of the divine Spirit thereby, prevent the admission of such unpardonable sin. 2. They are fortified against the devil's destructive attempts: He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, that is, is enabled to guard himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not (1 John 5:18; 1 John 5:18), that is, that the wicked one may not touch him, namely, to death. It seems not to be barely a narration of the duty or the practice of the regenerate; but an indication of their power by virtue of their regeneration. They are thereby prepared and principled against the fatal touches, the sting, of the wicked one; he touches not their souls, to infuse his venom there a he does in others, or to expel that regenerative principle which is an antidote to his poison, or to induce them to that sin which by the gospel constitution conveys an indissoluble obligation to eternal death. He may prevail too far with them, to draw them to some acts of sin; but it seems to be the design of the apostle to assert that their regeneration secures them from such assaults of the devil as will bring them into the same case and actual condemnation with the devil. 3. They are on God's side and interest, in opposition to the state of the world: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness,1 John 5:19; 1 John 5:19. Mankind are divided into two great parties of dominions, that which belongs to God and that which belongs to wickedness or to the wicked one. The Christian believers belong to God. They are of God, and from him, and to him, and for him. They succeed into the right and room of the ancient Israel of God, of whom it is said, The Lord's people is his portion, his estate in this world; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance, the dividend that has fallen to him by the lot of his own determination (Deuteronomy 32:9); while, on the contrary, the whole world, the rest, being by far the major part, lieth in wickedness, in the jaws in the bowels of the wicked one. There are, indeed, were we to consider the individuals, many wicked ones, many wicked spirits, in the heavenly or the ethereal places; but they are united in wicked nature, policy, and principle, and they are united also in one head. There is the prince of the devils and of the diabolical kingdom. There is a head of the malignity and of the malignant world; and he has such sway here that he is called the god of this world. Strange that such a knowing spirit should be so implacably incensed against the Almighty and all his interests, when he cannot but know that it must end in his own overthrow and everlasting damnation! How tremendous is the judgment of God upon that wicked one! May the God of the Christian world continually demolish his dominion in this world, and translate souls into the kingdom of his dear Son! 4. They are enlightened in the knowledge of the true eternal God: "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given as an understanding, that we may know him that is true,1 John 5:20; 1 John 5:20. The Son of God has come into our world, and we have seen him, and know him by all the evidence that has already been asserted; he has revealed unto us the true God (as John 1:18), and he has opened our minds too to understand that revelation, given us an internal light in our understandings, whereby we may discern the glories of the true God; and we are assured that it is the true God that he hath discovered to us. He is infinitely superior in purity, power, and perfection, to all the gods of the Gentiles. He has all the excellences, beauties, and riches, of the living and true God. It is the same God that, according to Moses's account, made the heavens and the earth, the same who took our fathers and patriarchs into peculiar covenant with himself, the same who brought our ancestors out of Egypt, who gave us the fiery law upon mount Sinai, who gave us his holy oracles, promised the call and conversion of the Gentiles. By his counsels and works, by his love and grace, by his terrors and judgments, we know that he, and he alone, in the fulness of his being, is the living and true God." It is a great happiness to know the true God, to know him in Christ; it is eternal lie, John 17:3. It is the glory of the Christian revelation that it gives the best account of the true God, and administers the best eye-salve for our discerning the living and true God. 5. They have a happy union with God and his Son: "And we are in him that is true, even (or and) in his Son Jesus Christ,1 John 5:20; 1 John 5:20. The Son leads us to the Father, and we are in both, in the love and favour of both, in covenant and federal alliance with both, in spiritual conjunction with both by the inhabitation and operation of their Spirit: and, that you may know how great a dignity and felicity this is, you must remember that this true one is the true God and eternal life" or rather (as it should seem a more natural construction), "This same Son of God is himself also the true God and eternal life" (John 1:1, and here, 1 John 1:2; 1 John 1:2), "so that in union with either, much more with both, we are united to the true God and eternal life." Then we have,

      II. The apostle's concluding monition: "Little children" (dear children, as it has been interpreted), "keep yourselves from idols,1 John 5:21; 1 John 5:21. Since you know the true God, and are in him, let your light and love guard you against all that is advanced in opposition to him, or competition with him. Flee from the false gods of the heathen world. They are not comparable to the God whose you are and whom you serve. Adore not your God by statues and images, which share in his worship. Your God is an incomprehensible Spirit, and is disgraced by such sordid representations. Hold no communion with your heathen neighbours in their idolatrous worship. Your God is jealous, and would have you come out, and be separated from among them; mortify the flesh, and be crucified to the world, that they may not usurp the throne of dominion in the heart, which is due only to God. The God whom you have known is he who made you, who redeemed you by his Son, who has sent his gospel to you, who has pardoned your sins, begotten you unto himself by his Spirit, and given you eternal life. Cleave to him in faith, and love, and constant obedience, in opposition to all things that would alienate your mind and heart from God. To this living and true God be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."