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1 John 5

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Faith, Love, and Overcoming the World 1–5

1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. ​
2
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. ​
4
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. ​
5
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Divine Testimony and Eternal Life 6–13

6
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. ​
7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. ​
8
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. ​
9
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. ​
11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. ​

Confidence in Prayer 14–17

14
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: ​
15
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
16
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. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. ​
17
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

What We Know, and Keeping from Idols 18–21

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. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 John 5

Verse 1

is born of God — Gennao occurs three times in this verse: ‘born’, ‘begat’ and ‘begotten’, so that the birth from God is tied to love for the Father and for his children. Belief that Jesus is the Christ is its sign, as in John 1:12–13, where those who receive him are ‘born… of God’.

Verse 3

his commandments are not grievous — ‘Grievous’ is barys, heavy; the same word describes the ‘heavy burdens’ the scribes and Pharisees bound on others (Matt 23:4). Christ said of his own, ‘my burden is light’ (Matt 11:30). ‘Keep’ (tereo) is to guard and obey, as in ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15).

Verse 4

the victory that overcometh the world — Nike, victory, occurs only here in the New Testament, and its verb nikao is used three times in vv.4–5. The victor is whoever is ‘born of God’, and the means is faith (pistis). Christ had said, ‘I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33), and Paul gives thanks for ‘the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor 15:57).

Verse 6

by water and blood — John 19:34 records that from the pierced side ‘forthwith came there out blood and water’. The water has been read of Christ’s baptism, when the Spirit descended on him (Matt 3:16), and the blood of his death; ‘not by water only’ holds that both belong to his coming. The Spirit bears witness (martyreo) because he is ‘truth’.

Verse 7

the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost — Three divine witnesses are named, with the Son under his title Logos, the Word of John 1:1, 14. ‘One’ is the neuter hen, the word of John 10:30, ‘I and my Father are one’, which speaks of oneness of being. The three names are those of the baptismal formula in Matt 28:19.

Verse 8

the Spirit, and the water, and the blood — Three witnesses on earth answer the three in v.7, in keeping with the law, ‘at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established’ (Deut 19:15). ‘Agree in one’ means they testify to the one truth of v.6: that Jesus is the Christ who came by water and blood.

Verse 10

hath the witness in himself — ‘Witness’ and ‘record’ are the same noun, martyria, testimony, which John repeats through vv.9–11. The believer has the testimony inwardly, as ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit’ (Rom 8:16). To refuse it is to make God ‘a liar’ (pseustes), the word used also in 1:10 and 2:4.

Verse 13

that ye may know that ye have eternal life — The aim of the letter, as John 20:31 gives the aim of the Gospel: ‘that ye might believe… and that believing ye might have life through his name’. ‘Know’ here is eido, to know with certainty; the knowledge is of a present possession, ‘ye have eternal life’, and the life is ‘in his Son’ (v.11).

Verse 14

the confidence that we have in him — Parrhesia, as in 4:17, freedom of speech before God. Prayer is heard ‘according to his will’ (thelema), the condition John gives in 3:22: ‘whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments’. ‘Ask’ is aiteo, the verb of petition, used again in vv.15 and 16.

Verse 16

a sin which is not unto death — John does not define it, and readers differ: some think of deliberate, final rejection of Christ (compare Num 15:30–31, ‘that soul shall utterly be cut off’), others of sin that ended in bodily death (1 Cor 11:30). Verse 17 adds that ‘there is a sin not unto death’. The prayer he does not command uses erotao, a different verb from ‘ask’.

Verse 18

keepeth himself — ‘Sinneth not’ is in the present tense (hamartano), as in 3:9, ‘doth not commit sin’: a continuing practice is in view. ‘Keepeth’ is tereo, to guard. ‘Toucheth’ (haptomai) is to lay hold of, so the wicked one gets no hold. The Greek behind ‘wicked one’ is the word behind ‘wickedness’ in v.19.

Verse 20

the true God, and eternal life — Alethinos is genuine, as in ‘the only true God’ (John 17:3). ‘Him that is true’ is the Father, and believers are ‘in him… even in his Son Jesus Christ’. ‘This is the true God’ most naturally refers to the nearest name, the Son, as Thomas confessed, ‘My Lord and my God’ (John 20:28). ‘Eternal life’ returns to 1:2.

Verse 21

keep yourselves from idols — Eidolon, an image of a false god. ‘Keep’ is phylasso, to guard, a different verb from the ‘keepeth’ of v.18. ‘Little children’ (teknion) is John’s address in 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4. The command follows ‘the true God’ of v.20 and recalls Ex 20:3–4 and Paul’s ‘flee from idolatry’ (1 Cor 10:14).