1 John 5:18-20 Teaching
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Introduction
Introduction
Context
Context
John has been writing with a few different purposes, but one main purpose is to assure the Church of their salvation in the face of false teachers.
Up until this final passage, John has been giving different truths about the Christian and who he is and what he must do in light of his salvation.
John has declared these about the true believer:
If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.
The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.
You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him. This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
All these verses speak of truths of the Christian so that the reader may be reassured and confident in his salvation.
This passage is the culmination of these verses as John wraps up this letter to the church.
Overall Question from Text
Overall Question from Text
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
This passage includes 3ish “we know” statements. Other words/phrases you’ll see John use a few times are:
Born of God
the Evil One
the True One
If there was one main question John was seeking to answer when writing this passage, it would be: What does the Church know about itself, the world, and God?
The answer to these questions are:
About itself? Those born of God fight sin & evil and are kept by God
About the World? Those not born of God are fully given over to evil
About God? God has given those born of Him understanding to know Jesus Christ — He is God and Eternal Life
Verse 18 - What Does the Church Know About Itself?
Verse 18 - What Does the Church Know About Itself?
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Literal Translation
“[We] know that all begotten of God [do] not sin but [the] Begotten of God keeps him and evil [does] not touch him.”
Are We Saved If We Sin?
Are We Saved If We Sin?
Is one “begotten of God” if he still sins?
John has approached this already in his letter. Note these verses:
If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.
Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
John Taught Christians Still Sin
John Taught Christians Still Sin
So there seems to be this understanding: being a Christian does not free you from the pull of sin. If John believed being a Christian meant you never sin, he wouldn’t say things like
“If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
“If we say, ‘We have not sinned,’ we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
John is in agreement with the rest of the bible that all of man sins, whether in Christ or not.
Note Romans 3 & 7.
John Taught Christians Need to Stop Sinning
John Taught Christians Need to Stop Sinning
John clearly hated sin in the believer’s life and wrote against it and we must heed his words.
Christian, in your pursuit of Jesus Christ, you must be filling yourself up with Christ, Him being the goal, and extinguishing from your life any and all sin. Otherwise you will both never look like Christ and never have Him
Just to clarify this further: there are people who claim Christ, but when you look at their lives you cannot see Christ because they are just reveling in sin. There is no repentance, there is no sorrow, there is no broken and contrite heart. Only sin and self. Even though this person may claim Jesus and claim to be born of God, they are not.
If you are in Christ, stop sinning! But, if you do sin, run to your God who is full of grace and forgiveness.
You must hold on to both of these tightly because you will sin, and when you do, you must run to Jesus. Otherwise, you will sin more.
How Can We Keep From Sin?
How Can We Keep From Sin?
If we must be fighting to extinguish sin from our lives as believers, how can we actually keep from it?
Once again, John is not unaware of the human condition, and neither is God. This is why verse 18 continues with this:
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Upon first reading of this verse, you may be perplexed. “Who is keeping who?” Looking at the Greek you’ll see this directly translated to: “[We] know that all begotten of God [do] not sin but [the] begotten of God keeps him and evil [does] not touch him.”
Jesus Keeps Us
Jesus Keeps Us
There seems to be some word play here by John as he refers to two groups using the same “begotten of God,” otherwise, he could have said “Know that all begotten of God do not sin, but they keep him...” yet he doesn’t.
And so, The first “begotten of God,” I’d say refers to the Christian. If you were reborn in God, adopted as a Child of the Living God, you must stop sin in your life. But the second “begotten of God” refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Begotten of God. Reread it with this in mind.
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Quick note: Who is the “evil one” here? Well, as we are going to talk about more in the next verse, this is just the greek word for evil, not “evil one.” But I don’t think it was unfaithful for our bible translators to say “the Evil One” because John does seem to be referring to evil as a person. So we can know that “evil” or “the evil one” is referring to Satan.
You are simply unable to keep yourself in Christ. If it were up to me to remain in Christ, I would fall from Him daily. Instead, He keeps us. I am reminded of the hymn “He Will Hold Me Fast.”
When I fear my faith will fail
Christ will hold me fast
When the tempter would prevail
He will hold me fast
I could never keep my hold
Through life’s fearful path
For my love is often cold
He must hold me fast
This is a grand truth for the believer John is writing to. These insecure Christians who struggle with sin and are fearful they have somehow fallen out of Christ. John says, “No, Christian, Christ will keep you. You cannot fall from Him because His grip is stronger than your will.”
Let this be a grand encouragement for us as well. Because Christ holds us, John says “Evil will not touch [us]. Satan cannot pull you from God’s hand.” You are protected by the Almighty God, the True One in this world of lies. Christ holds us fast!
Romans 8:31-39.
Verse 19 - What Does the Church Know About the World?
Verse 19 - What Does the Church Know About the World?
We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
So truth is that we know we are in Christ and held by Him with full assurance. Now what about the world? What about those who think they are in Christ, but are still living in sin? John answers this question in verse 19.
John says while we know we are of God, the whole world is led by the evil one. Once again, it does us well to look at the actual Greek when reading this. Literally translated, this verse says:
“[We] know that [we] are of God and all [the] world lies in evil.”
The CSB renders this “the whole world is under the sway of the evil one,” but John literally says that the whole world lies in evil. This is helpful imagery. Imagine if “evil” was physically there in front of us. He says the world lies in it, like a pig lies in mud. Like a dead man lies in a tomb.
What did this mean to those John was writing to?
As they have been struggling with whether or not they are truly saved, John first says “You are of God because He keeps you!” and now he shows them “This is what those who are not of God look like.” He does this, I believe, to further assure them of their salvation.
These true insecure believers can look at their lives and say “Yes, I struggle with sin but I do not live ‘lying in evil.’”
What does this mean for us?
The one who is not of God is covered in evil and gorges himself on evil things. We can fall into pluralism really quickly when we look at unbelievers and say “Well, he is a good person at heart.” Keeping down that track we may assume that he is already going to Heaven because God appreciates that he is basically good. “God wouldn’t send someone ‘good’ to hell!”
I am not saying you are to bash their character, only that you need to see these eternal souls as lost and lying in evil and let this drive you to one of two things depending on your maturity in Christ:
Evangelism: let their lostness become a burden that you must pray against and speak against whenever you’re given the chance. God has sent you to walk them to His feet so that they can be cleansed of the evil they have laid in and be made righteous!
Distance: sometimes those who are lying in evil influence us more than we influence them. If you are a weaker brother or sister in Christ, I implore you to be wise and put distance between you and this person. The truth is, you as a Christian, cannot be best friends or more with an unbeliever. Perhaps the time will come where you are strong enough to speak truth in their lives, but until them you can pray for the unbeliever but, for your own sake, keep distance, less you, too, return to the habits of your old self who was crucified with Christ.
Verse 20 - What does the Church Know of God?
Verse 20 - What does the Church Know of God?
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
“Then [we] know that Son [of] God come and gives us understanding in order that [we may] know true [the True One] [Truth] and [we] are in Truth in His Son Jesus Christ. He is True God and Eternal Life.”
The Son of God Came
The Son of God Came
First, we, the Church, know that the Son of God came to us. He clothed Himself in our weakness in order that He would save us from our evil. The Son of God came to us! The Church John was writing to needed this reminder and so do we!
The Son of God Gives Understanding
The Son of God Gives Understanding
Here is a glimpse into the Triune nature of God. The Son gives us understanding to know the Father. Jesus mission was that we may know His Father and we may be filled with the Spirit. He did this by speaking His Father’s Words and mediating between God the Father who is perfect and humanity who is not and sending the Holy Spirit to fill us and make us righteous. Jesus bridged the gap so that we can be saved and not trapped in our sin.
Note some of Jesus’s words:
Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
Then they asked him, “Where is your Father?”
“You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
Knowing the Father means knowing the Son, and vice versa. Jesus’s work on Earth displayed God the Father fully because He is God.
For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once again, this is a reassurance to the Church John is writing to. “If you know Jesus, you know His Father. You are not missing anything else!”
Remember these false teachers were Gnostic, meaning they claimed to have secret knowledge that they were missing. “You think you know the truth, but you are missing it actually.” Deztanee and I conversed with a friend this week who I think is a believer but has this strange view of the Gospel that is almost Gnostic. She had an understanding of the truth that we have all missed.
I say that to say, what John spoke to this church needs to be spoken here too: We are not missing anything. If you know Christ the Son, you know God the Father, and God the Spirit. We have God’s Word, we need no other revelation. God has given us all we need to know Him
We Know Christ - the True God & Eternal Life
We Know Christ - the True God & Eternal Life
John ends with an amazing statement:
[we] are in Truth in His Son Jesus Christ. He is [the] True God and Eternal Life.”
To seal all of the John’s assurances of faith throughout this whole letter, he tells the church outright that they are in the truth: the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
John was speaking to a church who was being berated by lies around them and within them. But they are not in the lies. Though they hear them, and even have fell for them, they do not exist in lies, but in truth.
Jesus Christ is the fount of all Truth in this world. In Him there is no deception. Satan is the opposite. Everything about him is deceptive. While displaying light and beauty, he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.
Being in the Truth means being in Christ. John gives Jesus two titles here that would be meaningful for the spiritually insecure Christian.
True God
This is a great verse to reference when speaking with someone who claims to be Christian, but denies Jesus’s divinity. John simply puts that Jesus Christ is the True God. Jesus is 100% man and 100% God!
Once again, Him being the True God matters because they were being fed lies. With all the false gods being worshiped around them, they worship the One and True God.
And all the bible agrees that Jesus is God:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”
Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”
We have nothing to fear about our place with God because our faith is in Jesus Christ who is God.
Eternal Life
Faith in Jesus Christ = Eternal Life in Christ. He is Eternal Life. Jesus said this in His prayer to the Father:
This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.
This means, then, there is no eternal life outside of Jesus Christ. It simply doesn’t exist.
For the Christian, this is a great joy. Our faith is rightly placed. We can experience eternal life even now as we revel in our Savior and grow in our knowledge of Him daily.
For the non-Christian, this is a great terror. The One whom they have rejected is the only way to Eternal Life. He is the only way one can be reconciled to his Creator. But there is still time. Put your faith in Christ, believe in Him, and be saved.
