1 John 5:13-21

I Write These Things...So That...

The Aim or Purpose:

1 John 1:4 “We write this to make our joy complete.”

The joy of of their assurance will be his joy

1 John 2:1 “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

He hopes that his book will give them fresh power to overcome sin. And part of his method in helping them overcome sin is to assure them that failures do not have to prove fatal to your eternal life- “but if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ”

1 John 2:12–13 “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.”

He is filled with hope that the ones he is writing to are truly believers. They are forgiven, they know God and they have triumphed over the evil one

1 John 2:21 “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.”

His letter is not to get you started in the christian life but to confirm you in it.

1 John 2:26 “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.”

He is concerned with false teaching. This letter is meant to protect them from those who would lead them astray.

1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

This is the one that dominates in his letter. Most of what is here is designed to provide tests of life.

John Pipers summary of the reason for John’s writing this letter: “I am writing because you are true believers, but there are deceivers in your midst, and I want you to be rock solid confident in your present possession of eternal life as regenerate children of God, so that you are not drawn away after sin. And if this letter has that effect my joy will be complete.”

To know that they are born again-that they now have new spiritual life. Eternal life.

11 Evidences of the New Birth

Those who are born of God keep his commandments

1 John 2:3–4 “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.”

1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Those who are born of God live as Christ lived

1 John 2:5–6 “But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”

Those who are born of God don’t hate others but love them

1 John 2:9 “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.”

1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”

1 John 4:7–8 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:20 “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

Those who are born of God don’t love the world

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”

Those who are born of God confess the Son and receive (HAVE) him

1 John 2:23 “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

1 John 4:15 “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”

1 John 5:12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Those who are born of God practice righteousness

1 John 2:29 “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.”

Those who are born of God don’t make a practice of sinning

1 John 3:6 “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”

1 John 3:9–10 “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

1 John 5:18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”

Those who are born of God possess the Spirit of God

1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

1 John 4:13 “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.”

Those who are born of God listen to the apostolic Word

1 John 4:6 “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

Those who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Christ

1 John 5:1 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.”

Those who are born of God overcome the world

1 John 5:4 “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Conclusion:

1 John 5:13–17 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.”

That God answers all prayers according to his will

In this context specifically the prayers John might be thinking of relate to 1 John 2:18-27

The sin that leads to death is this spirit of the anti-christ, the rejection of Jesus

Its not that we cannot pray for that, John just isn't sure that that is a prayer that is consistent with the will of God-one he is compelled to answer

Conclude with what we know

1 John 5:18–21 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”