Week 4: 1 John 5:1 - 22

Faith Conquers the World

1 John 5:3–4 NRSV

3 For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, 4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

Cross References to 1: John 5:3-4

Mt 11:30 | For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jn 14:15 | “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Jn 16:33 | I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

2 Jn 6 | And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it.

Mt 23:4 | They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.

Dt 30:11; Mic 6:8; Mt 11:30; 23:4, 23; Jn 1:13; 3:3; 14:15; 16:33; 1 Co 15:57; Eph 6:16; 1 Jn 2:3, 5, 13, 29; 3:9; 4:4; 5:1, 3, 18; 2 Jn 6

Commentary on 1 John 5:3-4

The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary c. A Combination of the Three Tests (5:1–5)

Love for God has a second inescapable consequence, namely obedience. If we truly love God, we not only love his children, but also find ourselves carrying out his commands. In verse 3 John goes further. So inexorable is the connection between the two that love for God, which in one sense issues in obedience, in another sense may be identified with it. Love for God is not an emotional experience so much as a moral commitment. Indeed, whether shown to God or human beings, agapē is always practical and active. Love for our brothers and sisters expresses itself ‘with actions and in truth’, and especially in sacrificial service (3:17–18); love for God in carrying out his commands. Jesus said the same thing about the meaning of love for himself (John 14:15, 21).

Nor should we find it difficult to express our love by our obedience, because his commands are not burdensome or ‘irksome’ (Moffatt). The pernickety regulations of the scribes and Pharisees were ‘heavy burdens, hard to bear’ (Matt. 23:4, RSV; cf. Luke 11:46), but the yoke of Jesus is easy and his burden light (Matt. 11:30). God’s will is ‘good, pleasing and perfect’ (Rom. 12:2). It is the will of an all-wise, all-loving Father who seeks our highest welfare.

4a. The reason why we do not find the commands of God burdensome lies not, however, only in their character. It lies also in ourselves, namely that we have been given the possibility of keeping them.

The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary c. A Combination of the Three Tests (5:1–5)

4b–5. Three times in three successive sentences, as if to hammer the truth home, John repeats the phrase overcome the world. First, he declares that ‘everyone born of God overcomes the world’ (4a). He goes on to ascribe the Christian’s conquest not to his birth but to his faith (4b). He then proceeds to enlarge on this fact in the form of a question which he immediately answers: Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Know that You Have Eternal Life

1 John 5:13 NRSV

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.

Sin that Leads to Death

1 John 5:16–17 NIV

16 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. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Commentary on 1 John 5:16-17

The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary b. Our Consequent Assurance (5:13–17)

1. A specific sin. In the Mosaic law certain sins were listed as capital offences, punishable by death (e.g. Lev. 20:1–27; Num. 18:22; cf. Rom. 1:32). Further, in the Old Testament generally a distinction was drawn between sins of ignorance, committed unwittingly, which could be cleansed through sacrifice, and wanton or ‘presumptuous’ sins (Ps. 19:13), committed ‘with a high hand’, for which there was no forgiveness.

God Protects the Children of God

1 John 5:18–20 NRSV

18 We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. 19 We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. 20 And we know 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, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Cross References for 1 John 5:18-20

Jn 17:3 | And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Re 3:7 | “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens:

Lk 24:45 | Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

Ga 1:4 | who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

1 Jn 5:11 | And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Pr 22:5; Is 9:6; 44:6; 54:5; 2 Esd 13:23; Mt 5:37; 13:19; 25:46; Lk 4:6; 24:45; Jn 1:13–14, 18; 8:42; 10:38; 11:25; 12:31; 14:9, 30; 15:9; 17:3, 12, 15, 21; 20:28; Ac 20:28; Ro 1:25; 9:5; 1 Co 5:10; Ga 1:4; 1 Th 1:1, 9; 1 Ti 3:16; Tt 2:13; Heb 1:8; Jas 1:27; 1 Pe 1:5, 23; 1 Jn 1:2; 2:13, 23–25; 3:5, 8–9; 4:2, 6; 5:5, 11–13, 15, 18–20; Jud 21, 24; Re 3:7, 10, 14; 6:10; 19:11

Commentary on 1 JOhn 5:18-20

The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary 7. Three Affirmations and a Concluding Exhortation (5:18–21)

The Christian can only hope to ‘keep’ the commands of God (3:24; 5:3) if the Son of God ‘keeps’ him. Cf. Jude 24; 1 Peter 1:5. But why does he need to be ‘kept’? If he has been born of God, is he not immune to temptation? No. The devil, the evil one, is maliciously active. Strong and subtle, he is more than a match for him. But the Son of God came to destroy the devil’s work (3:8), and if he keeps … safe (tērei) the Christian, the devil will not be able to harm him. ‘Touch’ (RSV) is too weak a rendering of haptetai, as may be seen from John 20:17, the only other occurrence of the verb in the Johannine writings. It is here perhaps an echo of Psalm 105:15 (LXX), ‘Do not touch my anointed ones’, which means (as the parallel expression shows) ‘do them no harm’. Observe that the three verbs are all in the present tense. They indicate abiding truths. The devil does not touch the Christian because the Son keeps him, and so, because the Son keeps him, the Christian does not persist in sin. This is that ‘deliverance from the evil one’ for which we pray at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. For Christ’s promise and power to keep, cf. John 10:28; 17:12, 15.