“I am writing this to you so that you may know that you have eternal life—you that believe in the Son of God.” (1John 5:13)
All the things that John wrote, he wrote so that we would know without a doubt and for certain that we have eternal life because we believe in the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. How could it be possible to doubt? But it’s a fact that as we walk in Christianity, we will succumb to the flesh at times and doubt will torture us into thinking that perhaps we are not saved. What a scary thought that is. So, John wrote the whole chapter of 1 John 5 with some basic principles that cement the fact that yes, we have eternal life.
I like the KJV better than the GNV “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him.” (1John 5:1) Two big things were written here. If we believe Jesus is the Christ, we are born of God. And if we love the Father, the One Who begat Jesus, we will also love Jesus. Nicodemus had difficulty understanding the new birth. To understand it, we have to know that all humanity is under the curse of sin and death and under the control of the devil. The human spirit is dead and unable to understand spiritual things. When we believe in Jesus, since God knows the end from the beginning, He saw our old sinful man crucified. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:6) The second big principle is that if we love the Father, we will also love Jesus. And if we love God, we will love His children. (Verse 2)
One of the first indicators that something is not right is when people start missing church. Their priorities are wrong when they put other things above worshipping God. And sometimes, their weaknesses places shame and guilt in their hearts and can’t face the brethren. But we must remember that Jesus not only took our sins to the cross, but our shame and guilt. We are declared guiltless. “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Corinthians 1:8)
And if we love God, we will keep His commandments. (Verse 2) Jesus said it so clearly that it brings fear to think that if we disobey, is it because we really don’t love Him? “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) It’s too awful to think that our disobedience is unfaithfulness to our Lord.
Another big principle is found in Verses 4 & 5. We are overcomers, overcomers in the world and victorious because we believe in Jesus. Whatever happens in this world will touch us, but not destroy us. We cannot help to be touched by the world because we live in this world. Jesus conquered the world system and it’s king, the devil. In Jesus we are also overcomers and conquerors. The Bible says that we are more than conquerors. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)
We know that we are saved and have eternal life because we have the Holy Spirit in us who reassures us that we belong to God. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Romans 8:16) It is the Holy Spirit Himself Who reassures us. “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. 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. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1John 5:9-12) What man says that opposes God’s Word is a lie because unregenerated man doesn’t believe the evidence God has given. And this is true of everything in our life because our life is in Jesus. We have a choice to believe man in this world or God. It takes faith to believe God. “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
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