1 Jn 5 -- You have been warned
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
Wow, I just love reading the apostle’s fellowship, it is so obvious why they are overcomers. Please notice, John doesn’t say “this is how we know that others love”. He is giving you a way to discern if you love the children of God, not a way to impose self righteous judgement on others. It is so simple, keeping God’s commands is an exercise of love towards others. The world would have you believe that the Bible is misogynist and homophobic. The Bible condemns sins and justifies sinners. The world condemns sinners and justifies sin.
3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Do you see how intricately tied keeping God’s laws are to overcoming the world? These laws lead us to Jesus Christ, they lead us to salvation. Satan is the ruler of the world and it is critical to Satan to lead us away from Jesus Christ, he does that with his laws. What do they argue? Keeping God’s laws are burdensome, they are out of date, they are homophobic, etc.
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
What hypocrites! If you claim the law of God is burdensome then you are claiming that Jesus Christ is burdensome. He is the incarnate word of God, He is the fulfillment of the law of God, He is the expression of the invisible God.
9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The age of Grace is a trial. Satan the ruler of this world is on trial, God has testified against Him by raising Jesus from the dead. God’s testimony is that He has given us this great gift of eternal life and this gift is given to us by giving us Jesus Christ. We receive Jesus and with that gift we get eternal life. This is what it means to keep the laws of God.
Concluding Affirmations
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 so important. First and foremost you must have the assurance of salvation. The word salvation is very significant, if you can save yourself then it isn’t salvation. The word salvation means you can’t save yourself, it is only Jesus Christ that can save you. Knowing that you are a failure and a sinner is simply the prerequisite to calling on the Lord to be saved.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
How do you ask according to God’s will? Simply ask according to the word of God, the word expresses His will. This doesn’t mean that you say to yourself I want this or I want that and then you go look for a Bible verse that seems to agree with that. This is what the entire prosperity gospel is built on. They want to be rich in the world, so equate being “rich” with being “blessed” and then you are off and running. Sadly, according to that equation the only apostle who was “blessed” was Judas when he had the silver after betraying the Lord.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Wow, that is just great. Step 1, pray according to the will of God, not according to your will, your lusts, your desires. Step 2 know that God hears you. Step 3, if God hears then know that you will have whatever you asked. For example “God I need to have the full assurance that I have eternal life.” I have prayed according to God’s will, I know He has heard me and now I know I have what I have prayed for, the assurance of salvation.
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.
We are not called to judge and condemn our brothers and sisters, but we are called to pray for them. Once again, step 1 pray according to the will of God, not my opinion, not my desire for vengeance or to spread gossip. Here it is, did you see someone commit a sin, then the will of God is that you pray that God will give them life. Often we pray that God would enlighten them, shine on them, expose them, cause them to repent, confess, etc. But God’s will is that you pray that God give them life, that is the power that enables us to overcome sin and the world. One analogy is of a fish swimming upstream while leaves and sticks are floating downstream. If the world is a stream flowing down to the ocean then the only way to stop floating downstream is if you have life. So then, what is this “sin that leads to death”? Look at Judas, in his heart he saw Jesus as an opportunity to boost his career and to get rich. It was the same sin we saw in Balaam and he was saved by a donkey. The angel told him that had it not been for the donkey he would have been killed. He was a prophet for hire willing to curse God’s people in exchange for money.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 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.
Here is another verse indicating God’s will that you can pray. Are you worried about being safe where the evil one can’t harm you? Once again we receive Jesus Christ, we are born of God, and then we keep His word to us, we obey it, and it will keep us safe.
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
If you weren’t clear on this last year hopefully you are now fully clear on this. When we say that people need to “wake up” we mean they need to see that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. When they see this it will cause a revival as people turn to the Lord for salvation and eternal life.
20 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.
Once again, do you need understanding? Do you need to know Him who is true? Everything is so confusing, who do you believe? Here is another verse that you can pray over. God will hear and you will receive.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
There are two basic concepts in the world. Democracy is based on the rule of the people. For thousands of years everyone was told that the common man was too stupid to rule himself. This is why the founding fathers called it “an experiment” and knew that it would only be by the grace of God that we could keep this republic. The other basic concept is that government is by elites (Emperor, King, Caesar, General, Dictator, Oligarchs, etc). We all know this, now what John is telling you is that this second form of government is to be ruled by idols. You have been warned, do not choose to be ruled by idols.
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
Wow, I just love reading the apostle’s fellowship, it is so obvious why they are overcomers. Please notice, John doesn’t say “this is how we know that others love”. He is giving you a way to discern if you love the children of God, not a way to impose self righteous judgement on others. It is so simple, keeping God’s commands is an exercise of love towards others. The world would have you believe that the Bible is misogynist and homophobic. The Bible condemns sins and justifies sinners. The world condemns sinners and justifies sin.
3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Do you see how intricately tied keeping God’s laws are to overcoming the world? These laws lead us to Jesus Christ, they lead us to salvation. Satan is the ruler of the world and it is critical to Satan to lead us away from Jesus Christ, he does that with his laws. What do they argue? Keeping God’s laws are burdensome, they are out of date, they are homophobic, etc.
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
What hypocrites! If you claim the law of God is burdensome then you are claiming that Jesus Christ is burdensome. He is the incarnate word of God, He is the fulfillment of the law of God, He is the expression of the invisible God.
9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The age of Grace is a trial. Satan the ruler of this world is on trial, God has testified against Him by raising Jesus from the dead. God’s testimony is that He has given us this great gift of eternal life and this gift is given to us by giving us Jesus Christ. We receive Jesus and with that gift we get eternal life. This is what it means to keep the laws of God.
Concluding Affirmations
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 so important. First and foremost you must have the assurance of salvation. The word salvation is very significant, if you can save yourself then it isn’t salvation. The word salvation means you can’t save yourself, it is only Jesus Christ that can save you. Knowing that you are a failure and a sinner is simply the prerequisite to calling on the Lord to be saved.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
How do you ask according to God’s will? Simply ask according to the word of God, the word expresses His will. This doesn’t mean that you say to yourself I want this or I want that and then you go look for a Bible verse that seems to agree with that. This is what the entire prosperity gospel is built on. They want to be rich in the world, so equate being “rich” with being “blessed” and then you are off and running. Sadly, according to that equation the only apostle who was “blessed” was Judas when he had the silver after betraying the Lord.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Wow, that is just great. Step 1, pray according to the will of God, not according to your will, your lusts, your desires. Step 2 know that God hears you. Step 3, if God hears then know that you will have whatever you asked. For example “God I need to have the full assurance that I have eternal life.” I have prayed according to God’s will, I know He has heard me and now I know I have what I have prayed for, the assurance of salvation.
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.
We are not called to judge and condemn our brothers and sisters, but we are called to pray for them. Once again, step 1 pray according to the will of God, not my opinion, not my desire for vengeance or to spread gossip. Here it is, did you see someone commit a sin, then the will of God is that you pray that God will give them life. Often we pray that God would enlighten them, shine on them, expose them, cause them to repent, confess, etc. But God’s will is that you pray that God give them life, that is the power that enables us to overcome sin and the world. One analogy is of a fish swimming upstream while leaves and sticks are floating downstream. If the world is a stream flowing down to the ocean then the only way to stop floating downstream is if you have life. So then, what is this “sin that leads to death”? Look at Judas, in his heart he saw Jesus as an opportunity to boost his career and to get rich. It was the same sin we saw in Balaam and he was saved by a donkey. The angel told him that had it not been for the donkey he would have been killed. He was a prophet for hire willing to curse God’s people in exchange for money.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 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.
Here is another verse indicating God’s will that you can pray. Are you worried about being safe where the evil one can’t harm you? Once again we receive Jesus Christ, we are born of God, and then we keep His word to us, we obey it, and it will keep us safe.
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
If you weren’t clear on this last year hopefully you are now fully clear on this. When we say that people need to “wake up” we mean they need to see that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. When they see this it will cause a revival as people turn to the Lord for salvation and eternal life.
20 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.
Once again, do you need understanding? Do you need to know Him who is true? Everything is so confusing, who do you believe? Here is another verse that you can pray over. God will hear and you will receive.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
There are two basic concepts in the world. Democracy is based on the rule of the people. For thousands of years everyone was told that the common man was too stupid to rule himself. This is why the founding fathers called it “an experiment” and knew that it would only be by the grace of God that we could keep this republic. The other basic concept is that government is by elites (Emperor, King, Caesar, General, Dictator, Oligarchs, etc). We all know this, now what John is telling you is that this second form of government is to be ruled by idols. You have been warned, do not choose to be ruled by idols.