1 Jn 5:1
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.: Another verse explaining proof of God in your life. If you believe that Jesus was the prophecied Messiah, you have been born of God. This is possibly John reflecting on Jesus's conversation with Peter in Mat 16:17, "And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." In addition, if you claim you love the Father, you must, by extension, love His Son, and those of the Christian brothers and sisters.
1 Jn 5:2
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.: This is kind of a circular statement. If we love God, we'll love His children (fellow believers), and obey His commandments. His commandments are simply to love God and to love each other. Loving God and His children is following His commandments.
1 Jn 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.: Keeping God's commandments are simple: Love God and love each other. If we do this, we can know that we are saved, and have confidence that we will have no condemnation when we die. While living a loving life can be challenging, the commands themselves are simple.
1 Jn 5:4
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.: By our belief in Jesus as the Savior of the world, His dying on the cross as the sacrifice that covers our sins, and through Him alone is salvation, we can have confidence that this world means nothing. Our lives here, through our faith, should reflect that our hope is in what comes after. This is our faith, that our reward comes after death, and what comes after is infinitely better than this world (Revelation 21-22).
1 Jn 5:5
Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?: There is salvation in no other, so how can you overcome the world if you don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God? If you don't believe that, you can't believe that His sacrifice on the cross covered our sins, and there can be no victory in your life. Victory comes with knowing that although you are a sinner, Jesus died for you and your sins are null-and-void.
1 Jn 5:6
This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.: This could be a reference to Jesus being born, but it seems more likely that this refers to Jesus coming to earth as a human, being baptized by John the Baptist, then dying on the cross, shedding His blood. With the resurrection comes the Holy Spirit, who testifies of these things, dwelling in us believers. We know the truth if we listen to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit testifies to us that Jesus was the Son of God, God in the flesh.
1 Jn 5:7
For there are three that testify: These three are identified in the next verse. The Spirit, the water, and the blood.
1 Jn 5:8
the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.: The Spirit is the coming of the Holy Spirit after His resurrection. The Holy Spirit is our helper, and testifies of the truth, guiding us believers through our lives. The water was Jesus's baptism by John the Baptist, as prophecied. The blood was Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, also as prophecied. We have the evidence of Jesus as the Son of God through these things.
1 Jn 5:9
If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.: What John is saying here is that if we respond to the teaching of men, as in disciples, preachers, apostles, etc., the testimony of the Holy Spirit is greater, so therefore, we should respond even greater to the Holy Spirit. Jesus dying for our sins should produce in us a great faith, and an attitude of overcoming this world in anticipation for what is in store for us in the next. This responding to the Holy Spirit is our faith.
1 Jn 5:10
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.: It's an interesting thing that even secular scholars confirm that Jesus died on the cross. They'll deny His resurrection, but not His death. We don't believe on blind faith. The fact that Jesus was a real person and was crucified is only denied by those who don't want to believe. With the scriptures that predicted His death (Isaiah 53, Psalms 22, etc.), coupled with the testimony of the apostles, and the Holy Spirit, there is no reason to believe otherwise that Jesus was God in the flesh, died for our sins, was resurrected and offers us salvation. To deny this with all of this evidence given to us, is calling God a liar because the evidence is so strong, and certianly enough for any rational person to see is true.
1 Jn 5:11
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.: This is the testimony that the scriptures, the apostles, Jesus's life and death, and the Holy Spirit testify to. We have eternal life through Jesus if we accept it.
1 Jn 5:12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.: This is the conclusion of all of the previous writings in this epistle. If all of the above is true, then you can break it down simply into this verse. If you believe in Jesus's offer of salvation, you have life. If you don't, you don't have life. This life is the life eternal with God in Heaven (Revelation 21 & 22).
1 Jn 5:13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.: Here's the explanation from John as to why he wrote this epistle. He wants us to know that if we believe in Jesus, and have the love manifested in our lives, we can be certain of our salvation, and that we have eternal life with Jesus in Heaven.
1 Jn 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.: We have this beautiful direct line of communication to the Father through the Holy Spirit and the Son, who sits at the right hand of the Father.
- If you have faith, your prayers will be answered
- Mat 17:20, "He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”"
- Our prayers are converted to things of God by the Holy Spirit
- Rom 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
- Jesus, who was our propitiation (cover), sits at the right hand of the Father, living to intercede for us, presents our prayer as something Godly
- Mar 16:9, "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God."
- Heb 7:25, "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."
1 Jn 5:15
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.: We know that with the direct line of communication we have with the Father, that all of our petitions get to Him. They may not get answered the way we want, or even at all (which would actually be a no answer), but we can be certain that our prayers get to the Father through our intercessors.
1 Jn 5:16
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.: Is this sin that leads to death the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Mat 12:31-32, "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." This certainly seems like the most likely sin. All other sins will be forgiven. He didn't go into specifics, as he probably assumed that we should know. All other possibilities do not seem likely because they seem like things we should pray for. If it's a willful apostacy, we should pray for that, or a continual rejection of Jesus by an unbeliever, we should pray for that too. If it's someone who claims to be a brother or sister but lives in sin, we should pray for them too. So to me, the only thing it can be is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
1 Jn 5:17
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.: We know sin because as believers, we are inhabited by the Holy Spirit who will tell us if we listen. It seems that if we don't commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, we can be forgiven, no matter what. The death spoken of here is the spiritual death.
1 Jn 5:18
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.: Here's another proof of salvation. We won't keep on sinning. That certainly doesn't mean we'll be sinless, but we won't continue to live in sin. The Holy Spirit tells us when we're doing wrong. I have personally felt the Spirit convict me when I get angry at someone, or when I deal with them deceitfully. Now, once we are born again, we are separated from this world. We die to this world, and the power of Satan has no effect on us. We are, in essence, protected by God from the second death. This certainly doesn't mean that we'll be protected from trials and hardships in this life. Take a look around. This world is hard, and hardships are everywhere.
1 Jn 5:19
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.: Jesus Himself said that Satan is the ruler of this world (Joh 12:31). Since we are of God, we are not of this world, and are not under the power of Satan.
br />1 Jn 5:20
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.: We not only have understanding because of what Jesus did on the cross and historians acknowledges it as a historical fact, but because Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit as our helper on Earth. Through all of our evidences, we know Jesus is true, and that we are in Him because of the manifestation of love in our lives. And because of all this knowledge, we can know that He is God, and that we have eternal life through Him.
1 Jn 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.: Anything other than the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is idolatry. John exhorts us to be vigilant in not letting things become replacements. The things we rely on in this world other than God are idols. Almost anything can become an idol, and we are conditioned to worship. We must guard ourselves from this. We can end up worshipping idols and ignoring the true God. For example, Jews idolize the law and hold tradition over God. We wouldn't be warned if we weren't in danger.
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