Chapter 15
1 John 5:1-5
1 John 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. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
In the previous chapter of this epistle John called our attention to the fact that we have nothing to fear in love and that we have nothing to fear regarding the Day of Judgment. John also pointed out that we certainly could never love God (someone we don’t see) while we demonstrate hate to others (those that we can see). We simply cannot separate love from being a Christian. Since God’s love has been “poured into our hearts” (Romans 5:5) and continues to flow to others (the flow shouldn’t stop in our hearts). We are reminded that our love is not just to those that are ‘lovable’ but we need to love all others unconditionally (agapē).
Beginning with the phrase, “Everyone who believes,” John returns us to the theme of our personal testimonies, or more precisely, our testimony’s accuracy. John states that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. It appears that John loved using the Greek word, ‘pisteuō’ (translated here as ‘believes’) since out of the 241 times that it appears in the New Testament, John used it 107 times, including nine times in this epistle. The word means simply to think something to be true (see also discussion in Chapter 14 regarding 1 John 4:16). In the English language the word ‘believes’ can imply some doubt, as indicated when used in a phrase like, “I believe you’re right!” This Greek word does not imply a ‘possibility’ of truth, the person firmly thinks it is absolutely true. Why is that important? The heavy use of the word gives us an inside view of John’s heart; he desires that all of his readers become believers so that they too can be saved. Also, note that John is not saying that Jesus is a Christ or one of many, but that He is indeed ‘the’ Christ, the Messiah as prophesied in the Old Testament (this separates real Christianity from a lot of fake substitutes).
John has already used the phrase, “has been born” (actually one Greek word ‘gennao’) several times already in this epistle (see 1 John 2:29 referring to those who practice righteousness, twice in 1 John 3:9 referring to those who do not continue sinning, 1 John 4:7 referring to those who love like God, here we see the word used three times in 1 John 5:1, and it will be used three more times before the end of this letter). Being born of God refers to us as being children of God. While it could be said that all humans are, in a sense, “children of God,” John refers to believers as being ‘adopted’ children of God, with all of the privileges of adoption (read John 1:12; Romans 8:12-17; Galatians 3:23-4:7; Titus 3:7 and 1 John 3:1). In most modern English versions, the verse continues with something like, “and everyone who loves the Father.” The original text once again contains the word, ‘gennao’ (2nd out of three times in this verse) but not the word for ‘Father’, it is understood and implied. The International Standard Version (ISV) renders this verse, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves the child.” So you might be asking, what is John really saying here? He is simply saying we are to unconditionally love other Christians! Do you? Not sure? No problem, John gives us another test to check that out. By now you should be familiar with another one of John’s favorite phrases, “by this we know,” (see 1 John 2:15 referring to those that are in Him, 1 John 3:24 referring to those that have God abiding in them and them in Him, and in 1 John 4:13 it reads similar to 1 John 3:24 but includes the fact that the Holy Spirit has been given to us and His presence serves as evidence of God in us for others to see) this time it’s about our ability to love.
John says that by this we know (ginosko) that we love (agapē) the children of God, when we love God. Sounds simple so far but John doesn’t stop there, he adds an important connecting word, namely the word ‘and’, which is followed by the instruction “obey His commandments.” First of all, the word ‘poieō’ (translated here as ‘obey’) is a verb requiring action (that’s right, something we do) and secondly the word ‘entolē’ which is more than just a commandment. In just the ESV alone, ‘entolē’ is translated elsewhere as instructions, comments, requirement, charge, and order. This is the twelfth time out of what will be a total of fourteen times John will use this word in this epistle. So what does John mean by its use here? Throughout the Bible we are instructed to obey God and His commandments (read Deuteronomy 13:4; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Jeremiah 7:23; Matthew 12:50; Luke 11:28; John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10, 14). This goes way beyond memorizing and obeying the Ten Commandments (that’s a good start but that’s not what God is asking us to do). Remember that the word ‘entolē’ could also mean obeying an order? What if your boss gave you written orders but you never looked at the written instructions your boss gave you? It would be absurd for us to think we can please God without knowing what pleases Him! Isn’t that what we risk doing if we don’t take the time to read His Word or when we trust someone else to explain it to us? That is why we need to study the Bible ourselves, spend time in personal devotion and grow in His Word. Only we can do that, no one can do it for us.
Knowing God’s Word and obeying His instruction go hand-in-hand. However, obeying for obedience sake is still not what God desires. Remember how God the Father and then later His Son point out that they desire obedience over sacrifice (read 1 Samuel 15:22; Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; 12:7 and Mark 12:33)? This may confuse some since it was God who set up the process and protocols regarding the sacrificial system and even though providing a sacrifice would be obedience, God is saying He would prefer they wouldn’t obey if their motivation is only to blindly follow a ritual. As Christians we want to serve God with all of our hearts (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). Our obedience is our way of showing our love for Him, not because we have to, but that we want to.
In verse three, John says that by keeping (and by the way that does not mean keeping in a drawer, it means that we should be doing) His commandments as that demonstrates the love of God. John then adds that this should not be a problem as His commandments are not burdensome, which should remind us what Jesus taught, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV)
1 John 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. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
John then makes an astounding statement that “everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.” Christians are referenced by many titles in the New Testament creating a rather long list of attributes and names. Now John calls us overcomers, while this is not the first time John used this word in this epistle (see 1 John 2:13-14) it is the first time he is calling all Christians overcomers. The Greek word for ‘overcomers’ (‘nikaō’), can be found 28 times in the New Testament (24 of those were written by John), the word means to conquer or be victorious. Of all the titles for a Christian, being called a conqueror or an overcomer is perhaps one of the more difficult titles to accept. Most Christians would point quickly to Jesus and say that He is the One and only conqueror, we are just on the sidelines cheering Him on. But that is not what John is saying, whether or not you agree, all believers are overcomers of the world and Satan. While the devil is a very dangerous foe (see 1 Peter 5:8), his defeat is certain (see Romans 16:20). John points to our faith as the source of our victory in overcoming the world. John is reminding us that God has called all of us to be active participants, not sideline cheerers. Christians are victorious overcomers from the moment we said ‘yes’ to Jesus. Active doing what? Jesus sent His apostles out (see John 20:21) and He also sent us out (Matthew 28:19-20). We are to be active in prayer, growing in His Word, and evangelizing. In other words, get in the ‘game’ and go! (read Romans 8:31-39 and 1 Corinthians 15:56-58).