1 John 5

Everyone that loves God also loves those begotten of God (Jesus and everyone that is born of God: believers). Everyone who does the First Command will do the Second Command as an effect.

We know that we love other children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. The Second Command is confirmation we are doing the First Command.

Loving God is keeping His commandments (love God, love others), which is an action. God's commandments are not grievous (heaviness, weight, burden, trouble). John was drawing his final conclusions and working his way back through the model presented in this epistle. It cannot be stressed enough the importance of loving one another. John's conclusion was that we are believers if we keep God's commandments: to love one another. This is the measure!

God's commandments are not grievous because we have God dwelling in us and following the commandments is only possible by God flowing through us. Our faith in God brings victory over the world, over the spirit of antichrist.

John rhetorically asked who could overcome the world other than someone who believed in Jesus Christ?

John worked his way back to the first chapter of 1 John. Throughout this epistle, John introduced a "new commandment," a new aspect that the believers did not deal with before. This new aspect was referenced but not named until the later chapters. In verse 6 of 1 John 5, John said the Spirit (which was the new aspect) bears witness and is truth. John began this entire epistle stating his objective was to have our joy be made full by having fellowship with the aspects that bear witness to the truth. John began with two aspects (Father and Word). He finished by adding a third aspect: Spirit. John showed that all three bear witness to the truth. Next, he concluded his proof…

Doctrine: The Trinity. The point was that we have three witnesses in heaven (spiritual) and we have three witnesses in earth (physical). John used an if/then to make his final point...

God's witness is greater than man's witness. If we believe men, then we ought to much more believe God. Furthermore, when we are born of God (have the Holy Spirit in us) we have God's Witness in us. Those who do not believe God are saying God is a liar. God gave us eternal life. This life is Jesus, the ultimate ability to repair.

We ought to know that we have eternal life now! This is not something we have to wait to find out until Judgment Day. This Doctrine was also stated in John 20:31.

The reason WHY John wrote this epistle:

Cause: Knowing we have eternal life

Effect: Joy made full.

This is the most important topic in the world because it involves your eternal Salvation, so HOW do we know that we have eternal life and are going to heaven?:

1. how do you respond to your sin? Justify/Rationalize or Confess and Repent?

2. do you love one another?

John's proof was completed. He went full circle with a powerful and non-contradictory conclusion. The rest of 1 John 5 presented three implications from this proof; three things that were effects of this proof.

This Doctrine was also stated in John 14:14.

Implication #1: We ought to have boldness that when we ask anything according to God's Will He will hear us.

Implication #2: A "sin not unto death" was a sin against people. This affected Reward, not Salvation. The first implication involved us being able to ask God for things in His Will. John was saying this second implication was something we could ask for because it was in God's Will. John said we could ask for the ability to repair a brother who sinned against another person. Notice, this went in line with loving. We can get involved with a brother who sinned by helping him repair, not by condemning or judging him.

John also reiterated Doctrine about sin. All unrighteousness is sin, however, not all sin is unrighteous. Salvation depends on Righteousness. Reward depends on Justice. Unrighteousness results in loss of Salvation (death). Injustice results in loss of Reward (value). John was saying there were sins that do not result in loss of Salvation, sins against other people. Peter said love covers a multitude of sins: 1 Peter 4:8.

Love covers the sins we do to other people because those sins involve Reward (value) and love is giving of a value without expecting anything in return from the person you are giving to. So, if we sin against people (take value through being unjust), we can cover this sin by loving (giving a value). Therefore, there are three types of sins:

1. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - The unforgivable sin that affects Salvation: Matthew 12:31-32.

2. Sins against God - This affects Salvation and is forgivable.

3. Sins against people - This affects Reward and is able to be covered with love/repentance.

Implication #3: Those born of God guard themselves by God's Spirit in them and the wicked one (devil) will not touch them. The devil cannot take the Salvation of a person who is killing their own flesh and allowing God's Spirit to direct their actions, which is grace.

This Doctrine was also stated in John 17:2-3.

Idols do not have understanding, so suppressing your understanding would prevent you from knowing Him that is true and the way most people do this is chasing after idols (images, appearance). We ought to know that we are of God and the whole world lies in wickedness. We have been given understanding so that we may know Him that is true. Knowing Jesus Christ will lead to eternal life.

This epistle was written by John from Ephesus around 90 AD. Remember, John was the youngest Disciple and would have been around sixteen years old when Jesus was crucified. This would make him around seventy-three years old when this letter was written. There were many similarities between this letter and the Gospel of John which we will point out. This letter was from the third of the four authors in this mini-section of the New Testament which consisted of epistles written by four separate authors. This letter, like John's Gospel account, was filled with Doctrine from a completely logical perspective...to the point when we take the time to fill in the connection between the Doctrines John referenced it will require many more words than what John wrote. Chronologically, this was the latest of the epistles and contained the most comprehensive logical explanation of Christianity.