1 John 5 - IVP New Testament Commentaries

Concluding Assurances and Admonitions

Ever pasto ral, the Elder closes his letter with three statements of assurance, each beginning we know . . . Each statement points to a truth that John affirms as well as to a reality that his readers have experienced. By assuring them that they can properly claim these realities for themselves, the Elder reaffirms to the community its identity as those who are rightly related in fellowship to God. As he does regularly throughout the epistle, he tells his congregation not only what they are to believe, but what belongs to them as children of God. In short, he is eager that they reflect on who they are and on how they gained their identity.

Several things are said to remind the readers about their identity. They are born of God (v. 18), the children of God (v. 19), those who have understanding, and those who are "in him who is true" (v. 20). These descriptions of who they are predicate an intimate relationship with God, a relationship which depends upon the mediating work of the Son of God (v. 20).

Thus his closing comments aptly summarize what has been said throughout the epistle. It is as if John has heeded the advice often given to writers and speakers that one should "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you've told them." The preface (1:1-4) introduces the theme of the life available to the world, and the epistle develops the implications of how that life is received and what life entails and demands. These concluding verses recapitulate the argument. And yet, even granting the summary nature of 5:18-21, the assertion of the "sinlessness" of those born of God, a sentiment remi niscent of the difficult passage in 3:4-10, follows oddly on the heels of the discussion in vv. 16-17 about the fellow Christian who sins. One might rather have expected a return to the comment that to deny one's sin is to be guilty of making God a liar (1:8-10), while those who confess their sins can be assured of forgiveness. And verse 21 seems to introduce a problem--idol worship--which has not been dealt with previously. Once again the context of this passage is helpful in tracing the author's thought as he summarizes his reflections to his readers.Confidence in God's Keeping Power (5:18-19)

In verses 16-17, the Elder spoke of a sin that does not lead to death, which is sin com mitted by a believer. Again, a believer is by definition not in the realm of death and therefore such sin does not lead to death. The believer does not dwell in the arena that is characterized by sinning, for that realm lies in the grip of the evil one (v. 18). Since believers do not live in the realm of what is evil and false, and so are not held by the power of sin, the Elder can write, We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin. Rather the believer is kept safe, unharmed by the deception and temptations of the evil one.

The statement the one born of God does not continue to sin does not mean that the believer has attained some superior moral status or achieved perfection. Rather, because they are born of God, believers are characterized not by sin and death but by truth and life. Being born of God does not grant one a capacity to overcome sin. Rather born of God is virtually an equivalent phrase for "does not sin." For born of God points to a divine action on our behalf that transfers us to the sphere where the future realities of eternal life are already lived out, even if only in part. Purity from sin is just such a future expectation now appropriated by believers through trusting in Christ (compare 3:4-10).

Thus in verses 18-19 John's dualistic description of reality comes once again into view. The one who was born of God keeps him safe says positively what and the evil one cannot harm him formulates in a neg ative fashion. We are children of God contrasts with and the whole world is under the control of the evil one. What the children of God have is the assurance that they are held in God's hand, and that "no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand" (Jn 10:28; 17:3, 5). Touch means to touch so as to harm (see Job 2:5; Ps 105:15; Zech 2:8). God's children have the assurance that they are guarded and kept by the power of God. They are not immune to temptation nor free from sin. But they are not in the hands of an arbitrary God who on a whim may desert them, nor will they fall under the control of the evil one. Those who are truly children of God cannot lose the life they have in God.The Coming of the Son of God (5:20-21)

Appropriate to the epistle is its concluding statement about the role of the Son of God in bringing salvation and life. The Son of God brings understanding of God and mediates fellowship with him. Jesus has given to us understanding, which includes the ability to discern the spirits (4:1-6) and to understand what the Spirit teaches us (2:20-21, 26-27). We are given understanding of truth, which is not so much the power to understand things as it is the power to know a person, him who is true. We see here once again the claim that only through the Son of God can one come to know the God who is true, as opposed to any and every false conception of God that people construct in their own minds. Jesus has come in order that we might come to the knowledge of God who is true. Knowledge of such a God can be mediated only by one who is also characterized by truth (compare Jn 14:6).

In fact the Elder speaks of Jesus not only as truth but as the true God. John does not mean that all the being or essence of deity is limited to the person of Jesus. But here we do move beyond the assertion that to know the Father is to know the Son; here, to know the Son is to know the Father. This is a bold statement, and virtually a redefinition of the traditional understanding of God (Jn 1:1, 18). Having spelled out in the letter the various false confessions, the Elder caps off the epistle with the highest statement: Jesus Christ is the true God. But if Jesus Christ me diates true knowledge of God and is so intimately related to God that he himself can be called true God, then any doctrine or worship that dilutes those affirmations is tantamount to idolatry. The warning little children, keep yourselves from idols points to the danger of worshiping any God other than the one revealed through Jesus Christ. The idols here are not pagan deities or images of stone or wood. An idol is a false picture of God that causes one to stumble and fall away from a relation ship with the true God. The Elder's readers are to keep themselves from every kind of false belief, for loyalty to a false god leads to death, but allegiance to the true God brings eternal life.