‘You may know that you have eternal life.” (10) (1 John 5:13-21)

‘You may know that you have eternal life.” (10)

[1 John 5:13-21]

        The fourth assurance is the assurance that we belong to God. In other words, it is the assurance that those who are born of God, that is, those who are born again (regenerated) belong to God and not to this world ruled by Satan.

        Look at 1 John 5:19 – “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” The Apostle John says there are only two kinds of people in this world: (1) children of God, or (2) children of Satan (MacArthur). Look at 1 John 3:10 – “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” The Apostle John says that it is possible to distinguish clearly between the children of God and the children of the devil (v. 10). The way to distinguish it is that “Anyone who does not do what is right” is not of God (“not a child of God”) (v. 10). The one who does not do what is right that the Apostle John is referring to here refers to the one who does not love his brother (v. 10). In other words, the children of Satan (the devil) do not do what is right and do not love their brothers. But God's children are said to be those who do what is right (v. 7), loving their brother (v. 10). Look at 1 John 3:7 – “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” The Apostle John says that those who do what is right are righteous just as Jesus is righteous (v. 7). He already mentioned “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” in 1 John 2:1, and in 2:6, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” In other words, he who does what is right (3:7) also does what is right (v. 6) just as “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” did (2:1). If we take these verses together and meditate on 1 John 5:19, the conclusion is that those who are of God do the same things that Jesus did.

        Look at 1 John 5:19 – “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” What does the Apostle John mean when he says “we are of God” here? The literal translation of the original Greek word for “we are of God’ here is ‘We are from God’. However, it is interesting to note that the literal translation of the Greek word for “born of God” in 1 John 5:1, 4 is “He is born of God”. In other words, in 1 John 5:19, “we are of God,” and in 5:1, 4, ‘we who are born of God’ are both ‘we are from God.’ It means “we are of God” (v. 19), which means ‘we are born of God’ (v. 1, 4). And as we are born of God, we not only believe that Jesus is the Christ (v.1) and the Son of God (v. 5), which is the Apostle John’s testimony (v. 9), but also believe the testimony of God that the Son of God (vv. 9, 10) is Jesus Christ. And in those who are born of God who believe in the Son of God (v. 10), there is eternal life (vv. 11, 12). The reason why the Apostle John said in 1 John 5:19, “And” in “And we know that we are of God” is because he already said in verse 18 that “We know that no one who is born of God sins ….” So, at the beginning of verse 19, he said, “We know that …,” and in verse 20, he said, “And we know ….” In addition to this, looking at 1 John chapter 5, the Apostle John said in verse 2, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments,” and in verse 15, “And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” In this way, the Apostle John said the word 'we know' 6 times in 1 John 5 alone, which means 'know for sure' and ‘enjoy knowing the truth continually’ (KJV Bible Commentary).

        As I was meditating on these verses, I was curious to find out where the word ‘we know’ appears again from chapter 1 through 4. It seems to come up about 10 times:

(1) (2:3) “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.”

(2) (2:5) “But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:”

(3) (2:18) “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

(4) (3:2) “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

(5) (3:14) “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”

(6) (3:16) “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

(7) (3:19) “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.”

(8) (4:6) “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

(9) (4:13) “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

(10) (4:16) “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

I focus on the 10 words 'we know' in 1 John chapters 1-4 and the 6 words in 1 John chapter 5, a total of 16 words. It made me think about how the Apostle Paul and the recipients of the 1 John letter knew for sure that they are from God. In doing so, I was able to draw 14 conclusions. Those who are from God …

(1) Are those who know Jesus, the proof that they know Jesus is that they keep His commands (2:3).

(2) Are those who are in Jesus (the Lord), and those who are in Jesus, keep the words of Jesus, so that God's love is truly made complete in him (v. 5).

(3) Are those who know that “this is the last hour” and have heard that “the antichrist is coming” and know that “even now there are many antichrists” (v. 18).

(4) Know that they will be like Jesus, when He appears (when He returns). The reason is because they will see Jesus as He is (3:2).

(5) Know that they have passed from death into life (eternal life) because they love their brothers (v. 14).

(6) Know love because Jesus laid down His life for them (v. 16).

(7) Know that they belong to the truth by loving in deed and truth (vv. 18-19).

(8) Are those who know the Spirit of truth (the Holy Spirit) and the spirit of falsehood and those who know God will “listen to us,” and those who are not from God “does not listen to us” (4:6).

(9) Know that they abide in Jesus, and that Jesus abides in them by giving the Holy Spirit to them (v. 13).

(10) Know and believe in God's love for them (v. 16).

(11) Are those who love God and keep His commandments, love His children (5:2).

(12) Know that the Lord hears them whatever they ask (v. 15).

(13) Know that those who are born of God (those who have been regenerated), do not continue to sin (v. 18).

(14) Know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come and has given them understanding (v. 20), and know Jesus who is true and that they are in the Jesus, who is the true God and eternal life (v. 20).

Then, out of these 14 conclusions, I summarized in three ways how we can know for sure that we are from God, focusing on the remaining 13, except for verse 20, which we will meditate on next:

(1) If we are of God, we know and believe the love that God has for us (4:16).

More specifically, if we are of God, we know love that Jesus Christ laid down His life for us (3:16). And we know that we live in Him and He in us because God the Father and Jesus the Son gave us the Holy Spirit (4:13). Therefore, we who are of God know that God hears our prayers when we pray to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus (5:15).

(2) If we are of God, we know Jesus and obey His commands (2:3, 5).

The command of Jesus here is to love our brothers (3:14; 5:2). If we are of God, we love our brother in deed and truth (3:19). Never have we continued to commit the sin of hating our brother (5:18). Therefore, not only do we know that we ourselves have passed from death to life (eternal life) (v. 14), but we also know that we are of the truth (v. 19).

(3) If we are of God, we know that when Jesus returns, we will be like Him (3:2).

The reason is because we know that we will see Jesus as He is (v. 2). That is why we who are of God know that this is the last hour (2:18). And since we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of falsehood, we listen to the servants of God and never listen to those who deceive us with lies (4:6). That is, we hear the true gospel of Jesus Christ [“the eternal gospel” (Rev. 14:6)], and not hear “another” gospel (Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Cor. 11:4) or false gospel that deny that Jesus is the Christ (2:22), and deny God the Father and the Son of God Jesus Christ (v. 22).

        The Apostle John in 1 John 5:19 makes this also clear that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” [(Modern Korean Bible) ‘The whole world is under the control of the devil’]. What does this mean? This wicked and evil world is under the dominion of the evil one, the Devil (Satan). Although we now live in this Age under the control of Satan, we who are of God set apart from the world in this world live like those who belong to heaven (1 Cor. 15:40, 48, 49) [like heavenly citizens (Phil 3:20)] as we hope in heaven, The Coming Age (cf. 3:10). Then, what does it mean to live like heavenly citizens?

        I share what I wrote on September 29, 2014, under the heading ‘The Life of Heavenly Citizens’: Our Christian citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Therefore, we must fulfill our responsibilities as heavenly citizens (1:27). Our responsibility as heavenly citizens is to obey the heavenly laws. The heavenly law is the twofold commandment of Jesus: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lk. 10:27). When we obey this commandment, we assume our responsibilities as citizens of heaven. Especially when we obey this commandment in our homes, the Lord will make our homes into heaven. And when our family is going to become a heavenly kingdom, the Lord will use our family as a community of witnesses to testify of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A family living worthy of the gospel of Christ bears witness to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as a family.’ This is the life in which the eternal life to be fully enjoyed in the world to come (heaven) is partially enjoyed in this world. When we love one another with the love of the Triune God, the joy of the Lord will be in us and our joy will be full (Jn. 15:9-12). As we reflect the Lord's love, our hearts will be filled with joy. This is what it means to live in the kingdom of heaven, which is the coming age from this age.

        We must live the life Jesus said, “You are wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt.10:16) in this world under the dominion of Satan (the devil) who is the “evil one” (1 Jn. 5:19). How can we live like this? From the perspective of 1 John, we must live a victorious life of fighting (waging a spiritual battle) against Satan, the “evil one”! The basis for my thinking is 1 John 2:13, 14 and 4:4: (2:13) “… I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one …,” (2:14) “… I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one,” (4:4) “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” The secret of victory in this spiritual battle is our faith (5:4) that we believe that the Lord who is in us, who belongs to God, is more powerful than the devil who is in the world (4:4) and that the powerful Word of God dwells in us (2:14). There are two specific applications of this truth:

(1) We must commit ourselves to getting to know the Lord in us who are of God.

Look at 1 John 2:13a – “I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. ….” Who is the “from the beginning” of which the Apostle John is speaking here? In 1 John 1:1, the Apostle John said that Jesus Christ was the word of life from the beginning and this life was made manifested (v. 2). This Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins (2:2). In other words, Jesus Christ died on the cross as the sacrifice of the Passover lamb for our sins, thereby satisfying God's holy requirement to punish our sins. Also, Jesus Christ is the righteous Advocate who defends us before the Father (v. 1). When we stand before God's court and Satan prosecutes us to our holy and righteous Heavenly Father, who is our Judge, Jesus, who has become the defense attorney, defends us before God.

Look at 1 John 2:14a – “I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning ….” We must strive not only to get to know Jesus Christ, but also to get to know the Father, the Father of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John speaks about the Father in two ways in 1 John: (1) In 1 John 1:5, the Bible says, “God is light.” The Apostle John says that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all (v. 5). (2) In 1 John 4:8, 16, the Bible says that God is love. And the Bible says that God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to this world as the propitiation for our sins (4:9-10). We must overcome by believing in the truth that the Lord who dwells in us who are of God is more powerful than the devil who is in the world (4:4).

(2) We must win the spiritual battle with the powerful Word of God who dwells within us.

Look at 1 John 2:14 – “… I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” According to this verse, the secret that we, children of God, can fight and overcome the temptations of the devil is because we are strong and the Word of God dwells in us. The word ‘we are strong’ here means that we are strong because the powerful Word of God abides in us. And the fact that the word of God abides in us is proof that our faith in Him is so strong and firm. So the Apostle John said in 1 John 5:4: “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

We belong to God. The children of God who have been born again (regenerated) by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we belong to God. We must be firmly aware of this fact. We must be convinced that we belong to God. Even though we are living in this world ruled by Satan (the devil), we who belong to God must live in obedience to the twofold commandment of Jesus as citizens of the heavenly world that is approaching. Even though Satan tries to deceive us and make us hate our brothers and sisters, we who have already received eternal life must love God together and live a life of loving each other. In this spiritual battle, we must grow in the knowledge of the Lord who dwells in us and of the Father, and must stand firm in the powerful Word of God which dwells in us, and live a life of victory over Satan's temptations with faith. Therefore, even though we live in an evil world ruled by this devil, I hope and pray that we who belong to God will be well prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus and life in the kingdom of heaven by loving our neighbors, brothers and sisters in the Lord, with the love of God who loves us.