1Jo 5:19 | KingComments | STEP | . This verse describes a wonderful result of the possession of eternal life that John has spoken about in the previous verse. He who has eternal life also has “confidence”. This confidence or boldness comes to expression in your prayer life, for therein fellowship with the Father and the Son comes to expression. It is the unreserved talking with the Father and the Son about all issues that affect your life, such as children have, who have an unreserved relationship with their father. Confidence also includes trust, assurance and safety. You are familiar with God, you are at home with Him. It all results from the possession and the knowing of eternal life. If you live like that in His presence, in that sphere of confidence, then you share your desires with Him. Of course He knows all about them already. Therefore it is not about telling Him what He would not know, but it is about the fact that praying means that you consciously have fellowship with Him. The Lord Jesus has prayed continuously. His life was prayer ( ), but He also had specific times for prayer. He always lived in conscious fellowship with God, but He also prayed with a view to specific events. With Him there was no ignorance regarding the answer to His prayers. He did not need to question Himself whether the Father had heard Him, for He knew that the Father always heard Him ( ). . With us it is not always like that. Sometimes you do not know how to pray and you also do not know whether you ask for the right thing. Nevertheless, you may pray. You have the confidence to do that. And if you pray for something that is according to His will, He will hear you, that is, that He will answer you, for He always hears you, after all. A nice example of someone who had the certainty of getting the petition she prayed for, is Hannah, the mother of Samuel. She prayed for a son. After she had gained the certainty of prayer, that is, that she had the certainty that her prayer would be answered, she looked different ( ). A practical point for our praying is that we often take too little time for it. That indicates that we do not consider it that important. We need to take time for prayer. If you cease to pray, it means that you will also cease to receive the blessing. Prayer needs time, perseverance and encouragement in the form of an answer. The only way to learn the lessons of prayer is by praying. In that way you, for example, can pray for the sake of the ministry of a brother or sister. If you pray for him or her to receive strength and blessing from God, then you know that it is a prayer according to His will. He wants us to pray for that. And He will surely answer. . A special prayer is the prayer for a brother who commits a sin. If you see a brother committing a sin, you respond – that’s what the apostle presumes – with Christian love. That love is expressed in praying for the brother. The fellowship between him and the Father has been disturbed. He has no more confidence and he cannot enjoy the blessings of that fellowship. Therefore your love will lead you to pray for him in the first place. If sin has entered someone’s life, also death has entered his life, which implies the absence of the joy of life. The effect of the prayer is that the brother is again placed back in the joy of the life in the company of the family of God’s children, where death and sin do not belong. Now John makes another distinction in the sin which is committed. He speaks about “a sin not [leading] to death” and about “a sin [leading] to death”. For the first sin it is allowed to pray, for the second one it is not allowed. How are you to distinguish the kind of sin you’re dealing with? That will become clear in interaction with the Lord. You can be sure that if a believer sins, it is a sin not leading to death. If it is a sin leading to death, it will become clear by, for example, certain circumstances (cf. ). It was clear to Peter that Ananias and Sapphira had committed a sin leading to death ( ). Moses also had committed a sin leading to death, for he was not allowed to enter the land because of his sin. When he asked God if he could still enter the land, he received the answer to speak no more of this matter with Him ( ). And Jeremiah was told to pray no more for the people. They were deviated that far away from God that it became inevitable to have them taken away into exile ( ). It seems that a sin leading to death is a sin that violates the testimony of God in a particular way. Because of that sin the Name of God has been seriously and publicly dishonored. The conduct of one of His own gives the enemies of God an extra motive to blaspheme His Name. Then it can happen that God can no longer maintain such a person as His witness on earth and takes Him away. If that’s the case, then there is mention of a sin leading to death. . By putting this emphasis on a sin leading to death, it may seem as if other kinds of sin are not that serious. That would be a tragic mistake. John again explicitly declares that “all unrighteousness” is sin, even if it is often a sin not leading to death. We must be aware that this can only be said in this way because the Lord Jesus went into death for each sin of God’s children. “For the wages of sin is death” ( ). Therefore sin may absolutely not have any room in the life of a child of God. If it happens that he commits a sin he has to confess it as soon as possible. Prayer for one another is a great contribution to this. . John ends his letter with three verses that all three begin with “we know” ( ), with then in the last verse ( ) a general warning. With this three times “we know”, which implies that you have conscious knowledge, John once more records the clear principles that he has dealt with extensively in his letter. The first ‘we know’ concerns the knowledge “that no one who is born of God sins”, whatever people may say. You are born of God and in accordance with your new life you have no part in the practice of sin. The new life cannot sin and does not want anything else than to do the will of God. You are born of God and therefore have His nature. Can God sin? Impossible! In Him there is no sin. Therefore you also cannot sin in your new life. Every believer knows that. John sees you and addresses you in the new life that you have received because you are born of God. That new life “keeps” you. That life is completely safe and untouchable for the evil. The evil has no point of connection therein, as the Lord Jesus also says of Himself ( ). And He is that new life in you. The evil cannot possibly gain his grip on your new nature any more than he could on the Lord Jesus. . Apart from the evil one, you also have to deal with his instrument, which is the world. In his second “we know” John points at the radical separation between those who are of God and the whole world. Therefore here it is not so much about your being born of God, but about God Himself as the One to Whom you belong and with Whom you are connected. You belong to God, while the world belongs to the evil one and is totally surrounded by evil. The whole world, without anything being exempt from it, breathes wickedness and is the means through which the evil is trying to gain his grip on you. Because you know to Whom you belong, you have a sharp eye for what the world is and for your place on the other side of the borderline. You do not want to have anything to do with the world. . The third “we know” focuses your attention on Him Who is the center in God’s world, the Son of God. You know that He has come into the world and “has given us understanding” so that you may know “Him who is true”. Formerly you were darkened in your understanding ( ), however intelligent you perhaps are. Now you have the understanding, how little you may be of account in the world. You owe that to the coming of the Son of God. Had He not come, then you would have remained in darkness. But He has come and has opened your understanding ( ). You have gained insight in the plans of God and of how He is going to fulfill them. Everything happens through His Son. You know Him Who is true, that is God as the One Who is true in Himself. In the world the lie rules, but that does not find any point of connection in the new life. That’s because you know Him Who is true and Who always speaks the truth about all things. You do not only know Him, but it is also even said that you are in Him. That is not knowledge at a distance, for you have been brought into the closest connection with Him. That doesn’t imply that you were brought into the Godhead. After that John directly adds in which way you are in Him Who is true and that is because you are in His Son Jesus Christ. In Him Who has come as Man you are in Him Who is true. You were not able to become God, but God indeed was able to become Man and in that way identify you with Him. At the same time He remains to be the One Who became Man, the true God and the eternal life. That places you before the inconceivable wonder of His Person. In this respect the appeal ‘Come let us adore Him!’ is appropriate. . The last verse is also appropriate in this light. Guard yourselves from idols, that is things or people that demand, ask for or provoke adoration, for all adoration is to be ascribed to the Son alone. John has presented Him as the eternal life to you in this letter. He is the eternal life you have received. You know the Father and Him Whom He has sent. You therefore have been brought into the sphere of the eternal life ( ). Spend your time there and be involved with Him Who is the eternal life. Don’t let yourself be tempted to spend your time, your attention and adoration to something or someone else. Only the Father and the Son are worthy of adoration, now and forever. Amen. Now read 1 John 5:14-21 again. Reflection: What have you learned in this letter about the eternal life?

‏ 1 John 5:19

Knowledge of Eternal Life

1Jn 5:14. This verse describes a wonderful result of the possession of eternal life that John has spoken about in the previous verse. He who has eternal life also has “confidence”. This confidence or boldness comes to expression in your prayer life, for therein fellowship with the Father and the Son comes to expression. It is the unreserved talking with the Father and the Son about all issues that affect your life, such as children have, who have an unreserved relationship with their father. Confidence also includes trust, assurance and safety. You are familiar with God, you are at home with Him. It all results from the possession and the knowing of eternal life.

If you live like that in His presence, in that sphere of confidence, then you share your desires with Him. Of course He knows all about them already. Therefore it is not about telling Him what He would not know, but it is about the fact that praying means that you consciously have fellowship with Him. The Lord Jesus has prayed continuously. His life was prayer (Psa 109:4b), but He also had specific times for prayer. He always lived in conscious fellowship with God, but He also prayed with a view to specific events. With Him there was no ignorance regarding the answer to His prayers. He did not need to question Himself whether the Father had heard Him, for He knew that the Father always heard Him (Jn 11:42).

1Jn 5:15. With us it is not always like that. Sometimes you do not know how to pray and you also do not know whether you ask for the right thing. Nevertheless, you may pray. You have the confidence to do that. And if you pray for something that is according to His will, He will hear you, that is, that He will answer you, for He always hears you, after all. A nice example of someone who had the certainty of getting the petition she prayed for, is Hannah, the mother of Samuel. She prayed for a son. After she had gained the certainty of prayer, that is, that she had the certainty that her prayer would be answered, she looked different (1Sam 1:17-18).

A practical point for our praying is that we often take too little time for it. That indicates that we do not consider it that important. We need to take time for prayer. If you cease to pray, it means that you will also cease to receive the blessing. Prayer needs time, perseverance and encouragement in the form of an answer. The only way to learn the lessons of prayer is by praying. In that way you, for example, can pray for the sake of the ministry of a brother or sister. If you pray for him or her to receive strength and blessing from God, then you know that it is a prayer according to His will. He wants us to pray for that. And He will surely answer.

1Jn 5:16. A special prayer is the prayer for a brother who commits a sin. If you see a brother committing a sin, you respond – that’s what the apostle presumes – with Christian love. That love is expressed in praying for the brother. The fellowship between him and the Father has been disturbed. He has no more confidence and he cannot enjoy the blessings of that fellowship. Therefore your love will lead you to pray for him in the first place.

If sin has entered someone’s life, also death has entered his life, which implies the absence of the joy of life. The effect of the prayer is that the brother is again placed back in the joy of the life in the company of the family of God’s children, where death and sin do not belong.

Now John makes another distinction in the sin which is committed. He speaks about “a sin not [leading] to death” and about “a sin [leading] to death”. For the first sin it is allowed to pray, for the second one it is not allowed. How are you to distinguish the kind of sin you’re dealing with? That will become clear in interaction with the Lord.

You can be sure that if a believer sins, it is a sin not leading to death. If it is a sin leading to death, it will become clear by, for example, certain circumstances (cf. 1Cor 11:30). It was clear to Peter that Ananias and Sapphira had committed a sin leading to death (Acts 5:1-10). Moses also had committed a sin leading to death, for he was not allowed to enter the land because of his sin. When he asked God if he could still enter the land, he received the answer to speak no more of this matter with Him (Deu 3:25-26). And Jeremiah was told to pray no more for the people. They were deviated that far away from God that it became inevitable to have them taken away into exile (Jer 11:14 ; Jer 15:1).

It seems that a sin leading to death is a sin that violates the testimony of God in a particular way. Because of that sin the Name of God has been seriously and publicly dishonored. The conduct of one of His own gives the enemies of God an extra motive to blaspheme His Name. Then it can happen that God can no longer maintain such a person as His witness on earth and takes Him away. If that’s the case, then there is mention of a sin leading to death.

1Jn 5:17. By putting this emphasis on a sin leading to death, it may seem as if other kinds of sin are not that serious. That would be a tragic mistake. John again explicitly declares that “all unrighteousness” is sin, even if it is often a sin not leading to death. We must be aware that this can only be said in this way because the Lord Jesus went into death for each sin of God’s children. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Therefore sin may absolutely not have any room in the life of a child of God. If it happens that he commits a sin he has to confess it as soon as possible. Prayer for one another is a great contribution to this.

1Jn 5:18. John ends his letter with three verses that all three begin with “we know” (1Jn 5:18 ; 19 ; 20), with then in the last verse (1Jn 5:21) a general warning. With this three times “we know”, which implies that you have conscious knowledge, John once more records the clear principles that he has dealt with extensively in his letter.

The first ‘we know’ concerns the knowledge “that no one who is born of God sins”, whatever people may say. You are born of God and in accordance with your new life you have no part in the practice of sin. The new life cannot sin and does not want anything else than to do the will of God. You are born of God and therefore have His nature. Can God sin? Impossible! In Him there is no sin. Therefore you also cannot sin in your new life. Every believer knows that.

John sees you and addresses you in the new life that you have received because you are born of God. That new life “keeps” you. That life is completely safe and untouchable for the evil. The evil has no point of connection therein, as the Lord Jesus also says of Himself (Jn 14:30). And He is that new life in you. The evil cannot possibly gain his grip on your new nature any more than he could on the Lord Jesus.

1Jn 5:19. Apart from the evil one, you also have to deal with his instrument, which is the world. In his second “we know” John points at the radical separation between those who are of God and the whole world. Therefore here it is not so much about your being born of God, but about God Himself as the One to Whom you belong and with Whom you are connected. You belong to God, while the world belongs to the evil one and is totally surrounded by evil. The whole world, without anything being exempt from it, breathes wickedness and is the means through which the evil is trying to gain his grip on you. Because you know to Whom you belong, you have a sharp eye for what the world is and for your place on the other side of the borderline. You do not want to have anything to do with the world.

1Jn 5:20. The third “we know” focuses your attention on Him Who is the center in God’s world, the Son of God. You know that He has come into the world and “has given us understanding” so that you may know “Him who is true”. Formerly you were darkened in your understanding (Eph 4:18), however intelligent you perhaps are. Now you have the understanding, how little you may be of account in the world. You owe that to the coming of the Son of God. Had He not come, then you would have remained in darkness. But He has come and has opened your understanding (Lk 24:45). You have gained insight in the plans of God and of how He is going to fulfill them. Everything happens through His Son.

You know Him Who is true, that is God as the One Who is true in Himself. In the world the lie rules, but that does not find any point of connection in the new life. That’s because you know Him Who is true and Who always speaks the truth about all things. You do not only know Him, but it is also even said that you are in Him. That is not knowledge at a distance, for you have been brought into the closest connection with Him.

That doesn’t imply that you were brought into the Godhead. After that John directly adds in which way you are in Him Who is true and that is because you are in His Son Jesus Christ. In Him Who has come as Man you are in Him Who is true. You were not able to become God, but God indeed was able to become Man and in that way identify you with Him. At the same time He remains to be the One Who became Man, the true God and the eternal life. That places you before the inconceivable wonder of His Person. In this respect the appeal ‘Come let us adore Him!’ is appropriate.

1Jn 5:21. The last verse is also appropriate in this light. Guard yourselves from idols, that is things or people that demand, ask for or provoke adoration, for all adoration is to be ascribed to the Son alone. John has presented Him as the eternal life to you in this letter. He is the eternal life you have received. You know the Father and Him Whom He has sent. You therefore have been brought into the sphere of the eternal life (Jn 17:3). Spend your time there and be involved with Him Who is the eternal life. Don’t let yourself be tempted to spend your time, your attention and adoration to something or someone else. Only the Father and the Son are worthy of adoration, now and forever. Amen.

Now read 1 John 5:14-21 again.

Reflection: What have you learned in this letter about the eternal life?