11 1 John 5:13-21 Confidence in the Gospel

John concludes his letter encouraging believers to have confidence about three things:  1) that you have eternal life; 2) that your sin cannot jeopardize that life; and 3) that the gospel message is true.

Review

1 John 1-3 – God is light and in him there is no darkness.  Therefore His children, true believers will:

• Know they are sinful
• Love things of God and not things of the world
• Confess that Jesus is the Christ
• Pursue a lifestyle of rightness and holiness
• Love with a self-sacrificing love

1 John 4-5 – Don’t believe everything that gets taught in the name of Jesus.  Teachers from God will:

• Love with a self-sacrificing love
• Confess that Jesus is the Christ
• The Jesus who was confirmed by three witnesses: baptism, death, Holy Spirit

Passage

• “you who believe in the name of the Son of God” – true believers are those who believe what Jesus said about both His identity and His role, and all that implies,
• 1 John 5:14-15 is an explanation of how we can be confident that we have eternal life.  These verses are NOT an argument that believers will receive whatever they ask of God.
• When we ask for things in accordance with God’s will (righteousness), God hears (& answers)  us.  If we know that God hears (and answers) us when we ask for righteousness, then we know that He answered our request that He save us (make us righteous), because it is precisely this type of request that God answers. Thus we can be confident that we have eternal life.

What is the’ sin to death’ and ‘sin not to death’?

1 John 5:16-18  If any one sees his brother¹ committing sin³ not to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life⁴ to those who commit sin³ not to death.  There is sin³ to death;   I do not say that he should make request⁴ for this.  17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin³ not to death.  18 We know that no one who is born of God sins² {to death},  but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.

Criteria for a valid interpretation of “sin to death” and “sin not to death”

1. Believers must be able to commit the “sin not to death”
2. Those “sinning to death” are not believers
3. Language suggests this is any sin, not a particular sin
4. Must be a reason why God will give life to “sins not to death” and not to “sins to death”
5. Must fit the context of 5:13-21
6. Must be consistent with rest of Scripture

With these criteria in mind, evaluate the options.

Option 1:  an unforgivable sin versus a forgivable sin

• No other Scripture makes a distinction between forgivable and nonforgivable sins.
• No passage suggests there are sins that the blood of Christ cannot cover.
• John’s language does not refer to a specific sin.
• The language suggests any sin can be a sin which does/does not lead to death.

Option 2:  any sin which causes physical death versus those which do not cause physical death

• John never uses death in this letter to refer to physical death;   In fact context suggests he‘s talking about spiritual life, so we would expect him to also be talking about spiritual death.
• There are many examples in the Old Testament of people committing sins that lead to their own or someone else’s death.  But we are never told not to pray for them.
• We don’t see a distinction between sins which cause physical death and sins which don’t elsewhere in the New Testament.

Option 3:  apostasy – a believer renouncing the faith versus all other sins

• While there is no question that those who reject the faith will face God’s judgment, one who is born of God cannot ultimately reject the faith according to rest of letter and other Scriptures.
• 1 John 5:18 suggests that those who commit sins to death are not believers.

Option 4:  a sin which results from a character of unbelief

• This fits language as any sin may or may not be rooted an unbelief.
• Believers’ sin is not rooted in a character of unbelief and rebellion to God as is the sin of non-believers.
• It explains why we are not to pray for the one whose sin is rooted in a spirit of unbelief (God will not give life to unbelievers).
• Paraphrase:  16 If anyone sees a person sinning but that person has genuine saving faith, he shall make a request (of God) on his (brother’s) behalf and He (God) will give life to the one sinning because the one sinning has faith.  Some people sin out of rejection of God, and a character of unbelief.  Concerning this person (the one whose sin arises from rejection of God) I am not saying to make a request of God on his behalf, because God has not guaranteed that the person will be saved.  17 All sin is wrong,  but some sins do not spring from a rejection of God and a lifestyle of unbelief.
• What is John’s point? Once you have genuine saving faith, even your sin will not jeopardize your eternal life.

Summary

• 1 John 5:13-15– You can have confidence about receiving eternal life, because God always answers requests for righteousness.
• 1 John 5:16-19 – You can have confidence that even your sin will not jeopardize your eternal life, because believers’ do not sin out of character of unbelief.
• 1 John 5:20-21 – You can have confidence that this is the true message because it was taught by Jesus Christ.

For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.

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