1 John 5 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 1 John 5:1-5

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

A. Find Out:

1. Who is born of God? v.1a
2. Who loves God’s child? v.1b
3. How do we know we love the children of God? v.2
4. What is love for God? v.3
5. What does everyone born of God do and how? v.4
6. Who overcomes the world? v.5

B. Think:

1. How do we show our love for God?
2. How do we overcome?
3. How much do you think these things require an act of will?

C. Comment:

      John has already spoken much about loving others (1:10, 3:11,14,16-18, 4:7-12,19-21), about obedience (2:3-6, 3:10 ,22-24) and overcoming the enemy (2:13,14,18-27, 3:7,8, 4:1-5). Now he pulls all these threads together. It is a logical flow of thinking.

     If you truly believe (trust in completely) Jesus, it shows you are born of God (Jn 1:12,13) and if you love the Father, you will love the Son and His children as well, because we’re all part of the family. We love God’s children by loving Him and doing what He has said. That’s the sure sign of loving God, that we DO what He has said, and those things aren’t hard. As we do that, we overcome the ways of the world that would seek to conform us to its godless way of thinking, and that in itself is an act of faith; in fact, the only person who overcomes the world way of thinking and living is the person who believes in Jesus.

    All of this truth is wrapped up in a bundle and you can’t take bits away. We believed and so God made us His children. When He put His own Holy Spirit within us we had a new source of energy and direction and we found ourselves loving others in a new way. We also found God’s word taught us how to love, and as we obeyed what we read, so we loved even more, and thus overcame the old life.

D. Application:

1. Love is expressed in obedience to God.
2. Love is expressed practically one to another.

Passage: 1 John 5:6-12

6 This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

A. Find Out:

1. How did Jesus come? v.6a
2. Who testifies and why? v.6b
3. Yet what three testify? v.7,8
4. What testimony is greater than man’s? v.9
5. What does the one who believes in Jesus have? v.10-12

B. Think:

1. Who or what have testified to Jesus as God’s Son?
2. What do believers receive?
3. What is the stated position of non-believers?

C. Comment:

      These are not easy verses because, as so often, John does not spell out his meaning for us. John has spoken a number of times about believing in Jesus (3:23, 4:2,15, 5:1,5) and now he speaks again about the testimony to Jesus.

      First there is reference to water and blood. The opening of Jesus’ ministry was indicated at his baptism (water) and the completion of it at his death (blood). At his baptism the Father’s voice testified to His Son (see Mt 3:17). After his death he was raised from the dead, again the Father indicating His approval of His Son (see Acts 17:31). When the Holy Spirit came upon Peter on the day of Pentecost, he declared Jesus to be the risen Lord (see Acts 2). Again and again the Spirit inspired the believers to declare this truth. This is God Himself speaking through His servants, not just their wishful thinking! In John’s Gospel he uses the word ‘testify’ twelve times. In this letter he uses it three times. It is the word about a ‘witness’ who tells what he knows.

      But John doesn’t stop there. He again speaks about the effects of believing. When you believe you know in your heart that these things are true. When you believe you receive the Spirit of Jesus into you and He witnesses to these things and He is eternal life. With Him we have an eternal destiny.

D. Application:

1. The testimony to Jesus is loud and clear! We can believe it!
2. By the Spirit within we know we have life eternal.

Passage: 1 John 5:13-15

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.

A. Find Out:

1. Why does John say he writes? v.13
2. What confidence do we have? v.14
3. And so what is the consequence of that? v.15
4. Read Jn 15:7 What is the key to asking there?
5. Read Jn 15:16 What is the key to asking there?

B. Think:

1. What is the first confidence John wants us to have here?
2. What is the second confidence he wants us to have?
3. What is the key to that second one?

C. Comment:

      Just a few verses but so important! First of all, John has just been writing that God has given us eternal life (v.11,12). Now he says, I want you to be quite sure that you HAVE got eternal life if you have put your trust in Jesus. It’s not a matter of what you feel, or of how much you do, it’s simply a matter of fact that Jesus has died for your sins and when you believe that and put your trust completely in him, then you can be assured that you have been forgiven and your future with God is guaranteed.

     Next he speaks about the fruit of this relationship with God. We can be confident now in approaching God, even though we don’t see Him. If we come to Him in prayer and ask according to His revealed will, then He WILL hear us and He WILL answer us.

     This passage is incredible! Whenever we call on God in line with His will, He ALWAYS will hear us and because it is in line with His will, He WILL give what we ask. Does it sound too easy? Well the only difficult bit is that we pray according to His will. How do we do that? John tells us elsewhere – remain in Him, or live close to Him, let His word fill us so we learn what His will is, be fruitful as His child, do His will wherever you discern it and then you can ask confidently!

D. Application:

1. I need to check it out, am I doing God’s will in every area of my life, am I given over completely to Him? I can ask confidently.
2. Do I feed on His word to learn His will? I can ask confidently.

Passage: 1 John 5:16-21

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

A. Find Out:

1. What should we do for who, and with what effect? v.16a
2. What limitation did John put on that? v.16b
3. How did he define sin? v.17
4. Who doesn’t sin and why? v.18
5. Who are we and where are we? v.19
6. What has Jesus done and what is our position as a result? v.20

B. Think:

1. Summarise what this passage teaches about sin.
2. Summarise what it says about Satan.
3. Summarise what it says about our position.

C. Comment:

      Amazing verses! John has just written about prayer and so continues by instructing us to pray for Christians who commit a sin. They need forgiveness and restoring to communion with the Father and thus to the full life flow that comes with that relationship (Remember non-Christians need prayer for salvation, not individual sins!).

     The sin that leads to death must be apostasy, the full turning away from Christ. Heb 6:4-6 indicates the possibility, but the key words are “fall away” which doesn’t mean to commit the occasional sin, but to wilfully turn away from Christ and maintain a life of sin.

     Yet again John says the Christian does not continue to sin, but now he adds that it is Jesus who guards and keeps the Christian from Satan so that he or she doesn’t have to sin. We live in a world where Satan is the ruler over all the unredeemed, but Jesus has brought us into salvation and part of that salvation is living “in Him”, within his protection. This is an amazing promise that we are given here at the end of this first letter. Satan cannot harm you or lead you astray IF you remain close to Jesus in your outlook as you remain in him in your decreed position. It is the fact of your position combined with the act of your will.

D. Application:

1. In Christ I am in a place of total security.
2. To remain in Christ is also an act of will on my part.