1 John 5:1-5

Readings  Deuteronomy 22, Ephesians 2

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

We are still camping, having a great time of it too.  As I looked over the passage today, I can see that there are difficulties that rise from this merely due to the mention of commandments.  It seems that as people hear about commands of God, that they get all in a huff about legalism.  There is a difference between legalism, and following the Law, and simply following the commands of Christ.  It's not a hard thing, it's simply living out the life that we are called to do.

5:1  There was a faction that did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah in John's day, they did not believe him to be the anointed one that was to come.  Therefore John makes a simple statement that believing in Jesus means that we also believe in the Father, and we love the children born of Him. John 1:12-13.  In a nutshell, it means that Christians will love other Christians.  Considering John's statement, is there room for back-biting, or dissention among believers?  If we fail to see brotherly love demonstrated, doesn't that show a problem?

5:2  John moves from looking at relationships between believers to the relationship to God.  If we know, with a knowledge that is acquired through experience, that we love the brethren, then it is only natural that we will love God and follow His commandments.  John 13:34-35, 15:17

5:3  The stress is placed upon following His commandments, yet these are not really defined.  We are told that they are not burdensome.  If we are to consider the commandments of God, then we have to look at how these commandments are delivered to us.  Do they come from the Law, from the New Testament, or by some other means?  I believe that the law was a model for our lives, it gave us great examples to live by, and to mold our lives by.  It was loaded with great morals and the very best moral standards for society that is available. Romans 7:12-25 Yet we are not to live under the law.  The New Testament, is closer to our form of the law.  It also gives us lots and lots of great stuff to live by, yet we still are not to live by it as the law.  It gives us guidelines as to how to live our lives in Christ.  Now that I have dabbled a little bit in the idea of law and commandments, I think that the real commandments that we live by are not derived from the old law, or the New Testament, but from the Holy Spirit guiding us daily in our lives.  In the guiding of the Holy Spirit, His commands are not burdensome.  In the same thought though, we are not just to sit back and wait for a divine revelation from the Lord, He expects us to spend the time dwelling in the Word and seeking His will. 

5:4  We go now from following to overcoming.  Faith in action.  Once we follow God's commands, then we take the commands one step further and are able to overcome the world, speaking of victory over the world.  Thinking of the world and all that it entails, what does this speak to in your life?  Is it temptation, worldly lusts, the desire to have more?  There is a wide range of things that could be suggested.  I think that the main idea here is that the world is anything that draws us away from Christ.  John previously referred to being in this book that to be in Christ or in the world, there is no middle ground.  To be in Christ, means that we are living in Him, to not be living in Christ means that we are living in the world.  In order to overcome the world, it is a simple matter of living constantly in Christ.  No middle ground, no grey areas, simple straightforward truth.  For a lot of people this is a difficult concept, yet that is what we are called to do.

5:5  The one who overcomes is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  In other words, the one who overcomes recognizes that Jesus is Lord in their lives.  Overcoming the world, interesting thought, how many are really concerned with this?  From today's study, we can see that it is extremely simple to do.  It is a matter of making a decision to live out what we already know to do. 

Lord, as we consider Your word, I ask that You will give each one of us the willingness to submit to the guiding of Your Spirit.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

1 John 5:6-12

Readings  Deuteronomy 23, Ephesians 3

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

As I overview these verses, at first the Trinity seems to jump out, but this is a far stretch, and does not apply to these verses.  The three witnesses are clear when you think about the context.

5:6-8  The text is speaking about Jesus Christ, giving an answer to the question posed in verse 5.  The three that are in agreement are clear.  First the water.  Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist at the start of His public ministry.  Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22.  The Holy Spirit testified to this Baptism, making a divine stamp of approval, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:31-34.  The Holy Spirit verified that Jesus was the chosen one, the Messiah.  Then we have the testimony of the blood.  Hard to picture the blood screaming from the ground that Jesus is the Messiah.  Yet that is just what had been done.  Jesus underwent torture, and was literally beaten, whipped and abused to death, the finishing stab by the roman spear was post-mortem.  Jesus' Blood was drained out of His body leaving a corpse that was virtually drained of what little blood that was left in it.  That blood that was shed for the sins of mankind is still screaming out from the ground as a witness to the sacrifice that was made for the redemption of man.  Then Jesus rose from the dead, raised to prove that the penalty had been paid, and He was the one who accomplished the task.  After rising from the dead, and eventually ascending into heaven, the Holy Spirit was given to believers on Pentecost to attest to the covenant that had been fulfilled.  Acts 2:1-13.  The fact had been verified by three witness, and was in complete fulfillment of the law.  Matthew 18:16; Deuteronomy 19:15

5:9 First the three witnesses, including the Holy Spirit.  Now a fourth witness is added to the mix, God the Father.  Jesus was verified at the baptism by the Father, Matthew 3:17, then again at the transfiguration, Matthew 17:5, and also when Jesus was teaching regarding His death, John 12:27-28. 

5:10-12  A simple summation of the concepts of the witnesses.  Add to the four witnesses one more, yourself.  In the simple act of believing that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who was the final sacrifice for our sins, we also bear witness to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah.  By that act of faith, we obtain eternal life through Christ, which never ends.  It is His life, which we are absorbed into, it permeates our entire beings.  Referring back to the discussion of abiding in Christ earlier in this book, to have His life in us, means that we are abiding in Him.  John 15:5.  It would be impossible to be in Christ without abiding in the vine.  If on the other hand, Jesus is rejected, then that person takes a stand against four strong witnesses, and sets himself up above God.  That is a dangerous place to be.   A person who denies that Jesus is the Christ, has denied the possibility of entering into eternal life with Christ.

Lord, as we consider these simple verses, I thank You that each one of us have the witness within ourselves that You are our Messiah. 

In Him,

Joe Turner.