1 John 5

John ties together faith, love and obedience as the marks of a person born of God. He gives the witness of God to Jesus and the promise of eternal life in the Son. He closes with confidence in prayer, a word about sin, and a final warning against idols.

1 John 5:1

Believing that Jesus is the Christ is the sign of a new birth from God. Those born of the same Father become family, so loving the Father naturally includes loving His other children. Faith and love belong together.

BSA: born (“spiritually regenerated, begotten”): The new life is God’s own gift, not something we produce ourselves.

See also: John 1:12-13; John 3:3.

1 John 5:2

How can we be sure we truly love God’s children? By loving God and obeying Him. Love for fellow believers is not mere sentiment. It rests on a right relationship with God and shows itself in doing what He asks.

BSA: keep (“obey, observe carefully”): Obedience here means careful, watchful attention to what God says.

1 John 5:3

Love for God is not just a feeling. It shows itself in obeying Him. And His commands are not a crushing load, because they come from a Father who loves us and who gives the strength to follow them.

BSA: burdensome (“weighty, grievous, hard to bear”): God’s commands are not a heavy weight laid on the shoulders of His children.

Greek: βαρεῖαι (bareiai, G926) — “heavy, weighty.” It pictures a crushing load. Jesus likewise said His yoke is easy and His burden light.

See also: Matthew 11:30; John 14:15.

1 John 5:4

Everyone born of God overcomes the world, meaning its pressures, temptations and opposition to God. The victory is not won by our strength. It is won by faith, trusting what God has done in Christ.

BSA: victory (“triumph, conquest”): Faith shares in a triumph already won, not one we must still fight to earn.

Greek: νίκη (nikē, G3529) — “victory.” This is the only place John uses this noun. It names the winning itself, and he says that faith is that winning.

See also: John 16:33.

1 John 5:5

John asks who overcomes the world and answers plainly: the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. The victory rests on who Jesus is. Trusting Him puts us on the winning side.

BSA: overcomes (“defeats, conquers”): The world’s hold on us is truly broken, not just resisted.

1 John 5:6

Jesus came by water and blood, most likely meaning His baptism at the start of His ministry and His death on the cross. He was truly the Son of God from start to finish, and truly human enough to shed blood. The Spirit confirms this, for the Spirit is truth.

BSA: water and blood (“the atoning sacrifice of Christ”): The phrase points to the real, bodily work of Jesus that saves, not a mere idea.

Greek: μαρτυροῦν (martyroun, G3140) — “bearing witness, testifying.” This is the word from which we get martyr. It means a witness who speaks to what is true.

See also: John 19:34; Mark 1:9-11.

1 John 5:7-8

John names three witnesses to Jesus: the Spirit, the water and the blood. They agree. The Old Testament required more than one witness to establish a matter, and here the testimony is firm and united.

BSA: agreement (“united, one in purpose”): The three witnesses do not contradict each other. They all point to Jesus as the Son of God.

See also: Deuteronomy 19:15.

1 John 5:9

We readily accept human testimony in daily life, in courts and in business. God’s own testimony is far weightier. And God has spoken clearly about His Son, so we can rest on His word.

BSA: testimony (“witness, affirmation”): God Himself stands as the witness, so the evidence is the strongest possible.

Greek: μαρτυρία (martyria, G3141) — “testimony, witness.” John uses this word again and again in these verses, as in a courtroom, to stress that God has given real evidence.

See also: Matthew 3:17.

1 John 5:10

The believer carries the witness inwardly, with a settled assurance that God’s word about Jesus is true. To refuse that word is serious: it treats God as a liar. Unbelief is not neutral. It rejects what God has said.

BSA: liar (“one who deceives, spreads falsehood”): Refusing God’s word about His Son accuses Him of speaking falsely.

1 John 5:11

This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and that life is found in His Son. Life is not earned or stored up by us. It is a gift, and it comes only in connection with Jesus.

BSA: eternal (“lasting forever, age-during”): This life is of a new quality, belonging to God’s age, and not merely endless.

See also: John 17:3; Romans 6:23.

1 John 5:12

John states it simply. Having the Son means having life, and not having the Son means not having life. There is no middle ground. Life is not a thing apart from Christ but a relationship with Him.

BSA: has (“possesses, holds”): To have the Son is a real, personal hold on Him, through faith.

See also: John 3:36.

1 John 5:13

Here John gives the purpose of his letter. He writes to believers so that they may know, not merely hope, that they have eternal life. God wants His children to be assured, not anxious.

BSA: name (“character, authority”): To believe in His name is to trust all that He is and has revealed.

Greek: εἰδῆτε (eidēte, G6063) — “you may know.” This word speaks of settled knowing, a sure grasp, not a passing guess.

See also: John 20:31.

1 John 5:14

Assurance leads to boldness in prayer. When we ask according to God’s will, He hears us. This is not a formula to get our way. It is trust that grows as our desires come into line with His.

BSA: confidence (“boldness, freedom in speaking”): We may speak openly and freely to God, as children to a father.

Greek: παρρησία (parrēsia, G3954) — “boldness, free speech.” It originally meant the freedom to say everything openly. Believers may approach God without fear or hiding.

See also: Hebrews 4:16.

1 John 5:15

If we know God hears our requests made according to His will, we can rest as though the answer is already ours. This is a quiet trust in His goodness and timing, not a guarantee that He will give whatever we may want.

BSA: possess (“have, hold”): Faith treats God’s answer as certain because it rests on His character.

See also: Mark 11:24.

1 John 5:16

Believers are to pray for a brother or sister who falls into sin, and God gives life in answer. John also speaks of a sin leading to death. Christians understand this in different ways, and John does not define it here. The call is to care and pray.

BSA: brother (“fellow Christian, sibling in faith”): We are responsible to pray for one another in the family of God.

See also: James 5:14-15; Matthew 12:31.

1 John 5:17

John does not excuse sin. Every wrong is sin and matters to God. Yet not every sin is of the deadly kind, so there is hope, and room for prayer and restoration for the one who stumbles.

BSA: unrighteousness (“morally wrong, unjust”): Any departure from what is right in God’s eyes counts as sin.

See also: 1 John 1:9.

1 John 5:18

One born of God does not make sin a way of life. The Son of God guards him, and the evil one cannot lay hold of him. The believer’s safety rests on Christ’s keeping, not on his own strength.

BSA: protects (“keeps him safe, watches over him”): Jesus Himself stands guard over His people.

Greek: ἅπτεται (haptetai, G681) — “touches, lays hold of.” It means a grip that harms, not a light brush. The evil one cannot seize the believer and do him lasting damage.

See also: John 17:15.

1 John 5:19

John draws a sharp line. We belong to God, while the whole world lies under the sway of the evil one. This is not despair. It is a clear view of where we stand and of whose we are.

BSA: world (“the system of human society, the earthly realm”): John means human society organized apart from God, not the created earth itself.

See also: Galatians 1:4.

1 John 5:20

The Son of God has come and has given us understanding to know the true God. We are in Him through Jesus Christ. John states that Jesus is the true God and eternal life, so the One we trust is God Himself.

BSA: understanding (“a mind, spiritual insight”): Knowing God is a gift Christ gives, not something we reach by our own cleverness.

Greek: ἀληθινόν (alēthinon, G228) — “true, genuine, real.” It means real as opposed to counterfeit. This sets the true God against every false substitute, as the next verse warns.

See also: John 17:3; John 1:1.

1 John 5:21

John ends with a tender warning. Having been shown the true God, little children must guard themselves from idols. An idol is anything that takes the place of God in our hearts. The true God is enough.

BSA: idols (“false gods, images, things worshipped in place of God”): Anything we trust or love in God’s place becomes an idol, not only carved images.

Greek: φυλάξατε (phylaxate, G5442) — “guard, keep watch.” It is the word for a sentry’s watch. We are to stand guard over our hearts.

See also: 1 Corinthians 10:14.