1 John 5:14-17, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.”
The Apostle John now moves on from our absolute knowledge of belonging to Christ Jesus and Him abiding within us as we abide with Him, to the benefits of having that absolute knowledge and especially as it relates to prayer and the total confidence we can have in our prayer life.
When we truly know that we have eternal life as the Apostle has reassured us to this point, we have a privilege, a confidence in that very fact. One of the most awesome privileges afforded a true child of God’s, a true follower of Christ Jesus, is the ability to commune on a personal and intimate basis with our Heavenly Father through the authority given us by Jesus Christ.
As the writer of Hebrews stated we are able to confidently, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16.
When we were lost in sin, our Heavenly Father could not, because of His purity and holiness be in the presence of our sin. Since Jesus came and voluntarily spanned the gap between our sinfulness and God’s presence by shedding His Blood for each of us individually, what our Heavenly Father now sees in each of us is the pureness, and the holiness that the Blood of Jesus has cleansed us with. In the Father’s eyes, He sees His Son in each of us who have accepted His Son’s gift. This affords us the confidence come before His presence with boldness and grace.
Because of Jesus Christ and the renewed spirit that we have within, we are now able to commune intimately with our Heavenly Father, which is the reason that Jesus came to earth to fulfill His mission of redemption to begin with. He came to show us the Father and the Way, the ONLY way TO the Father! When we accepted Christ Jesus into our lives, by way of His Holy Spirit, Christ Jesus opened the only Way available to us to have access to the presence of our Heavenly Father, our Creator!
Therefore, since we have this confidence, we have two very special and distinct advantages. First, we have the confidence that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, He hears us. Now this is a very important concept and especially if you are a new born-again Christian. How do we know the will of God? Especially when we hear that His thoughts and ways are so far above our own. (Isaiah 55:8-9).
This is one of the awesome reasons why we have the written Word. It is the written interpretation of the Living Word, Who was with God and is God, from the very beginning of time! (John 1:1-2). Through it we not only learn Who God, our Heavenly Father is, His Nature, Character and Attributes, but also what kind of relationship He desires with His creation and how we can attain that relationship that was lost through willful sinfulness.
Also, when we read His Word, we have a promise that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Jesus, the Living Word, will remind us of what is important to have a holy, righteous life in Him. (John 14:26). Plus, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray when we don’t know what to pray for. (Romans 8:26).
We can truly KNOW what the will of God is; maybe not in every specific circumstance, but overall as far as our relationship with Him and one another is concerned. When we pray therefore, according to His will, we can KNOW that He hears us. Secondly, since we KNOW that He hears us, in whatever we ask according to His will, we can have confidence then that we will have whatever the petitions we asked for! God will ALWAYS be true to His Word. If we know we ask according to His will, His will is always perfect, thus He will always be willing to perform His will when we ask accordingly. He will ALWAYS back up His own Word!
There is another advantage that is so often overlooked. Here John is speaking and teaching about the confidence we have in coming before our Heavenly Father with our petitions. Those things we are asking of Him, the things we feel we are in need of, either for ourselves or for others. But we can expand on that by recognizing that when we have eternal life through Christ Jesus, we can commune with the Father and not just when we need something.
As our Heavenly Father, God Almighty, already knows our hearts and needs even before we ask, but like any loved One, He desires that we willingly open up to Him intimately. It may seem at times that what we speak to Him about is mundane and unimportant. Why would anybody go to the God of Creation with things that are not important in the larger scheme of things? Yet so much of the time, we forget that He is a very PERSONAL God. He IS a very personal Father. He desires to have a normal, personal relationship with His children. Yes, He IS God Almighty and His ways and thoughts are so far above us, yet, He also desires that we approach Him AS a loved one. That is where real and true worship comes into play! As the Beloved Apostle wrote in his Gospel, our Heavenly Father is looking for and desires those who WILL worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! (John 4:24). He wants us to worship and love Him for Who He truly is; a Father!
Now, this is where a lot of commentators, teachers and preachers would stop, separating the next couple of verses from what we just taught. But, John is still talking about the confidence we have in prayer because of our abiding in Christ Jesus. He is just expounding on another aspect of prayer in God’s will.
In this charged area of “political correctness” even in “religious” circles, everybody is afraid of being accused of “judging” another and sadly this is because of so much false and inadequate teaching by those who ONLY want to give out the honey and sugary messages, not realizing that what they are doing is creating an ineffectual and lethargic “church” people, having exactly what the Apostle Paul warned his apprentice Timothy about, “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” – 2 Timothy 3:5.
We ARE to look out for one another. We ARE to lovingly care for one another on an eternal stage rather than just a temporary one. True Agape, unconditional, Godly love demands that when you see a TRUE Brother or Sister in trouble, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” – Romans 15:1. The Apostle Paul also wrote this; “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:1-2.
This is a direct confirmation to that which the Apostle John is teaching. Remember, our weapons, our tools are spiritual, not carnal; “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” – 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
We can pray with confidence for others as well as for ourselves and if according to God’s will the same applies to one we see who has stumbled into sin. We ALL continue to do things that our Heavenly Father is not proud of. Whether it be in action or in thought, this is the spiritual battle we fight everyday until we are truly redeemed once and for all! We KNOW, according to God’s Word that He desires none to perish, but that all may come to know salvation. (2 Peter 3:9). Thus it is well within God’s will for us to pray for mankind as well as Brothers and Sisters that they may be enlightened, and if necessary, converted and saved. For Brothers and Sisters that they be forgiven and that the Holy Spirit reveals, or convinces, them of wrong doing that they may repent and be pardoned and that they may be delivered from evil temptations.
Here though John shows us a division in sins that we can be convinced God will hear prayers for and sins that are beyond prayer. It seems that the Apostle is leaving it for the most part to the Holy Spirit to counsel and convince a believer in which is which. There are sins that do not lead to death, at least in the sense that they can be repented of, forgiven and pardoned and as the Bible states, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12.
Now we have to remember, lest some say there is a contradiction, that the Bible does state, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23. All sin leads to death, but as Paul stated in Romans, in Christ Jesus we DO have the confidence of eternal life. Sin that has been covered and washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ is removed from us forever and it is like we never sinned. Anytime we are disobedient to the Lord after that, those sins have to be acknowledged and repented of but we have the confidence in God that they WILL be forgiven in Christ Jesus. This is not a license to continue in sin, however it is a guarantee, a covenant and a promise that we have an Advocate Who will continue to intercede on our behalf, and His Holy Spirit is ever present to convict, (convince) us to get back in right-standing with our Heavenly Father, through Christ Jesus.
But there is a sin that John hints at that DOES lead to death and since he is talking about spiritual life, we must also assume he is referring to spiritual death. To me, there is only ONE sin that I can find in the Bible that confirms this, though commentators, teachers and preachers give lists of other possible sins. When it comes to confirmation in Scripture, that is what I have to refer too. I HAVE too rely on Scripture to confirm Scripture.
The Apostle Matthew in his Gospel recorded this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” – Matthew 12:30-32.
For many, many years there has been some controversy about what the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. Even historic commentaries have a troubled time identifying what this could be and yet, we first have to recognize Who the Holy Spirit is and what His mission and purpose is. We know that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ Jesus, sent by the Father to lead, guide, counsel and convince men into all truths concerning God’s Son and His mission to show us the Father through Himself. The Holy Spirit empowers us with the same gifts that Jesus exhibited so that rather than being confined to a single section of this earth, the Spirit of Christ can be extended across the whole globe.
The Holy Spirit, by His very abiding presence, His ability to inhabit, renew and restore our spirit, seals us unto the day of redemption. This is another confirmation for Paul writes, “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” – Ephesians 4:26-30.
The Holy Spirit is a seal that we BELONG to Christ Jesus when we have accepted His sacrifice for us. He has come to lead sinful man to a state of repentance by opening blind eyes and ears so that individual man may KNOW the truth and make a voluntary decision to choose Christ Jesus or not. When a person rejects Christ Jesus, He is in essence rejecting the truth that the Holy Spirit is revealing to Him and thus is calling the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spirit of Truth, a liar! This is why Jesus stated you can blaspheme the Son of God, but to blaspheme the Spirit of Truth is to deny the very Spirit of God as a lie.
Now understand something, this is not a one-time attitude or a word out of anger. Rather, it is something that is caused by an actual hardening of the heart towards the truth. This is a determined and willful act to reject the truth that is being revealed to an individual. It is a hard thing to comprehend, but it IS something that truly happens in certain people. Even in death, they reject the mercy and grace of the Lord and have hardened their hearts and minds to the extent of not wanting anything to do with the Spirit of God.
There is another aspect of blaspheming the Holy Spirit that we won’t get into right now for it can be a whole study in itself. It is one I hope to undertake very soon. It is the concept of Apostasy. However, like the concept of the attribute of love, the world has taken the bite out of the concept of apostasy, but there is a spiritual significance that can’t be ignored. Apostasy IS a type of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Again though, we will study that aspect later on.
In closing this part of our lesson however, we need to understand that the Beloved Apostle is not commanding to NOT pray for those who have rejected the truth, but rather it is presented more as a suggestion. It is possible this is a prayer the Lord will not, or does not hear. When one has totally rejected the Spirit of Truth, there is nothing left for them, for they have hardened their hearts with their final decision and God, because He IS a loving God will NOT force His will upon one of His creation. We must be willing to choose His will over our own. That is the essence of true, Godly Love!
In verse 17, this last verse in this section, the Beloved Apostle sums up what he has just taught on. All sin does lead to death, but we have confidence that these sins can be acknowledged, repented of, pardoned and then forgotten by God through the Blood of Jesus Christ. This is our confidence. This is what I expressed in the last study as being our most Blessed Assurance!
As long as the Holy Spirit points out or illuminates certain passages to me, I will share them with my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I sincerely hope that my Brothers and Sisters study them or at the least read them, as the noble Bereans did with the Apostle Paul and Silas’ teaching. Not to find fault, but to verify that what the Scriptures say, in the light with which they are given, line up with the rest of the Word of God! (
The thing that struck me in these verses as I was reading them was that the psalmist was sharing the joy he experienced with his brothers and sisters. Now remember, we are showing the correlations between God’s Nature with His chosen people under the Old Covenant, and God’s Nature with His chosen/adopted people under the New Covenant. In these verses, 4-5, the psalmist is identifying himself with the Lord’s people as his brothers and sisters.
So far, we have pretty much made the parallel of the natural with the children of Israel, to the spiritual of the Lord’s modern-day children. But I want to start sharing some similarities in the natural to the natural of today. In the past, the Nation of Israel was God’s special possession, His chosen people, again, as a Nation.
Now I want you to think seriously about what I am about to point out. In the last decade (at the least), because of the decline and the apparent wantonness of our political leaders this nation has suffered heavily, in blessing, prosperity and even in health. The American people as a whole have been crying out to God to please, please restore us to our previous glory; please dear Lord, “make America great again!”
“type” of modern-day Moses leading the people to a place of prosperity and blessing; AND, it has been nothing short of miraculous what he has been able to accomplish, because, whether he truly realizes it or not, God has used him to accomplish these historic feats. However, there have been fellow Americans who have been jealous of him since the very beginning and of VP Mike Pence because of his Christian testimony. They have tried time and time again to thwart and sabotage the very things they have been trying to accomplish for the American people. There comes a time, when even God’s longsuffering and patience comes to an end and demands justice.
Lord.”
We were a nation of laws and that included immigration laws. We didn’t prejudice ourselves against different nationalities as long as they were willing to come to this Nation and adopt our values and lifestyles. We embraced and were blessed by the different cultures because they weren’t trying to change us from the inside; but rather they were trying to ADD to the uniqueness and diversity of this once great Nation.
However, under the New Covenant of Christ Jesus, we are individually God’s children whether Jew OR Gentile! We prosper and are blessed according to our intimate relationship with God, the Father, THROUGH Jesus Christ as empowered by the Holy Spirit of Christ that has been given to His children as the promise and seal of our redemption. The Holy Spirit does NOT inhabit a nation as in days of old, but rather inhabits the individual who has surrendered voluntarily to the yoke and Cross of Christ Jesus!
Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. Self-taught theologian. Fearless preacher. Gifted writer. Man of the inner life. A.W. Tozer, called by many a “modern-day prophet.” Observing contemporary Christian living, Tozer felt the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with “worldly” concerns. He was a man who was obsessed with the glory and the holiness of God and making it known to others.
The Beloved Apostle is just reminding his readers what Jesus, Himself had stated. From this his conclusion cannot be denied. If you are joined with Christ Jesus, you have life. The Son of God is the source of that life. We can further deduce other scenarios from this; education does not provide us with eternal life; philosophy and the sciences do not provide us with eternal life. By the same token, we can say beyond doubt that neither is good works or religion and thus the institutionalized churches cannot provide us with eternal life. The ONLY conclusion, the ONLY source of eternal life to a believer, is to him who believes on Jesus Christ as the Son of God and His voluntary sacrifice on the Cross and His Resurrection afterwards for the payment of our (all of mankind’s) sins!
Then John continues on with the clearest terms possible of why he has chosen to write this very theme and why he wants it understood so emphatically. 
With the affirmation and confirmation of their faith in believing, John is reminding them that they can keep on believing for nothing can rob them of that belief once they are truly “in the know.” As believers in the Son of God, in Christ Jesus AS Savior, we must persevere and continue to strive forward in the faith. To pull back from believing, to start to allow doubts to rule our lives would be the same as doing nothing. The enemy would love nothing more than to cause you to linger in doubts to the point of doing absolutely nothing as far as striving forward in faith. This is why encouraging one another is such an important part of a mature believer’s walk in the Spirit. This is why the Beloved Apostle is so adamant on returning to the same thought over and over again.
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:43-45
Well, so it is with certain ministries or servants called to do certain things. If we have been appointed to “feed” the flock for instance. We AREN’T going to feed them rotten food and we certainly aren’t going to let someone else rotten food if we see that those someone’s are irresponsible AND bearers of bad “food” or fruit! For the Church, the Body of Christ to grow strong in the Lord, the individual members have to get away from this earthly “bad” fruit called political correctness and start being more willing to feed the truth to the sheep!
If a man loves sports, the majority of his conversation will either be about sports or will always come back to sports. If a person loves the gathering of wealth, either their conversations will be based mostly on that OR they will bring the conversation back to that topic. Why? Because what a person loves, what they know intimately is what they enjoy and desire to speak of. Human nature in that regard does not change and anyone who has been attempting to SERVE God and His children for any amount of time will know that to be true.
If however, you are getting a steady stream of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and the like from a person’s heart, you cannot mistake the stamp or the imprint of the Holy Spirit upon that person’s life.
It just seems lately I have had to take part in that role a little bit more than I ever have in the past. I truly believe it is because Christ Jesus, our Redeemer is standing on the threshold of His imminent return to gather His Body, the True Church.
This is MAN’S assumed wisdom at work and those who are abiding in Christ Jesus can see it unfolding before our very eyes!! Which leads me to ANOTHER aspect of this situation. Many, so-called “Christian” churches all over the world and particularly here in the U.S. have chosen in their vast wisdom to justify rampant and blatant sinfulness and to state with their own justification why God “will” accept it; thus misleading thousands if not millions!
So now I want to share with you what I have read and just so you know, I have been reading the Psalms in the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, the NLT, just for the ease of reading. You can read 
We don’t often as Christians, followers of Christ Jesus even think of Passover because we recognize Jesus as our Passover Lamb given once and for all, for all of mankind. The Apostle Peter wrote, 
Since God’s Character and His very Nature does NOT change and His Word is eternal and unchanging, then what was once sin and abhorrent to God Almighty (and I might add the reason Christ Jesus came to earth) is still, to this very day, sin and abhorrent. God’s Character and Nature is Just, Holy and Pure. Yes, He is merciful and gracious by the very fact that He DID send His Son to pay the penalty for OUR sins, for He Himself is sinless! But in that unconditional Agape (love) He still does not condone or justify sinful and unrighteous behavior!
God has given His children safety and security under His sheltering wings. If we must stay at home and follow the “wise” government guidelines, do not forget that God Almighty, OUR Heavenly Father (not the government’s) is STILL in control and watching out for us! We can use this time to become reacquainted with Him AS a loving Father. We can rediscover what is most important in the lives He HAS blessed us with. We don’t have to panic, for the “angel of fear” will pass right over your homes and you know why? Because the doorposts of your heart have been sprinkled with the Blood of the Passover Lamb, Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit is ABIDING in you as you abide in Him!! Now how AWESOME and reassuring is that? It gives me chills just sitting here writing about it!
Will it be inconvenient? It already is with all the binge buying and hoarding that panicking people are doing. Will it be annoying? Yeah, but we can still have that spiritual Joy deep down inside that is promised by our Heavenly Father because of our place within Christ Jesus and His abiding by His Spirit within each of us!
However, since we will be delving into an area of some controversy that has been evolving over the years I will state this fact and many of you who HAVE followed my teaching know I am adamant about this: The Holy Spirit IS Truth. (As we shall see in some following Scripture). I firmly believe that He inspired the written Word, though it was written by many different hands, it has His Signature on each and every book recognized as Biblical Canon. I further believe that the Holy Spirit did NOT stop inspiring mankind, but even today, ACCORDING to the written Word is STILL leading, guiding and counseling His servants through His inspiration. Thus, through the generations, I believe that those translators who deemed to provide a more accurate reading AND translation for study AND instruction were also inspired by the Holy Spirit, who guided them in their translation efforts.
First of all, let’s set some ground-work. The Old Testament, the covenant between God and mankind, specifically His children was set up with a series of laws and rituals that were never meant to accomplish the act of Redemption, but rather, when taken in faith as a type and shadow of the coming Savior, it was the faith by which God’s chosen children were justified. You can read this throughout the Book of Hebrews. In the ritual sacrifices, water AND blood were a main component in the preparation of the offerings.
When you realize the purpose of the WHOLE Bible, the reason God gave it to mankind to begin with, then when you open it up, the Books as a whole and Letters written as a whole start to make sense and the true treasures found in the individual Scripture verses can also be plumbed.
If there is one thing I have learned over the many years of teaching and preaching, it is that WHATEVER the Lord does in the natural concerning mankind, it is a shadow, a type of what He is doing or has done in the Spiritual realm. For anyone to think that this temporary natural existence is all there is to life, they are truly blind, for this is only a shadow of things to come in the eternal. As the Apostle Paul so eloquently stated it, 
But as the Body of Christ as a whole, with Christ Jesus the Head, we are DOING what He commands. We are ACTING towards others by His command. This brings into perspective all the teaching in 
The Bride of Christ was also created from the side of Man; but in this case the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. Look at what the Apostle Paul again tells us in Corinthians:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” – Ephesians 1:7
The Bride is AWAITING the Bridegroom (
I John 5:9-11
1 John 5:9-11, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
The Apostle John has been talking about the witnesses or the testimony that verifies and acknowledges Jesus Christ, not just as the Son of God, but the true Anointed of God, to be Savior and Redeemer.
John continues on with this line of thought concerning the true witness concerning Christ Jesus. He uses a hard to argue with statement in that, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.” This is an easy statement for anyone to relate too. After all, this is a part of our lives, not just in the social arenas but also in the affairs of dealings with various businesses. We trust the words of our friends and those we have dealings with and we HOPE that they are honest and above board, yet we know that very often there are those who wish to deceive for monetary gain or for various other reasons. Sometimes it is just a matter of mistaken testimony and not always just outright deceit. Nonetheless, the Apostle is telling us that in comparison to our everyday dealings with our fellow man, the greater testimony belongs to God Almighty.
Remember, John tells us that the witness is from and of God and even if you discount the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit from the previous verse 7 as we have discussed in our previous study, here we can see that God Almighty, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit are all encompassed as witnesses in God Himself! So there can be and there should be no doubt whatsoever concerning Christ Jesus as the Son of God! Again, within God Himself, these three Characters of the Triune God are three that testify to the truth of Christ Jesus as the Son!
Now continuing on with John’s theme of witness and testimony, he goes on to write about the evidence of even ANOTHER witness. When a person accepts Christ Jesus’ gift of Salvation through Him and the sacrifice He made, God, our Heavenly Father seals the truth WITHIN that person by the very witness of the abiding Holy Spirit. So, those who believe God’s witness and testimony have the TRUTH of that witness within themselves!
So now, a man who accepts Jesus Christ within himself has not just the outward testimony as described before, but now has an inner testimony to the truth as well! Remember the words of the Apostle Paul, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17.
Most everyone remembers verse 17 of Paul’s statement but look at how verse 16 confirms what the Apostle John is also saying; “now, we regard no one according to the flesh, even Christ Jesus whom we’ve known according to the flesh.” So the testimony, the witness of the three that agree, though obvious to all according to the flesh, their witness is infallible, yet now because we are a NEW creation, a spiritual creation, now we recognize the witness of the Holy Spirit within!
This is a new addition for those who believe in the witness of those things that lead them to Christ. Now those witnesses actually have the “stamp of approval” of the very Spirit of Christ abiding within. But, and I’m sorry there always has to be a but, if we accept the testimony and allow it to become a living part of our lives, abiding within us as a living witness, then those who choose to NOT believe in the witness and testimony of God, aren’t just rejecting Him and His Word, which we know to be infallible and without reproach, but they are actually accusing Him of being a liar, a deceiver! John is making the point, rather emphatically that it is not just a matter of rejecting God Himself, but a person who rejects God’s Word and His witness concerning His Son is accusing Him of outright dishonesty.
Those who reject the Son of God, as the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer, sent to pay for OUR debts with His own blood and life are saying that God’s witness, His testimony does not matter! In all of my years of trying to serve the Lord and with all the missteps and stumbles I have taken, some of which were temporarily rebellious, even during those times, I NEVER once thought of calling God Almighty a liar! In fact during one particular bad time when I was outright sinning, I stood on the ramp of a warehouse dock and cried out for God to save me, cause I KNEW I couldn’t do it myself! Yet, because His testimony is ALWAYS true, He reached down and spared me through His grace and instead of discarding me for my rebellion, He actually TAUGHT me through this situation the DEPTH of His unconditional love and I no longer just had an intellectual assessment of what God’s love was, I had a deeply personal and spiritual experience of God’s Agape (love). That experience changed my life forever and when I teach on God’s love it is no longer on an intellectual basis only, but from deep spiritual experience. My life became a witness then to the truth of God’s witness and testimony concerning His Son!
The Apostle Paul demonstrates this foolishness in mankind when he wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, . . .” – Romans 1:20-22a.
A person who rejects God CHOOSES to have his heart and mind blinded by the god of this world, and thus becomes as confounded and foolish as the rest of the world system to which he becomes an integral part!
But the Beloved Apostle sums up the theme of the witness and testimony of God with verse 11. “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” This is the summation of the Gospel, the Good News and of the Christian message as a whole!
All that has been laid out as a foundation before has led up to this very message; “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” It is God, our Heavenly Father’s Gift to mankind and it is the Son’s voluntary Gift to us as well by His willingness to pay for our sins and debts by His Sacrifice. All the testimony, all the witnesses that we have before us, has been to lead us to this AWESOME and AMAZING truth; God desires us, His creation, to have eternal life. This has been His eternal plan all along.
This verse doesn’t just sum up the Gospel most appropriately but simply as well and yet there is so much depth to it. Our eternal life is found ONLY in Christ Jesus. Yet, it is a Gift also from God Almighty to those who choose and desire it. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6. Jesus came to give us eternal life but you have to follow through with that train of thought. Why does He want us to have eternal life?
So many think that Salvation and Redemption is the main reason for being born-again, saved. But that is a narrow train of thought. There is a REASON why we are saved and redeemed. Jesus followed through after stating that He was the way, the truth and the life by stating the purpose for it. The ONLY way to the Father is THROUGH Christ Jesus! We are quick to tell people and to evangelize with the thought of being born-again, just as Jesus instructed the teacher Nicodemus. But we do not always and in fact very seldom teach those we are evangelizing WHY they need to be born-again. It’s NOT just to go to Heaven! Remember, Heaven is ONLY a dwelling place and I am not belittling it when I say that. It is the place of God’s Throne and it will be our abode forever, but that which I just stated is the reason why we NEED to be born-again; to be in the PRESENCE of our Heavenly Father Who GAVE us eternal life through His Son! We were SAVED to have that spiritual unity with our Heavenly Father and to be ONE with the Son!
We are born-again to have a spiritually renewed and reborn life with our Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus as empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples He was going ahead to prepare a place for all of His disciples. Why? So that we have an abode, a place to be with Him, and the Father. When we are in the presence of Christ Jesus, we WILL be in the presence of the Father for we know and go to the Father THROUGH Christ Jesus! I can’t seem to stress this enough. I am not an Evangelist per se, but I evangelize as the doors open and when I do, I ALWAYS give people a REASON why salvation is so important. Heaven is an awesome reason, but an even GREATER reason, is the Person of our Heavenly Father, God Almighty and the relationship we will have eternally with Him through Jesus Christ!
THIS is God’s testimony: He has given us eternal life and that LIFE is IN Christ Jesus, the Son! Have YOU availed yourself of this FREE gift? I pray and hope so, for your eternal well-being depends on your answer!
God loves you and He will ALWAYS love you and that is based on what He has already done for you and all of His creation. If you do nothing else, think upon that for in that is eternal HOPE!
Next post we will begin with 1 John chapter 5 verse 12.
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Public Domain.