The Truth about Jesus – The Benefits of Belief
1 John 5:13-21
The Truth about Jesus – The Benefits of Belief (v. 13-21)
Eternal life (v. 13)
Answered prayers (v.14-17)
God’s Protection (v.18-19)
Understanding minds (v. 20-21)
Slide
Being a Christian is hard sometimes.
When some people know you are a Christian, they will watch your life closer, so they can publicize it when you mess up.
“Look at you, you do that and you call yourself a Christian.”
There are many times that, in the short run, doing the right thing is harder than doing the wrong thing.
Telling a lie can get you out of trouble in the short run, even though it could come back to haunt you in the long run.
Being a Christian means sometimes forgoing short term pleasure for long term enjoyment.
Being a wise steward will sometimes mean saving up for something, versus a world that will tell you to just charge it and have it now.
Is being a Christian really worth the hardship that it can bring into life?
Well, the answer is yes.
Because even despite all of the hardships and difficult choices that being a Christian brings into your life when you believe, there are also benefits of belief.
Transition
We have been studying 1 John for the past 3 months, and we are going to be finishing it up today.
We have seen that John has been refuting some false teachers that are trying to lead people astray from Christianity.
Sometimes, when life is hard, it can seem attractive to us to follow the teaching of someone who may be telling us of
a way of life that won’t be as hard or
may bring some short term benefits such as wealth,
especially when this person telling us these things we believe to be a nice person and has perhaps even claimed to be a Christian.
The problem is that our society is redefining the term Christian to mean good person rather than being a follower of Jesus Christ by believing in
who He really is and
what He really did.
This is why John last week talked about the essential truth about Jesus that define Christianity so that we will be able to recognize and be cautious of those who teach something opposed to this Truth about Jesus
that Scripture declares,
that the evidence points to, and
that the eyewitnesses proclaim.
Those essential truths that are proclaimed are
Jesus is the Son of God.
The Son of God put on flesh and became Man
Jesus, the Son of God’s death on the cross is essential to our forgiveness
His bodily resurrection is essential to His Deity and proof of the eternal life that He came to give.
Real, life changing belief in these things puts you in the camp of Christianity.
Denial of any of these essentials makes you not a Christian.
This is not a statement of judgment. This is a statement of fact.
Turn with me to
1 John 5:13-21
Slide
Now John wants to encourage his readers that even when being a Christian can be hard, there are benefits of belief in our life.
These are things that we can know and be assured of and help us to stand strong when life is hard.
Let’s see what he says and talk about those benefits and the effects they can have in our own life.
1 John 5:13-21
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.
16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him 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 he 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 him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 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-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
John uses the phrase “we know” or you or we “may know” 7 times in these 9 verses. He is telling believers some things that we can be assured of as a result of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. And because we can know and believe these things, they are going to have an effect upon our life.
Hhe starts out with one of the most important benefits that we are assured of as a believer in Jesus Christ, that is
We Can be Assured of Eternal Life
Slide
1 John 5:13
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.
If you are a Christian, you can know and be assured of the fact that you have eternal life!
Doesn’t that seem kind of prideful, to say you know you are going to heaven?
It only does if we define being a Christian as dependant on our actions and our goodness.
This is the way the world will often define being a Christian, be a good person.
If we define being a Christian that way, then who is to say you are good enough to go to heaven.
But this is not the way the Bible defines Christianity. John just went over the essentials of belief.
When we truly believe the truth about Jesus, then we have eternal life as a gift.
It is not dependent upon our actions.
Our eternal life is dependent upon Jesus’ actions
His life, death and resurrection.
This is why we can know we have eternal life, because it is not dependent upon us.
Paul tells us
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
This is why we can be sure of our salvation when we put our trust in Jesus Christ, because it does not depend upon us, it is dependent upon the finished work of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
This is to the glory of God.
Because now as a Christian, I am not trying to earn God’s favor by the things I do, I strive to do good simply out of gratitude and love for the Lord.
It is through the assurance of our eternal life, that we are able to find rest and hope even when life is hard.
You are going to mess up and sin at times, even as a Christian.
Satan is going to come at times and say,
See you aren’t a Christian, you are still a sinner just like you were before.
You aren’t really changed
But to know that your eternal life is not dependent upon you can provide hope and joy and encouragement to overcome in the power of Christ, rather than discouragement that you just aren’t strong enough.
Don’t let Satan deceive you.
Being assured of our eternal life is a great benefit that we have as believers.
This is not the only benefit of assurance available to a believer though.
We can be assured of Answered Prayer
Slide
1 John 5:14-15
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.
Now as a believer in Christ, we can be assured of answered prayer as we ask according to His will.
Some of you are saying, well, I want Him to answer according to my will.
As you grow as a Christian your will is going to be conforming to His will.
You are going to want the same things, because the things that God wants are the best for us and as we grow, we realize that.
Before I became a Christian, I was all about Scott. I want what I want.
Even after I became a Christian, my selfishness did not disappear.
But as I have continued to grow in my faith, it has lessened, though it is certainly not gone.
And this has affected my prayer life.
As I pray, it is much more about seeing God glorified through situations and circumstances rather than change of circumstances in my own life.
Certainly there are times when I am praying for a change of circumstance, but it is for God’s glory as well as what I believe to be my benefit.
As I pray for other people, I pray that God will use whatever circumstance is going on in their life to draw them closer to Him, but I am also praying for
their healing if they are sick,
their comfort if they are in pain,
their strength when they are weak.
There are going to be times though when we are not really sure what to pray.
Perhaps a person continues to suffer poor circumstances because of continually poor choices.
I will sometimes pray for the Lord to just intervene somehow for His glory.
Other times, I think we can pray and ask how God wants us to pray in that situation.
Lynn Schumacher Illustration
In our small group, Lynn Schumacher was sharing a story about how she felt led to pray for a friend of hers but really did not know how to pray for her. She asked the Lord how to pray and ended up praying for her to find comfort and rest in the Lord.
When she talked to her friend later, her friend told her that she truly experienced great peace and rest in the Lord that day.
Now here friend did not know that is what Lynn prayed. And as she shared that with her friend, it was an encouragement to them both that God hears our prayers and answers them as we pray in his will.
What an awesome benefit to know that, as a believer in Jesus, the God of the universe hears our prayers and is willing to answer our prayers.
Times not to pray
But there are apparently also times that we shouldn’t pray.
That seems very strange.
Look at these next 2 verses.
1 John 5:16-17
16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him 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 he should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
What is he saying here?
For us to understand what he is saying here, I think we first have to understand what a “sin that leads to death” is.
Is the death he is speaking of physical death or spiritual death?
In the Bible we have seen sins that lead to physical death. (Ananaias and Sapphira – Acts 5)
There can also be sins that lead to spiritual death. (Rejection of Christ or blasphemy of the Holy Spirit).
The sin that leads to spiritual death is the sin of John’s opponents that he is refuting.
They have rejected the teaching and leading of the Holy Spirit about Jesus.
They have rejected the true Christ.
1 John 5:10
10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
He says at the beginning of the letter that (1 John 2:19) that their departure from the apostolic teaching of who Jesus is and what He has done, shows that, while they appeared to be part of the true church, they really never were as evidenced by their departure.
So, I believe here, John is speaking about the sin that leads to spiritual death that we do not need to pray about and the sin that does not lead to spiritual death that we can pray for.
Why shouldn’t we pray for that person to come and truly believe?
Because that person has sealed their fate.
This would be the same type of person that the author of Hebrews talks about in
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
The Spirit of God has shown them the truth of the word of God, the truth about who Jesus is, the truth about eternal life, and they have rejected it.
There is nothing left to bring them to repentance.
Realize that this is not a person whom you have shared the gospel with once and they did not trust Christ on the spot.
This is a person who has known the truth, and yet rejected it.
So how do we apply this?
Pray for People and Christians that you see sinning, that God will use it to show them their need for repentance and their need to seek forgiveness for His glory.
But if you see someone who has claimed to be a brother or sister, now rejecting the true and living God by denying the Spirit’s teaching through the word that Jesus is The Son of God, God in the flesh and that He died and rose again, then you can just let the Lord deal with that. We don’t need to pray for that person because, I believe that our prayers for that person would be a waste of time.
Now if you are worried that you have committed this unforgiveable sin, don’t be.
Because if you would be worried about such a thing, that would indicate that you have a desire to be in relationship with God.
A person that ultimately comes to the point of recognizing the truth of who Jesus is and then rejects it, will not regret that in this lifetime, because the Spirit of God will not be at work to bring that conviction.
In fact it is these next verses that indicate that those who have trusted in Christ do not have to worry about that because they will never be able to commit that sin, because another benefit is
We can be assured of God’s Protection
Slide
1 John 5:18-19
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
I think that NAS has a better translation of verse 18.
It says “we know that no one who is born of God sins.”
Does that mean Christians never sin?
No
Verse 16 says that if you see “a brother commit a sin” you should pray for him.
How can he with one verse in between say that “we know no one who is born of God sins?”
I believe he is saying that no one who is born of God sins a sin that leads to spiritual death, which is the unforgivable sin.
God protects us and makes us stand when we have received Jesus as our Savior.
Paul tells us this as well.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
So if you stand here and have truly received Jesus as your Savior, there is no way you will ever be able to reject the teaching and leading of the Spirit in regards to who Jesus is and what He has done. God will protect you and make you stand.
Finally, when we have believed in Jesus Christ as the Christ, the Son of God
We can be assured of Understanding Hearts
Slide
1 John 5:20-21
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-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
I have said understanding hearts instead of understanding minds, because while I believe we all have minds that are able to understand enough, it is our hearts that God opens to further understanding as we grow in Him.
Listen to
Romans 1:20-23
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
God has given everyone, Christians and non-Christians the ability to understand the truth of who God is and who Jesus is.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Their hearts were darkened and they became fools when they rejected God’s way.
When we trust in Christ, we can be assured that we can grow in understanding because our hearts have been opened and softened and filled with the light of Christ.
Peter writes to believers in
2 Peter 3:18 to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
God has given believers hearts to understand, but how to we grow in our understanding?
Listen to what Solomon writes in Proverbs 2
Proverbs 2:1-8
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Our hearts are going to grow in understanding by
being in his word,
being in prayer,
being in fellowship,
worshipping the Lord through music, sacrifice and service.
When we are not doing that, it is increasingly difficult to stay away from the false gods that are competing for our worship.
Application
So are you applying your heart to understanding through studying His word, praying, fellowshipping and worshipping?
Or
Are you applying your heart to worshipping idols?
Are you worshipping the idol of money by being a slave to making and spending more of it?
Are you worshipping the idol of activities by being a slave to the schedules of these?
Are you worshipping popularity by being a slave to the pressures of seeking to please men rather than God?
If you are a believer, you have the benefit of the Spirit of God living in you that will help you to grow in your understanding of God and His love and His commands so that you are able to carry them out joyfully.
Conclusion
We have been given so many blessings and benefits as believers in Jesus Christ.
If you are a believer, then be encouraged today, even if you are facing some difficult times.
If you have never trusted Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, then know that it will be hard sometimes, but the benefit of
not having to be dependent on the situation we find ourselves in for joy or
not having to be dependent upon how good we are for our eternal life
is a benefit that is beyond compare to any difficulties that we may face as a Christian.
If you desire to enter into this relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that we receive Christ by believing in Him and what He has done.
Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, God in the flesh
That He died for your sins (recognize that you are a sinner)
That He rose from the dead and can give you eternal life.
Confess that to God this morning if you never have.
If you would like to do that then pray with me now to the Lord.
Pray
