1 JOHN 5: 18-21 [LIFE, LIGHT & LOVE SERIES]
THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD
John here reaches the end of what he wants to write. He has clearly shown the differences between the true believer and the false, and now he concludes by reiterating his purpose, which is to assure his readers who believe in Jesus as the Son of God that they have -possess eternal life (5:13). [Marshall, Howard. The Epistles of John. The New International Commentary on the N. T. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978, p. 242]
Such people can reassure themselves that they are God’s as they become aware of Him answering their prayers. Prayer is the natural breath of a genuine relationship with God. It is out of our personal relationship with God that we come to know with assurance certain things in the Christian life (CIT). These closing assurances are intended to be great encouragements to us. These realities are God’s keeping power, the Divine Son, and our personal relationship with God. If we grasp not these realities we will be deceived into false worship.
I. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD, 18-19.
II. THE DIVINE SON, 20a.
III. OUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, 20b.
The principle assurance in verse 18 is that Christians will not keep on practicing sin. “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He [Jesus] who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.
An evidence that we are born again is that we do not practice sin. You ask how can you keep from sinning in this world? The answer is Jesus Christ. He keeps-guards the believer so that the enemy cannot get his hands on him. Here is another blessed assurance that the Christian has victory over sin.
God has freed believers from their slavery to Satan, and He keeps them safe from Satan's continued attacks. The rest of the world does not have the Christian's freedom to obey God. Unless they come to Christ in faith, they have no choice but to obey Satan. There is no middle ground; people either belong to God and obey Him, or they live under Satan's control.
John does not say that one born of God does not sin at all. He would have used the past tense--has sinned--Christians commit sins. The verb is in the present tense and indicates linear or repeated action. The believer does not keep on sinning or fall into the habit of sinning.
Here we encounter the word we know (oida) again (3:2,5,14,15, 2:20,21, 3:5, 5:13, etc.) John will conclude the epistle using this word. Again it indicates that we know with perception or with conviction of soul (have been convinced). It is an implanted knowledge of God that allows no room for doubt.
How do you know you are born of God? You know not because you keep yourself from the evil one. You know because as you abide in Christ, He keeps you from evil. God keeps those born of Him from the evil one. God stands guard over the Christian life a sentry walking his post to protect us against the wilds of the enemy.
Whenever Satan attacks us, we can be sure that God gave him permission. And if God gave him permission He will also give us power to overcome, because God will never permit us to be tested above our strength (1 Cor. 10:13).
We do not need to fear the evil one, because God keeps us and the evil one cannot “touch” us. This word for a strong touch [haptetai] is in the present tense meaning cannot keep on touching, cannot continuously lay hold of, or cling to. The same word is used in John 20:17 where “Jesus said to Mary, ‘Do not hold Me.’” The word means to lay hold of or hold on to. The evil one cannot cling to us. He has no hold on us. To do so Satan would have to defeat Christ and we know that Christ has already defeated Satan.
Many people hesitate to trust Jesus out of fear that they cannot hold on, that they will fall into sin again. The blessed truth is that we are not holding on to God, but He is holding on to us. That sublime truth is our assurance of victory over sin, the world and the devil.
The world is contested territory and the evil one exercises power over it, but not over Christians. He or she is the Lord’s. Verse 19, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
The second great fact we know for sure is that we are of God or out of God. We know by the criteria of our obedience, love, and perseverance that we are God’s. The implication is a birth, a proceeding out, a change of state which the world knows nothing about because it lies in the power of the evil one. The figure is as if the unsaved world has climbed up into Satan's lap and gone to sleep--the sleep of eternal death. The world or society has a false sense of security, yet all the while it seethes with mass discontent as the dream masters spin their God demeaning dreams. Those who are dominated by the world’s standards are enslaved by its ruler and cannot share in the victory which has overcome Satan.
The evil has no hold on the child of God. We are distinct from the satanically controlled world system and basically free from its power. We need not listen to the worldly ideas advanced by the antichrists (3:7-8). Nor need we succumb to worldly desires (2:15-17). Though the evil one embraces the world he cannot lay claim on the believer. So we who have come out of death into life have opportunity to lead others out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of freedom or light.
Verse 20 is the final affirmation in first John. Here we are pointed toward Jesus Christ as the One who is the truth and who came into this world in the flesh and blood. “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
A third great fact about which believers have certain knowledge is given. The first Christian certitudes in our passage was that the believer progresses under Christ's protection toward sanctification or sinlessness, and the second is that the unbelieving world lies in the power of the evil one.
The believer knows (odia) with a conviction that allows no debate. He knows with an experiential knowledge which has brought him to the point of absolute conviction. He knows that the Son of God has come. He stands assured of the fact of the Incarnation [God born into human flesh]. He know that Jesus Christ Himself is the true God (John 1:1, 14). Another grand affirmation of the deity of Christ.
Those who know Jesus know that Jesus Christ Himself is eternal life (1 John 1:2; 2:25; 5:11-13). Jesus is the one who grants to us the understanding of His victory and gives us the gift of eternal life. In receiving Him who has come we have been given understanding. Understanding is literally through mind [dia, through and noia, mind]. Believers have the new ability to think through a matter or to understand the divine communication of God. We thus perceive the gift of Christ and His life as an overwhelming demonstration of God's interest in us and His concern for our highest good.
We have been given this understanding so that (hina) we may know--through a personal and growing friendship with God's Spirit -- Jesus Christ. Man is now reunited with God. Know God means we can know Him through a relationship that can develop into deeper and deeper fellowship with the One who is true or genuine. Jesus is true and will be true to you and to His good purposes in your life. Who would not place their faith in the One True God and receive eternal life?
John ends his epistle with one final word of warning in verse 21. “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
The abrupt challenge concerns a special kind of deadly peril, idols. The Greek word for “idol,” eidôlon, in classical Greek has the meaning of “shadow” or “phantom.” Do not set your affection upon shadows and phantoms. Idols are a most serious threat because they look so much like the real thing that they can be substituted for it.
An idol is anything that substitutes for God, or separates us from God, that takes the place of true faith, or any loyalty that replaces God at the center of our lives (Ezekiel 14:7). It may be an image, a bank book, stock portfolio, recreation, job, another person, or a type of knowledge. Since you have received the true, have nothing to do with counterfeits. Refuse all imitations and refuse all substitutes.
When Alexander the Great visited the Greek philosopher, Diogenes, he asked him if there was anything that he could give him. He got this short answer, "I want nothing but that you should not stand between me and the sun.” Never let anything satisfy and content us that stands between our eternal souls and Christ.
CONCLUSION
The world boasts of enlightenment but Christians walk in real light, because they walk with God who is light. The world speaks about love but it knows nothing of real love which Christians experience because they abide in God who is love. The world displays learning and wisdom but the Christian lives in understanding and truth because he possesses the Spirit of Truth. God is light, love and truth and those make life real.
John presents a clear picture of Christ. What we think about Jesus Christ is central to our teaching, preaching, and living. Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully human at the same time. He came to earth to die in our place for our sins. Through faith in Him, we are given eternal life and the power to do His will. What is your answer to the most important question you could ever ask--who is Jesus Christ? Who does your daily life say Jesus Christ is?
Come join with us and we will help you know Him who is true. We will help you guard yourself from idols. As the Spirit leads you come.
