1st John Chapter 5 Part 10

5:16-17 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

John continues to inform his readers in regards to prayer in these verses, this time in reference to praying for fellow Christians who are sinning. There are some key words to take note of in this passage, and also an absence of some key words that should be brought to light. Verse 16 begins with “if any man see his brother…” clearly inferring that this in reference to saints caught in sin. I would like to begin by citing correlating passages that help to shed light on this difficult topic.

1st John Chapter 5 Part 9

5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

John clarifies the confidence of trust that we may have in God concerning the life of a prayerful Christian. The apostle touches on the topic of prayer numerous times in this small epistle, which should give us some concept of the importance of being, like John, a prayerful Christian. It is worship to pray to our Creator, and an intimate communication from the child to our Father in Heaven. We are told a few things about prayer in these two verses. First, if we ask anything according to God’s will He hears us.

1st John Chapter 5 Part 8

5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

We come to another cardinal point that John is writing about. He begins verse 13 by addressing believers. These things (referring to the epistle as a whole thus far) I have written to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. In other words this letter, like the rest of the Bible, is a letter for saints. Unbelievers can truly extract one thing from Scripture: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, Acts 2:40; 16:31.

1st John Chapter 5 Part 7

5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

The nature of this witness is clearly evidenced in this verse. John states matter of fact that the message he presently conveys is the testimony God gave of His Son. God has given us eternal life, but this eternal life is only found in Jesus Christ. This is the essence of the Christian life. Paul writes, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears (at the Second Coming), then you also will appear with Him in glory,” Colossians 3:3-4.

1st John Chapter 5 Part 6

5:9-10 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

The beginning of verse 9 is a lead off from the last several verses we have been examining. The idea here may be that this witness of men John refers to is either one of two things. He may simply be using a static argument that if a man we trust witnesses of some event or truth we have not personally experienced or been exposed to we are prone to believe them based on their character. 

1st John Chapter 5 Part 5

5:6-8 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one, cont.

We also see in Acts chapter 5, when Peter rebukes Ananias for his sin he tells him, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?…You have not lied to men but to God,” Acts 5:3-4. Later in Acts we find that it was the Holy Spirit who appointed the overseers in the Ephesian church, 20:28. Yet in Ephesians (ironically) Paul writes that it is Christ who appoints pastors (elders) and teachers, 4:11.

1st John Chapter 5 part 4

5:6-8 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one, cont.

There are the theophanies of God throughout the Old Testament. We find such episodes in Genesis chapters 18 and 32, Exodus chapter 34, Judges chapter 13, Isaiah chapter 6; Ezekiel chapters 1 and 2, etc. Yet we are informed in Scripture that no man has seen God the Father, John 1:18; 6:46; 1st John 4:12. Who is this God whom we have never seen, yet has been frequently seen? It is a terrible mystery, unless the truth of the trinity, taught in both the Old and New Testament, is reality.

1st John Chapter 5 Part 3

5:6-8 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

There are numerous views as to how we should understand verse 6. Some say that the water and blood means Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan and His death on the cross. Others believe the water and blood referred to the Roman spear that pierced His side, and water and blood came out, John 19:34.

1st John Chapter 5 Part 2

5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

If I may paraphrase a little, I believe the message is that we know we love God’s children due to the fact that we love God. We don’t love them out of grudging obligation; we don’t love them half-heartedly. God commands us to love our neighbor and our fellow saints, and since we have such a love for God, obeying Him is a response of love; said love simply overflows to our fellow Christians and does not become an obligation of law but the natural reaction of our relationship with God.