Explore the Bible Adult Leader Commentary
Session 6
Jesus Alone
1 John 5:1-12
Context: 1 John 4:20–5:21
Memory Verse: 1 John 5:4
Main Idea: Only by trusting the Savior Jesus Christ can one be freed from the bondage of sin and death, and be brought into eternal
life with God.
FIRST THOUGHTS
Imagine being part of a hiking expedition in the wilderness. Instead of listening to your expedition guide, you decide to venture
off on your own. Without a guide or tracking device, you find yourself lost and badly injured from a fall. Unable to walk, you realize
that you will not be rescued as a result of your own efforts. Thankfully, your guide finds you, takes care of your injuries, and carries
you to safety.
What would it be like to be lost with no way of rescuing yourself?
John knew that the Gnostic heretics were spreading false doctrines about the nature of salvation, potentially threatening the
spiritual growth of first-century believers. Doubtless, John knew that unless his readers were confident of their victory over sin
through Jesus Christ, they would be like lost people trying to save themselves by their own efforts yet unable to do so. Because Jesus
conquered sin, His power over sin is available to all who receive Him as Lord and rely on His sacrifice through faith, not on their own
efforts. John attested to the unique nature of Jesus and His saving work.
UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT
1 John 4:20–5:21
We have observed a number of themes in our studies in 1 John. Several of these themes were John’s responses to dangerous
teachings that he was combating. For example, he emphasized the incarnation, that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. He also
argued that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is God’s Son.
Perhaps you have also observed that throughout his first epistle John offered three tests by which those who profess to be
Christians can be recognized. Here are the three tests and passages where they are discussed:
• Obedience: 1 John 2:3-6; 2:28–3:10 (Session 2)
• Belief: 1 John 2:18-27; 4:1-6 (Sessions 3 and 4)
• Love: 1 John 2:7-11; 3:11-18; 4:7-12 (Session 5)
John wrote an extensive teaching on the test of love in chapters 3 and 4, including the final two verses of chapter 4 (4:20-21) in
which he emphasized Jesus’ command for believers to love one another. In the opening verses of 1 John 5, the apostle brought the
three tests together again, emphasizing that we as believers have spiritual victory through obedience, faith, and love. We can easily
notice the following vocabulary:
• “Obeys His commands/keeps His commands” (5:2,3)
• “Believes/our faith” (5:1,4,5)
• “Loves” (5:1,2,3)
We will also recognize John’s focus in 5:6-10 that Jesus alone is God’s unique Son. These verses provide an added challenge for
interpretation regarding the apostle’s original wording, particularly in 5:7-8. Some Bible translations have additional words appearing
in these verses that other Bible translations do not include. The reason for this difference in the English translations has to do with a
fourth-century A.D. Latin translation (called “the Vulgate”) and a few Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Those texts include
the extra words, while older Greek manuscripts of the New Testament do not include them. The extra words that may not have been
written by John in his original epistle are indicated here in italics: “For there are three that testify 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 are in agreement” (5:7-8).
We will conclude this session with a look at 5:11-12, in which John emphasized that Jesus, the Son of God, is the only source of
eternal life. Overall, the message of this passage may be summarized as follows: Only by trusting the Savior, Jesus Christ, can
someone be freed from the bondage of sin and death and be brought into eternal life with God.
EXPLORE THE TEXT
JESUS ALONE OFFERS VICTORY (1 John 5:1-5)
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1
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for
God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is
the Son of God.
2
VERSE 1
A Christian’s current experience of ongoing trust in Jesus (everyone who believes) is evidence of his or her past experience of
new birth (is born of God). (In the original language, believes is in the present tense, while is born is in a tense referring to a
completed action.) The essential belief is that Jesus is the Christ (see 2:22; 4:2). Of course, John meant much more than mental assent
to the truth that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Christ. He meant that someone believes this and
expresses utter trust in the Person of Jesus Christ as the only Savior (see 2:2; 3:23).
Family units in the first-century Roman Empire were generally identified by the father, the head of the family, rather than by a
surname, or last name. Consequently, it would be understood that an outsider who had high regard for the namesake of a particular
family necessarily had high regard for every child within that family. Parents and children were an inseparable unit. So it is with the
Heavenly Father and His family of born-again children. The one who loves the father loves his child as well. Those who love Him
must love His children too. At the same time, those who genuinely love the people of God demonstrate that they love God.
VERSE 2
In verse 1, John had stressed the two themes of belief and love. Now he added the third theme, obedience. One test of whether we
have been born again is whether we are carrying out his commands. The apostle explained what he meant more fully in the following
verses. Here, John concluded that individuals who lack obedience or faith or love have given evidence that they actually have never
been born of God.
Why did John connect loving God’s children so closely to obeying His commands? It’s simple. Without the content of God’s
commands, we really don’t know the best way to do the right thing for others. If we were left with a command to love without specific
content, we wouldn’t know, for example, that bitterness or lust against another person are sinful attitudes. Much less would we know
that we as believers are to accept insults for Christ’s sake, if need be (see Jesus’ teaching in Matt. 5:10-11).
VERSE 3
To “obey” God’s commands and to “keep” them is the same thing. Gladly following the moral teachings of the Bible is evidence
that we as believers understand what love for God is. Notice that here, as elsewhere in Scripture, obedience is the fruit (that is, the
result) of a living relationship with God, not the root (that is, the cause). No one ever has been or can be saved because of his or her
works. However, everyone who has been genuinely converted demonstrates that living relationship with God by obeying Him.
Here’s an additional reason for the teaching that obedience is expected to follow faith: God’s commands are not burdensome.
Those who try to earn salvation by obedience or good works are under a terrible strain. They can never know whether they have done
enough. But those who are assured of their status as God’s beloved children live to please their Father. Moreover, He has given them
His own Spirit or anointing (see 2:20,27; 4:13).
VERSES 4-5
In John’s Gospel and in his three epistles, forms of the verb “to believe” are prominent. Strikingly, the only occurrence of the
related noun faith (that is, “belief”) is here in 1 John 5:4. (The noun occurs a few times in Revelation.) The means by which someone
is victorious over the world is confident trust in Jesus Christ. To conquer the world is to win the battle against the allurement the world
puts before believers concerning their lifestyles and habits. A person will either love the world (see 2:15) or will conquer the world.
There is no middle ground.
According to John’s teaching in this letter, true Christians will conquer the evil one (see 2:13-14), the spirits who deny Jesus (see
4:4), and the world itself (see 5:4-5). Faith is thus considered in two complementary aspects. First is initial faith at conversion—
turning from the world to Christ (has overcome is a past-tense verb). Second is the ongoing faith that ensures day-to-day victory
(overcomes is a present-tense verb). The one who has experienced regeneration (born of God) is the same as the one who believes.
Verse 5 emphasizes again the role that faith has in overcoming. For the third time in two verses, the language of conquest of the
world appears. Surely John meant for his readers not to miss the importance he attached to it. As he described the relationship between
faith and victory, he put it in the form of a question, a kind of challenge. It could be paraphrased in this way: “Can you think of a
single example of conquering the godless world except by those who confess faith in God’s Son?” The answer is no!
The emphasis on Jesus as the Son of God points to how Jesus as the incarnate Son of God won victory over the world-system
dominated by the Devil. Jesus seemed to be overwhelmed by disaster and death, yet by this very means—trust in His Father—He
became the source of world-conquering power for all who trust Him (see John 16:33).
Throughout these verses, John was focusing on the necessity of an active and ongoing trust in Christ. Obedience and victory over
the world are the precious privilege of those who have placed their faith in Christ. In an upcoming study of verses in Revelation 2–3,
we will see the Risen Christ’s promises concerning believers who experience victory over the world.
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(In PSG, p. 65) How do you connect faith, obedience, and love in your life? Which of these three is the most difficult for you
personally? Why?
JESUS ALONE IS THE SON OF GOD (1 John 5:6-10)
6
This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is
the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and
the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which
he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made
him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
VERSE 6
John now described in greater detail this One in whom Christians have come to trust. The name Jesus Christ recalls both His
humanity and His fulfillment of the Old Testament messianic prophecies. The phrase came by water probably refers to Jesus’ baptism,
the beginning of His public ministry (see Matt. 3:13-17). His crucifixion was, of course, the time that He gave up His blood. The
public ministry of Jesus was bracketed by these two momentous historical events. The likely reason John gave added emphasis to
Jesus death (not … by water only, but by water and blood) was surely to counter the false teachers who were denying that Christ
literally died on the cross. By using the terms water and blood here, John may have been referring to the physical evidence of Jesus’
bodily death after the soldier pierced His side (see John 19:34-35). In any case, for John there was no gospel without Jesus’ death.
Some of the false teachers, moreover, may have been teaching that Jesus took on deity at His baptism but ceased to be so at the time of
His death on the cross.
Christian belief is much more than “having faith in faith.” It is well grounded in objective, historical evidence. John pointed also
to the crucial work of the Spirit. All the logic and historical evidence in the world cannot empower people to generate in themselves
true faith. It is the Holy Spirit who ultimately convicts sinners of the truth of the gospel. (See Jesus’ teaching on this matter in John
16:8-13.)
VERSES 7-8
John noted that there are three that testify to Christ, which believers take into account. In the King James Version, the statement is
expanded to list three Witnesses in heaven—the three Persons of the Trinity—alongside three witnesses on earth, the Spirit, the water,
and the blood. (See the “Understand the Context” section for more information about the expansion of 5:7-8 in some Bible
translations.) First is the Spirit, who always testifies to the truth (see 5:6). Additionally, John returned to the two objective historical
witnesses: the water (again, likely a reference to Jesus’ baptism at the beginning of His ministry, when the Father’s voice came from
heaven and the Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form) and the blood (a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross). These three together
converge; they are in agreement that Jesus is God’s Son in the flesh.
VERSE 9
These sources of testimony are persuasive because they are God’s testimony. That is, God Himself has testified through the inner
witness of the Holy Spirit and the historical witness of the water and the blood.
Under Old Testament regulations, judges accepted testimony on the basis of two or three witnesses who agreed in their testimony
(see Deut. 17:6; 19:15). How much more should we accept as truth the three witnesses God has given about His Son? What God has
said we are to believe as true.
VERSE 10
Only two responses are possible among those who learn about the witness God has provided concerning His Son. On one hand is
the response of faith: such a person believes in the Son of God. The phrase believes in combines a verb form of “believe” with a
preposition more literally translated “into.” Thus one places faith “into” Jesus the Son of God. Here and in 5:13 are the only places in
1 John where this special combination is found. In John’s Gospel, however, the apostle used the word more than 30 times (see for
example 1:12; 3:16). For the individual who “believes into God’s Son,” the threefold testimony comes alive. No longer is the
testimony “out there.” It is “inside” by means of the Spirit’s indwelling presence in the believer (see 2:20, 27).
Incidentally, there is no middle ground. Rather, there is on the other hand the person who does not believe. Such a person is
calling God a liar, because he or she supposes that the testimony that God has given is false. Thus unbelief—refusal to believe the
gospel—is a grievous sin, because it contradicts God and attributes falsehood to Him. Previously in the letter, John declared similarly
that those who claim they have not sinned essentially are calling God a liar (see 1:10). Both of these actions of unbelief are grievous
insults against God.
(In PSG, p. 68) How has the Holy Spirit affirmed your faith in Jesus as the Son of God?
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JESUS ALONE OFFERS ETERNAL LIFE (1 John 5:11-12)
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever
does not have the Son of God does not have life.
11
VERSE 11
John used the phrase eternal life six times in his first epistle (see also 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:13,20). This phrase combined a noun for
“life” that emphasizes quality of life (instead of mere biological existence) and an adjective meaning “unending duration.” Here John
explained eternal life as the blessing God has provided to each one who believes in His Son. The Son who lived, died, and rose again
embodies life (see John 5:25-26).
In other words, for believers the wonderful quality of an unending living relationship with God has already begun. We do not wait
for eternal life to begin only after our physical bodies die. We were born the first time with biological life; when we were born again
we received the start of everlasting life. And it will never end! Here John presented three declarations about eternal life. First, it is a
gift from God (God has given). None could ever earn it. Second, it is a present possession. (The verb form is in present tense.) Third,
it is found only in union with Jesus Christ (in his Son).
VERSE 12
John wrote in his Gospel account about many magnificent, extravagant promises Jesus made concerning life. Here are two of
them:
• “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but
has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
• “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Because these promises are true, John declared this conclusion in his letter: whoever has the Son has life.
The opposite is also true: without being united to Jesus who is life, one cannot have eternal life. A clever bumper sticker of
several years ago put it this way: “KNOW JESUS, KNOW LIFE. NO JESUS, NO LIFE.” In other words, the only eternal life possible
is found in a faith relationship with God’s Son. Those without Him are subject to eternal death and punishment (see John 3:36).
First John 5:11-12 gives believers two words of encouragement. First, the verses give us assurance of salvation, for we can be
confident that if we have indeed trusted Christ, we have received the gift of eternal life (see also John 1:12). These verses also
encourage us regarding the security of salvation, for if we have already started to enjoy eternal life as a gift from God that endures
forever, how could we ever actually lose it?
Do you have assurance of salvation, knowing for sure that you have eternal life? On what basis? Do you have security of
salvation, knowing that you cannot lose eternal life? On what basis?
KEY DOCTRINE
Salvation
There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
BIBLE SKILL
Read, reflect on, and react emotionally to a Bible verse.
Some Bible verses reveal a passion and urgency in the inspired writer. Part of understanding and following Scripture is to
evaluate your emotional response to a verse.
Focus on 1 John 5:4. Read the verse aloud several times. Each time, emphasize different words or phrases as you read. For
example, in one reading emphasize “born of God.” Then read the verse again and emphasize forms of “conquer” or “victory”
wherever they appear. Emphasize still other words (such as “world”) in a third reading. Take note of your thoughts. How does the
verse move you emotionally? What feelings were evoked by the different words and phrases as you emphasized them?
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