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In this chapter the apostle asserts, I. The dignity of believers, 1Jo 5:1. II. Their obligation to love, and the trial of it, 1Jo 5:1-3. III. Their victory, 1Jo 5:4,5. IV. The credibility and confirmation of their faith, 1Jo 5:6-10. V. The advantage of their faith in eternal life, 1Jo 5:11-13. VI. The audience of their prayers, unless for those who have sinned unto death, 1Jo 5:14-17. VII. The preservation from sin and Satan, 1Jo 5:18. VIII. Their happy distinction from the world, 1Jo 5:19. IX. Their true knowledge of God (1Jo 5:20), upon which they must depart from idols, 1Jo 5:21.

This chapter embraces the following subjects:

I. A continuance of the discussion about "love," 1 John 5:1-3. These verses should have been attached to the previous chapter.

II. The victory which is achieved over the world by those who are born of God. The grand instrumentality by which this is done, is by the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, 1 John 5:4-5.

III. The evidence that Jesus "is" the Son of God; or the means by which that truth is so believed as to secure a victory over the world, 1 John 5:6-12. In this part of the chapter the apostle goes fully into the nature of this evidence, or the ways in which the Christian becomes so thoroughly convinced of it as to give to faith this power. He refers to these sources of evidence:

(a) The witness of the Spirit, 1 John 5:6.

(b) The record borne in heaven, 1 John 5:7 - if that verse is genuine.

(c) The evidence borne on earth, by the Spirit, the water, and the blood - all bearing witness to that one truth.

(d) The credit which is due to the testimony of God, or which the soul pays to it, 1 John 5:8.

(e) The fact that he who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself, 1 John 5:10,

(f) The amount of the record, that has given to us eternal life through his Son, 1 John 5:11-12.

IV. The reason why all this was written by the apostle, 1 John 5:13. It was that they might know that they had eternal life, and might believe on the name of the Saviour.

V. The effect of this in leading us to the throne of grace, with the assurance that God will hear us, and will grant our requests, 1 John 5:14-15.

VI. The power of prayer, and the duty of praying for those who have sinned. The encouragement to this is, that there are many sins which are not unto death, and that we may hope that God will be merciful to those who have not committed the unpardonable offence, 1 John 5:16-17.

VII. A summary of all that the apostle had said to them, or of the points of which they were sure in the matter of salvation, 1 John 5:18-20. They knew that those who are born of God do not sin; that the wicked one cannot permanently injure them; that they were of God, while all the world lay in wickedness; that the Son of God had come, and that they were truly united to that Saviour who is the true God, and who is eternal life.

VIII. An exhortation to keep themselves from all idolatry, 1 John 5:21.

He that believeth is born of God; loves God and his children; and keeps his commandments, which are not grievous, 1 John 5:1-3. Faith in Christ overcomes the world, 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:5. The three earthly and heavenly witnesses, 1 John 5:6-9. He that believeth hath the witness in himself, 1 John 5:10. God has given unto us eternal life in his Son, 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:12. The end for which St. John writes these things, 1 John 5:13-16. The sin unto death, and the sin not unto death, 1 John 5:16, 1 John 5:17. He that is born of God sinneth not, 1 John 5:18. The whole world lieth in the wicked one, 1 John 5:19. Jesus is come to give us understanding, that we may know the true God, 1 John 5:20. All idolatry to be avoided, 1 John 5:21.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 John 5

In this chapter the apostle treats of the nature of faith and love; of Christ the object of both, and of the witness that is bore to him; of the necessity of believing the testimony concerning him; of the confidence of prayer being heard, and concerning whom it should be made; of the happiness of regenerate persons, and of their duty to keep themselves from idols. Faith in Christ is the evidence of regeneration, and where that is, there will be love to the author of regeneration, and to them that are regenerated; and love to them is known by love to God, and keeping his commandments; and keeping the commandments of God, and which are not grievous, is a proof of love to God, 1 John 5:1; and whereas every regenerate man overcomes the world, it is by his faith, the evidence of his regeneration, that this victory is obtained; nor can any other man be pointed out that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God, 1 John 5:4; and Christ, the Son of God, the object of this victorious faith, is described by his coming by water and blood, of which the spirit is witness, who is a true one; and six witnesses of the truth of this and his divine sonship are produced, three in heaven, the Father, Word, and Spirit, who are the one God, and three on earth, the Spirit, water, and blood, who agree in their testimony, 1 John 5:6; wherefore this testimony concerning the Son of God ought to be received, since it is the testimony of God, which is greater than that of men; besides, he that believes in Christ has a witness of this in himself, and honours God, whereas he that believes not makes God a liar, not giving credit to his record concerning his Son; the sum of which is, that God has made a grant of eternal life to some persons, which is in his Son, which those that believe in the Son of God have, but those that do not believe in him have it not: all which show the necessity of receiving the above testimony; and the ends proposed in writing these things were, to believe in Christ, and that it might be known they had eternal life in him, 1 John 5:9, and from faith in Christ the apostle passes to confidence in prayer, as a particular effect and fruit of it: as, that whatever is asked according to the will of God is heard; and that such who are satisfied of this, that they are heard, may be assured that they have the petitions they desire to have, 1 John 5:14, and whereas it is one branch of prayer to pray for others as well as for ourselves, the apostle directs who we should pray for; for the brethren in general, and in particular for such who have sinned, but not unto death, and life shall be given to such: but as for those who have sinned unto death, he does not say prayer should be made for them, for though all unrighteousness in general is sin, yet there is a particular sin which is unto death, and is not to be prayed for, 1 John 5:16; but happy are those who are born of God, for they do not sin this sin; and through the use of the armour of God, and the power of divine grace, they keep themselves from the evil one, and he cannot come at them, to draw them into this sin; also they know that they are of God, and are distinguished from the world, which lies in wickedness; yea, they know that the Son of God is come in the flesh, and hath given them an understanding of the true God, by which they know that they are in him, and in his Son Jesus Christ, who is with him, and the divine Spirit, the one true God, and the author and giver of eternal life, 1 John 5:18; and the chapter, and with it the epistle, is concluded with an exhortation to these regenerate ones, as they had kept themselves from Satan, that they would also keep themselves from idols of all sorts, 1 John 5:21.

The chapter falls into two parts. The first twelve verses form the last section of the second main division of the Epistle, God is Love (1 John 2:29 to 1 John 5:12): the last nine verses form the conclusion and summary of the whole. Some editors break up the first part of the chapter into two sections, 1–5 and 6–12, but texts and versions seem to be right in giving the whole as one paragraph. The second part does contain two smaller sections, 13–17 and 18–21. We may analyse the chapter therefore as follows: Faith is the Source of Love, the Victory over the World, and the Possession of Life (1–12). Conclusion and Summary: Intercessory Love the Fruit of Faith and of the Possession of Life (13–17); The Sum of the Christian’s Knowledge (18–20); Final Practical Injunction (21).

It will be observed that in the middle of the first section we have what looks at first sight a digression and yet is intimately connected with the main subject of the section. This main subject is Faith, a word which (strangely enough) occurs nowhere else in S. John’s Epistles, nor in his Gospel. And faith necessarily implies witness. Only on the strength of testimony is faith possible. Therefore in this paragraph on Faith and its effects the Apostle gives in detail the various kinds of witness on which the Christian’s faith is based (6–12). The paragraph shews plainly S. John’s view of the relation of Faith to Love. The two are inseparable. Faith that does not lead to Love, Love that is not based on Faith, must come to nothing.

1Jo 5:1-21.

WHO ARE THE BRETHREN ESPECIALLY TO BE LOVED

(1Jo 4:21);

OBEDIENCE, THE TEST OF LOVE, EASY THROUGH FAITH, WHICH OVERCOMES THE WORLD. LAST PORTION OF THE EPISTLE. THE SPIRIT'S WITNESS TO THE BELIEVER'S SPIRITUAL LIFE. TRUTHS REPEATED AT THE CLOSE: FAREWELL WARNING.

1. Reason why our "brother"

(1Jo 4:21)

is entitled to such love, namely, because he is "born (begotten) of God": so that if we want to show our love to God, we must show it to God's visible representative.

Whosoever--Greek, "Everyone that." He could not be our "Jesus" (God-Saviour) unless He were "the Christ"; for He could not reveal the way of salvation, except He were a prophet: He could not work out that salvation, except He were a priest: He could not confer that salvation upon us, except He were a king: He could not be prophet, priest, and king, except He were the Christ [PEARSON, Exposition of the Creed].

born--Translate, "begotten," as in the latter part of the verse, the Greek being the same. Christ is the "only-begotten Son" by generation; we become begotten sons of God by regeneration and adoption.

every one that loveth him that begat--sincerely, not in mere profession

(1Jo 4:20).

loveth him also that is begotten of him--namely, "his brethren"

(1Jo 4:21).

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ - Is the Messiah; the anointed of God. On the meaning of the word Christ, see the notes at Matthew 1:1. Of course, it is meant here that the proposition, that "Jesus is the Christ," should be believed or received in the true and proper sense, in order to furnish evidence that anyone is born of God. Compare the notes at 1 John 4:3. It cannot be supposed that a mere intellectual acknowledgment of the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah is all that is meant, for that is not the proper meaning of the word believe in the Scriptures. That word, in its just sense, implies that the truth which is believed should make its fair and legitimate impression on the mind, or that we should feel and act as if it were true. See the notes at Mark 16:16. If, in the proper sense of the phrase, a man does believe that Jesus "is the Christ," receiving him as he is revealed as the Anointed of God, and a Saviour, it is undoubtedly true that that constitutes him a Christian, for that is what is required of a man in order that he may be saved. See the notes at Acts 8:37.

Is born of God - Or rather, "is begotten of God." See the notes at John 3:3

And everyone that loveth him that begat - That loves that God who has thus begotten those whom he has received as his children, and to whom he sustains the endearing relation of Father.

Loveth him also that is begotten of him - That is, he will love all the true children of God; all Christians. See the notes at 1 John 4:20. The general idea is, that as all Christians are the children of the same Father; as they constitute one family; as they all bear the same image; as they share his favor alike; as they are under the same obligation of gratitude to him, and are bound to promote the same common cause, and are to dwell together in the same home forever, they should therefore love one another. As all the children in a family love their common father, so it should be in the great family of which God is the Head.