Scripture Passage: 1 John 5:1-5
Focal Verse(s): 1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (NKJV)
When we first started John’s first epistle, I told you that the overall theme of the entire book was ‘blessed assurance.’ Assurance of our salvation. Assurance of God’s undying love for us. Assurance of our inheritance as heirs to the Kingdom. And assurance of the change that will come over us as children of God.
In today’s passage (our last passage will be studying in this book), John brings it all home again in his wrap-up. There’s much more he discusses in chapter five than a summary of what’s already been said, but given that this blog isn’t designed for super in-depth Bible study and is more a survey, I’ll leave it to you to read the rest. That being said, in these first five verses of chapter five, John does indeed wrap up everything. Especially when it comes to the overall theme of the book. You see, when you carefully read these five verses, you’ll see with crystal clarity that he gives us the best summary of assurance we could have hoped for. He gives us a checklist for knowing whether or not we’re truly saved. For knowing for certain that we are indeed Children of God.
In fact, he gives us three specific characteristics of a genuine child of God. What are these characteristics?
Right Belief
Righteousness (or Obedience to God)
Love
If you go back and re-read 1 John, you’ll see that these three characteristics are saturated throughout the text. The entire letter is about these specific three characteristics and it is by them that we can test whether we truly are children of God! No need to doubt. No need to worry. You can know a hundred percent one way or another if you follow this check list.
So, let’s explore these three characteristics so that we can apply them to our Kingdom Checklist, shall we?
Right Belief
Let’s take a look at verses 1 and 5 a little closer:
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
From the previous messages, when I say ‘Right Belief,’ what is the question I repeatedly have talked about to answer what it means to have a ‘right belief’? If you said “Who is Jesus?”, you’d be absolutely correct. Only belief in the true, biblical Jesus—the perfect God-Man—can save and make us Children of God.
It’s not a question of whether you believe in Jesus or not. You have to believe in the right Jesus. The whole Jesus and not just the hand-picked elements of Jesus you might prefer. The Jesus who cared for lepers and sinners and the Jesus who turned over the money-changer tables and whipped people at the Temple. The Jesus who cried when His disciples didn’t understand something. The Jesus who laughed when children ran up to Him. And the Jesus who raged against the Pharisees for their greed and lack of understanding.
The whole Jesus. The biblical Jesus. One hundred percent God and one hundred percent man. The Jesus who was never created, but has always existed and will always exist. The Jesus who was miraculously born from a virgin. The Jesus who never sinned. The Jesus who died upon a cross transferring His own righteousness for our sins. The Jesus who rose from the grave three days later. And the Jesus who ascended into heaven to prepare a place for each and every one of us who believe.
Jesus…warts and all (he might have had physical warts, but we know he had no spiritual ones). That’s who we are to believe in.
What about you? What Jesus do you believe in? Is it the whole, complete Jesus of the Bible or some caricature that’s been concocted over the years by a society who despises God? Is it a Jesus who is bigger than your problems? Bigger than your medical issues? Bigger than the sins you’ve committed? Ponder that a bit, and if you’re not sure of the answer, the next characteristics might help!
Righteousness/Obedience
Let’s now take a look at verses 2 and 3 to see how righteousness plays into these characteristics:
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Lots to unpack here in these two short verses. But we can summarize it this way, “Those who believe rightly will obey God’s commands.”
And what did Jesus say were the two greatest commands?
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” ~ Matthew 22:-37-40 (NKJV).
Many people would argue that obedience and love are rather diametrically opposed. After all, in our understanding of human love, neither side of a relationship should be commanding the other to do anything that would require obedience. We think of love as a partnership. An equal partnership. But that’s because we have a tendency to attach emotion to our view of love. Remember, as we’ve discussed in this book, Christian love has little to do with emotion. We love in spirit and in truth. Truth is, if we really examine the experience of human love, we’ll see that that is a rather flawed assumption.
When I was a kid, I loved my parents dearly (still do!). When I disobeyed them, there was a punishment far worse for me than a belt to the bottom (of which I received plenty!). It was disappointment. My greatest fear throughout my life in regards to my folks is that I would disappoint them.
This fear came out of a deep, deep love and respect for them. It kept me on the straight and narrow through much of my life (even to this day).
Same is true for the love we have for spouses too, friends. We might have fallen out of favor to say “honor and obey” in wedding vows, but at the heart of it, a godly husband and wife want nothing more than the happiness and joy from their partner. A godly spouse will do whatever it takes to ensure their partner’s well-taken care of and is happy. This is, whether you want to admit it or not, obedience to your spouse’s will.
Love and obedience, dear brothers and sisters, go hand-in-hand. They are inseparable.
Love
Now, let’s take a look at verses 1 through three again for a better understanding of ‘love’.
1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
We covered most of this in our discussion with obedience, but put simply, in summary, let me just say this. If we rightly believe we will obey God’s commandments. Obeying God’s commandments means loving God himself (the one who begot), and by extension, loving the Children of God (those who are begotten by Him). It all goes together like puzzle pieces.
One final thought on this passage. John tells us “His commandments are not burdensome.” How is this true? After all, Christ came and died on the cross because we, as humans, were incapable of keeping God’s commandments.
True, genuine Children of God have victory over sin. That’s what John means in verse four when he said: For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
We have victory over the things of this world through Christ, therefore, we have victory over sin. Therefore, keeping God’s commandments—especially as we grow more and more like Christ—becomes easier and easier with time and as our love for God grows.
Point is our love for God drives our obedience. That drive is fueled by the Holy Spirit inside us. The more we grow…the more we love God and our brothers and sisters in Christ…the more capable of obedience we will become.
Through these three things we can no without doubt that we’re truly saved. As we examine our lives to determine whether we are His children or not, let’s do so with the understanding that spiritual maturity plays a role in this as well. A newborn Christian isn’t going to be able to love like a far more mature one. An adolescent Christian (spiritually, not chronologically) will struggle over keeping God’s commandments far more than someone who’s followed Christ longer. It’s all part of the sanctification. But we should all see these things working and growing in our lives to some extent or another. If we see no evidence of one or more of these characteristics, we might need to come to Christ in true repentance and ask Him to take control of your life as your Lord and Savior. He’ll do it in a heartbeat and you can truly become one of the Children of God!
Father God, thank you so much for the Apostle John and his deep love for you and the Church. Thank you for his wisdom and counsel as he sought to help us know without a doubt just who your Son truly is and have assurance in the salvation that You promised us.
