Bullet Point Bible

Faith, Love, and Obedience: The Marks of God's Children

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him.² By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments.³ For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down,⁴ because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.⁵ Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Being "born of God" signifies regeneration and becoming part of God's family through faith in Christ (1 John 5:1).
Genuine faith in Jesus as the Messiah ("the Christ") is the defining characteristic of those born of God.
Love for God ("the father") and love for fellow believers ("the child born of him") are inseparable (1 John 5:1-2).
Obedience to God's commandments is presented not as a means to earn love, but as the natural expression and evidence of loving God (1 John 5:3).
The statement "his commandments are not burdensome" contrasts with the heavy yoke of legalism; for the believer empowered by the Spirit, obedience flows from love (1 John 5:3; cf. Matthew 11:30).
The concept of "overcoming the world" refers to conquering the system of values and powers opposed to God through the power derived from being born of God (1 John 5:4).
Faith is identified as the instrument of this victory; it is trust in Jesus Christ that enables believers to overcome worldly pressures and temptations (1 John 5:4).
The rhetorical question in verse 5 emphasizes that victory over the world is exclusively found through belief in Jesus' divine identity as the Son of God.
This section tightly weaves together core themes of the epistle: belief (orthodoxy), love (orthopraxy), and obedience as interconnected realities in the life of a true Christian.

The Threefold Witness to the Son

⁶ Jesus Christ is the one who came by water and blood-not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.⁷ For there are three that testify,⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.⁹ If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son.¹⁰ (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.)¹¹ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.¹² The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life.

"Water and blood" (1 John 5:6) likely refer to key events in Jesus' ministry: His baptism (water) signifying the start of His public work and His death (blood) signifying His atoning sacrifice.
John combats early Gnostic ideas (like Cerinthianism) that tried to separate the human Jesus from the divine Christ, insisting Jesus Christ came through both events.
The Holy Spirit is presented as the third, divine witness, confirming the truth about Jesus Christ (1 John 5:6). The Spirit's nature is truth itself.
Verses 7-8 emphasize the unified testimony of the Spirit, the water (baptism/ministry), and the blood (crucifixion/atonement). These three witnesses concur about Jesus' identity and mission. (Note: The longer reading known as the *Comma Johanneum* found in some manuscripts like the KJV is not considered original and is absent in modern critical texts like the NET).
John argues from lesser to greater: If human testimony is accepted (e.g., in legal settings), God's own testimony about His Son is far more reliable and authoritative (1 John 5:9).
Believing in the Son means internalizing God's testimony; this internal witness provides personal assurance (1 John 5:10).
Rejecting God's testimony about Jesus is tantamount to calling God a liar, a severe charge highlighting the gravity of unbelief (1 John 5:10).
The core content of God's testimony is summarized: God grants eternal life, and this life is exclusively mediated through His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 5:11).
Possession of eternal life is directly and exclusively linked to having a relationship with the Son (1 John 5:12). This presents a clear, binary condition for eternal life.

Assurance of Life and Confidence in Prayer

¹³ I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him.¹⁶ If anyone sees his fellow Christian committing a sin not resulting in death, he should ask, and God will grant life to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death. There is a sin resulting in death. I do not say that he should ask about that.¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not resulting in death.

John explicitly states a primary purpose for his letter: to provide assurance of salvation to those who genuinely believe in Jesus (1 John 5:13). "Knowing" you have eternal life is possible and intended.
Assurance leads to confidence ("parrhesia" - boldness, freedom of speech) in approaching God through prayer (1 John 5:14).
The condition for answered prayer is asking "according to his will" (1 John 5:14). This implies aligning our desires with God's character, purposes, and commands revealed in Scripture.
Knowing God hears prayers aligned with His will gives confidence that the requests are granted, even if the answer isn't immediately apparent (1 John 5:15).
John addresses intercessory prayer for fellow believers who sin, distinguishing between two types of sin (1 John 5:16).
"Sin not resulting in death" refers to sins committed by genuine believers who are repentant or capable of repentance. Prayer for such individuals is encouraged and effective.
"Sin resulting in death" is highly debated. Interpretations include: apostasy (deliberate, final rejection of Christ), a specific heinous sin leading to physical death as judgment (cf. 1 Cor 11:30), or persistent, unrepentant sin demonstrating one was never truly regenerate. John expresses reservation about praying concerning this type of sin.
While all unrighteousness is sin, John maintains a distinction regarding the consequence or nature of certain sins within the community context (1 John 5:17). This doesn't create categories of "acceptable" vs. "unacceptable" sin before God in terms of guilt, but addresses their implications for fellowship and intercession.

Final Certainties and Warnings

¹⁸ We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him.¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.²¹ Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

John reiterates key certainties ("We know...") summarizing the believer's secure position.
"Does not sin" (1 John 5:18) likely refers to habitual, persistent sinning, not sinlessness (cf. 1 John 1:8, 10). The one born of God has a fundamentally changed relationship with sin.
Christ ("the one who was born of God") actively protects the believer, preventing the "evil one" (Satan) from gaining ultimate control or "touching" them in a destructive way (1 John 5:18).
A sharp contrast is drawn: believers belong to God, while the entire fallen world system ("kosmos") is under the influence and control of Satan (1 John 5:19).
The Son's coming provided understanding ("dianoia" - insight, mind) to truly know the one true God (1 John 5:20). This knowledge is relational, not merely intellectual.
Believers are positionally "in" the true God because they are "in" His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 5:20). Union with Christ means union with the Father.
The statement "This one is the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20) most naturally refers to Jesus Christ, affirming His full deity and role as the source of eternal life.
The final command, "guard yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21), serves as a concluding warning. Idols could refer to literal pagan images or anything that takes God's rightful place in a believer's heart and allegiance (e.g., wealth, power, false teachings).
This abrupt ending emphasizes the practical importance of maintaining exclusive loyalty to the true God revealed in Jesus Christ.

The Bullet Point Bible

1 John 5