Assurance of Eternal Life

1John CHAPTER 5

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that 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 grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 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. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 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.
10 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. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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.
14 And this is the confidence that we have inb him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 16 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. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Source King James Bible



FELLOWSHIP AND ASSURANCE. 5:1–17.

A. Assurance of Victory. 5:1–8.
5:1–3. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Is born (Gr gennaō) should rather be translated, “has been truly born,” since it is perfect tense in the original. This is another test for the believers to use on the false teachers. Every person who believes (John does not mean merely intellectual assent, for that would contradict the total message of his writings) that Jesus is the Christ is a real Christian (see again on 2:22; 4:2). He now moves on to reiterate several of the tests in their connections to each other. Since the true believer loves God (the begetter, active voice of Gr gennaō, meaning to give birth to), it follows that he will also love other believers (loveth him also that is begotten of him, is passive voice of the same verb; in this context John is not referring to Christ, though he does in 5:18). The tests are mixed: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. Love to God is again defined, it is keeping His commandments which are not grievous (Gr barys), that is they are not difficult to fulfill because we are truly “born of God” and have therefore easy victory.
4–5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. Overcometh (Gr nikaō) denotes gaining victory over; it is used four times in these two verses (4–5). Its first occurrence is present tense in the original, giving the sense: “The true believer is always victorious over the world.” Victory is normal and natural, and that is why His commandments are not difficult. This is the victory that overcometh (gnomic aorist) the world, even our faith. This could be put, “Our faith is the key to victory over the world.” Faith, in verse 4, is defined as “believing” that Jesus is the Son of God; the words are cognate and reiterate the same test found in 2:22; 4:2; and 5:1. This faith, saving faith, is what makes us true children of God, which in turn assures us of victory over the world.
6–8. John now gives a description of Jesus Christ as he that came by water and blood. No one knows (now) exactly what John had in mind when he used these two symbols. Tertullian’s guess seems to fit the facts best: the water is a reference to His baptism or inauguration, where the Voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son,” and established that Jesus was the Christ. The blood is a common symbol for His death, where there were also supernatural miracles to cause even the confirmed and cruel Roman centurion to realize that this man (Jesus) was more than a mere man (Mt 27:54); also, by the Resurrection, the Father confirmed Jesus as the Son of God (Rom 1:4). This interpretation also fits the facts concerning the gnostic-type beliefs of Cerinthus who taught that the Christ came upon Jesus at the baptism but left Him before the Cross; John could have been refuting some such heresy. It is interesting that John called attention to the water, and the blood which came from the side of Jesus on the cross (Jn 19:34–35). At any rate, these were important symbols or witnesses to the deity of Christ in John’s mind. He also adds a third witness, the indwelling Spirit. Thus, according to John’s count here, there are three that bear record. The rest of verse 7 and the first nine words of verse 8 are not original, and are not to be considered as a part of the Word of God (refer to the marginal notes in any reference Bible). John’s three witnesses then are: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one. Agree in one is an idiom which is properly translated simply, agree. Only two or three witnesses were needed to establish the truth of a fact (Deut 19:15; Jn 8:17).
B. Assurance of Eternal Life. 5:9–13.
9. The witness of God is greater. It is greater because he is God; if numbers are important (and John did stress the numbers in Jn 8:17–18, where Christ’s own testimony is counted with the Father’s for the necessary two), God’s testimony is three in one. The point is only that there is plenty of evidence to confirm the fact that Jesus is the Christ. Which he hath testified (Gr martyreō); the Greek perfect tense is used for this word to stress the certainty of the fact of God’s witness.
10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; by believing, a person mystically lives in Christ, and Christ lives in the believer. The believer also has the Spirit who is once more a third witness. Because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. There is a play upon the cognate forms record (Gr martyria), and gave (Gr martyreō), here, with the latter being in the perfect tense stressing again the absolute certainty of the truth of the witness; the allusion is to the apostolic preaching of which the content is now specified in brief.
11–12. The message of the apostles was essentially, God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son, that is in the sense of believing in Him (2:22; 4:2; 5:1), hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. See again 1:1–4 on giving the testimony or “preaching.”
13. In summary and conclusion, John wants to make his purpose clear; These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. Note the similarity to John 20:31; “…that ye might believe.…” which was the purpose there, is changed to … that ye may know … . The letter is written so that believers might have “knowledge” or assurance about eternal life. In these last few verses, John refers to “knowledge” nine times by means of four synonyms; it must be clear that there were false teachers who were engrossed in a quasi-Gnosticism.
C. Assurance of Answered Prayer. 5:14–17.
14–17. This is the confidence (Gr parresia). This word originally meant “speaking out” boldly, but later came to denote the boldness or confidence without reference to the “speaking.” In this book, it means “joyous confidence” toward God; in 2:28 it can be seen as the opposite of shame. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death. It is important to keep the context in mind while focusing on the meaning of the sin … not unto death. It has been emphasized by John that believers have passed over from death into life (3:14). It is quite possible that John is still on the same track; his concern could be over believers who might have already been influenced by heresy, and are living in sin because they think it has nothing to do with worship of God. He would stress that God would answer prayers like this and restore such backsliders to life in Christ. It may be, too, that some who were in the church and considered to be brothers in Christ (although they were not, they went out from us, but they were not of us 2:19) have been so influenced by the false teachers that they have, speaking figuratively, now already passed back over from life into death. In this sense the sin unto death would be rejection of God’s truth to the point that one died in unbelief. Others suggest that the sin unto death is not a particular act of sin, but any sin that occasions one’s untimely death. Therefore, a living person need never fear that he has already committed the sin unto death, since he is still alive. Only total rejection and rebellion against God, and rebellion to God’s laws, may cause one to sin unto death.
VI. CONCLUSION. 5:18–21.
18. Whatsoever is born of God sinneth not reiterates the principle which has been stated in many different ways throughout the book, that if a person is genuinely born of God (Gr gennaō is used in the perfect tense), he will not live in sin (Gr hamartanō is used in the present tense to imply a life characterized by sin, rather than an isolated act of sin). John again plays upon the word born by using it to refer to Christ; he that is begotten of God keepeth himself should rather be translated, “The One who was born of God keeps him.” It is because Christ keeps the believer that the evil one cannot touch him.
19–21. The theme of assurance and true knowledge continues its intensity to the very end of the epistle as John repeats in the perfect tense, we know (for sure!) that we are of God … we know (for sure!) that the Son of God has come (for sure!), and hath give us an understanding (for sure!). The purpose for all this assurance and certainty is, “so that we might enjoy knowledge (Greek present tense denoting not just coming to know, but enjoying continually) of the True One.” In place of the benediction is the closing exhortation, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

seriously? who in their right mind is going to read that?

reply to post by fireyaguns


Was there actually a point to this diatribe?

I am sure you also need to explain the context of the reems and reems of biblical text... and also your own opinion on the subject.....

PA

reply to post by jazzguy


Anyone wanting to know they have assurance of eternal life. Maybe you might like to read it yourself.
You can always come back when you need.

The second part is hard to read because it's fairly compact, but it is so beautiful. And I hope that one day, who ever you are, will share the same love and forgiveness and I and anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.
He's coming soon,
And He loves you.

reply to post by TheNamesZeppelin


Thanks for reading and the feed back. I will try to open it up.
God bless you.

fireyaguns

Most today do not think them commandments matter. Most now are saying, we can continue in sin and we are saved cause we believe and He is Love. Love does not kill and He will give to me His Robe of righteouness as He knows I can't quit this sinning I love to do so well.

This modern gospel we are now hearing, why the road now is so wide all can go sailing hell bent a flying cause it's all down hill now.

I choose to believe Jesus and in this case John but they all preached it the same.

Mt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mt 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Mt 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

reply to post by fireyaguns

Whether you may be aware or not, the Spirit that inhabits each and every living Human is Immortal, always has been, always will be. So your "Eternal Life" ritual, or whatever it was, is not necessary.

reply to post by sibbs


All of Romans chapter 7 is so very important, here below is a start. I will continue later today.

Romans 7: 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.


Romans 7: 18–20. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing. In the second phase of Paul’s knowledge he recognizes that in himself there is not the ability to do good. He wills to do good, but how to accomplish his will is not known. He cannot do the will of God for sin holds dominion over him. Sin is his master, his lord, his king. By himself he cannot break it, He is a defeated Christian when he is controlled by sin. “It is not the new man in Christ who carries on this life of defeat, but it is the sin-principle in him, engendered by the unyielded flesh and occupying the Lord’s temple as a trespassing squatter like the Tobiah whom Nehemiah expelled.

Originally posted by autowrench
reply to post by fireyaguns

 

Whether you may be aware or not, the Spirit that inhabits each and every living Human is Immortal, always has been, always will be. So your "Eternal Life" ritual, or whatever it was, is not necessary.

A couple of questions,

What quality of existance will every immortal spirit have once the flesh is dead?

And

What gauges the end result?

If I may suggest;
Expounding something from John's writings is a good idea in principle (I'm currently working through James), but John's teaching is so dense that you're probably better off taking it in smaller portions.
Easier for people to get hold of.

Originally posted by fireyaguns
1John CHAPTER 5

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that 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 grievous.

Nice post, I'd like to share my insights on this.

Believing in Jesus not as simple as believing he exists. To believe Jesus as the savior (Christ) is also to believe that what he teaches is what will save you.

When Jesus was here on Earth, keeping his commandments are easy. Most his followers are desperately poor. It wouldn't take much to tell them to abandon all their possessions here on Earth. They didn't have much to distract them from loving God with everything. There was no hobbies, if any, no parties, no friday night dinners at a friend's house, no gadgets, no games, no TVs, no careers, no cars, etc.

Today, we got plenty of distractions. Relatively speaking, quite many Christians today are filthy rich compared to the desperately poor that followed Jesus when he was here.

Today, it's incredibly difficult/impossible to follow the literal teachings of Jesus. But hey Jesus also told this:

Matthew 19:23 KJV:
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven"

Today, if you have a house, car, eat 3 meals a day, have a job, can do hobbies, enjoy food, enjoy recreational activities, then you are the 'rich' mentioned in the Bible.

Now tell them to sell all their possessions to help the thousands of children starving to death around the world and see if they won't kill you either physically or with words. They will quote much from the Old Testament, which the God there is not the Father of Jesus. Then they will quote Paul who is a false prophet.

The Bible has the truth in it but not all. Only the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth) can tell you the truth through research, and fellowship not the Bible.

Then they will quote Paul who is a false prophet.

absotutely ridorkulous! Pauls testimony is perfectly valid and know this for a fact. tsk tsk

no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

All scripture is inspired by God. Paul himself could not have written the books without the (witness) Holy Spirit for Paul was just a man.


1John 5:9
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.

The witness of God is greater. It is greater because he is God; if numbers are important (and John did stress the numbers in Jn 8:17–18, where Christ’s own testimony is counted with the Father’s for the necessary two), God’s testimony is three in one. The point is only that there is plenty of evidence to confirm the fact that Jesus is the Christ. Which he hath testified (Gr martyreō); the Greek perfect tense is used for this word to stress the certainty of the fact of God’s witness.

Originally posted by fireyaguns
reply to post by jazzguy

 

Anyone wanting to know they have assurance of eternal life. Maybe you might like to read it yourself.
You can always come back when you need.

How? By believing in all things Jesus? No thanks.

However, I'm sure there's a street corner somewhere, where you can recite that through a megaphone to.

Originally posted by fireyaguns
All scripture is inspired by God. Paul himself could not have written the books without the (witness) Holy Spirit for Paul was just a man.

How did you come to know this? I hope it's not from another person, because many Christians nowadays are deceived and they didn't even know they are. I used to be in the Pentecostal denomination, now I chose to follow Jesus. Please read the verses below:

1 John 2:26-27
"I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him."

Anointing is the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth).

The Love of God and the anointing only comes when you have truly hated all the things of this world, all the inventions of man. Because you truly love God. God is full of justice, righteousness, and mercy. Man's inventions are exactly the opposite of these, it exploits others, brings misery and suffering to quite a lot of God's creations

1 John 2:15-17
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever. "

Once you have the anointing, read the Bible again, unlearn everything you were taught in the church. Do not let any person teach you how to read it, just read. Read everything, do research including the non-canon texts, it's all in the internet. Some will contain the truth, some will not, the Holy Spirit will guide you to the truths:

John 16:13:
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come"

All the teachings of Jesus, he did not make a big deal out of a book, you might call the Bible. Jesus knows the future, he made it clear. Not one mention of a book in the future.

If the Bible or even the Church(Synagogues) is quite important today or even central to the learning of truth, then Jesus would have mentioned its importance but Jesus did not. Jesus gave infinitely greater importance to the anointing of the Holy Spirit as central to learning the truth, than from a book, a church or from another person.

However, rather than saying something about a book in the future, there were many warnings against the 'lying spirit' the spirit of the antichrist, false apostles, etc.

Originally posted by ahnggk

Originally posted by fireyaguns
All scripture is inspired by God. Paul himself could not have written the books without the (witness) Holy Spirit for Paul was just a man.

How did you come to know this? I hope it's not from another person, because many Christians nowadays are deceived and they didn't even know they are. I used to be in the Pentecostal denomination, now I chose to follow Jesus. Please read the verses below:

I know because God has told us through His Word/The Bible

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) 16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work

I knew a bloke once who left the pentecostal movement. Once he had come away he was in my opinion a solid Christain for 7 years then one day after not seeing him for 4 years, he was convinced he was jesus. What happen? He believed he should give away all he had. He was totaly screwed, he believed the Word of God was a book written by men and not inspired our Living God. So So Sad.

Romans 3:10-12 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.


10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. This same theme is seen throughout the Old Testament and is summarized in Psalm 14:1–3. Righteousness is not only the key word in this epistle, it is also the criterion by which sin is judged.


11. There is none that understandeth. Not a verbatim quote, this charge is derived from Psalm 14:2; 53:3. Here understanding is not mental but spiritual. The world is totally lacking in spiritual discernment (Eph 4:18). The natural man may not be mentally deranged, but he is certainly spiritually deranged and incapable of spiritual understanding (I Cor 2:14).


There is none that seeketh after God. In Psalm 53:2–3 David remarked that there is no man who innately seeks after God because man is sinful. When the sinner is drawn by God, he then seeks the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and confession (Jn 6:44). Because he naturally does not seek the Lord, man gives evidence of being guilty of unrighteousness.


12. They are all gone out of the way. Man has not only “missed the mark,” he has also “perverted his path.” In this quote from the LXX of Psalms 14:3; 53:4, the picture is of a camel caravan crossing the desert which has strayed from the route and cannot return to the proper path. Likewise man has lost his way by deviating from God’s prescribed route of righteousness.

Originally posted by fireyaguns
(2 Timothy 3:16-17) 16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work

If this is true, then we won't be needing the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth).

But this is not what Jesus preached.

The truth only comes from the Holy Spirit, not a book. Not even through Holy Spirit then to men who writes the books. It comes direct to anyone who will forsake everything for Jesus.

Jesus not even once he mentioned the scriptures are 100% the truth, for he knew what was coming. Jesus coming to earth to die would have been in vain if the scriptures then existing are also 100% correct.

Jesus likened the Truth (how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven) to a priceless treasure. A priceless treasure can be many things but there is one thing it is not - easy to find. Not saying the Bible is entirely false, but treat it like a sand, the Truth being the buried metal treasures, and the Holy Spirit as the metal detector.

Why do we keep on denying Jesus' radical teachings?? Why do we keep pointing to Paul's writings and the Old Testament to justify what we believe is told by other men, not by the Spirit?

Why can't we point to another one of Jesus teachings? Is it true we can't find anything in Jesus' teachings that is good to our carnal ear? Is this possibly the reason why Jesus angered so many that he was eventually crucified?

1 John 2:18-23
"18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the[c] Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.[d] 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

To choose not to follow the teachings of Jesus in its literal context is to deny him and the Father. The mainstream Christianity is doing exactly the same thing, they keep pointing to the Old testaments and Paul to find a loophole to their carnal desires to which they are desperately addicted to. In essence, many Christians today are actually antichrists.

The teachings of Jesus is not really hard to follow if you only had few things in this life and if the world hates you. I'm sorry but that is what Jesus teaches, that the rich, those who had those good things in this world, the love of the world, will find it very difficult to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They have grown too dependent and addicted to that they could no longer forsake it.

I have a question,

Where are you getting Jesus teachings from?