CHAPTER 5

(A.D. 90)

THE NEW BIRTH

¹Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (the word believeth is not a mere intellectual assent to the fact of the Incarnation, but a heart acceptance of all that is implied in its purpose the substitutionary death of the Incarnate One for sinners): and every one who loves Him Who begat loves him also who is begotten of Him. (This simply states that those who love God as their Father also love Gods Children.)

²By this we know that we love the Children of God (we know we love God if we love those who bear His Image), when we love God, and keep His Commandments. (Jesus said the same thing in Jn. 14:15.)

³For this is the Love of God, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous. (This is easy to do, providing we look exclusively to the Cross. Otherwise it is impossible [Mat. 11:28-30].)

⁴For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world (if we follow Gods Prescribed Order, we will overcome the world): and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our Faith. (John is speaking here of Faith in Christ and the Cross, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives [Rom. 8:1-2, 11].)

⁵Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (It is not he who does, but who believes.)

LIFE

⁶This is He Who came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ (refers to the Living Word becoming flesh [Jn. 1:1, 4], which is symbolized by water and then as the Lamb of God Who took away the sin of the world, which was effected by the shedding of His Blood on the Cross of Calvary); not by water only, but by water and blood (testifies to the fact that the Incarnation within itself, although absolutely necessary, was not enough; the phrase also testifies to the absolute necessity of the Atonement). And it is the Spirit Who bears witness, because the Spirit is Truth. (The Holy Spirit bore witness to the Divine Birth of Christ, and to the Divine Sacrifice of Christ [Mat. 1:18; Heb. 9:14].)

⁷For there are Three Who bear record in Heaven (the Law has ever required the Testimony of two or three witnesses [Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Mat. 18:16; II Cor. 13:1]), the Father, the Word (Jesus Christ is the Word [Jn. 1:1]), and the Holy Spirit: and these Three are One. (The only sense three can be one is in essence and unity, as is clear in Jn. 17:11, 21-23.)

⁸And there are Three who bear witness in earth (as in Heaven, so on Earth), the Spirit, and the water, and the blood (speaks of the Holy Spirit; the Humanity of Christ, while never ceasing to be Deity, and the Atonement, i.e., the Cross): and these Three agree in One. (These Three agree that Christ is Very Man while at the same time being Very God, Who died on the Cross to Redeem fallen humanity.)

⁹If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater (if we receive witness of sinful men who can so easily deceive, we should gladly receive the witness of God, Who cannot possibly deceive): for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son (centers on the Cross).

¹⁰He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself (that Witness is the Holy Spirit [Rom. 8:16]): He who believes not God has made Him a liar (presents the problem of unbelief as the basic difficulty in the human race); because he believes not the record that God gave of His Son (proclaims the fact that the proof is undeniable).

¹¹And this is the record (the record is the Word of God, which is the story of the Cross), that God has given to us Eternal Life (the Life of God flowing into and literally becoming a part of the Believer), and this life is in His Son. (Christ is the Source, while the Cross is the means.)

¹²He who has the Son has Life (through the Cross); and he who has not the Son of God has not Life. (This rules out all the fake luminaries of the world.)

PRAYER

¹³These things have I written unto you who believe on the Name of the Son of God (all that John writes is to bring to the mind of His readers the fact that they have Life Eternal because they believe on the name of the Son of God); that you may know that you have Eternal Life (not a mere experimental knowledge, but an absolute knowledge), and that you may believe on the Name of the Son of God (keep believing).

¹⁴And this is the confidence that we have in Him (proper believing gives us proper confidence, which is proper assurance), that, if we ask any thing according to His Will, He hears us (we should pray with the provision expressed or implied, if it be Your Will):

¹⁵And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask (presents the fact that we are assured of this, even though we may not see an immediate answer to prayer), we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him (providing its His Will).

RESTORATION

¹⁶If any man see his Brother sin a sin which is not unto death (refers to direction other than the Cross, done in ignorance), he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them who sin not unto death. (The Believer who understands Gods Prescribed Order of Victory, which is the Cross, should pray for those who are ignorantly going in a direction opposite of the Cross.) There is a sin unto death (speaks of unbelief; this group is not opposing the Cross because of ignorance, but rather because they simply do not believe in the Atoning work of Calvary): I do not say that he shall pray for it. (While it is pointless to pray that God would forgive such a person, it is proper to pray that the blindness of their unbelief will be removed.)

¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin (refers to any deviation from the Word): and there is a sin not unto death. (This is a lack of trust in the Cross due to ignorance, not unbelief. While such sin will bring great disturbance upon the individual, it will not cause one to lose their soul.)

VICTORY

¹⁸We know that whosoever is born of God sins not (does not practice sin); but he who is begotten of God keeps himself (should have been translated, but He [Christ] Who is Begotten of God keeps him), and that wicked one touches him not (is the person who keeps his Faith in Christ and the Cross).

¹⁹And we know that we are of God (because of trusting in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross), and the whole world lies in wickedness (refers to the world system).

ETERNAL LIFE

²⁰And we know that the Son of God is come (presents that which is not simply a historic fact, but rather an abiding operation), and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him Who is true (the real One as opposed to spurious gods), and we are in Him Who is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ (by virtue of being Baptized into His Death [Rom. 6:3-5]). This is the True God, and Eternal Life. (Jesus Christ is truly God, and Faith in Him guarantees Eternal Life.)

²¹Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (This does not refer here to the heathen worship of idol gods, but of the heretical substitutes for the Christian conception of God, or anything that pulls us away from Christ and the Cross.)