QT 2/10/2025 1 Jn 5:13-21, True belief

1 John 5:13–21 (ESV) —

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not 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 understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

 

NOTE: What is the sin that leads to death? In Matt 12:32 (Matt 12:22 and following verses), it is a rejection of the Messiah in the flesh and calling him Beelzebub. It was committed by "this generation," a specific generation. That generation and its leaders had mostly passed by the time John wrote this letter. Possibly, it is a complete rejection of the Messiah to the point of actively encouraging sin and rebellion to God. Jesus does say something to the extant "woe to them who teach the little ones a new sin …." (my heavy paraphrase). Also, Jesus did tell his disciples to shake the dust off their feet toward communities that rejected the message of the gospel.  John is not forbidding prayer in these cases, but he does seem to be discouraging it. He is clearly not referring to believers as 1 Jn 5:11-12 makes clear. You can't have Jesus and then lose him (since you are sealed by the Holy Spirit). You can fool yourself into thinking you believe and then later reject everything you said you believed. But I don't think one who has truly repented and believed can turn their back completely on the savior.

 

PONDER:

1. Where do I truly stand with the Lord?
2. Am I faking it, going through the motions, or does Jesus Christ affect every aspect of my life?

 

PRAYER: Father, in these last days, however long they are, I pray we would be serious about our faith. I pray we would live it out each day. I pray it would be obvious to those around us.