Assurances of Eternal Life

See WCF 21.3-4; WLC 180, 184, 186; WSC 98-99; BC 12; HC 117.

John's gospel was written to move readers to faith in Jesus (John 20:31); 1 John was written to give believers the ability to find assurance of their salvation. According to Calvin:

As there ought to be a daily progress in faith, so he says that he wrote to those who had already believed, so that they might believe more firmly and with greater certainty, and thus enjoy a fuller confidence as to eternal life.

John lists several traits that should be evident in one claiming to be born again by the Spirit of God: They...

(1) desire fellowship with God and others "in Christ" (1 John 1:2-3; cf. Acts. 2:42-47; 1 Cor. 1:9; Heb. 10:25)

(2) have joy (1 John 1:3; cf. John 15:11; Phil. 1:4, 18, 25, 26; 2:2, 28; 3:1, 4:1, 4, 10; 1 Pet. 1:8)

(3) are sensitive to and honest about their sin (1 John 1:5-6, 8-10; Rom. 3:23; cf. Psa. 66:18)

(4) obey God's commands (1 John 2:3)

(5) love not the world (1 John 2:12-17; 5:4, 19)

(6) demonstrate purity in hope of Christ's return (1 John 3:2-3; Phil. 3:20-21; Tit. 2:11-13)

(7) have a decreasing pattern of sin in their lives (1 John 3:4-10)

(8) love others (1 John 3:10; cf. John 13:35; 15:13; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Pet. 1:22)

(9) have their prayers answered (1 John 3:22; 5:13-15)

(10) acknowledges Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2-3; 1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7 )

(11) suffered (ing) for Christ (1 John 4:13; cf. 1 Cor. 4:13; Phil. 1:28; 1 Pet. 2:20; 4:4; 5:10)

(12) are able to discern between truth and error (1 John 4:1-6; cf. 1 John 2:21; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Thess. 5:21; cf. Deut. 29:29)

(13) experience the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13; cf. 1 John 2:27; 1 Cor. 2:10, 12; Gal. 4:6; 5:22-23; Rom. 8:16)

(14) demonstrate faith (1 John 5:1)

(15) accept the testimony of God concerning his Son (1 John 5:9-12; John 14:6)

(16) keep themselves from idols (1 John 5:21).

While many of the above traits overlap one another, this is not a smorgasbord! The true Christian will not consider if he can get away with taking 1, 7, and 10 above and leave the rest at the Lord's Table. No, as a new creation he desires all that has been freely given him in Christ, that he fall behind in no good thing. He looks not for excuses, but fulness (Matt. 5:6), which he has found and will continue to find at the foot of the cross.

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves" (2 Cor. 13:5). Albeit, Christians are not perfect in all these characteristics at rebirth (1 John 1:8-10); they nonetheless have these traits. Even though believers are not like Christ in terms of the completeness of their obedience, they are like him in their basic orientation and stand out, as Christ did, in contrast with the world at large (John 5:44; 17:16). Since believers are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), endowed with all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3), they will let their light so shine (Matt. 5:16; cf. Phil. 3:8; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Pet. 2:20). See "Make Your Calling and Election Sure - 2 Peter 1:10" below. See WCF 18.1; 18.3; WLC 80, 172; WSC 36.

so that you will know. See WCF 18.1, 3; WLC 80; 172; WSC 36. Repeatedly, John has referenced this purpose for writing—to assure his readers that they know God. Often, he employs verbs for knowing in this short letter: oida (2:11, 20-21, 29; 3:2, 5, 14-15; 5:13, 15, 18-20) and ginōskō (2:3-5, 13-14, 18, 29; 3:1, 6, 16, 19-21, 24; 4:2, 6-8, 13, 16: 5:2, 20). Uniquely among the evangelists, John says Christ's followers will not only possess eternal life in the future, they also experience it now, because they already enjoy fellowship with God (see notes on 1:3-4; Jn. 17:3). This assurance of true knowledge arises from a true confession of Jesus as the Messiah, obeying him and loving your brothers and sisters in your words and deeds.

ask anything… whatever we ask. See notes on Jn 14:12-14. Prayer is central activity of fellowship with God, as exemplified in the life of Jesus. As he demonstrated, most poignantly in the Garden of Gethsemane (see notes on Lk 22:40-44), prayer is an act of honest communication with God that expresses our desires and submits them to God's will.

John commands believers to pray. Four convictions combine to motivate such petitions:

(1) Children of God and sinners are mutually exclusive categories (1 John 5:18). Believers pray that their fellow believers will leave the path of sin.

(2) Everyone either belongs to God or is, with the world at large, in the grip of the Devil (1 John 5:19). Believers pray that God will keep them out of the Devil's hands.

(3) The Son of God has come with the good news that the true God offers eternal life (1 John 5:20). Believers pray that this good news will free their brothers and sisters from sin. The true God is the One who has sent his Son to free people from sin and from the evil one.

(4) Jesus is the only savior in the world (1 John 2:2). Any promise of another way of freedom or any pretense that such freedom is impossible amounts to idolatry (1 John 5:21) - the substitution of a false god for the true God.

"There is a sin that leads to death." Some connect this sin with the unforgivable sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31-32 (see also Mark 3:28-39; Luke 12:10). See "Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: Can I Be Forgiven?" below.

However, John may also be referring to intentional, willful acts against God - sustained, willful repudiation of God - or he may be referring to a stubborn refusal to accept the message of the Gospel, as in John 8:24 (1 John 1:8). John distinguished between "sin that leads to death" and "sin that does not lead to death." For those who have not renounced the way of faith and love altogether, we can pray with assurance that God will restore them, but for those who have renounced it, we cannot pray with such assurance. Some have also suggested that this refers to a sin that leads to the punishment of physical death, such as the flagrant violation of the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:30). See "Keeps on sinning ... continues to sin - 1 John 3:6" below. See WCF 21.4; WLC 150, 183; WSC 83.

See CD 5.IV

sin that does not result in death. See WCF 21.4; WLC 150, 183; WSC 83. John moves from his general statements on prayer (vv. 14-15) to how his readers should pray for a brother or sister who is involved in sinful practices. Sin that does not result in death refers to sins that are forgiven because of Jesus'sacrifice (see notes on 1:9; 2:1-2). Sins that lead away from eternal life to spiritual death include the sins of those who left the community, because they denied Jesus' incarnation and atoning death. These sins may also include the absence of the other marks of Christian identity, obedience to Christ's commands, especially the command to love one another in word and deed. Those who left John's congregation placed themselves outside of the realm of forgiveness, because they denied the gospel. John reassures his readers that if they confess their sins to Christ, they will be forgiven (see note on 1:9).

See and compare "Keeps on sinning . . . continues to sin - 1 John 3:6" below.

The world system is under the control of the Evil One (cf. 1 John 2:16). The Devil has captured the human race by temptation (1 John 3:8; 4:4), and no one can escape the cycle of temptation, sin, and condemnation without divine rebirth. However, there can be no evasion of responsibility by blaming the Evil One (Gen. 3:13), and though humanity lies as slaves to its own depravity and inability, its enslavement to sin is also fully voluntary (Jas. 1:13-15). Only the Son of God can break the rebellious cycle and replace it with a cycle of forgiveness, gratitude, and obedience (1 John 3:8).

God keeps his own safe. He will not lose one (John 6:39; 10:28; cf. Luke 15:4; Rom. 8:35-39). See "The Perseverance and Preservation of Believers: Can I Lose My Salvation?" and "Can Satan Harm Me?" below. As Calvin conveys:

If we were the keepers of our own salvation, it would be a miserable protection. Therefore, Christ asks the Father to keep us, saying that it is not done by our own strength. The faithful do not themselves have the power to keep themselves safe, but they should resist Satan so they may never be fatally wounded by his arrows. And we know that we fight with no other weapons but those of God.

does not sin. See note on 3:9. John reasserts his earlier point that Christians are not characterized by sin. But, this time he roots his claim in the protection God gives to his children from the evil one. The one who was born from God normally refers to believers (see notes on 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18 and cf. Jn. 1:11-13). Jesus promised to defend his sheep and prayed that God would protect them from evil as well (see notes on Jn. 17:12-15). John uses the phrase <4190>the evil one interchangeably with the devil (see notes on 3:8, 10).

the control of the evil one. Protection from the evil one does not include protection from temptation or even testing, rather it promises divine assistance in the midst of such tests. Overcoming the evil one is an important Johannine theme in this letter (see notes on 2:13-14; 4:4) and in the messages to the seven churches in the Revelation (see notes on Rev. 2:11, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).Most importantly, the reign of the Devil is being nullified, coming to an end, because it has been challenged decisively by Jesus' sovereignty over death, disease and demons (see notes on Lk 10:18-20; James 4:7; and 1 Jn 3:8).

John again says "we know" (1 John 3:2, 14; 5:18, 19, 20). Believers have a special understanding, an intimate relationship with God (John 17:3; 1 Cor. 1:18-21; 2:6-16).

God the Father is referred to as the One "who is true," whose Son is Jesus Christ. This suggests that "the true God" also refers to the Father, although grammatically this could refer to the Son (cf. Tit. 2:13). Note that John uses true three times in this one verse. He is making an argument against that which is false. He is providing three witnesses in accordance with the Law (Deut 17:6; 19:15, etc.). See "For there are three that testify - 1 John 5:7-8" below. The false teachers (Gnostics) literally denied that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, John summarizes the basic teaching of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ is the Son of God (100% divine and 100% human); "He is the true God and eternal life." See WCF 8.2; WLC 11; HC 35.

he is the true God. See WCF 8.2; WLC 11; HC 35. That Israel's God is the only true and living God is a constant confession throughout Scripture (see notes on Gen 21:33; 1 Sam. 3:7; 17:26; Ps 42:2; 90:2; Jer. 10:10; Isa 43:11-12; Jn. 1:9; 15:1; Acts 4:12; Rev. 3:7). John ends here, defending the full divinity and humanity of Jesus, declaring the Son's intimate relationship with the Father in both his gospel and this letter.

John's audience has heard the witness of God, and now he commands them to keep themselves from idols. As Akin says, "The phrase "him who is true" [1 John 5:20] refers to God, the ultimate reality, and is contrasted with the "idols" of (cf. John 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9)." Based upon the assurances laid out in 1 John 5:18-20, John says reject the false and embrace the real. See HC 94.

Regarding idols, Kistemaker delineates:

This admonition comes without any explanation. That is, in the epistle John does not discuss idolatry. But from a historical perspective, we admit that John's admonition fits the context of first-century Christianity. Christians faced the pagan world and idol worship, as is evident from Acts (e.g., Acts 15:29; 19:23-41) and the epistles of Paul (e.g., 1 Cor. 8:4, 7; 2 Cor. 6:16).

Here is another interpretation. We cannot rule out the possibility that John means that idols are "false conceptions of God" [F.F. Bruce]. Then we see that John's warning to test the teachings of false prophets (1 John 4:1) harmonizes with his final admonition.

Guard yourselves, says John, from idols. He urges the believers to abstain from any form of worship that draws them away from Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Once again, in this book we have seen magnificent scriptural truths that are consistent with the great cry of the Reformation:

Sola Fide (by faith alone)
Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone)
Solus Christus (through Christ alone)
Sola Gratia (by grace alone)
Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone)

idols. See HC 94. The word idols could refer to anything that led people away from the true worship of God (see note on 4:3). However, any congregation in Ephesus or any other city in Asia Minor would have daily experience with physical images of false gods. This would include images of the Roman emperor, who many people worshipped. In the OT, idolatry is a sin that leads to death (see notes on vv. 16-17). Because of the presence of false prophets (see notes on 4:1-6), it is possible that John's command here is quite literal (see notes on Rev. 2:14, 20; 9:20; 13:12, 15)