Author: Charlie Garrett

Sunday, 31 May 2020

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4

In the previous verse, John wrote concerning the commandments of God. He now turns to the simple fact that those who have faith have kept the commandments of God. In this, he begins with, “For whatever is born of God.” It is a perfect participle – “having been born.” Whatever has been born is now in that state, and the state is that of completion. One is not born of God more than once, just as one is not born of a woman and then born a second or a third time.

Further, John uses a neuter adjective, whatever (literally, “all”), to indicate a full view of the matter he is conveying. As Cambridge notes of this, “…whereas the masculine would make the victorious person prominent, the neuter emphasizes rather the victorious power.” That power is defined at the end of the verse as “faith.” Before getting there, he continues the thought. That which is born of God “overcomes the world.” It is all-encompassing. Every single instance where one is born of God, the world is overcome.

The word translated as “overcomes” is an aorist participle. It should say, “having overcome,” or “overcame.” It is a once for all act at a specific point in time. One does not overcome the world in order to have to overcome it again and again. It is overcome and it is done. Any who are born of God have overcome the world. The reciprocal must also be true, if you have the overcome world, it is because you are born of God. John next describes how that comes about saying, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

The word translated as “victory” is found only here in the Bible, it is niké. It is the means of success. It is “a particular expression of victory, resulting from receiving (obeying) the faith Christ imparts (i.e. His inworked persuasion)” (HELPS Word Studies).

John says that “our faith” is what brings about the victory, and that victory is what has made us overcome the world. Thus, our faith is what allows us to be begotten of God. It is exactly the same process that Paul conveys in his epistles.

In John 16, we read –

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Jesus obtained complete victory over the world. For those who have faith in Christ – meaning any and all – they join Him in His victory. The faith in Christ allows them to be born of God, and in their being born of God, they overcome.

Seven times in Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus shows what overcoming the world because of faith in Him means –

“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” Revelation 2:11

“To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
²⁷ ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as I also have received from My Father; ²⁸ and I will give him the morning star.” Revelation 2:26-28

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5

“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.” Revelation 3:12

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:21

Only in one instance does Christ add anything to overcoming, when he said, “and keeps my works to the end.” That implies that not everyone who is saved (which is eternal) will be given this particular power and position. Thus, there is a special blessing to those who not only are saved by Jesus, but who also keep his works. However, the overcoming itself is something which is eternal.

A study on the word “overcome” as it is laid out in the New Testament, gives a rich and full view of the marvel of life in Christ. However, Jesus sums up the thought with these words from Revelation 21:7 –

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

It is faith in the finished work of Christ that allows this to occur.

Life application: NEWS FLASH: Deeds are not and cannot be a part of our salvation – either the declaration of salvation (being declared righteous and thus justified) or a continued necessity for our salvation.

For those who have been told they cannot ever truly know if they are saved, or for those who have been told they must “participate” in their salvation by doing things, or for those who have been told that their faith isn’t real unless they demonstrate the fruit of their salvation, then they have been misled.

Jesus Christ asks us to believe, and the apostles ask us to believe. The written testimony, which is the Word of God, asks us to believe. If we have faith in Jesus’ work, then we “overcome the world.” The term “whatever” indicates the victory of being reborn, not the strength of the person.

The engine of Jesus’ work is sufficient for anyone to overcome the world, but it won’t do so unless it has the fuel of our faith. No person is saved unless he has faith in what Jesus did, but glory to God in the highest, our faith in His work moves the mountains!

Lord God, we are so very glad that our salvation isn’t up to a denomination, a church, or our own effort. Instead, our salvation is entirely up to the work of Jesus Christ and our individual willingness to believe it is so. And we have that faith! We believe Jesus died for each of us, that He rose for us, and that faith in His work is all that we will ever need. Glory to God, it is sufficient, and it is finished!!! Amen.

Saturday, 30 May 2020

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3

John just tied loving the children of God in with loving God and keeping His commandments. He now takes that and further defines it, saying, “For this is the love of God.” In order to know we love the children of God, we will understand what it means to love God. John then explains that with the words, “that we keep His commandments.”

As has been consistently noted, this is not speaking of the precepts of the Law of Moses. That has already been defined in Scripture as a “yoke,” and as “bondage.” Speaking of the law, Peter says –

“Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Acts 15:10

Paul uses the same terminology in Galatians 5 –

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1

These, and other such examples, show that the Law of Moses was a burdensome yoke, and it was a point of being brought into bondage. But it also served a good purpose by revealing these things, and also showing the world its need for Christ. Without the law, that would not have been rightly understood. Keeping Gods commandments involves keeping the words which point us to life in Christ, beginning with what Jesus says in John 6 –

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:29

From there, and being obedient to what God has commanded in Christ (and in proper context), and we will be demonstrating a love of God. John then reveals the nature of this by saying, “And His commandments are not burdensome.” The Greek word, translated as “burdensome,” is barus. This is the last of its six uses. It can be used in a positive sense or a negative one, but it generally signifies grievous, heavy, burdensome, and so on. It is quite appropriate for how both Peter and Paul described the Law of Moses. The commandments of God in Christ, however, are not so.

Life application: John uses a definite article in front of the word “love.” In other words, “the love.” He’s speaking about the same unconditional and eternal love that he has been referring to throughout this epistle. It is grounded in our love for the Father, based on the work of Jesus.

The commandments of God in Christ are not burdensome. Rather, they stand in contrast to the commandments of man. His are a light and easy choice as we can see by His words in the gospel of Matthew –

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. ⁴ For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” Matthew 23:1-4

& again…

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus’ yoke is light because He has already done the hard and heavy work for us. Now we can live in the joy of the Lord and demonstrate our love for God in the keeping of His commandments – as are revealed in the New Covenant.

We know, Lord, that Your commandments are not burdensome, but we also know that we often fail You. Be with us and help us to learn, live, and love the commandments which You have given us through Your New Covenant. May our lives be demonstrations of Your great love for us as we pass it on to others, and also return it to You as well. This we pray, so that our fellowship may be complete. Amen.

Friday, 29 May 2020

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 1 John 5:2

Again, as he has repeatedly done, John begins the thought with, “By this.” In this, he is not making an inference based on conduct, but he is saying that we perceive the fact he will state. In other words, one can keep a commandment for whatever reason and actually not know that he is doing right. If the speed limit is 40mph, and someone is driving 40mph, it doesn’t mean he knows that is the speed limit. He is simply doing what is right without knowing it.

Or, a person can know that he is doing right by keeping a commandment. “The speed limit is 40mph, and I am keeping that law. Therefore, I am doing right.” This latter person is who John is referring to. “By this,” is equated to, “I mentally understand the situation.” Understanding this, John says, “By this we know that we love the children of God.”

In knowing the commandment he will refer to, and in applying the precepts of that commandment, one can know that he loves the children of God. John noted loving the brethren (who are the children of God) in 1 John 3:14 –

“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.” 1 John 3:14

In loving the brethren, we know that we have passed from death to life. But how do we know we love the brethren? He tells us with the words, “when we love God and keep His commandments.” John has spoken of loving God “because he first loved us” in the previous chapter. Right after that, he said that if someone says, “I love God,” but he hates his brother, he is a liar. So how can we know we love God? It is if we “keep His commandments.”

This is exactly what Jesus (who is God) was referring to in John 14 –

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

The two are united in one thought – “If, then you will.” John referred to this in 1 John 2 –

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:3, 4

To understand what he was saying in those verses, refer to corresponding commentary, but in short, this is not referring to the Law of Moses. We are to believe in the Son, and we are to love our brethren. In this, we can know we love the children of God. This is because one who believes in Christ Jesus is believing in the Head of a body comprised of people. One cannot love the Head without loving the body. They are one. Therefore, John’s words perfectly explain the relationship between believers, who are the children of God.

Life application: John’s words bring up a point that needs to be readdressed. If some are the children of God, and we can know how they are children of God, then this by default means that those who don’t comply with what he says are not children of God. When we consider what he says, we will see that the vast number of people in the world don’t qualify as “children of God.” So, what does he say? It is –

1) “when we love God,” and
2) “keep His commandments.”

He says these in a united way. We cannot love God if we don’t keep His commandments. Likewise, the reciprocal is true. If we don’t keep His commandments, we prove that we don’t love Him. This brings up the need to review 1 John 4:20, 21 –

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”

The commandment is love – specifically love for the brethren. If we don’t have this love, which John has been so clearly explaining, then we are not keeping God’s commandments and we therefore don’t love God.

Let us believe in the Son, honor the Son, and love the Son. In this, we bring honor to the Father. But, in loving the Son – who is the Head of the body – we are to love the body which is comprised of His people. If you are having troubles loving your brethren in Christ, you are not alone. But you should make every attempt to be the pleasing soul God wants you to be by demonstrating true and sacrificial love for your fellow Christians.

Lord Jesus, move our hearts so that we will be able to love our fellow Christians as You have directed. Because this is Your commandment for us, we truly desire for our lives to reflect what You have said. Take away the feelings of enmity we may have towards others, and mold us into the thoughtful, loving people that You intend us to be. To Your praise we pray. Amen.

Thursday, 28 May 2020

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 1 John 5:1

“Whoever believes.” John has used the word translated as “believe” rather sparingly in the first four chapters of this letter, but he uses it seven times in this chapter. He is coming to the end of the letter and is culminating his thoughts with an amazing amount of information for the believer to process. In this chapter are several very difficult verses to grasp and there is even a verse which is highly disputed as to whether it even belongs in the Bible. Let us not lose sight of the importance of what John is saying over such differences thought.

In verse 4:7, John said, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” He now begins with, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” It is a confirmation of what has already been said, which is that the love John speaks of here is not a condition for salvation, but is a product of being saved. If one believes that Jesus is the Christ, then he has accepted the premise that Jesus came in the flesh and also came of God. He lived in that state, He was crucified and buried, and He rose again – proving that He is fully God.

In believing that, the love which is of God becomes a part of his very nature. In having this new aspect, John says, “and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.”

The words, “Him who begot,” refer to God. In coming to God through Christ, we now love God – understanding what He has done for us in Christ. This is the idea of what John was referring to in 1 John 4:20 when he wrote concerning claiming to love God but hating one’s brother. Such a person has not loved God, and he is a liar, because he has not come to God through Christ. The hatred is evidence of this. Hence, when one loves God (who begot), they also love “him who is begotten of Him.”

Cambridge lays out the overall thought process here –

Every child of God loves its Father.
… Every believer in the Incarnation loves God.
Every believer in the Incarnation loves God.
Everyone who loves God loves the children of God.
… Every believer in the Incarnation loves the children of God.

Christ is the only begotten of God in the sense of transmission of divine life – From Father to Son. However, believers in Christ are begotten of God through the Spirit (see 1 Peter 1:3). As we are all “begotten” of God in this sense, then we will possess the love which is of God for those who are begotten of Him. Again, this is not the love that we think of in normal human relations, but of the love which is of God, and which marks us as believers. It is a unifying love which will be fully realized in us when we are also perfected. But it is what marks us out at this time, just as the sealing of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13, 14) does.

Life application: John says that faith in the fact that Jesus is the Christ is an essential truth to being “born of God.” Being the “Christ” means that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that state this One is both human and deity. One cannot claim a belief in Jesus Christ and disregard that He came in the flesh and dwelt among us. However, if one can mentally acknowledge this and then avow its truth, then he is born of God. Once this is realized in the believer’s life, a change takes place which is identifiable as the work of God.

It is God who “begot” us because of our faith. In turn we love Him for this action. We become a member of the family of God and there is harmony and peace between us and Him. However, there is more to identify us as children of God. Just as we love Him who begot us, we also are to love other believers who are begotten of Him. In other words, and is stated several times already in his letter, John tells us that our love for other believers is an identifying mark of our conversion.

Therefore, we need to strive as if it is as important to us as it is to God – to be faithful in loving our family of believers. How can we be a part of a family we don’t love? Just as we are excluded from fellowship with our earthly family when we don’t love them, we are likewise excluded from our heavenly family when we act in hatred toward them. Let us make every effort to display the love which is of God, even as we walk in these fallen bodies, awaiting the time when what we now possess can be fully expressed.

Heavenly Father, Your word – time and again – reveals to us our failings as members of Your family. We have not been as loving towards our fellow believers as we should be. Certainly, this causes a wall between us, and we know this must be corrected. Help us to change so that we can be pleasing members of Your household at all times. Amen.

Wednesday, 27 May 2020

And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 1 John 4:21

John has just expressed the idea that when someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother, there is no truth in that person; he is a liar. In coming to Christ, we are brought into the state where our love is perfected. We can see what true love is because we have seen what Christ was willing to do in order to save us. He loved us when we did not love Him. In expressing the love of God in this way, He then relayed that those who follow Him must act accordingly. And so, John says, “And this commandment we have from Him.”

A commandment has been given. As this is so, it is our obligation to do what He has commanded. Christ is the Lord, He is the Head of the church, and He is the executor of the New Covenant in His blood. It is this act which reveals the length God was willing to go through to express His love to us. Therefore, John next restates the command he has heard. It is “that he who loves God must love his brother also.”

As already seen, the command was given in John 13. But the surrounding verses will help clarify the full intent of what Jesus commands –

“Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. ³² If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. ³³ Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:31-35

Jesus not only gave the commandment, but He did so in relation to His going away. In His absence, it is the responsibility of the believer to act as He did. The reason for this becomes obvious. In expressing His love, those who saw it could then understand His nature. Those who follow Him, in expressing that same state, will then continue to reveal His nature. In loving one’s brother, we are indirectly reflecting Him and loving Him at the same time.

This is why at Paul’s vision of Christ, Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Paul was persecuting Christ’s followers. Thus, he was indirectly persecuting Christ. Logically, in demonstrating love to the brethren, we are then loving in Christ’s stead, and we are loving Christ as well. To not do so shows a defect in our love. But John has already been shown that “love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12).

Therefore, the commandment is set forth to remind us of our state, and to continue to live in that state at all times. The definition of love, given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, shows us how to be loving, and how to know if we are complying with the commandment which has been given.

Life application: The Old Covenant relayed a similar truth to what the commandment of the New Covenant relays –

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
²⁷ So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:25-27

Jesus says in Matthew 22:40 that on these hang all the Law and the Prophets. If all of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two things, and if in Christ, then we have inherited eternal life, then our love has been perfected because of our being in Christ. Therefore, we can claim we love God, and we understand that love is more than emotion. It is a state which says, “Without Christ, this person stands condemned. It is my obligation to love him, even as Christ loves him, so that he can enter into God’s love as well.”

For those in Christ, it says, “This person is in Christ. He is a member of Christ, and therefore it is my obligation to love him, just as I love Christ.”

Therefore, we are to act upon the love that has been perfected in us, demonstrating that it is a part of who we are.

Heavenly Father, You loved us before we loved You. There was a divide between us that could not be crossed by us, and so You sent Christ to make the bridge possible once again. Help us to act in a like manner toward those who have yet to find out the truth of what You have done, loving them in the same manner in which You first loved us. It is a hard path for us in these fallen lives of ours, but through Christ we can do it. May it be so, and may it be to Your glory. Amen.