1,2,3 John : Lesson 6
Overview
Born into the Family of God
The fifth chapter of 1 John opens with unmistakable family language: "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child" 1 John 5:1. While our culture has worn the word "family" thin—using it to greet customers at car dealerships and banks—John uses it precisely. New birth into God's family is entirely God's initiative, accomplished through the means of grace and echoed in the waters of baptism John 3:5. Because we share one Father, we are brothers and sisters, and we cannot help but love one another. As Paul reminds us, "It is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure" Philippians 2:13. Faith in Christ is what overcomes the world, because our elder Brother has already overcome it.
John then anchors our identity in the testimony to who Jesus is. The Spirit, the water, and the blood all agree 1 John 5:6–9—three witnesses, satisfying the requirement of Deuteronomy 19:15 that a matter be confirmed by two or three. The Father Himself testifies as well: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" Matthew 17:5. On the strength of this testimony, John writes so that those who believe "may know that you have eternal life" 1 John 5:13. Life on this side of heaven is brief, and every soul has an eternal destiny. If we truly believe this, we will not stay silent—we will long for our children, neighbors, and friends to know Christ and share in that life.
Family identity produces confidence in three concrete areas. We have confidence at Christ's appearing 1 John 2:28, confidence on the day of judgment because His perfect love casts out fear 1 John 4:17, and confidence in prayer 1 John 5:14. Prayer is not "breakthrough" language, as if we must wear God down with sufficient fervency or works. Hear the stunning promise: "Before they call I will answer, while they yet are speaking I will hear" Isaiah 65:24. The answer precedes the petition. God Himself is the instigator, the inspiration, and the implementer of our prayer. That frees us to pray honestly and to say with Jesus, "Not my will, but yours be done."
This confidence then turns outward toward intercession 1 John 5:16–17. John urges us to pray for brothers and sisters who sin. He distinguishes one sin he does not direct us to pray about: the unpardonable sin, which is the ultimate, willful, persistent rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (If you are worried you have committed it, you have not—those who commit it have no concern at all about it.) John is not forbidding prayer for unbelievers; rather, he is acknowledging that those who finally refuse Christ are lost. So as long as the Lord gives breath, we pray and we witness. Fears will rise—What if they say no? What if they ask something I can't answer? What if it changes the relationship?—but the growth belongs to God; we simply scatter the seed. As one bishop charged his pastors: "Preach Christ; you have no other assignment." Because we are members of the family, with Christ as our Brother, the most loving thing we can do for those around us is pray for them and tell them about Him.
Transcript
Let's pray together, please. Almighty God, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts that 2s
He may rule and direct us according to your will, comfort us in all our temptations and 10s
afflictions, defend us from all error, and lead us into all truth through Jesus Christ, 17s
our Lord. Amen. 24s
Well, last week we took a look at chapter four in which we saw the doctrine in life is just woven 27s
together. Doctrine is of course what it is that we believe, and life is that living out of that 33s
which we believe. And we focused on, and how John talks about the two natures of Christ, 39s
that Christ is truly God and truly human, 100% each on both of those categories, 46s
and how the love of God expressed in the two natures of Christ then shows itself in a life 55s
of love and service. And we also focused on because of the two natures of Christ, we have no fear 62s
of judgment day. Well, today we're going to turn to chapter five, and we're going to see how 70s
John lifts up the whole understanding of family. Family is really an overused term in our day. 78s
Is it not? You take your car in for service, and it's the first time you've been to that 87s
particular service place, and the advisor then says, well, welcome to the family. 93s
Or you open up a bank account, and you're greeted by the person that says, well, welcome to the family. 101s
It's an overused term. I'm going to show where it's not overused. In fact, it's the perfect term 107s
to use, which is family. So let's go to first John, the fifth chapter, verse one, first John, 117s
chapter five, verse one. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, 127s
and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. This is birth language, isn't it? This is 140s
family language. And it echoes, if you're a Bible writer here, you can put in John chapter three, 148s
verse five, it echoes how we are reborn in the waters of baptism. The language shows here that 154s
that new birth is totally the initiative of God Almighty, who through the means of grace brings us 164s
into that family relationship with us. This birth language, this family language also shows 172s
that as Christians, we are brothers and sisters, and we are called to love one another. We go on 184s
in the verse two. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey 192s
His commandments. If someone asks the question, how do you know you're a Christian? 203s
Well, you can talk about the faith that God has given you in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can talk 210s
about being claimed in the waters of baptism, God washing you in the promises. What John is getting 218s
at here is discouraging a confession of those that confess Christ, but willfully violate the 228s
command of God to love one another. Look at verse three, please. For the love of God is this, 237s
that we obey His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God, 248s
conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it? That 258s
conquers the world? But the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Our new birth into the 268s
family makes us one with Christ. And what did Christ do? He overcame the world. Let's go back to 279s
chapter four of 1 John, verse four. Little children you are from God and have conquered them. 288s
Here's speaking about the anti-Christ. For the one who is in you is greater than the one who is 299s
in the world. So because he overcame the world, we overcome the world in him. Let's go to John, 308s
first John chapter three, verse nine, first John chapter three, verse nine. 321s
Those who have been born of God do not sin because God's seed abides in them. They cannot 329s
sin because they have been born of God. Now remember what John was talking about here is his 338s
persistent habitual sin in which there is no repentance of. That is antithetical to the Christian 348s
faith, to say that there can be a Christian faith without repentance of sin. That's what John 358s
is getting at. As believers, as being born into the family, we can't help but love one another. 363s
Let's go to Philippians chapter two, verse 13. Philippians chapter two, verse 13. 379s
And there Paul writes, it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for 393s
his good pleasure. So we are born into the family. God calls us His own in the waters of 404s
baptism, family language. The Holy Spirit dwells in us and our faith then, as God is working in us, 412s
that faith then expresses itself and we can't help but love. Can't help but love because we are 423s
a member of the family. We bear the traits of our brother, capital B, the Lord Jesus Christ. 433s
John calls us to love and we can't help it. It's what occurs within the family. John then 443s
goes on to underscore the testimony of who our brother is. Let's go into verse six. 453s
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not with the water only, but with the 463s
water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies for the Spirit is the truth. 474s
There are three that testify. The Spirit and the water and the blood and these three agree. 482s
So we are born into the family. Our brother is the Lord Jesus Christ because God is at work in us. 493s
He manifests that which is pleasing to him, which is love for another. Then John underscores more 499s
in terms of the testimony of our brother, the Lord Jesus. And he says, the Holy Spirit witnesses 506s
to who Christ is, the water being the water of Christ, baptism testifies to who Christ is, 512s
and the blood of his death on the cross testifies to who our brother is. That's three witnesses, 519s
isn't it? In ancient days, Jewish law said that you couldn't bring a charge against someone. 528s
Unless you had two or three witnesses that can confirm the charge. That's Deuteronomy 19 and 534s
John chapter 8. So what's John highlighting here? We've got three witnesses here. 541s
We've got three witnesses for who Jesus is. We've got three witnesses that he is indeed God in the flesh. 549s
Verse 9. For if we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. 559s
For this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his son. God testifies Matthew 17. 569s
Remember, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. The Father even testifies to who 580s
God is. So back up into, let's go back up in the 9 again. If we receive human testimony, 587s
the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he's testified to his son. 595s
Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in 603s
God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning 609s
his son. And this is the testimony. God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son. 617s
Whoever has the son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 628s
Verse 13. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know 638s
that you have eternal life. What is the desire that we have for our loved ones? What is the 647s
desire that we have for children, for grandchildren, for our family members, for our friends? 656s
Is not the desire that they all may know the Lord Jesus Christ? Because we know and we see life 664s
from the perspective of life this side of heaven as much as we want to deny it, 671s
life this side of heaven comes to a conclusion if the Lord continues to carry. 678s
And that really life this side of heaven is but a blink in time, but a blink in time, 684s
and that we all have eternal destinies. We all do. There's only one of the other of two 690s
eternal destinies. Is either heaven or hell. There's no other eternal destiny. There's no 697s
non-existent category when one dies because we are all spiritual beings and we are alive forever. 702s
So when life this side of heaven ends, the destiny is either heaven or it is hell. What is the 713s
desire then that we have for our children, for our grandchildren, etc.? Is that they may know 722s
the Lord Jesus Christ? I was listening to a speaker the other day and the speaker said something 729s
very interesting. He quoted some type of statistic or something where non-Christians look at 736s
Christians and they say, we don't really get you. Okay, that can go a lot of different 744s
different directions. But the objection that the non-Christian had to the Christian was 751s
that if you really believe what you believe, that if you believe you go to heaven, if you don't 758s
believe you go to hell, that if you really believe that, why are you so quiet about what it is you 765s
believe? Well, that's indicted, isn't it? That's indicted. When we reflect on our own lives and we say, 771s
what was the last time I invited someone who wasn't a part of a church to come join me for worship? 784s
What was the last time I did that? When was the last time that I told somebody about the hope 792s
in the joy that is within me, the Lord Jesus Christ? When you think about it, you know, the Cowboys 800s
win. I was talking to talking to the pharmacists the other day and the pharmacists said, you know, 808s
I always hate working after the Cowboys play. I said, really, why is that? It was because if they lose, 813s
people are really angry. People are really angry. And they kind of take it out on whoever they 820s
feel safe to take it out. He was like, I hate working on days where the Cowboys play. 827s
You're looking at the Cowboys win and go, okay, that's great news. So you're talking to your 836s
neighbor and say, well, that was a great Cowboy game. How easy that comes about the joy, if you're a 843s
Cowboy fan, a joy of a cowboy win. And then you go, so we have the Lord who has claimed us and 848s
shed his blood for us to open up eternity for us. I don't want to share that. You know, why is that? 857s
I mean, it's convicting for all of us. Is it not? That indeed, we have the greatest message to 868s
to share. Our joy then, our desire, is that our loved ones, our neighbors, our work associates, 876s
those in our sphere will know Christ and the joy of that for life eternal. John wants a confident 887s
people, a confident people that know their God's people and that confidence shows in a couple of 896s
a couple of different areas. Take a look please at chapter 2 verse 28. 905s
Now, remember, John is talking here with family language that we've been made children of God. 913s
We're part of the family. Our brother is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to love. This love 920s
then expresses itself and a way it expresses itself is by being a confident person born of God, 926s
confident in these areas, verse 28. Chapter 2, a now little children abide in him so that when he's 936s
revealed, we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him it is coming. He said, 947s
confidence then, when the Lord comes again, we cry out for the Lord to come again. And God 955s
inspires in us and births in us for he's at work in us, Paul says, to will and to do what is his 964s
good pleasure so that when he comes again, we are bringing him glory, not caught in unrepentance in. 972s
So confidence then for the appearance of Christ. Chapter 4 verse 17. 983s
Love has been perfected among us in this. Remember as we studied that, that's God's love, 995s
God's perfect love that he has shared with us. God's love has been perfected among us in this 1002s
that we may have boldness on the day of judgment because he as he is, so are we in this world. 1009s
So confidence for the appearing of Christ, confidence for the day of judgment, 1019s
and then also look where John goes here in verse 14. And this is the boldness we have in him 1024s
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. So as children, as family members, 1033s
John is reminding us and calling us to have a confidence in terms of our prayer life. And how 1043s
can we be confident in our prayer life if we are praying according to his will, he hears us. 1052s
Right? And so when we say just like Jesus said, not my will, but your will be done. There is the 1059s
is the confidence. Let me show you Isaiah 65, Old Testament, go to the book of Psalms and start 1068s
working your way to the right. Isaiah 65, verse 24. 1076s
And notice what God says of him, of himself here. Isaiah 65, verse 24. 1091s
Before they call, I will answer. Well, they are yet speaking, I will hear. Before they call, 1106s
I will answer. Well, they are yet speaking, I will hear. 1116s
The answer perceives the petition here. Nothing, I reflect on that a minute. The answer 1124s
perceives the petition. Prayer then is a response here, what Isaiah reveals, to God's call rather than 1130s
just his response to our call. That God is the one prompting the prayer. And so that frees up 1139s
our prayer life, doesn't it? Because instead of conceiving of our prayer life as, I have to convince 1150s
God what God needs to do here. Because I've thought a lot about this. And I'm going to convince him 1159s
what he needs to do. And so if I just pray harder or get more people to join me or all the 1168s
works righteous and things that we can be tempted to do, then God will bend to my will. Instead of us 1176s
saying, here's a desire's Lord of my heart, not my will, but your will be done. And I have 1183s
al before your authority and whatever it is, you desire and whatever your will is. I bow before 1190s
you. That frees us in terms of our prayer life. And when we consider that God is the one that 1197s
prompting us here to pray, God then becomes the instigator of prayer, the inspiration of prayer, 1206s
and the implementer of the prayer. Three eyes. The instigator, the inspiration, and the implementer 1216s
of our prayer. We don't have to convince God of what to do. God's got it. God's got it. 1223s
And we can come before him in that peace, before him, and pray in accordance with his will. 1234s
Can we be honest in our prayer? Oh, absolutely. God knows what we're thinking anyway. 1242s
Right? So we honestly come before him and say, Lord, if it's your will, 1248s
and then we leave it with the if it's your will. And we trust in the one who has redeemed us. 1254s
We trust in him. He's the instigator, the inspiration, and the implementer. It's an amazing promise 1259s
in Isaiah 65. This application then comes to praying for others. That's where John goes next. 1270s
So with family language, we're made a member of the family. We're made the child of God. 1281s
We express by his grace the traits of our brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. He empowers us to love. 1288s
God loves us. Therefore, we in response to his love are called to love. We express the traits of our 1300s
of our brother. And he calls us to be a confident people. And and one of the areas of confidence that 1307s
John highlights for us family members. One of the areas that he highlights is in the area of 1314s
prayer prayer. It is not the language of breakthrough. You heard that language in association with prayer 1323s
that I need to get my breakthrough with God. I mean, you see that on Christian, don't watch Christian 1334s
networks. Don't watch Trinity broadcasting networks. Don't just don't do it. You go into into into a 1344s
into a bookstore and you and you open up books on prayer and then you'll you'll see it. You know, 1353s
I got my breakthrough. Now, now what does that say about God? That God is on on his throne in heaven 1360s
with his back turned or sit inside ways and saying, you just haven't prayed hard enough or long enough. 1369s
We're got enough people here. You know, we need a little bit more fervency. We need we need a few more good 1377s
works. We need that and then maybe I'll maybe I'll grant it to you. I mean, does that square with the 1384s
Lord that we see in the rest of scripture? No, it doesn't. So, so break through language. No, 1392s
it is totally an ethical to scripture. Confidence in terms of praying his will as a member of the 1400s
family with our father who loves us, not our not a father who's who's sitting in his lounge chair 1408s
somewhere saying, you know, if you were just a little bit better at this, then I'd give you a gift. 1416s
You know, it's none of that. It's the father who sends his son to redeem us and we are members 1425s
of the family. John then applies this in the area of prayer. Let's go to 16 of chapter 5. 1433s
If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask and God will 1444s
give life to such a one to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal. I do not 1452s
say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal. 1463s
Okay, what's this? What John is referring to is the is the unpardonable sin, the unpardonable sin. 1474s
There's one sin that God does not forgive, one sin, and that is the ultimate willful rejection 1483s
of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That's the consistent stubborn refusal to believe in Christ. 1497s
That's the one sin that is unforgivable because you are spurning the one who has won you forgiveness 1508s
through the blood of Jesus. If you are worried about committing the unpardonable sin, 1521s
you haven't committed the unpardonable sin. If you are worried about it, saying, I wonder if I 1531s
wonder if I believe, but maybe I don't believe, so maybe I have committed then the unpardonable sin. 1540s
Maybe I think I believe, I don't believe. If you are worried about committing it, you have 1547s
done the end. They've got no concern for that at all. They have absolutely no concern. Could someone 1558s
please shut that back door for me? Thank you. They've got absolutely no concern with regard to 1566s
committing the unpardonable sin. So if you're worried about committing it, don't worry. 1574s
You haven't committed it on that. Verse 16, if you see your brother or sister committing what is 1580s
not a mortal sin, you will ask and God will give life to such a one to those whose sin is not mortal. 1590s
There is a sin that's mortal. I do not say that you should pray about that. 1596s
Now what's John getting at there? John is not saying that we should not pray for the unbeliever 1603s
for as long as we have opportunity to pray for the unbeliever. But what he's highlighting is, 1611s
is that in the end, if the person refuses the Lord Jesus Christ, they're lost. They're lost. 1618s
And so prayers then in the end for the one who has committed the unpardonable sin is useless. 1628s
You hear how he's holding truths together here? He's not saying that we should make judgment upon 1636s
the person and say they've committed the unpardonable sin. Therefore, I will not pray for them any longer. 1643s
We pray for them as long as the Lord gives us breath. We witness to them as long as the Lord 1650s
gives us breath. But he's highlighting the one sin that is not partnable and that is the ultimate 1656s
rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As his children, as members of the family, with the Lord as our 1666s
brother who inspires us to love, the most loving thing that we can do is to pray for and to witness 1677s
to those that the Lord places in our path and gives us opportunities to do that. That is the 1689s
thing that we can do. And remember, who is the one that gives the growth to that? That's God. 1695s
All that we can do is to cast the seed. And I'm not saying all in the sense of minimizing of 1705s
importance. I'm saying all in the sense of what is it that we can control? And that is the sharing 1715s
of the gospel for someone to have the heart of the evangelist continually, continually, for all people 1724s
that we see. Because this life quickly passes, passes. As my Godmother, who now beholds the Lord face 1735s
to face, she wrote in the Bible, she gave me for my confirmation, one life soon will pass only what 1748s
is done for Christ for last. There you are. There it is, right? Or as the bishop wrote in a book he 1753s
gave to all pastors as they began their ministry and the bishop wrote to me and said, preach Christ, 1765s
you have no other assignment. There it is. There it is, right? And that's life. That's life. Because 1774s
we enjoy the blessing of being members of his family, we're his children. He's our brother. 1785s
We cry out for our brother to return again on the day of judgment and we can stand by his grace 1795s
and confidence for that day. May it be today we cry out. That gives us eyes for others to where we 1801s
look at them in a different way where we see them differently and we see them with people with 1810s
souls for all of eternity and we have the greatest message that we can share. And so all the fears 1818s
than that come and they step in the way, all the fears that come in and say, well, what happens if 1829s
the person says no? Well, who's responsible for them saying yes? It's not us. Not us. That's God. 1837s
All we do is preach Christ. We have no other assignment. And we trust in the God who is at work. 1847s
What if they'll ask me a question that I don't know the answer to? Well, then we find out what 1857s
the answer is to that, right? And say, I don't know the answer to that. I'll get back to you on that, 1865s
right? Because nobody knows everything. We're always constant lifelong students, always a student. 1871s
We're going to die students, right? In the word. What if it changes the relationship? 1878s
Okay, then it changes the relationship. But my friend knows that I love them enough to share 1887s
with them the most important thing. Will God arrange as we turn to him and say, Lord, 1896s
Lord, bring about those serendipitous moments where I can share my faith. We start praying that as 1904s
the people, you know, the Lord is going to bring about those opportunities for us because his will 1912s
is, is that his people will witness and proclaim. That's what we do as family people, right? 1919s
As children of God in God's family, because we want the kingdom of God to expand. We want the 1929s
kingdom of God to expand. So we do what we can do. And that is proclaim about our glorious brother, 1939s
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I'm going to stop here now. I'm going to finish up the little section 1950s
here in chapter five next week. And then what I'd like to look with you at is a flyover of first 1957s
John from the vantage point of how it reflects the teachings of the Old Testament. So we're going to 1965s
finish up first John next week. We're going to do a flyover and that'll prepare us for second John 1974s
and third John. We'll continue next week. 1980s