Born of God
Born of God
Scripture: 1 John 5:13-21
Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family.
This morning, we will finish 1 John. We’ve studied this letter with a focus on the Father’s love for us. But there has also been a strong emphasis on the Christian response to God’s love. We respond to Father’s love with love for Him and for His church, but also in faith and obedience.
As we come now to the end, notice how John describes his purpose.
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.
Compare this verse to the end of John’s Gospel where he says he wrote “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
In other words, John wrote his Gospel to unbelievers – to convince them they need Jesus.
But this letter was written to Christians – people who already believe in Jesus. They already have eternal life. John wants to give them assurance, not to cause doubts about their salvation.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
The phrase “according to his will” is important. John is not giving us a blank check. Instead, he’s telling us that God is a good Father. He will give us what is good for us… what He wants us to have.
Parents, we understand that we can’t give our children everything they ask for. That’s bad parenting! But if it is in power to give something, and it won’t hurt them, then our love compels us to provide it.
We can have the same confidence when we speak to God in prayer, that He loves us and cares for us. He also knows what we need better than we do. But as we grow spiritually, we will also start to ask for things that God wants us to have… righteousness, peace, forgiveness, humility, rest…
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.
That’s an incredible promise! John says that God answers our prayers immediately, even if the results aren’t visible to us until the future. We already have the answer! It has already been given!
But now we come to a specific example, and I’ll tell you up front – it is difficult to interpret John’s meaning. Let’s read it and then I’ll do my best to explain.
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.
I know that’s confusing. And you’ll be happy to know that it confuses even the best Bible scholars. And there are several good explanations. I’m going to share the one I favor.
There are two questions here: First, what are the sins that lead to death? And second, why does John not say that we should pray for people committing these sins?
In one sense, all sin leads to spiritual death. But believers have been delivered from spiritual death by faith in Jesus. And yet, they continue to struggle with sin.
These are the people John tells us to pray for – our brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling with sin. We should pray for each other, that we would experience deliverance from sin through repentance and faith.
With that understanding, the sin leading to death is likely a reference to the people who have abandoned the church because of false teaching. John has already mentioned life and death in chapter 3, as a way to describe people who love the church and the people who abandoned the church.
John seems to be saying, don’t waste your prayers on them. They have rejected Christ. It reminds me of God telling Jeremiah to stop praying for his people, “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.”
Notice, John doesn’t forbid us from praying in this way. But he doesn’t command it either. If you remember, John is drawing a line between the family of God and the world. Sin does not have the final authority in the life of a Christian.
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.
John repeats again, the Christian life is not characterized by habitual, unrepentant sin. Why? Because of our union with Christ. Someone who is united to Christ will grow to hate sin and love righteousness.
He says that Jesus protects us, and the devil cannot touch us. Think of a bodyguard standing watch over someone. Jesus will not let the devil touch us. But look at the next verse.
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
What does that mean? How is it possible that the whole world lies in the power of the devil? Doesn’t the entire universe belong to God?
Yes, God is the King of the entire universe, but the world does not currently honor Him as King. There is a spiritual battle going on, and the world is being heavily influenced by the Devil.
This is why we should be careful of our engagement with and endorsement of the world’s agenda. This world, as it currently exists, is not our eternal home. Our faith does not rest in the systems and powers of this world.
In Philippians, Paul calls us children of God living in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. In James, we are told to keep ourselves unstained from the world.
John also wants us to be mindful of this.
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.
John says something here that he hasn’t clearly said anywhere else in the letter, until now.
Jesus is not only the Son of God. He’s not only the way we become connected with the Father… He’s not only the way we receive eternal life. John says clearly and directly: Jesus IS God! Jesus IS eternal life!
That’s not a surprise to most of us, but there are still people today who claim to worship the God of the Bible and deny that Jesus is God. They’ve resurrected this old heresy, believing that Jesus was just a human or perhaps an angel, but not God.
Remember, the people who left the church John wrote to were denying the deity of Christ. This is not a minor theological issue. It’s incredibly important. John has argued clearly that you cannot be saved if you deny this.
And then John abruptly ends the letter with this final verse:
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
This should seem out of place to us. John hasn’t mentioned idols at all in this letter. In fact, John does mention idols in his Gospel or in any of his other letters. This is the only time he uses that word!
But this is not out of place. In fact, it is kind of the perfect mic drop moment, because it emphasizes the true identity of Jesus.
Jesus is God. Denying the deity of Christ makes someone an idolator. They are worshipping a false god.
But think back over the text we read today. A misunderstanding of who God is leads to all sorts of problems, even in the life of a Christian. John wrote these things to encourage Christians because they needed the encouragement. Idolatry is a problem even for God’s children.
We ought to have assurance of eternal life, not based on our feelings or our performance, but because of the promise of God through Jesus!
We ought to have confidence in prayer, not because we deserve the answers, but because God is a good Father who loves us deeply!
We ought to pray for one another in our struggles with sin and have victory over our struggles with sin, not because we are strong and holy, but because we are united to Christ!
And so, if we are struggling with assurance of salvation or confidence in prayer or habitual sin, John’s diagnosis is crystal clear – you have an idolatry problem!
You’re not worshipping the real Jesus. Because if the real Jesus is the object of your faith in this moment, then His work for you and the Father’s love for you in Christ would be ministering to you in those struggles.
If you walk away from 1 John only thinking about your faith, your love, and your obedience – in other words, focused on the fruit of the Christian life – instead of the source of that fruit, then you’re completely missing the point. Abide in Christ… rest in Him… be at home with Him… and you will bear much fruit.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus and know the Father’s love!