Monday
1 John 5.13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Eternal life for John is both the promise of the future and the present reality. New birth, new creation, walking in the light, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that we are indeed children of God, perfect love casting out fear. These are some of the ways John brings strong assurance of sin forgiven and a heart cleansed and turned to God in Christ. The name of the Son of God is Saviour, Advocate, One who is the very presence of God in and amongst the community of believers.
Tuesday
1 John 5.14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
It sounds as if “according to his will” is a get-out clause, explaining prayers that god unanswered in the way we had hoped and asked. But in the Lord’s Prayer hallowing God’s name is followed by “Thy will be done”. We can have confidence that God hears our prayer, but we also have confidence in the wise love of God and therefore yield to his will. In Gethsemane, faced with the cross and praying such suffering might be avoided, Jesus prayed, “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” There are times when we cannot know what we ask – but God does, and God is love!
Wednesday
1 John 5.16 “If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death.”
John said at the very start, “If anyone does sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence – Jesus Christ the Righteous One.” There are no sinless Christians. But no Christian sins as if it didn’t matter, because the Christian life is lived under the Cross. Sin that does not lead to death is sin of which we repent, knowing the cost and consequences of sin, and having experienced the love of God in Christ “as the atoning sacrifice for our sins”. So when we know of someone’s sin we pray for them that they will know again the cleansing and forgiveness of God.
Thursday
1 John 5.16-17 “There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.”
The problem here is it seems John is saying there are two grades of sin. But John is clear – all wrongdoing is sin. When he speaks of the sin that leads to death he is revisiting much that he wrote earlier. There are sins that are incompatible with being a child of God. These include denial that Jesus is the Son of God, refusal to obey God’s commands, hatred of brothers and sisters, and love of the world. These are sins that contradict any claim to love God, because they are deliberate attitudes and actions that deny the truth of God as revealed in his Son, our Saviour. Such a set of the heart is incompatible with the love, trust and confidence of the child of God.
Friday
1 John 5.18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”
To continue in sin is exactly what John means by sin leading to death. Those truly born of God are kept safe by God from such blatant couldn’t-care-less disobedience. The Spirit within, the love of God dwelling and remaining in the heart, the grace that keeps the child of God walking in the light, the prayers and love of Christian for Christian – these and that central truth of John: “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them, and they live in God.” (1 John 4.15)
Saturday
1 John 5.19-20a “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.”
This is another way of saying “He that is in us is greater than he that is I the world.” The victory over sin, death and the devil is already won on the cross and through the resurrection. Apostle John, shrewd pastor that he is, looks the small community of faithful believers in the eye and says the one thing they need to hear: “We know that we are children of God.” His whole letter has been leading up to that established truth of the heart. We know! With that secure, everything else can be understood and lived through, even in a world set in opposition to God. To know him who is true, and to know that we are children of God – that is the Christian’s assurance.
Sunday
1 John 5.20b-21 “And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Christian assurance is not only what we know. It is also about who we are and where we are. We are in Him who is true, and He is in us. We are held within the eternal life and love of God through his Son Jesus Christ by the Spirit who lives in us. Our identity is embedded in the eternal purposes of God who is the true God, of Light and Love.
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