1John 5:1
Outline:
I. \\#1:1-2:11\\ The Essentials of Fellowship.
A. \\#1:1-4\\ There is a FELLOWSHIP.
B. \\#1:5-2:11\\ How to know you have this fellowship.
II. \\#2:12-14\\ John’s Audience
A. \\#2:12-13\\ Little Children
B. \\#2:13-14\\ Young Men
C. \\#2:13-14\\ Fathers
III. \\#2:15-29\\ John’s Warnings
A. \\#2:15-17\\ Beware the World
B. \\#2:18-25\\ Beware the Spirit of Anti-Christ
C. \\#2:26-29\\ Beware the Seducers
IV. \\#3:1-5:21\\ John’s Revelations
A. \\#3:1-3\\ Christians Are Blessed!
B. \\#3:4-10\\ Christians Are Not to Sin.
C. \\#3:11-24\\ Christians Love the Brethren.
D. \\#3:24-4:1-3\\ Christians Test the Spirits
E. \\#4:4-6\\ Christians Listen to the Word
F. \\#4:7-21\\ Christians Love…
1. \\#4:7\\ The Command
2. \\#4:7-10\\ Why We Love
a. \\#4:7-8\\ Because God Is Love
b. \\#4:9-10\\ Because We Have Been loved
3. \\#4:11-21\\ How We Love
b. \\#4:11-13\\ With A Love Like God Loved Us
c. \\#4:14-16\\ With A Love Like We Have Received
d. \\#4:17-18\\ With A Love that Perfects
e. \\#4:19-21\\ With A Love Like God Commanded
G. \\5:1-21\\ Proofs of Fellowship
1. \\#5:1\\ You Believe
2. \\#5:1-2\\ You Love
3. \\#5:2-3\\ You Obey
4. \\#5:4\\ You Have Victory
5. \\#5:5-13\\ You believe that Jesus is God’s Son
a. \\#5\\ The Doctrine
b. \\#6-8\\ The Witnesses
c. \\#9-12\\ The Consequences
6. \\#5:14-17\\ God Hears You
7. \\#5:18\\ You Overcome Sin and the Devil
8. \\#5:19\\ You Know the World is Wicked
9. \\#5:20\\ You Know that God’s Son Has Come
10 You Have the Ability to Understand.
11. \\#5:21\\ You Stay Away from Idols
Proofs of Fellowship
1John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth
him that begat loveth him also that is begotten
of him.
I. \\#1\\ If you "believeth that Jesus is the Christ born of God."
A. What we believe is the doctrinal proof that we have been
joined to the Father and to His Son.
B. Notice the "eth" meaning present, continuous action. Our
relationship is not based on what you did or will do but on
what you are doing.
C. One must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the promised One of
the Old Testament.
1. The New Testament is built upon the Old Testament.
2. There is no New Testament Savior a part from the Old
Testament God who promised Him.
D. One must believe that Jesus is born of God.
1. The Person one must believe in is Jesus.
a. While John has much confidence in the believers to
whom he is writing, he took no changes on their
misunderstanding Who the Savior is.
b. The Savior is Jesus!
2. Birth is a physical process.
a. Bodiless spirits are not born.
b. This is another rebuttal against the Gnostics who deny
the incarnation.
3. Yet the birth is not just of the flesh but divine also.
a. Jesus’ birth is of or by God.
b. The Holy Ghost came upon Mary \\#Luke 1:35\\, not in a
fleshly, vulgar manner but in a manner both unseen
and unfelt He placed within Mary that which was
needed to conceive the body Jesus would ware.
II. \\#1-2\\ You Love
A. Two loves are mentioned:
1. "every one that loveth Him," God.
a. John repeated that in \\#2\\.
1John 5:2 By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God, and keep his
commandments.
b. We don’t want to overlook that love for if we do not
love God, we cannot be His.
2. "loveth him also that is begotten of him," the other
saints.
B. Loving the saved was the practical evidence that John selected
to demonstrate that we have been joined to the Father and to
the Son.
1. This is the evidence that John has mentioned many times in
this book.
2. As already noted, this is not the only practical evidence
of salvation. There are others.
3. However, John most likely selected and emphasized this one
because his readers were having a problem displaying love
for one another.
III. \\#2-3\\ You Obey
1John 5:2 By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God, and keep his
commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not
grievous.
A. \\#2\\ John answered the question, "How do we know that we are
loving God’s children?"
1. While that might sound like a foolish question, it is not.
a. When people are hurt, they do not realize how unloving
their actions can become.
b. Hurt people often confuse hateful actions with love.
2. So how do we know if we are loving others? John gave two
answers.
a. We love God.
b. We keep God’s commandments.
3. Interestingly, the answer focus on our relationship with
God and our obedience to Him—not on our actions toward
the brother or sister.
a. I am not certain why.
b. If John had asked, "How do I know if we love God?" and
then answered it:
(1) We keep His commandments, and…
(2) We love the brethren…
c. It would have been easier to understand.
4. But he is asking, "How do we know if we love God’s
children and answering it:
a. We love God.
b. We keep God’s commandments.
5. The best I can figure, all three of these must be equal
and interchangeable:
a. We love God.
b. We love one another.
c. We keep God’s commandments.
B. \\#3\\ "his commandments are not grievous"
1. John wanted to make sure we know this.
2. Obeying God is not hard or heavy for one who has
fellowship with Him.
1John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world: and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith.
IV. \\#4\\ You Have Victory
A. Those in fellowship with God "overcometh the world."
1. "eth" means present, continuous action.
2. Loving those who are saved is not something a true
Christian should be working on but has accomplished.
B. How is this possible? "our faith."
1. John said loving a brother or sister is not hard, but I
have meet some who would say it is.
2. The best counsel I have found to give them is that they
must see with their faith that which God has already
forgiven them.
3. No matter how fresh or deep the wounds our family has
inflicted upon us, when stacked against the wounds that
we have inflicted upon Him, we can forgive.
V. \\#5-13\\ You Believe that Jesus is the Son of God - This section
ALL speaks about the necessity of believing that Jesus is the
Son of God.
1John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world,
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?
A. \\#5\\ The Doctrine - Jesus is the Son of God.
1. "he that believeth" - John went back to the first proof of
our fellowship, believing.
2. "Who is he that overcometh"
a. John connected what we believe to the victory we have.
b. Our victory in Christ is not based on our strength or
abilities.
c. It is based on our faith in the Word of God and what
It reveals.
d. If you want faith and victory, obey and believe the
Bible.
3. What do we believe in if we have fellowship with the
Father and His Son?
4. "…that Jesus is the Son of God."
a. This has already been stated \\#1John 5:1\\ but was
repeated multiple times,
\\#1John 4:25, 5:4, 5, 10, 13, 18\\, making me think
that the incarnation was not the only doctrinal issue
the false prophets \\#1John 4:1\\ who had plagued
these believers had inflicted upon them.
b. Let us be clear, if one does not believe in the
incarnation of the Christ and Jesus was the Son of
God, he cannot go to heaven.
B. \\#6-8\\ The Witnesses - What is the proof that Jesus was born
of God?
1John 5:6 This is he that came by water and
blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but
by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
1. \\#6\\ The proof that Jesus was born is the water and the
birth.
a. This had NOTHING to do with water baptism.
(1) John has not and will bring water baptism up.
(2) Those who see water baptism in these verses are
taking the verses out of context and reading
their desired beliefs into them.
b. When Jesus was born, Mary’s water broke and the
umbilical cord bled, as it does when any human is
born.
c. "not by water only, but by water and blood"
(1) The Gnostics might say that there was only water,
somehow claiming a birth of Jesus but no blood
and no body.
(2) John made it clear.
(3) When Jesus was born, He was physically inside the
placentae and was connected by blood to Mary,
His mother.
2. \\#6-8\\ And how do we know that?
1John 5:6 …it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth.
a. The Holy Spirit says so.
b. It would be difficult for anyone to argue with that
assertion from John without calling John a liar,
which would clearly mean they do not believe any
aspect of John’s message.
c. However, John went further:
(1) In heaven, three bear record of the truth,
especially the birth of Jesus.
1John 5:7 For there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one.
(a) The Father
(b) The Word - This is most likely a reference
to Jesus, the Living Word; but it could
also be to the Written Word, for it was
established in heaven before it was ever
given to mankind.
Psalm 119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is
settled in heaven.
1john 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth
for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
(c) The Holy Ghost
(2) And on earth, there are also three that bear
record of the truth of Jesus’ birth.
1John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness
in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the
blood: and these three agree in one.
(a) The Holy Spirit
(b) The water - That which was within the
placentae
(c) The blood - That which was shed between Mary
and Jesus during the birthing process.
C. \\#9-13\\ The Consequences - What you do with this truth,
reveals much.
1. \\#9\\ If you are going to believe anyone about this, it
should be the Holy Spirit.
1John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater: for this is the
witness of God which he hath testified of his
Son.
2. \\#10\\ If you cannot (or will not) believe (that Jesus is
the Son of God), you are calling God a Liar.
1John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself: he that believeth
not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record that God gave of his
Son.
3. \\#11-12\\ What you do with this truth is the proof of
your fellowship
1John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life.
a. The "record" would be what John has been emphasizing
through his book.
b. What is that?
(1) That Jesus is come in the flesh.
(2) That Jesus is the Son of God.
(3) That Christians will love one another.
4. \\#13\\ This is why I am writing
1John 5:13 These things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
VI. \\#5:14-17\\ God Hears You
A. John speaks of prayer.
1John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we
have in him, that, if we ask any thing according
to his will, he heareth us:
15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever
we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desired of him.
1. \\#15\\ The proof of salvation is that we get our prayers
answered.
2. \\#14\\ And that we are confident that we will.
B. Then John gave something extra again.
1John 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin
which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he
shall give him life for them that sin not unto
death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say
that he shall pray for it.
17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a
sin not unto death.
1. The Main Truth
(a) John teaches that there are some things to pray for
and some we are not to pray for.
(b) We pray that our brothers and sisters will repent.
(c) We do not pray for their judgment or death.
(d) I am not sure why John inserted that here except that
he was warning how powerful prayer can be.
(e) It is possible that the hurt feelings within that
assembly had caused some to pray unkindly for
others.
2. But notice also the relationship of sin and death.
(a) \\#17\\ First, all sin is unrighteousness. That
means all sin is wrong, and God will deal with it.
(b) \\#17\\ But there is a sin that will not lead to
death and that means physical death.
(c) \\#16\\ "There is a sin unto death."
(d) \\#16\\ If a "brother sin a sun which is not unto
death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life"
(1) Death can come to those who have not sinned a
sin that brings death.
(2) Praying for this person can avert the death.
VII. \\#5:18\\ You Overcome Sin and the Devil
1John 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of
God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth
him not.
VIII. \\#5:19\\ You Know the World is Wicked
1John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and
the whole world lieth in wickedness.
IX. \\#5:20\\ You Know that God’s Son Has Come
X. And He has given to us the ability to understand.
1John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is
come, and hath given us an understanding, that
we may know him that is true, and we are in him
that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God, and eternal life.
XI. \\#5:21\\ You Stay Away from Idols
1John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from
idols. Amen.
And then John ends the book as abruptly as he ended sections within
the book. AMEN.
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