Annotations for 1 John

1:1–4 The Incarnation of the Word of Life. To strengthen his readers’ commitment to what they already know, John begins by reminding them of the origins of the gospel, the message concerning “the Word of life” (v. 1), which constitutes the basis of the fellowship in which he wants them to continue.

1:1 That which was from the beginning. While this phrase is reminiscent of both Gen 1:1 (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) and John 1:1 (“In the beginning was the Word”), here it refers primarily to the incarnation of “the Word of life” in the person of the historical Jesus. However, its resonance with John 1:1 probably implies an identification of the Word of life incarnate in Jesus with the Word who was with God before the foundation of the world. we. John and the other eyewitnesses. Their testimony was based upon the historical flesh-and-blood reality of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth. heard . . . seen . . . looked at . . . touched. This is the language of sense perception and underlines the fact that John was an eyewitness of the Word of life. Other ancient literature consistently uses this sort of language for actual sense perception. It is not, as some claim, a merely metaphoric expression that does not imply firsthand testimony.

1:2 The life appeared; we have seen it. The Word of life was incarnate in Jesus Christ as well as being proclaimed as a message. As God has life in himself so too Jesus has life in himself (John 1:4; 11:25; 14:6), and he has the power to grant life to whomever he will (John 5:21). eternal life, which was with the Father. Refers to the preexistent Word of life and is reminiscent of John 1:1 (“the Word was with God”).

1:3 have fellowship with us. “Us” refers to the eyewitnesses rather than the secessionists (see Introduction: Occasion and Purpose; Gnosticism). our fellowship is with the Father. This is not the case for those who turn away from the true message of the Word of life, such as the secessionists.

1:4 our joy. “Our” is a better reading than “your” (see NIV text note), being consistent with statements in 2 John 4 and 3 John 4, where John says hearing that his children are walking in the truth gives him great joy (cf. Phil 2:2).

1:5—2:2 Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness. John defines the content of his message (1:5) and then draws out its ethical implications to deal with the secessionists’ false claims of having fellowship with God (while in fact they are walking in darkness) and their claim not to have sinned. He contrasts this with the experience of those who walk in the light (1:6—2:2).

1:5 light. Refers to what is true, good, and holy. darkness. Refers to what is false and evil.

1:6 If we claim. A reference to the secessionists. walk in the darkness. Denotes a life characterized by wickedness and ignorance and an unwillingness to be open toward God and his revelation in Christ lest one’s sinful behavior be exposed (cf. John 3:19–21).

1:7 walk in the light. Denotes a life characterized by truth and holiness and a willingness to be open to God and his revelation, resulting in fellowship with one another and with God. the blood of Jesus. His atoning death on the cross. purifies us from all sin. Removes the stain of sins committed, making us acceptable to God, closely related to forgiveness (cf. v. 9).

1:8 without sin. Or “do not have sin.” To “have sin” means to be guilty of sinful acts (cf. John 9:41; 15:22, 24; 19:11). Those who seceded from the community were not claiming to have a sinless nature but probably claiming that they had not actually sinned since coming to know God.

1:9 confess our sins. Honest acknowledgment of one’s sins is a prerequisite for forgiveness. faithful and just and will forgive us our sins. God is faithful to his promises when he forgives his people (cf. Exod 34:6–7), and he is also just when doing so because he sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10, cf. Rom 3:25–26). When God forgives people, he no longer holds their sins against them; he cancels their “debt” (cf. Matt 6:12; 18:21–35). purify us from all unrighteousness. Removes the defilement our sins produce, thus removing the impediment to fellowship with God.

1:10 If we claim we have not sinned. Basically restates what is found in v. 8 but indicates that such a claim involves more than self-deception. It implies also that God is a liar because he regards all people as sinners, for otherwise he would not have sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (2:2; 4:10).

2:1 My dear children. Reflects John’s affection for his readers, his age, and the senior position he occupies in relation to them. if anybody does sin. John recognizes that believers do sin, something the secessionists deny. we have an advocate. Jesus speaks on our behalf in the presence of his Father when we sin (cf. 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 8:1). He pleads our case on the basis of his death, by which forgiveness of sins was made possible.

2:2 atoning sacrifice. Translates a Greek word found in only two places in the NT (here and 4:10) and six times in the Greek OT; in every case but one, it relates to the removal of guilt occasioned by sin, and in most places this is effected through sacrifice. It carries the meanings of both expiation (removing guilt and purifying sinners) and propitiation (appeasing God’s anger toward sinners). Here it carries the idea of propitiation since we need an advocate with the Father because of our sins. This must not be confused with pagan notions of propitiation in which humans seek to propitiate capricious deities, for it was God himself who provided his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (see note on Rom 3:25). the whole world. This has been interpreted as the entire world in its breadth and sweep (cf. John 12:19; Rom 1:8), and therefore not limited to one particular group but of worldwide application—for all nations (cf. Gen 12:3; John 1:29). In the present context it means the unbelieving world. Christ’s atoning sacrifice was made not only for “our” sins (i.e., believers’ sins) but also for the sins of the unbelieving world (cf. 4:14; John 1:29). This does not mean that all people’s sins are automatically forgiven even if they do not believe, for John says that “whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12) and that having the Son involves believing in him (5:12–13). Perhaps we may say Jesus’ death was sufficient to deal with the sins of the whole world, but it becomes effective only when people believe.

2:3–11 Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers. John focuses on the secessionists’ claim to know God while not keeping his commands. In particular John commands believers to love one another. True believers have the assurance of knowing God when they obey his commands.

2:3 We know that we have come to know him. John provides several tests believers may apply to themselves and so be assured of salvation (cf. v. 5; 1:7; 3:14; 4:13; 5:2). Here the test is that of obedience. if we keep his commands. John was not thinking of believers’ obedience to the Mosaic law. In 3:22–23 he refers to believers obeying God’s “commands” and then adds “and this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” In biblical terms, belief in Christ and obedience to his commands go hand in hand. keep his commands. Does not mean that believers will never disobey (cf. 1:8–9) but that their lives are characterized by obedience.

2:4 the truth is not in that person. In contrast to those who keep God’s commands and may thus be sure they know God, the secessionists who claim to know him while disobeying his commands show they are liars.

2:5 love for God is truly made complete. Our love for God completes its work in us when we obey his command to love one another.

2:6 live as Jesus did. Those who claim to live in God must keep God’s commands to them as Jesus obeyed God’s commands to him.

2:7 not . . . a new command but an old one. The old command is to love one another. It was old for John’s readers because they’d had it “since the beginning,” i.e., since they first believed. It was “the message [they had] heard” when it was handed on to them alongside the gospel.

2:8 I am writing you a new command. The resolution to the apparent contradiction between this verse and the previous one is found in John 13:34, where Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another.” The “newness” of Jesus’ command was that his disciples should love one another as he had loved them—expressed in his laying down his life for them. But the ministry of Jesus was long past, so his “new command” was now something “old” for John and his readers. its truth is seen in him and in you. The love command was actualized in both the life of Jesus and the lives of John’s readers. darkness. The realm in which sinful behavior predominates. the true light. With Jesus Christ, the true light came into the world and the darkness could not overcome it (cf. John 1:4–5, 9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46).

2:9 Anyone. What John says is of general application, but refers here in particular it to the secessionists. hates a brother or sister. John writes in black-and-white terms, not implying they hated all brothers and sisters, for surely they did not hate one another. in the darkness. Those who hate are in the realm where sinful behavior predominates (vv. 8–9, 11; 1:6).

2:10 lives in the light. Denotes a way of life characterized by truth and holiness and willingness to be open to God and his revelation (cf. John 3:21). stumble. Fall into sin. People who hate fellow believers walk in darkness, and their own sinful behavior—in this case their hatred—blinds them (cf. John 12:35).

2:12–14 Reasons for Writing. As well as providing tests his readers may use to expose false claims to know God, John writes to assure them that he is confident about their standing as true believers.

2:12, 14 children. Refers here to all John’s readers as elsewhere in the letter (cf. vv. 1, 18, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21). They fall into two groups: “young men,” denoting those of a lesser age (cf. 1 Tim 5:1; 1 Pet 5:5) and “fathers,” denoting those of advanced years (cf. 1 Tim 5:1).

2:12 your sins have been forgiven. John has spoken already about forgiveness for those who confess their sins (1:9), something that clearly applies to all believers.

2:13 him who is from the beginning. The Word, Jesus Christ. the beginning. Refers not to the beginning of time but to the time when the Word became incarnate in Jesus Christ (see 1:1). you have overcome the evil one. References to “the evil one” in 1 John all refer to the devil. The “young men” have overcome him by resisting his attempts to subvert their faith through the false teaching of the secessionists.

2:14 the word of God lives in you. The message Jesus proclaimed and embodies remains in them.

2:15–17 On Not Loving the World. John exhorts his readers not to love the world and highlights the positive alternative: doing the will of God and thus living forever.

2:15 the world. Not the people of the world nor the created order, but worldly attitudes or values opposed to God. anything in the world. The constituent elements that make up the world are described in v. 16. love for the Father is not in them. If people love the world, they do not love the Father. There is no middle ground (cf. Eph. 2:1–3; Col 1:13; Jas 4:4).

2:16 the lust of the flesh. A general category. The following are subcategories: the lust of the eyes. Sinful cravings that are activated by what people see. the pride of life. Includes being puffed up in pride because of one’s material possessions. The word translated “life” (Greek bios) can mean life, livelihood, living, property, and possessions. Here it means possessions (its predominant use in the NT).

2:17 does the will of God. The opposite of all that is involved in loving the world (v. 16). It includes believing in the Son and loving fellow believers (3:23). lives forever. Jesus promised believers that they will live, even though they die, and that they will live forever (John 6:51, 58; 8:51; 10:28; 11:25–26).

2:18–27 Warning Against Denying the Son. John urges his readers to remain faithful to the message they have heard from the beginning because there are many antichrists who are seeking to deceive them. The passage has two sections: vv. 18–19 speaks of the coming of antichrists and identifies them as the secessionists, and vv. 20–27 warns about the secessionists’ attempt to deceive them and arms his readers against the secessionists’ deception.

2:18 the last hour. Also called “the last days” and “the last times,” it is the period that began with the first coming of Jesus and ends with his second coming (cf. Acts 2:17; Heb 1:2; 1 Pet 1:20). antichrist . . . antichrists. The coming of an antichrist figure was part of early Christian teaching. It distinguished between the great antichrist figure that would appear near the end of the age (cf. 2 Thess 2:3–5; Rev 13:1–6) and lesser antichrist figures whose influence was already being felt (as in this verse). Both the antichrist and the antichrists that precede him aim to deceive people (cf. Matt 24:4–5, 11, 24). Only 1 John identifies the former members of a Christian community as antichrists; elsewhere in the NT they attack the church from without. John describes them as liars (1 John 2:4, 22) and deceivers (2 John 7) who deny the incarnation (1 John 4:1–3; 2 John 7).

2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. Their secession showed they had never really been true members of the Christian community.

2:20 have an anointing. In the OT, priests, kings, and the Messiah are anointed as a sign of their appointment (Exod 28:41; 1 Sam 16:13; Isa 61:1). The anointing John’s readers have received is that of the Holy Spirit, whom they received when they first believed. As a result of his ministry, they already “know the truth.” the Holy One. A reference to Jesus Christ (cf. John 6:69).

2:22 denies that Jesus is the Christ. Here, for the first time, John identifies the false teaching of those who left the community. Combining this with other statements in 1 John (cf. 4:2–3, 15; 5:1, 6–8), it becomes clear that their aberrant Christology involved a denial that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God’s Son, come in the flesh, whose death was real and vicarious.

2:23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. By denying the Son (see v. 22 and note), they show they do not have the Father either.

2:24 what you have heard from the beginning. The gospel message.

2:25 what he promised us—eternal life. While this is something promised for the future, it is also a present possession for believers (5:13).

2:27 you do not need anyone to teach you. John is not denying the importance of human teachers (cf. Matt 28:20; 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11; Col 3:16; 1 Tim 4:11; 2 Tim 2:2, 24), for he himself teaches in this letter. He assures his readers that they do not need to be taught by the secessionists (who may have claimed their own special anointing) because “the anointing . . . teaches you about all things.” all things. Not everything that can possibly be known, but all that they need to know about the true nature of Christ. The Holy Spirit continues to teach believers, helping them understand the Scriptures and how to apply them to their lives.

2:28—3:10 God’s Children and Sin. John distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil in terms of doing or not doing what is right, with a parenthetical passage (3:1–3) highlighting the greatness of God’s love for believers.

2:28 continue in him. Remain in Christ, following the teaching they heard from the beginning. confident. John equates this with being unashamed. his coming. Christ’s second coming.

2:29 everyone who does what is right has been born of him. The corollary is that those who do not do what is right—no matter what claims they make to a special anointing—have not been born of God (cf. John 1:11–12; 3:1–15).

3:1, 2 children of God. People become God’s children when they believe in Christ (John 1:12).

3:2 when Christ appears, we shall be like him. At his second coming, Christ will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil 3:21), no longer subject to death or decay (cf. Rom 8:29; 1 Cor 15:49).

3:3 purify themselves, just as he is pure. Moral purity is meant, which is confirmed by v. 5: “He appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” Our hope of being like Christ when he appears must express itself in an effort to purify ourselves to be like him now.

3:4 John returns to the main theme of 2:28—3:10, the connection between knowing God and doing “what is right” (cf. vv. 7, 10). breaks the law. Or “commits lawlessness.” The Greek word translated “lawlessness” is anomia. In the NT it never means transgression of the law. It is used in association with false prophets (Matt 7:23) and evildoers (2 Cor 6:14; 2 Thess 2:3, 7) who oppose God.

3:5 he appeared so that he might take away our sins. Christ took away our sins by offering himself as an atoning sacrifice (2:2; 4:10), thereby making it possible for God to be faithful and just when he forgives our sins (1:9).

3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. The claim that one can remain in Christ while continuing to indulge in sinful behavior is ridiculous, if not blasphemous, for “in him is no sin” (v. 5). See note on v. 9.

3:8 the devil has been sinning from the beginning. This is an allusion to Genesis 3, where the devil tempts the first couple to disobey God (cf. John 8:44). destroy the devil’s work. The devil seeks to turn people aside from doing God’s will, causing them to sin, so that he may accuse them before God and demand judgment upon them. By his death Jesus atoned for human sin, thus removing the basis of the devil’s accusation and so destroying his work.

3:9 God’s seed. A daring metaphor employing the word “seed” (Greek sperma) to depict the Spirit’s work in believers. Unlike the children of the devil (in this case the secessionists), the children of God do not go on sinning because the Spirit dwells within them. There is an apparent contradiction in 1 John concerning sin in the believer’s life: those who claim not to have sinned are liars (1:10); those born of God do not and cannot sin (3:6, 9). A possible resolution is that, in context, 3:4 defines the latter sin as “lawlessness” (Greek anomia). In the NT this word refers not to breaking the law but to rebelling against God (like the devil’s rebellion). If this is the case, John is saying that those who claim to know God and yet sin in this way certainly do not know God and are, in fact, in league with the devil. This is the sin that those born of God do not and cannot commit. It is possible for believers to sin in other ways, as 1:8—2:1 indicates.

3:11–24 More on Love and Hatred. John reminds his readers of Christ’s command that his followers should love one another, stressing that genuine love for fellow believers is an important mark of those who “belong to the truth” (v. 19).

3:12 Do not be like Cain. This alludes to Gen 4:1–16, which recounts Cain’s murder of Abel because Abel’s offering was accepted by the Lord while Cain’s was not (cf. Heb 11:4). (It may be inferred from Gen 4:7 that the Lord did not accept Cain’s offering because Cain was an evildoer, for before he murdered his brother, the Lord said to him, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”)

3:14 We know . . . because we love. Those who love their fellow believers may assure themselves that they have passed from death to life. passed from death to life. In John 5:24 the same expression is synonymous with escaping judgment and obtaining eternal life.

3:15 Anyone who hates . . . is a murderer. An allusion to Cain, who murdered his brother (v. 12); it agrees with Jesus’ teaching (Matt 5:21–22). eternal life. It is not just an unending extension of life as we know it; rather, it is “having” the Son. Eternal life is in the Son, and those who believe in him have eternal life because he dwells within them and gives them life (cf. John 5:21, 26).

3:16 we ought to lay down our lives. Thus, following Christ’s example (cf. John 10:17–18), something John applies in a down-to-earth fashion (cf. 1 John 3:17).

3:17 the love of God. Either God’s love poured into believers’ hearts (cf. Rom 5:5) or believers’ love for God expressed in helping those in need. Both are part of John’s teaching concerning the love of God (cf. 1 John 4:19–20).

3:19–22 This passage has been interpreted in terms of believers’ assurance in two ways: (1) If our consciences condemn us, God is kinder than our consciences, and if they do not condemn us, we have confidence that God will hear our prayers. (2) If our consciences condemn us, God is more rigorous than our consciences, but if they do not condemn us, then we have confidence that God will hear our prayers. Alternatively the passage may be interpreted in light of Deut 15:7–9, which warns the Israelites about hardness of heart toward needy people. John insists our mean-spirited hearts must be persuaded to make the sacrifice because we will not escape God’s notice. If we do respond generously, we experience confidence in prayer.

3:23 this is his command. There are two parts to the command: believe in Christ and love one another. The love command is inseparable from the gospel message (cf. 2:7; 3:11). Believing in Jesus involves obedience, including obedience to his command that we love one another.

3:24 lives in him, and he in them. The concept of mutual indwelling is a frequent theme in John’s Gospel (John 14:20; 15:4–7; 17:22–23) and is found four times in 1 John (here; 4:13, 15, 16). Believers can be assured that God lives in them and they in him because God has given them the Spirit, suggesting that the Spirit effects this mutual indwelling.

4:1–6 On Denying the Incarnation. John counsels his readers to “test the spirits” (v. 1) since the secessionists, whom he identifies as false prophets, deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

4:1 test the spirits. Involves discerning whether people are moved by the Holy Spirit or by an evil spirit. false prophets. These appear to be genuine but lead people away from the truth by their false teaching (cf. Matt 7:15; 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22; 2 Pet 2:1). gone out into the world. This is an allusion to those who left the community, the secessionists, who deny the incarnation (cf. v. 2; 2:18–19, 22), and it implies that their affinity is now with the unbelieving world, not the Christian community.

4:2–3 acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh . . . does not acknowledge Jesus. The spirits are tested concerning their acknowledgment or denial of Jesus’ incarnation. By their denial of the incarnation, the secessionists show they are not from God but activated by the spirit of antichrist (see note on 2:18).

4:4 have overcome them. Rejected the heretical teaching of the antichrists (i.e., the secessionists). the one who is in you. The Holy Spirit. the one who is in the world. The spirit of antichrist, the devil (cf. John 12:31), who is active in the inhabited earth. The spiritual security of believers rests ultimately upon the Spirit’s work within them, and there is no power greater than the Spirit of God that can destroy his work. This is a firm basis of Christian assurance.

4:5 They are from the world. The secessionists, who by rejecting the gospel have thrown their lot in with the world. speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. Heretical teaching, shaped by worldly categories, is more plausible to many unbelievers than the truth of the gospel.

4:7–21 God’s Love and Ours. John again urges his readers to love one another, especially since God has shown his love for them in sending his only Son so that they might live through him.

4:7 Everyone who loves. True love for other believers is evidence that a person knows God.

4:8 God is love. Love is not God’s only attribute. He is spirit (John 4:24), light (1 John 1:5), faithful and just (1:9), and good (Luke 18:19). Love existed between the Father and the Son before the creation of the world (John 17:24).

4:10 sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. See note on 2:2. God’s loving nature was revealed in sending his Son to die for sins so that people might have life through him (4:9).

4:11 since God so loved us. Such an expression of God’s love should motivate us to love one another.

4:12 No one has ever seen God. The invisibility of God is an important theme in John’s Gospel (cf. John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46). Believers who love one another demonstrate that the unseen God lives in them, despite what the secessionists might say to the contrary. his love is made complete in us. The love of God we experience as a result of his living in us completes its work in us when we show love to one another.

4:14 Savior of the world. This phrase is found elsewhere in the NT only in John 4:42, where the Samaritan villagers respond to the testimony of the woman who encountered Jesus at the well of Sychar, saying, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” In that context it means that Jesus is the Savior of Samaritans as well as Jews. Here, however, it is a response to secessionist denials that Jesus needed to be recognized as Savior at all—that his atoning death for sin was necessary.

4:15 God lives in them and they in God. See note on 3:24.

4:16 God is love. See note on 4:8. Whoever lives in love lives in God. This is intended to bolster the confidence of the readers. Unlike the secessionists, they do love one another. This is evidence that God lives in them and they in God.

4:17 love is made complete among us. This is the third of four references (here; vv. 12, 18; 2:5) to love being made complete. Here God’s love completes its work in us when we face the day of judgment without fear (cf. 2:28). In this world we are like Jesus. In the Greek this statement is preceded by a word translated “because,” indicating that it provides a reason why we can face judgment without fear. In the context of vv. 7–21, whose overall theme is love for one another, we may say believers who love one another in the same way as Jesus loved his disciples when he was in the world show that they live in God and therefore need have no fear of his judgment.

4:18 perfect love drives out fear. When believers love God because he first loved them (v. 19), their fear is driven out. Love for God and fear of his judgment cannot coexist (cf. Rom 8:15). The one who fears is not made perfect in love. When the realization of God’s love penetrates our minds and spirits, we are made perfect in love and fear of judgment is removed.

4:20 Whoever claims to love God. An allusion to the secessionists who claim to love God but “hate” other believers, thus showing themselves to be liars. Again John expresses himself in black-and-white terms. He underlines this with an argument from the lesser to the greater: “whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” On the invisibility of God, see note on v. 12. Claims to know the unseen God must be validated by loving fellow believers, who can be seen. A true experience of God is such that it cannot exist without manifesting itself in love for his people. God is loving and those born of God are loving as well, and those who do not love do not know God (cf. vv. 7–8).

5:1–12 Faith in the Incarnate Son of God. Only those who believe that Jesus is the Christ are born of God, and they show they have been born of God by loving the children of God and obeying his commands (cf. 3:23). Believing in Christ involves believing in his incarnation and accepting God’s testimony concerning his Son.

5:1 born of God. See John 1:12–13; 3:1–15, where being born of God is distinguished from natural birth. It is a birth that God initiates through his Spirit, and it takes place in conjunction with faith in Christ. everyone who loves the father loves his child. This may have been a general proverb that John applies to make the point that all those who love God are marked by their love for his children, their fellow believers.

5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God. John reverses the approach adopted earlier in which love for one another is evidence that one loves God (4:7–8, 20). One cannot love God and keep his commands without loving the children of God, and one cannot love the children of God without loving God and keeping his commands (cf. 3.23).

5:3 love for God. Love for God is expressed by obeying his commands (cf. John 14:15, 21), and this includes loving fellow believers. his commands are not burdensome. While God’s commands are demanding, they are not burdensome for believers (cf. Matt 11:28–30), because having been born of God, they have a desire to please him.

5:4, 5 overcomes the world. Those who have been born of God are enabled to overcome the worldly tendency to satisfy their own sinful cravings (cf. 2:15–17) and to resist the pressure that comes from those of the world, in this case from the secessionists.

5:4 This is the victory . . . our faith. By maintaining their faith that Jesus is the Son of God, John’s readers will be able to resist the false teaching of the secessionists.

5:6 He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. This is a difficult text to interpret. Jesus’ coming “by water” may refer to his baptism in water by John the Baptist and the accompanying endowment with the Spirit he experienced, which marked the commencement of his public ministry (cf. Luke 3:21–22; John 1:29–34). Jesus’ coming “by . . . blood” refers to his death on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (cf. 1 John 1:7; 2:2). Apparently the secessionists agreed that Jesus came “by water” (a reference to his baptism when he was anointed with the Spirit) but denied that he came by blood (that he died on the cross to make atonement for sins).

5:7 there are three that testify. In both the OT and NT important issues were decided with the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut 17:6; 19:15; John 8:17; 2 Cor 13:1; 1 Tim 5:19; Heb 10:28). The three witnesses are identified in v. 8 (see note there).

5:8 the Spirit. He testifies to the truth about Jesus (cf. John 15:26), the truth that John’s readers heard from the beginning (cf. 1 John 2:24–27). the water and the blood. It is more difficult to say how these make up the second and third witnesses (see 5:7 and note). Normally one person gives witness concerning another. However, in John’s Gospel, when people will not accept Jesus’ testimony about himself, he points them to his works, for these bear silent witness to the truth (cf. John 5:36; 10:25). Here John may be saying that alongside the Spirit’s witness concerning Jesus there stands the silent witness of Jesus’ baptism (“the water”) and his atoning sacrifice (“the blood”). In judicial cases it was vital that the testimony of witnesses should agree. John builds his case by affirming that all three witnesses concur in their testimony that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. The NIV text note on 5:8 records a longer version of this verse, but it is found only in a few late Greek manuscripts dating from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and it is not regarded as part of the authentic text.

5:11 has given us eternal life. A present possession of believers (cf. John 3:16, 36).

5:12 Whoever has the Son has life. To have the Son is closely related to believing in the Son (cf. 5:13). It is only through faith in Christ that we may have life (cf. John 14:6).

5:13–21 Concluding Affirmations. John wrote to reassure his readers concerning their possession of eternal life. He explains what this means regarding prayer, reassures them that they are no longer under the power of the evil one, and reminds them that they have been given knowledge of the truth in Jesus Christ.

5:13 I write these things . . . so that you may know that you have eternal life. John wrote this letter to bolster his readers’ assurance (cf. 2:12–14) and to counteract the effects of the secessionists’ false teaching. For believers’ assurance, see also 2:3; 3:14 and notes.

5:14 if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. Earlier John linked believers’ confidence in prayer with pleasing God by keeping his commands (3:21–22). Here he links it with asking according to God’s will. To pray effectively, believers’ requests need to be in accordance with the teaching of Scripture concerning what pleases God.

5:15 we have what we asked of him. This is generally true, but experience shows that believers may not always receive what they ask of God, even when what they request seems to be in accordance with Scripture. Elsewhere Scripture stresses the need for faith (Matt 21:22; Jas 1:6), patience (Luke 18:1–8), godly living (Ps 66:18; 1 Pet 3:12), and a recognition that God knows best (cf. Luke 22:42; Rom 8:28; 1 Pet 4:19).

5:16 If you see any brother of sister commit a sin. Suggests that the sin is observable, not some internal attitude. a sin that does not lead to death. A sin that believers commit and for which forgiveness has been secured by the atoning sacrifice of Christ (cf. 1:9; 2:1–2). give them life. Probably resurrection life, implying that they will not miss out on what God has promised that they will have on the last day. a sin that leads to death. Probably the sin of the secessionists: they denied that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, rejected the significance of his atoning death, disobeyed God’s commands, and showed no love for true believers. By persistence in these things, people place themselves outside the sphere of forgiveness so that their sins become sins unto death.

5:18, 19, 20 We know. These verses highlight three important truths that believers know.

5:18 the One who was born of God. Refers here to Jesus, the Son of God.

5:20 him who is true. Refers to God the Father. the true God and eternal life. Refers to either God the Father or Jesus. If it refers to the Father, then John emphasizes that the Father is the true God and the source of eternal life, a noncontroversial statement (cf. John 17:3; 1 Thess 1:9). If it refers to Jesus, then John strikingly calls Jesus “the true God” (cf. John 1:1).

5:21 keep yourselves from idols. This could mean either to refuse to be involved in pagan worship or to refuse to accept the secessionists’ false teaching about Christ, which would be tantamount to idolatry.