1John 5:14-21 Bible study guide
Author: Steve Amato
Description: Prayer and Knowing the true God
Keywords: bible study,supplication, intercession, 1John, know, idol, blaspheme, Holy Spirit, death, sin, nominal christians, false christ

Translations: 简体中文 繁體中文

# 1 John 5:14-21 (LIT)

## Praying for Nominal Christians

## Confidence in Supplication

vs 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that. generally speaking,
if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
vs 15 And if we have perceived that He hears us, whatever we are characteristically asking,
we have perceived that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

## Interceding for Nominal Christians

vs 16 If anyone, at some point in time,
were to perceive his "brother" characteristically committing sin which does not lead to death,
he will ask, and He will give him life
for those who characteristically are committing sin not leading to death.
There is sin leading to death.
I do not say that he should pray at some point in time about that.
vs 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

## Knowing the True Christ

vs 18 We have perceived that whoever has been born of God does not characteristically sin;
but he who had been born of God at some point characteristically keeps himself,
and the wicked one does not touch him for himself.
vs 19 We have perceived that we are of God,
and the whole world lies itself under the sway of the wicked one.
vs 20 And we have perceived that the Son of God is come
and has given us an understanding,
that we may know Him who is true;
and we exist in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life.
vs 21 Little children, when the instance arises, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

# Discussion Questions

vs 14 What would you say is the most objective way to know God's will?
What special aid have we been given in order to pray according to God's will? (Rom 3:27)
Where in the New Testament has it been explicitly stated what the will of God is?
Examples: 1Thess 4:3; 1Thess 5:18; 1Peter 2:13-15
Did Jesus ever ask God for anything that was not according to his will? (Matt 26:39)
vs 15 Why does God want us to ask for things that he knows that we need to carry out his will?
vs 16 What is meant by "death" and "life"? How do you visualize the application of this verse?
What do you suppose would happen if you didn't pray?
vs 18 In what way do we keep ourselves so that the evil of sin doesn't cling to us? (1Tim 5:22)
What is God's role in this? (1Thess 5:23)
vs 19 How has such class distinction resulted in the persecution of Christ and Christians?
vs 20 In what sense is idolatry a danger to our relationship with God?
How is idolatry practiced today?

# Comments

Pray in His Will

1John 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.

John mentioned something similar to this in 1John 3:21,22 saying, "if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." And I'll reiterate my comment there that promises like Matt 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." given under the assumption that we are obeying his commands and doing what pleases him, as you can also see from this verse where the promise of answered prayer is contingent upon us praying in accordance with his will.

But satisfying that contingency we can have confidence that God hears us and will take action on our requests. What is also implied is that if you don't pray, God may not take such action.

A Sin unto Death

1John 5:16,17 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Again, continuing to keep a consistent hermeneutic, invoking the significance of the present tense in the Greek we note that as "commit a sin" is in the present tense, John is referring to a sin which is characteristic of this "brother's" lifestyle. But as John had said a number of times previously in this letter that "no one who is born of God will continue to sin" (1John 3:9), and as he does just 2 verses later, "We have perceived that whoever has been born of God does not characteristically sin;" (1John 5:18), I take it that this man is a brother in name only.

And this makes sense because it speaks of praying for this person so that God may give him life - indicating that he didn't have life. And as we just read in this chapter "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1John 5:12, apparently such a "brother" is viewed as not having the Son. This is a prayer for a "nominal Christian". That is, a Christian who is one in name only.

As the letter of 1John is all about identifying nominal Christians, here John is telling us what to do if we uncover one. Pray for that person that God may give them life.

The sin unto death is a condition in which the "Christian" so strongly resists correction as to attribute the working of the Holy Spirit to the devil. That is, "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." Heb 6:4,6 In fact "It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: A dog returns to its vomit, and, A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2Peter 2:21-22

Jesus said, "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Mt 12:32 And why is that? Because compliance to the leading of the Holy Spirit is necessary to coming to saving faith. Rejecting such leading with strong conviction cut's oneself off from the necessary path to salvation. It's impossible to bring such people back to repentance.

Nonetheless John is not forbidding prayers for such people, for as it is it may be difficult to determine whether a person had sinned in this manner, but if a person apostacizes it is not required of the Christian to pray for such people.

Kept Safe

1John 5:18,19 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

John reiterates the fact that those born of God do not continue to sin, just as he said in 1John 3:9. And bringing this up here supports the idea that the previous two verses were referring to nominal Christians - those who continue to sin.

And as we also read in 1John 3:9 the reason why those born of God don't continue to sin has to do with the nature of the rebirth. "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." John alludes to this idea here in the phrase "the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.", though there are nuances of interpretation.

> For example, "the one who was born of God" could refer to Jesus since "was born" is in the aorist indicating an historic past event as opposed to the perfect tense which John uses earlier in the verse to referring to "anyone born of God". And Jesus said, "While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me." John 17:12 and "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." John 17:15, not to mention also the analogy he makes in John 10 of himself being a shepherd taking care of his sheep, and in particular John 10:28 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." (well I guess I mentioned it anyway!) And this is the most likely interpretation based upon the Greek manuscripts upon which many modern translations, like the NASB and NIV are based.

> But there is a textual variant in some manuscripts, which is carried over in the KJV where the word "him" in "keeps him" is actually "himself", which means this could be read that those born of God keep (take care of) themselves such that they don't continue to sin.

> In fact in it could be argued that both of these are the case, kind of like Paul said, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed— not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence— continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Php 2:12,13

In any case, those born of God are safe from Satan, though the rest of the world is under his control. The word "harm" is more literally "touched" (to fasten one’s self to, adhere to, cling to). The sense is that while Satan may in fact touch us from time to time, but he has nothing to hold on to. So he can't cling to us as he can to others in the world.

Knowing the True God

1John 5:20,21 We know also 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— even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

Jesus said, "this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."John 17:3 Eternal life is all about knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ the Son of God. And we can only know God through the Son, as it is written, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known." John 1:18 He alone is the true God and eternal life. Therefore keep yourself from imitations.

# Literalized Translation

1John 5:
vs 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that. generally speaking, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
vs 15 And if we have perceived that He hears us, whatever we are characteristically asking, we have perceived that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
vs 16 If anyone, at some point in time, were to perceive his brother characteristically committing sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who characteristically are committing sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray at some point in time about that.
vs 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
vs 18 We have perceived that whoever has been born of God does not characteristically sin; but he who had been born of God at some point characteristically keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him for himself.
vs 19 We have perceived that we are of God, and the whole world lies itself under the sway of the wicked one.
vs 20 And we have perceived that the Son of God is come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we exist in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
vs 21 Little children, when the instance arises, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

# Rap

5:14 And this is the boldness, that we have in him. If we ask anything he hears us, if we ask from his will not a whim. 15 And if we know that he hears us, whatever it is we may ask We know that we have what we asked from him, let us set out for our task 16 If anyone sees his brother, commit a sin not unto death Let's ask God, to give him the life, and to take him out from the depth. There is a sin unto death, for it prayer is ineffective 17 There's sin not to death, though all sin is wrong, this is the right perspective 18 Everyone born of God, lives not a lifestyle of sin But keeps himself from the devil, who cannnot harm him within. 19 We know we are children of God, and the world lies under the devil 20 We know God's Son has come, (and I'm speaking on the level) To give us an understanding, that we may know him who is true. He's the true God life eternal, and his Son Christ lives in you. 21 Therefore I tell you beware, of false imitations by men. For God is defined in the Bible, reject all idols. Amen

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