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First Letter of John - Chapter 5
- 1.Now the connection between faith and love is shown: all who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, are themselves children of God, to be loved by all believers, as is their Father.
Correct belief in Jesus makes one a child of God. Recalls discussion of love in chap 4, before
turning to discuss its link with faith. Argument from analogy: as in normal life, if we love the
parent, we - usually - love their children. So if we love God, we must love his children, ie fellow
Christians.
- 2.And how is this love demonstrated? By loving God and obeying his commandments. Gestures and
acts of charity are not enough - we must also live a holy life. Loving God is to keep his
commandments.
- 3.This reciprocal love is the Father’s command, and it is not a burden, like the demands of the
pharisees. The OT commandments, the law of Moses, could sometimes be burdensome, because
the world placed often obstacles to fulfilling it. Therefore the law of Moses has been superseded
by the law of love.
- 4.It is not a burden because Christ has conquered the world, with its lusts and attractions. His
strength enables us to love God by keeping his commandments. This love comes from our faith in
Jesus which enables us to conquer the world, as Jesus has.
- 5.Creedal statement that Jesus is the Son of God, and goes on to emphasise that Jesus was also truly
human.
- 6. Faith is belief in Jesus, who was truly human not only from his birth and baptism in water but
also to his death in sacrificial blood which mingled with water from the side of his dead body.
Jesus’ water and the blood were witnessed by the beloved disciple and testified to by the Spirit,
handed over by Jesus at his death. So baptism and the Eucharist testify to the Christians' faith, and
to the truth of what they profess. These are more than symbolic rituals, they were rooted in two
historical events, Jesus' baptism and death. John insists on Jesus' death, as well as his birth and
baptism. One early form of heresy said that Jesus became united with the divine Christ only at his
baptism, but that the divine Christ, who could not suffer, left Jesus before the Crucifixion. John
says 'No' the divine Christ also suffered death. This may be why John insists on both water and
blood as testimony to Jesus as the Christ. In a Jewish court there were two tests of witnesses: did
that agree with each other; and were they people whose word could be trusted. Here the 3 witness
agree and they must be reliable because it is God who is testifying.
- 7. Some texts indicate that the three who testify are the Spirit - ie the Father; the blood - ie the Son;
and the water - ie the Spirit. The Spirit, present in the Christian through baptism, is the supreme
witness to Jesus, enabling us to witness to Jesus in our lives and by our actions and/or sufferings.
- 8. The present-day sacraments of water - baptism - and blood - the Eucharist - also show - testify -
to the presence of Christ as well as giving nourishment to the eternal life he brings.
- 9. If we accept human testimony, we should accept God’s testimony, which is on behalf of his Son.
God's testimony is the Spirit, ie the Spirit of Jesus who is also the Spirit of truth. To deny the
testimony of water, blood and spirit is to make God a liar. Note that John is not expressing our
later understanding of the Trinity: Spirit here is either God or the Spirit of Jesus, which comes
from Jesus glorified through his death.
- 10.This divine witness, the Spirit, is the most convincing witness possible, because by dwelling
within us he becomes a part of us - reinforced by the Eucharist. The ultimate blasphemy,
therefore, is to reject this divine witness as false, ie to call God a liar.
- 11.The basic theme of this whole letter (Cf 1:1-3): what is testified is that God has given us eternal
life, ie a share in his life, and we receive this through his son. The way that God gives his
testimony is through objective signs of his presence which are experienced by Christians in the
form of baptism, Eucharist and Spirit. Therefore to accept this testimony is to let it become part
of oneself - for Christians to have this testimony in their hearts.
- 12.To possess or accept this gift of the Son is not acceptance of a doctrine but of a person who lives
now in us and provides - infuses - us with this share in the divine life.
- 13.Apparent conclusion (Cf Jn 20:31): as for his Gospel, this Epistle’s purpose is to help you who
believe in the name of the Son of God to realise that you have eternal life - but you must believe
in Jesus as God's Son - every word in the phrase 'the name of God's Son' is essential.
- 14.Apparently Vv 14-21 added. We can pray with confidence because if we ask for anything
according to his will it is already ours. IE ‘ask and you shall receive’ (Matt 7:7-8; Lk 11:9-10).
Note the restriction that prayers will be granted if they accord with God’s will - early Christians
had found that not all prayers were answered as expected.
- 15.Since we know that he hears us, we know that we will receive what we have asked for - but it
must be in accord with God's will. We should always add "not my will, but thine be done".
- 16.One thing we should pray for our brothers who are sinners that they may repent and be given life -
because we may have confidence that our prayers will be answered. The line between thosewho
have seceded from John's Church and those remaining within it is not clear - there may be
waverers and those not clearly in or outside, who need the prayers of the community. Although
there may be doubt about the value of prayer in respect of sins which are 'deadly', so prayer for
these is not enjoined - although it is not forbidden. What this deadly sin was, we do not know: it
may for John have joining the secession - ie calling God a liar. Presumably those who commit
deadly sins are ex-Christians, who have deliberately moved out into the darkness. So shocking
has been the departure of some members from the community that John is not sure there is any
hope for them. Deadly sin is not defined, but it is likely that for John it is deliberate apostasy,
choosing darkness over light, hatred over love, death over eternal life. But we should not equate it
with what much later came to be called 'mortal' sins. Alternatively, John may have had some
specific sin in mind. The early Christians seemed to identify some sins as unforgivable (Mk 3:28-9, Heb).
- 17All wrongdoing is sin, but some sins are not deadly. Clearly other - not deadly - sins were well
known.
- 18.But guarding against laxity because sins can be forgiven through prayer, John emphasises the
serious differences between sin and being a child of God. We know that those begotten by God
are protected from sin. Again only two choices - you are either for God or against him - in the
world and therefore subject to the forces of evil rampant in the world. Our modern world is less
confident and accepts the possibility of shades in between. In Vv 18-20 three defiant ‘we know’
against the secessionists.
- 19.We know we belong to God, not to the evil one whose dominion is the world. The community
living by God’s love and faith is sure of victory over the world, even though the world is under
the power of the evil one. This is because the community’s testimony is not isolated, but
supported by the testimony of Father, Son, and Spirit, each working in and through the Church
and its sacraments.
- 20.The final ‘we know’ triumphantly confesses that the Son of God has come, and the three 'we
know's enable to know that the Son of God dwells in us, enabling us to discern who is the true
God who gives us eternal life. Throughout this letter John insists that Jesus’ humanity is
important for salvation, Jesus’ flesh is offered on the cross for the sins of the world. Ends as the
Gospel does by affirming Jesus’ divinity as Son of God, but that Jesus’ humanity was never
diminished.
- 21.But victory is not yet complete. For this divided community discernment is even more important.
Perfect love has not yet driven out fear. Mutual correction is still required. So be on your guard
against idols - ie false beliefs, especially those about Jesus’ humanity and which doubt his saving
power. A final warning against the secessionists who have gone over to false idols by professing a
false Christology, having been seduced by false knowledge, which lacks the love which must go
with it.