An Introduction to the First Epistle of John: Part 2
1John 5:13b
Big Idea: John’s purpose in writing his first epistle is explicitly clear, he writes to believers so that they might know the purest content of their faith and therefore be confident in their possession of eternal life. John wants us to know that eternal life, a life which is God’s and flows from God, is our present possession as we trust in Jesus.
Two remarkable things about this reality that John presents;
It is a _________________________ reality.
1 John 5:13 (ESV) — 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
John writes to those who are believing, so that they might know that they are possessing eternal life.
indicative — The mood in which the action of the verb or the state of being it describes is presented by the writer as real. It is the mood of assertion, where the writer portrays something as actual (as opposed to possible or contingent on intention).
This letter… was written for believers. John’s desire for them is not that they may believe and receive, but that having believed, they may know that they have received, and therefore continue to have (present), eternal life
The theology of the indicative asserts that your joy-filled obedience as a Christian flows from the righteous character you have been given in your union with Christ. The theology of the indicative further asserts that your obedience can never secure the blessings of Christ, because you have already received all the blessings of Jesus in your union with him.
We are working from Christ’s obedience not toward it. You are not becoming something you are not, you are slowly realizing what you are in Him.
2Peter 1:3-11
It is a ____________________ __________________ reality.
1 John 5:13 (ESV) — 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
In John’s language, the term eternal not only speaks of duration, but also of quality. It is a “kind” of life that John is referring to. The kind of life that God has.
John 4:13–15 (ESV) — 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
John 3:36 (ESV) — 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 5:24 (ESV) — 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:47 (ESV) — 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
John 6:54 (ESV) — 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Questions to Consider
What does John want us to know we have? What does John mean by eternal life?
How does knowing this affect the way you live the Christian life?
What might it look like in your daily temptations to apply this understanding of sanctification?
