1John 5:13a
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.
Beloved, if we mistake John’s purpose, we might come to doubt our experience of eternal life instead of being confirmed in it.
This letter is written to ______________________________
1 John 5:13 (ESV) — 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God…
John 20:30–31 (ESV) — 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
What John is characterizing throughout his epistle is what the life of the believer looks like. This epistle is a characterization of how the Holy Spirit effects change in the hearts of those who belong to Christ.
Those who truly believe in Jesus are those who keep on believing in Jesus, particularly the Jesus who is proclaimed by the Apostles.
1 John 5:13 (YLT) — 13 These things I did write to you who are believing in the name of the Son of God…
Matthew 6:34 (ESV) — 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
This letter is written to instill ______________________
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.
Philippians 3:10 (ESV) — 10 that I may know (ginosko) him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Oida = To be cognizant or aware of a __________ or a specific piece of ______________.
John speaks throughout this epistle in absolutes, not in relativities. That is to say that John gives us an unadulterated knowledge of what it means to be a child of God, unpolluted by emotions or experiences. His statements are the purest form of Christianity and to see the realities which he presents in your own life is to be able to know, without a doubt, that you belong to Christ.
The Bible defines our Christian experience, our Christian experience does not define the Bible.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV) — 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Questions to Consider
What does John mean by “know” in this letter?
How should this instill confidence in our faith?
How should we respond when confronted with something in our lives that doesn’t line up with John’s presentation of the life of Christ in a believer?
How should we handle others who say they have another word from Jesus?
