1 John 5:11-21 NKJV
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
To know God’s Son—to believe in His name, His teaching, and His death for our sins—is to have eternal life. Having eternal life produces two things in us. The first is confidence toward God. Those who know God’s Son approach God the Father confidently in prayer. We know “that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (14). What is God’s will? Scripture teaches us God’s will is our repentance, salvation, and sanctification. When we pray for these things each day, we pray boldly, knowing that He will give us these things.
These are God’s will for all Christians, which is why we pray for our brother—our fellow Christian—whom we see committing sin not leading to death. Since “all unrighteousness is sin” (17), we pray for our fellow Christian who falls into sin, asking that God would give him repentance, renewed faith, and the Holy Spirit to fight that sin in the future. It is only when we see someone committing “sin leading to death” that John says, “I do not say that he should pray about that” (16). What is the sin leading to death? It is malicious apostasy—rejecting the truth of the gospel—which attacks the truth with blasphemy. This is the one whom St. Paul calls “a divisive man” in Titus 3:10-11 who refuses repentance after being admonished. Blaspheming the truth he previously confessed, he is “warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”
Besides confidence in prayer, knowing God’s Son and having eternal life produces sanctification in us. “Whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (18). The believer is “of God.” As such, he lives in love toward God and neighbor, looking for opportunities to praise God and serve his neighbor. When he is tempted, he counters temptation with God’s word, just as Christ Jesus did when tempted by the devil. And if he falls to sin, he has an advocate with the Father, the same Jesus Christ, who is the atoning sacrifice for all sins (2:1).
Let us pray: Increase in us, O God, confidence to approach You boldly in prayer for those things You have promised in the gospel, especially that we continue to know Your Son and live in holiness as those who have received eternal life. Amen.