As we conclude our study of 1 John, we come to the final daily devotion for this book. 1 John 5 brings us to a profound question: can we truly be sure of our place in heaven? Chapter 5 of this epistle offers encouragement and clarity on the assurance of eternal life in Jesus Christ. It reveals that knowing God’s love is evident through obedience and faith, overcoming worldly influences, and relying on Jesus as the sole path to salvation. This chapter calls us to reflect on our faith and the transformative power of God’s Word. So, let’s open 1 John 5 with open hearts, seeking assurance and understanding of the eternal life God promises to those who believe in His Son. To learn about God’s love, see the daily devotional on 1 John 4.
1 John 5 Commentary by Allen J. Huth
We finish our study in 1 John with the twenty-one verses of the fifth chapter, the last chapter of this book. Do you think one can be sure they are going to heaven? Please read or listen to 1 John 5.
What Is the Proof that We Love God?
How do we know we love God? According to what I wrote about the first few verses in my journal in 1999, “We know we love God by our obedience, by keeping His commandments. Our measure of love is seen in our willingness to obey. Now, people don’t want to obey God, their parents, their bosses, or each other. They want to do their own thing. But God’s commandments are not burdensome. Obedience allows us to overcome the world. Praise God! So how do we know we love God? By our obedience to his Word. Now, many want to overcome the world, but they don’t want to obey and it just won’t work. So we need to submit to God, call upon Him, commit to Him, obey, and be an overcomer.” Those were the first few verses of this great chapter.
What Does the Water and Blood Represent?
We continue with verses 6-13 (NASB), about the water and the blood. I wrote in my journal, “I don’t know enough about what this stuff means to fully understand this passage. But I can understand something and that is, the Spirit is truth. ‘He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you . . . so that you may know that you have eternal life’ (vs. 12-13).” I am not a theologian. I am a guy who reads the Bible just like you, and I am not sure I can take apart this stuff about the water and blood. But you can go to your church and ask your pastor, and I am sure he will have a great answer. If not, he will certainly be challenged by the question!
What Is the Life that Jesus Gives Us?
Another journal entry about this passage (NASB) was, “John makes it pretty clear it’s all about Jesus, ‘Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God’ (v. 1)and ‘Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’ (v. 5). ‘And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son’ (v. 11). Verse 12 says, ‘He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.’ This is what the Word of God, not some church, says. According to these verses, there is only one way to eternal life, and it is through Jesus, the Son of God. John writes in verse 13, ‘These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.’”
Why Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
I wrote in 2003, “You talk about God; most people are okay. You talk about Jesus, many get upset. You talk about Jesus as the only way and people get angry. Yet, in his gospel, John states this fact in John 14:6 ‘“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”’ So it is still all about Jesus.”
How can We Demonstrate Our Love for God?
In 2012, I amplify the first journal entry written in 1999 about obedience. “John says we are to demonstrate our love for God by keeping his commandments. And those commandments are not burdensome. Being a Christian is not a chore. It should be joyful to want to obey God’s Word. And then John goes back to proclaiming the path to eternal life, when he says, ‘Whoever has the Son has life; and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life’ (v. 12). We can know we have eternal life.”
Can You Know for Sure Now that You have Eternal Life?
What is our application from 1 John 5? There are many who say one can never know whether one has eternal life; but John tells us how we can know it right here. It is worth reviewing these chapters in your spare time when you have these kinds of questions. Can we know we have eternal life? Yes, according to the Word of God, we can know.
Do you know? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you have eternal life? If you are not sure, I encourage you to get your Bible and go back through 1 John 5. Get assurance that you certainly can know whether or not you have eternal life in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
Prayer
Father, we thank You for the Book of 1 John containing the power of forgiveness, testing the spirits, and the clearest definition of Your love for us. We thank You that in this book, we can be assured of our eternal salvation with You. Thank You for the encouragement from these words from Your friend, the Apostle John, the one whom You said You loved. Love us like You loved John. We offer our love to You. Not just in words, but in deed and in truth. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we pray. Amen.
