1 John 5:1-12
Everyone wants to win. Nobody wants to lose. Lance Armstrong, the Houston Astros, Ben Johnson, Tonya Harding, and Barry Bonds are a few who chose to bend the rules because winning became the most important thing in their lives. They wanted to be defined by winning and could not handle losing. Everyone wants to win. Nobody wants to lose. On Wednesday January 6th, a group of protestors stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. in response to claims of voter fraud and election tapering. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him because of voter fraud. Over a million people gathered in Washington in support of President Trump and his desire to protest the election. They gathered wholeheartedly, believing that Trump did not lose the election and putting their faith in the president. Everyone wants to win, and nobody wants to lose.
People are willing to go to extreme measures to win. People are willing to go to extreme measures not to lose. The problem is that people want to win in games or elections more than they want to win God’s favor. Too many Christians have spent countless hours watching news programs and reading articles on how their side won the election, but too few Christians have spent countless hours reading God’s word or in prayer or in self-examination of the sin in their own hearts. There will be much finger-pointing in days and weeks and months ahead in our culture. But what about our church? How will our church respond to recent events? What do we want to win the most? Do we want to win an argument against the opposing side, an election, a championship game? Or do we want to win God’s pleasure each and every day of this life? The problem in America is not fraud in the election but the faith of the electorate. The problem in America is that people have the wrong faith and are placing more of that faith in the wrong objects. We are called to have faith in the triune God: Father, Son and Spirit.
How do we overcome fear and concern for our nation? We trust the words of the Lord Jesus: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:1-2a). We must have faith in God. We must have a supernatural faith that comes from God. The most important victory in life has already happened. It is the victory that God has won for us in the death, burial, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. Everybody wants to win, and nobody wants to lose, but the only way to win in this life and the one to come is with Christ. We cannot win on our own because we have already lost the battle. We are sinners and have fallen short of God’s glory. We all lose unless we change our team. We have to move from team “me” to team “We.” The “We” of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let us fight the good fight of faith, not in this world but in God who overcomes this world. Let us fight the good fight for a supernatural faith in God.
The Supernatural Faith in the Love of the Father
The most important issue in John’s first letter to the church is faith in the Son. One can see that was the most important thing in all of John’s writings. John wrote this letter to encourage the church to believe in Christ and to know that they have the Son and eternal life.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:1-3)
John drives home his central thesis in his letter: everyone who believes in Jesus Christ has been born of God and, therefore, will love one another.
If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, this is one of the most important truths you can realize about the world. The Bible teaches that at the core of every human being is sin. The Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. We have hearts that are bent toward self and selfishness. Christians do not believe that we merely need to change our behavior. We need a change of heart. If you are not a follower of Christ, listen to this message understanding that we believe that everyone, including followers of Jesus, need to be born again. We need regeneration. We need new hearts. The brokenness in your life and our world is because of sin. People choose to fight for themselves and their own desires which cause brokenness of all forms. We must choose to lose the battle of self by giving our lives over to God through faith.
John says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Everyone. Everyone! It does not matter what you have done or what you are doing. Today, if you turn from your sin and believe fully that Jesus is the Christ, you will be born of God! There is no distinction: for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. But you must believe that Jesus is the Christ. Christ means “Messiah” or “Savior.” To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that he came from heaven to earth to save sinners. He was born of a virgin and born of God. He was truly God and truly man. He was truly God in that he never sinned and was perfect in his obedience to the father. He was truly man in that he was like us in every way so that he could stand in our condemned place as a man. He was truly God in that after his death God raised him from the dead in his resurrection on the third day. He was truly man in that his resurrection was the firstfruits of those who would come after him. Salvation is from God. Turn from yourself, and live for God. Believe that Jesus is the Christ. Take hold of that supernatural, God-given faith that Jesus is the Savior of the World. And not just the Savior of the world but your Savior, your Messiah, your King. Everyone who believes has been born of God.
Beloved, are we giving our lives to helping others believe that Jesus is the Christ? There are many problems in this life, but the only final solution for the greatest problem of sin and death is faith that Jesus is the Christ. Notice one way that we know that we have been born of God. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” If you believe that Jesus is the Christ and you love the Father for sending his Son, then you will love everyone else who has believed in Christ and loved the Father for sending his Son. A Christian cannot act consistently against his nature. If you are a Christian, born of God, you will love other Christians. When we love the Father, we become children of God. When we love the Father, we are brought into a new family with new siblings.
Our church gatherings should be a mini-family reunion every single week. We come together each and every week as a family of blood-bought sinners born again by believing in the gospel. Beloved, last year was one long storm. I felt like a captain of a ship in a storm, gripping the steering wheel trying not to sink the ship. The Christmas season gave us a small reprieve from the storm, but the waters are churning yet again. COVID numbers are rising, and questions and concerns will rise on how we as a body and we as individuals will handle it. The next wave of political conversations will grow in their intensity. Critical Race Theory, Black Lives Matter, Christian Nationalism, Trumpism will threaten our unity. We may be tempted to judge people in our hearts or be suspicious of others. Beloved, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. We do not have a choice in who we love. We love whoever has been born of him. We are not united because of our politics or race or geography. We are united by our love for the Father and faith in the Son. Let us act like it.
Our love does not end when we gather, but it is who we are. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). The way you love God and the way you love your brothers and sisters in Christ is by obeying God. We show we love God by keeping his commands. We keep his commands by putting away falsehood and speaking truth to our neighbor in love. We keep his commands by not letting the sun go down on our anger. We keep his commands by no longer stealing but laboring, doing honest work to give to those in need. We keep his commands by letting no corrupting talk come from our mouths but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear. We keep his commands by not grieving the Holy Spirit of God but being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you.
How you live Monday through Saturday is just as important as how you act when you gather here on Sunday? God’s commandments are for our good. They are not burdensome. Let me make three pastoral applications. First, we have to approach God’s commands as “get-to’s” and not “have to’s.” We have to approach the commands the Lord gives us as privileges that we are allowed to do and not merely have to do. Second, we must meditate on how God’s commands are good for us. Temptation will always be there, but when we think beforehand about the benefits and joys of obedience and how it marks us as God’s children, we will be less likely to fall. Third, we must remember that God’s commands are not burdensome because they don’t earn us salvation. When we start to view God’s commands as burdensome, we are out of step with the gospel. Legalism is not the gospel. Legalism breeds self-righteousness which is the antithesis of the gospel. We do not overcome the world by our obedience but by a supernatural faith that Jesus is the Son of God.
The Supernatural Faith in the Overcoming of the Son
When we start feeling weighed down with all the commands of God, we have forgotten that Jesus Christ has overcome the world for us. We have overcome the world by faith. John writes, “And his commandments are not burdensome. FOR…” The reason why God’s commands are not burdensome is that everyone who has been born of God has already overcome the world by faith. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4–5) The victory is not our works. The victory is our faith in the One who did the work. We win and overcome the world when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. John calls Jesus the Son of God here to bring to mind his resurrection. Paul writes in Romans 1:4 that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Everybody wants to win, and nobody wants to lose. If you truly want to win in this life and the life to come, you must believe in Jesus Christ.
One of the reasons there is so much fear and unhappiness in the church is that we want victory in this life. God has never promised victory in our earthly life. He has never promised winning elections or promotions or worldly acclaim. He has promised the world will hate us and persecute us as it did him. The anger I see in Christians is tied to their faith in wanting victory in this life and not in the one to come. The victory that has overcome the world is our faith that Jesus is the Son of God who defeated death with his resurrection. The only victory that truly matters for the Christian is that we continue to have faith in Christ until the end. What would be your greatest victory in life? That is what you cherish the most. I pray we would cherish victory in the Son more than anything else.
John speaks about the final victory and when we will finally conquer this life through faith. He did this in his seven letters to the churches in Revelation. Listen to what he says to these churches:
The church at Ephesus: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)
To the church at Smyrna: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11)
To the church in Pergamum:“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17)
To the church in Thyatira: “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:26–28)
To the church in Sardis: “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:5-6)
To the church in Philadelphia: “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:12-13)
To the church at Laodicea: “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:21-22)
The victory in this life is having faith in Christ to the end of life. The only victory that will ultimately matter is if we have faith in Jesus Christ until the end. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? We overcome the world by believing in Christ, for the world no longer has its hold on us because we are looking for the life that is yet to come.
The Supernatural Faith in the Testimony of the Spirit
The Father sent Jesus to show his love for us. Jesus has overcome the world by his resurrection from the dead. And the Spirit testifies to us that both of those realities are true.
This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. (1 John 5:6–8)
There has been much written on these verses regarding what John’s full meaning may be. I am not going to give you all the potential meanings for the sake of time. I will give what I believe he is saying and why it matters to us. I think the key interpretative clue is that the Spirit testifies. John has been making an argument throughout this letter that Jesus is truly God and truly man. In a court case, three witnesses would have provided powerful testimony. “By the water” refers to the baptism of Jesus that was testified by the descending of the Spirit of God and the voice from heaven. The Spirit came upon Jesus and empowered him for his earthly ministry. “By the blood” refers to the shedding of blood by Jesus on the cross. Remember, it was important for John’s hearers to understand the humanity of Jesus, as some were denying that he came in the flesh. John reminds them that Jesus was divine as set apart by his baptism and that he was human in his death on the cross. If we lose one of those truths, we lose the gospel. He had to be born of God and of woman if he was going to be the Messiah of man.
The Spirit of God testifies to the truth of the gospel. He testifies to the truth as the Spirit of truth through the word of God and by providing faith in that Word. John then provides an argument of lesser to greater. If we listen to men, then we most assuredly should listen to God. “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son” (1 John 5:9). God has provided ample testimony that Jesus is the Christ. We have his earthly ministry demonstrating his miraculous power. We have his sacrificial death on our behalf at the cross. We have the Spirit raising him from the dead, declaring to everyone that Jesus has overcome the world.
John’s main concern is whether or not people have eternal life. He knows that eternal life only belongs to those who believe. To believe for John is not mere intellectual assent but a radical life transforming rebirth from a lover of self to a lover of God and God’s people. John draws a very clear line:
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:10–12)
Christianity is based on the historical evidence of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we belong to God. He confirms it again and again in our obedience to God’s commands and by our love for God and his people. God has given us testimony. He has provided witnesses throughout history in the prophets. He has provided witnesses of Jesus’ life, including John who saw Jesus with his eyes and touched him with his hands and ate with him after this resurrection from the dead. God has provided testimony. The question is do we believe it?
Do you believe that God has given us eternal life? Do you believe that life is found in the Son? If you believe, you will keep God’s commandments. You will keep God’s commandments because you will want to please your Savior. How many of you parents bought gifts for your kids for Christmas because you had to? Didn’t you want to buy them gifts because you love them? If we believe Jesus died for us, if we believe he took our sin on the cross, if we believe he has overcome the world for us, then we will approach our lives with a “I can’t believe I get to serve my Savior” attitude of obedience. We know that we have life when we believe in Jesus Christ, keep his commandments, and love one another.
And friends, notice what John also says: “Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has borne concerning his Son…whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” This life is mist and a vapor. People love to talk about how important this moment in time is and how important this or that election is and how this decision and this vote is the most important one of our lifetime. That is until the next one or the one after that. Life is a mist and a vapor. It lasts for a moment, but eternity will last forever. You have a choice of how you will spend eternity: with eternal life or eternal death? Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? What does it profit a man to win in his life and lose in the life to come? Do not be deceived in chasing after mere earthly victories today when God has already won you the victory for all eternity. If you don’t have the Son, you have already lost no matter how much you think you have won. Yet, if you have the Son, you have eternal life, and you have overcome the world because our Savior lived and died and rose again so we would be his children now and for eternity. Be one who loves the Father for sending the Son by the testimony of the Spirit. He who conquers this life in Christ will receive everlasting life with Christ in the age to come. He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
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