1 John 5:13-20

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As you are being seated, go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to the passage that was just read, 1 John 5:13-20. There’s a lot in what was just read there, and I want to go through this a verse at a time. But let me start by giving you an overarching category for how to understand everything that we’ll cover in the passage today. Today’s message is about faith. It’s about trusting God and believing God in specific ways after conversion. 

So just to clarify, this message isn’t about trusting Christ as your Savior in order to become a Christian. That’s something that John assumes is already the case. Instead, this passage is about continuing to trust in Christ as a growing Christian. It’s not about going from darkness to light. It’s about experiencing more light in more of your life. It’s about shedding more and more light on the darkness that still persists in your soul after conversion. And that’s why I’m calling this message today, “Post-Conversion Faith.”

Did you know that you can still grow in faith, even after you’ve become a Christian? Did you know that you can learn and grow in confidence and in boldness in your relationship with God? 

John Calvin wrote this, “We must pay heed to our duty of learning that our faith may increase throughout the whole of our life. For there are still many remnants of unbelief in us, and our faith is so weak that what we believe is not yet really believed without more confirmation.”

Now Calvin wasn’t saying that we are constantly gaining and losing our salvation. Trust me when I tell you that Calvin believed in Eternal Security. He’s not talking about gaining and losing our salvation; he’s talking about constantly growing stronger in our faith and believing more strongly every day in the truths that God has revealed.

Similarly, Martin Luther said, “Eternal life is a difficult mystery, we must treat of it constantly in order that we may … grow in faith. It is not like geometry, which suffices once it has been grasped; but these things [faith and eternal life] must be learned assiduously, and it is through tribulations that we must be exercised in learning them.”

So according to both Calvin and Luther (these great Protestant Reformers), we can and we must continually grow in faith. And that’s part of why we gather at church with fellow believers, so that our faith will be strengthened. I feel like that is a significant part of my job every week, namely, to strengthen the faith of the saints. Not to undermine it! It’s constantly being undermined and attacked out there in this world. 

If I were to put a number to it, I would say that probably like 70% of my preaching duty is to strengthen the faith of existing believers. I feel like maybe 5% of my job is to preach the gospel to the unconverted to lead them to Christ (Paul told Timothy to do the work of an evangelist, and that’s part of my duty too). And maybe 25% of my job is to teach new things to believers: new principles, new applications, new ideas, etc. But most of my job, something like 70% is to remind the saints about the things they already know and strengthen them in those things. 

And just so you know, I’m strengthened as well in that process. Preparing messages for the church strengthens my faith too. 

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So, let’s take a deeper look at how our post-salvation faith in Christ, our post-conversion confidence in Christ can grow. There are four ways in this passage. Write this down as #1. 

Our confidence in the truth of the gospel (5:13)

Our confidence in the truth of the gospel can grow! John writes this in verse 13.

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.

You know if the Apostle John was here right now (How awesome would that be!) … If John were here right now and I brought him up on stage and asked, “Tell me, John, why’d you write this epistle?” He wouldn’t hesitate to give us an answer. He wouldn’t say, “Well, I was bored late one night. And I just decided to write a letter with some random thoughts. And voila, look what turned out!”

No. He stated his reason right here. Here’s why he wrote this letter according to 5:13.

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.

Obviously, there was uncertainty about eternal life in the church that John was writing to. The false teachers were running amok and causing all kinds of problems with doctrinal error. We’ve seen evidence of that in this book. And John, as an older, seasoned, godly, Christian father-in-the-faith steps up and says, “Hey, listen up. This is how a person is saved and this is how a person can know that they are saved.”

13 I write these things to you … that you may know that you have eternal life.

Interestingly John’s purpose statement for this book is different than for the Gospel of John that he wrote earlier. In John 20:31, John said, “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.” John had more of an evangelistic purpose in writing the book of John. That’s why people so often read John first in the Bible if they are unsaved and want to learn about Jesus. That’s a great place to send seekers, by the way. Tell them to go read the Gospel of John. Or better yet you go read it with them. And walk them through 1) who Jesus is, 2) why Jesus came, 3) why he died for us, etc.

But John’s purpose in writing 1 John is different. It’s not so that people may believe that Jesus is the Christ, but that people who believe in Jesus may know that they have eternal life. It’s not about salvation per se; it’s about assurance of salvation. 

How do you know that you are saved? How do you know that you know that you know it? Well John answers that by showing you what saved people look like in this book. And here are the tests that he lays out that you can administer on yourself to find out. (1) The Obedience Test. Do you obey Jesus’s commands? Do you have a growing commitment to holiness and obeying Jesus? Are you walking in the light as he is in the light? (2) The Doctrinal Test. Do you believe the truth about Jesus Christ? That he is the Son of God? That he came in the flesh? That he is 100% God and 100% man and died on the cross for your sins? (3) The Love Test. How can you forget the Love Test? This is repeated throughout the book. Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ? If you do, then that’s evidence of salvation. If you don’t, then “how can you be saved?” John asks. John says that it’s not possible to love God and hate the children of God. (4) The Holy Spirit Test. Does the Holy Spirit reside within you? Is he convicting you of sin? Changing you? Teaching you? Guiding you? Producing the fruit of the Spirit inside of you? That’s evidence of salvation. 

“I’ve written about all these things,” says John, “so that you may know that you have eternal life.” “So that your confidence may grow!” “So that your assurance of salvation may grow!” That’s why John wrote this book.

I think there are some people who are scared off the book of 1 John because John is so black and white in this book. And there are some tough statements in this book. But I actually find this book to be very encouraging. This book strengthens my assurance of salvation… it doesn’t weaken it. Because I pass the tests! I guess it could weaken it if I don’t pass the tests!

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So, the first way that our post-conversion confidence in God can grow is our confidence in the truth of the gospel. Here’s a second way our confidence can grow. Write this down in your notes as #2:

2) Our confidence in the power of prayer (5:14-15)

How is your confidence in the power of prayer, church? Where are you at with that? Are you confident or are you cynical? Are you a prayer warrior? Or are you a prayer skeptic? 

Look what John writes in verse 14. 

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, 

Why are we confident towards him? Because, verse 13, we believe in the name of the Son of God and have eternal life. And because of that, we can boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16). 

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 

Why do we focus so much time in prayer as a church? Why do we have regular prayer meetings? Why do we offer prayer at the end of our services on Sunday mornings? Why do we pray in our small groups? Pray at our elders’ meetings? Pray before service, during service, after service? Because God hears us! The God who created the entire universe and is sovereign over all of it listens to our prayers. And God loves hearing the prayers of his people. And God loves answering the prayers of his people.

And beyond just corporate prayer, you can have personal time in prayer with God every day, every hour, every time a burden weighs you down and you need help from the Lord. The Lord has promised to hear you. You don’t need a priest. You don’t need a mediator between you and God. You can speak directly to him. Because you are a child of God, and he hears you. 

And here’s the promise we have. God will answer your prayer. God answers all your prayers. Did you know that? Here are the answers that he gives, “Yes, No, and Not yet.” It’s “yes” … if it’s according to his will. Or it’s “No” … if it’s not according to his will. Or it’s “not yet” … if the timing isn’t right yet. Those are the answers. 

And you can be confident of two things according to verses 14-15. You can be confident: (1) That God hears all of your prayers. Every single one of them. God’s ear is bent in your direction. And he’s listening. And secondly (2) that if our requests are in accordance with his will, we will have it. James says, “you have not because you ask not” (4:3). Sometimes we don’t have, because we simply fail to ask. 

George Mueller, who fed thousands of orphans with food provided in answer to prayer, said “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of God’s willingness.”

Here’s how John says it, look with me at verse 14.

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

You might ask, “Pastor Tony, how do I know what God’s will is so that I can be sure I ask him according to it?” Well, here’s my answer to that. You won’t. Not always. John Calvin said that God gives us two things to help us pray according to his will: (1) The Scriptures and (2) The Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit inside of us “restrains our affections, that we may not let [our prayers] stray beyond due bounds.”

One of the things that Jesus models for us is “not my will but yours be done” (see Matt 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42). Remember when he prayed that in the Garden of Gethsemane? If you read that Matthew 26 passage closely, you’ll see how at first Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And the longer that Jesus prayed, the more closely aligned and confident he became as to what God’s will was. 

And I believe that happens with us also. As we persevere in prayer, we draw closer to God’s will for us and sometimes our requests change from what we were originally asking. 

Here’s the interesting thing about prayer. Prayer is more about aligning our will to God’s will, than forcing our will upon Him. John Stott says it this way, “Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing our will upon God, or for bending his will to ours, but the prescribed way of subordinating our will to his.” That’s good stuff right there, church. If you can wrap your minds around that, that will safeguard you against a lot of “prosperity gospel foolishness” that circulates in our world today. Another writer said it this way, “Prayer is a mighty instrument not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth.” 

The famous twentieth century German scholar, Adolf Schlatter, noted that prayer is the essential activity of a Christian. He called it “the most direct expression of [our love for God]. It is an offering of highest priority, since the first thing we owe God is our thinking and our willing.” “Here you go, Lord. Here are my thoughts! Here’s my will. Conform it to your will and purposes.” That’s prayer, church. I tell you what if you can get your mind wrapped around that, then you will never ask God for stupid selfish stuff again, like a Ferrari. Your heart will be his heart. And your thoughts will be his thoughts. And your will will be conformed to his will. And you will ask according to his will, and you will have it. 

You might say, “I’m not there yet, Pastor Tony. I still ask God for a Ferrari sometimes.” “I still ask God for health, wealth, and prosperity.” Okay, well we can grow in this. Your faith can grow. Your maturity can grow. And you can develop a heart that beats for the things that God’s heart beats for. 

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Our confidence in the power of prayer can grow. Thirdly. Write this down in your notes as #3:

3) Our confidence in the protection of God (5:16-18)

Our confidence in the protection of God can grow. John writes in verse 16,

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin 

You might say, “Whoa, Whoa. Where’s this coming from? I thought we were talking about prayer!” Well yes, this is an aspect of prayer that John is drilling down on. But it’s not just prayer in the abstract. He’s talking here about intercessory prayer, which is prayer for another brother or sister in Christ. We’ve already seen extensively in 1 John that we are to love one another. Now John makes clear that part of the way that this love is displayed is prayer for a brother or sister caught in sin. 

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 

Now there’s some confusion here about verse 16, and I need to take some time to sort this out. Some within the Catholic Church have distinguished between what are called mortal sins and venial sins based upon this verse. Mortal sins, in the Catholic view, are the sins leading to death. And venial sins are the sins not leading to death. 

Others have linked this “sin leading to death” to specific sins that may cause a Christian to be taken out early. You might call this the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. In the book of Acts, this Christian couple was struck dead for lying to God (see Acts 5:1-11). Or there’s another example of Christians who were making a mockery of the Lord’s table in the Corinthian church (see 1 Cor 11:26ff.), and Paul says they paid for it with their lives. 

I don’t have time to go into it now, but I don’t think either of those views is correct. This is a hotly debated issue, so I’m not going to be dogmatic here. But I believe the death mentioned here is not a reference to physical death, but spiritual death. And the “sin leading to death” is sin that is committed by an unbeliever that isn’t paid for by the blood of Jesus. It’s essentially “sin leading to eternal death.”

So what John is saying here is that a person who commits a sin leading to death is not a brother in Christ, so why pray for that sin to be removed from their life. That’s just window-dressing. They don’t need window-dressing. They need a complete overhaul. They need new life in Christ. 

So, for instance, if your sister-in-law in Kansas City, who’s an unbeliever, is committing adultery… don’t pray that she will stop committing adultery. That’s not her greatest problem. Her greatest problem is that spiritual death hangs over her life. Pray instead for God to convict her of that sin and that it would lead her to Christ. What’s the point of just dressing up her morality a little bit if ultimately her soul is still damned? She needs salvation not moralism. 

So, if your Uncle Billy who isn’t a believer cheats on his taxes and steals from his employer, don’t pray for him to be more honest. Pray that his dishonesty will lead him to Christ!

Don’t pray for your unbelieving family members to be more righteous as unbelievers. You don’t want them to be more moral as they go to hell. You want them to be changed eternally and then their morals will flow out of that. Pray that their unrighteousness will bring conviction that will lead them to Christ. 

Now that whole scenario changes in the context of the church, because a saved follower of Christ doesn’t commit sins leading to eternal death. They only commit sins not leading to death. Okay? So don’t freak out because you think, “Have I committed a sin leading to death?” No. Only an unbeliever can do that. And don’t freak out because someone might have told you that you committed the unforgivable sin. The only unforgiveable sin is unbelief. It’s what Jesus called the “blasphemy of the Spirit” (see Mark 3:22-30). It’s a rejection of Christ and the new life that he gives, and his accompanying gift of the Holy Spirit. That’s the only unforgiveable sin. 

But that doesn’t mean that sin is insignificant for the Christian. John writes in verse 17. 

17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

A better translation of that is this, “All sin is unrighteousness.” So just because a believer commits a sin that doesn’t lead to death… just because a believer commits a sin that is forgivable and forgiven already doesn’t mean that that sin is insignificant. Don’t tell a believer, “Oh you sinned. Don’t worry about it. Jesus’s blood covers it. No worries!” No, sin is wrongdoing. Sin is an affront to God. Deal with it. Confess it. Turn from it. Help one another mortify it. 

And that’s the essence of what John is writing here, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin,” you should do something about it… the least that you can do is pray for him or her.

Listen, here’s what John is getting at—Sanctification is not a one-man project. It takes a village to sanctify a saint. Let me say it this way, sanctification is not a documentary written by, directed by, and starring yourself. It’s a group effort. It’s a church-wide project. So if you see a fellow believer committing sin, you pray for that person. Better yet, you pray with that person. Better yet, you can do what Paul says in Galatians, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (6:1). Or what James tells us in his letter, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. [Because] The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). 

Some of you might object, “Confession, Tony, really? Isn’t that a Catholic thing? I don’t do confession.” Well, there’s power in confession. And confession is actually a great weapon in the hand of Christians to help us as a community fight sin. We don’t confess in a booth to a priest in order to have our sins absolved. We confess our sins to one another in order to grow in Christ and put to death the deeds of the flesh. 

And here’s why this is so important. Look at verse 18.

18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, 

That doesn’t mean we don’t sin. John said already that if anyone says that he is without sin he makes God out to be a liar (1:10). John said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1:8). John doesn’t say “sin” here in verse 18, he says, “keep on sinning.” That’s continual, unrepentant patterns of sinfulness with no confession, no repentance, and no improvement over time. A person born of God doesn’t do that. The weight of conviction is too strong. God forcibly steps in and presses us to change. And that’s not only an act of mercy, it’s also evidence that we are saved… that God loves us and he’s not going to accept us staying the way we are.

18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God [that’s Jesus here, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born to the virgin Mary] protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 

As we turn from sin, Christ gives us victory over the evil one. As we turn to Christ, the power of Satan over our lives diminishes. As we submit to him, no matter how evil this world gets no matter how widespread the influence of Satan becomes, no matter how powerful the forces of darkness become, we are untouchable. Because he who was born of God protects [us], and the evil one does not touch [us].

You might say, “I don’t know, Tony. This world is such a dangerous place right now.” Well, yeah it is. And your faith in the protection of God needs to grow. 

You might say, “I don’t know, Tony. What about my kids? What about my spouse? What about our city, our nation, the state of our world? Everything is going to hell right now in front of us.” Listen, hear me on this. The state of our world has no bearing on the strength and substance of your faith. Some of the most devout and stalwart Christians have lived through the most perilous times in human history. Christians have been thrown to lions in the Roman Coliseums and remained steadfast in their faith. Look at Paul and what he went through in the First Century. Look at John and what he suffered in the First Century. You can have a strong faith. We can have a strong church. We can experience the protection of God and repel the influences of Satan regardless of how far the world around us drifts away from Christian principles. 

18 he who was born of God [Jesus Christ] protects [his own], and the evil one does not touch him. 

The evil one may impact our world. He may attack us. He may put doubts in our minds and temptations in our hearts. But he can’t ultimately touch us. He can’t touch the deepest part of our being. And just like Job in the OT, he’s not allowed to advance on us beyond what God allows him to. 

And this is the most important thing—he, the evil one, doesn’t determine our fate. We belong to Christ, and Christ eternally protects his own. And that’s why our confidence in the protection of God needs to grow. It needs to grow. As the world around us falls apart, our faith in God needs to grow. 

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Finally, one more thing. Write this down under #4:

Four ways our confidence in God can grow:

1) Our confidence in the truth of the gospel (5:13)

2) Our confidence in the power of prayer (5:14-15)

3) Our confidence in the protection of God (5:16-18)

4) Our confidence in the Giver of all understanding (5:19-20)

Look what John writes in verse 19. 

19 We know that we are from God, 

By the way, have you noticed how many times John says “we know” in this passage? We know! We know! We know! We know! This is not a blind faith that John is encouraging among believers. This is faith based on fact. We know these things!

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Of course, the world is degenerating before us. It is subjected to the power of Satan, the evil one. And as we near the second coming of Christ, we know that the world will degenerate even further. And then Christ will come and set everything straight. 

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come [that’s his first coming not the second coming] and has given us understanding [you might add here through the Holy Spirit residing within us], so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

These are some epic statements right here that we could spend a lot of time on. Suffice it to say, we are not powerless victims in this satanically-empowered world. We have power from on high. We have understanding that God has given us. We have the truth, whereas the world is driven by falsehood. And we have Jesus Christ who is the Giver of understanding and the Giver of eternal life.

The key word in these last few verses is the Greek ἀληθινός which means “true” or “real” or “genuine.” We know him who is ἀληθινός. And we are in him who is ἀληθινός. And he is the ἀληθινός God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” in John 14:6, so this is just John the Apostle cribbing Jesus’s notes. Jesus is the truth that all of us swimming in the lies of the world desperately need. 

And look at that last statement with me for a second. “He is the true God.” Jesus Christ is the true God! What an outstanding statement concerning Jesus’s deity! He is the true God. And he is eternal life. You don’t get eternal life apart from the Son. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). That’s it. 

You might say, “Tony, I’m going to get eternal life the old-fashioned way. I’m going to work for it.” No, you won’t. You don’t earn it. It’s a gift. It’s a gift that comes from your relationship with the Son. He is the true God and eternal life. Eternal life is only found through faith in Jesus.

And then John closes by saying in verse 21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” You might say, “Idols? That’s a non-sequitur. Where’d that come from?” 

And talk about an awkward way to close a letter. No goodbye. No see you later. No give my love to everyone in the church. No, that’s now how John rolls. He doesn’t do formal introductions or formal goodbyes. He just gets right to the point. And the final point is this. Jesus is God and Jesus is eternal life. Don’t settle for anything else. Keep yourself from idols. The End.

You might say, “Why does he mention idols at the end of this letter, when he didn’t mention idols anywhere else? And also, what does he mean by idols anyway?” Good questions. I’ll answer those for you… and we’ll talk more extensively about idols … next week. 

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But here’s how I want to close. Several years ago, I read a biography of the great American WWII General, Douglas MacArthur. The book is entitled American Caesar. And what I found interesting is that MacArthur like the rest of the US Armed Forces found themselves woefully ill-prepared for the Japanese offensive in 1941. 

And it wasn’t just Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attacked the Philippines where MacArthur was stationed at the same time and crippled the American Navy and Air Force through their bombing campaigns. And the US was thrust into the war and immediately had to play defense. I mean we were woefully outgunned, woefully outmaneuvered and woefully ill-prepared for war. We were a mess. So at first we had to just play defense. 

And one of the reasons that FDR wanted MacArthur to lead the campaign against the Japanese in the Pacific was because he knew that MacArthur hated playing defense. He was always looking to play offense. He was always looking for an opportunity to attack. And even when the US was still stinging from the attacks of the Japanese, MacArthur was early on angling to counterstrike. And the reason was because MacArthur was about as wide-eyed as an optimist that ever existed in the US military. He was an eternal optimist. And also, he knew the power of morale. He knew that troops eventually get discouraged playing defense. And so, he wanted to give them a victory.

Here’s where I see a parallel in the Christian life right now. There are a lot of things in our world right now that are rightfully discouraging to us as Christians. The moral revolutions that are taking place right now are moving at lightning speed. It’s just amazing to me how fast we’re falling off the ethical cliff in our country. 

And I think many of us are back on our heels thinking, what in the world is happening to our country? And I think the temptation for us as Christians is to become defeatist and pessimistic and discouraged and our confidence in God starts to flounder. And we start thinking, “Woe is me, I’ll never conquer this sin.” Or we start worrying about our kids, “They’ll never survive in this world.” Or we start sinking into despair thinking about the good ‘ole days when it wasn’t so challenging to be a Christian.

But here’s the thing. I want to capture the spirit of Douglas MacArthur for us. God is still on his throne. Amen? And Jesus Christ is still our LORD and Savior, and he has given us victory over this world. And instead of moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves about how bad our world is becoming, instead God would have us grow in confidence in him. Grow in confidence in prayer. Grow in confidence concerning his protection. Grow in confidence that God will give us the understanding we need to be more than conquerors in this world that is subjugated to the power of the evil one.

Listen God has given us the truth. God has given us his Son. God has given us his Holy Spirit. God has given us eternal life. God has given us each other. God has given us the power of prayer. God has given us so much more than we deserve. And I don’t want to think defensively about what we can protect that belongs to us. I want us to think offensively about ways that we can grow in faith and build God’s kingdom and preach the gospel and take back ground that Satan has captured in our lives. 

God has not called us to be sheepish and cowardly victims of this world. We are not victims. We are conquerors. We are overcomers. So, let’s pray to that end and ask God to give us victory in this world and grow our faith in this world that is spiraling out of control but desperately needs to hear the message that has changed our lives.

Taught by Tony Caffey

Senior Pastor of Verse By Verse Fellowship

1 John