1 John 5:13-21 … These are the closing words of 1 John, a very significant epistle of the New Testament. It’s worth repeated reading and study. The purpose of the writing is confirmed for us (1 John 5:13): the affirmation and assurance of believers, “so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
The passage also will address three important topics: prayer, the relationship of sin to death, and a call to evangelism. 1 John 5:14 is a great memory verse and gives a fundamental fact of prayer. God will not act outside His perfect will. The most important prayer is one that asks “Thy will be done.” When we’re in His will, we can be super-confident of His response. Discerning His will is what the spiritual journey with Him is all about.
The next topic, in verses 16-17, taken simply, means that sometimes a Christian can sin so severely that God may judge that sin with quick physical death (as in Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5). More likely, other sins don’t lead to immediate physical death and there is opportunity for repentance. Not a pleasant subject, but note the importance of prayer in the process. Physical death of mankind was never part of God’s original creation; it comes about as a result of Satanic influence and sin “that so easily entangles.”
Finally, the closing call to evangelism in verses 19-21 is a recognition that the world is under the influence of Satan and those who believe in and receive Christ as Savior have a great obligation to guard the truth of the Gospel and to make it known to a hurting world.
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