Free Bible Commentary
“First John 5:13-15”
Categories: First John“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. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
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As John had done previously in this letter, he states his purpose for writing to his fellow Christians in verse 13. To begin the epistle he informed his troubled brethren, “These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” Some false teachers were spreading a corrupted gospel which was upsetting the faith of some, and effectively stealing away their joy in Christ Jesus. The doubt and confusion on the part of their brethren, in turn, jeopardized the joy of the author and his fellow teachers of truth. John knew no greater joy than for his “children” to be “walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4), so he assured them from the outset that they could know joy in the fullest degree by a life spent in truthful devotion to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (15:11).
In 1 John 2:1-2, he wrote, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Even though no human being is perfect, that does not give us the freedom to sin with impunity. Sin is mankind’s greatest problem, and it has eternal ramifications. But thanks be to the Lord, He dealt decisively with sin and its consequences when He sent Jesus to pay the ultimate price, and be the “propitiation” to quell the wrath that our sin rightfully incurs. God did everything that we could not do, but we must do what is in our power to do. We have to try our best to stop sinning. And when we do sin, we need to turn to Jesus our “Advocate” in godly sorrow and humble repentance.
In verse 13 of today’s reading John said he wrote “to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” There is no good reason to forfeit our joy or doubt our salvation if we believe in “the name” of Jesus. If we “walk in the light” of the Son by “obeying His commandments” (1 John 3:24-25), and confess and turn from our sins when we do commit them, we can know for certain that we are saved. The hope we have in Jesus is not merely wishful thinking but a confident expectation of greater glory when our life of faithfulness is over (Hebrews 6:18-20).
When we reverence “the name of the Son of God” by faithfully serving Him in all truth and obedience, we can have “confidence” (verse 14) in our intimate, familial relationship with the Father. We can approach the throne of grace with boldness “to receive mercy and to find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We can rest assured that God knows us and sees us, and He hears us when we petition Him in prayer. God promises us that “we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (verse 15) when “we ask anything according to His will” (verse 14). That does not mean that God will give us anything that we want, but He will provide everything that we need and all that He knows is good for us through His perfect knowledge and wisdom.
Please read 1 John 5:16-17 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
-Louie Taylor
