John

1 John 5:16-19 | The Sin Unto Death

by Ben Zornes · May 15, 2023

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not unto death. 18 We know that whosoever is born of God does not continue in sin; but He that is the Begotten of God guards him, and the wicked one touches him not. 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness.
1 John 5:16-19

Think of the sense of joy you experienced when all the documents are signed and the realtor hands you the keys to your first home. That’s a pale shadow to the joy which should come from the knowledge which John has been imparting: if you have Jesus, as proclaimed by John & the other Apostles, you have life. The warnings which follow aren’t intended to spoil the joy of the central message of this book. This passage about the “sin unto death” has become the source of great confusion in the souls of certain saints. Some tender souls convince themselves they’ve committed this sin, and wonder if all hope of salvation is lost for them. But to think that way is to miss the whole point of this letter. John just reiterated his purpose statement in verse 13: he wrote so that you would know you have life eternal.

Notice as well, that John has just exhorted believers to pray with a certainty that your “prayer is always heard, and never unanswered.”^⁠1 This passage is a continuation of that thought. He continues by using (one last time) his familiar “if/then” argument, which he’s repeatedly used throughout his letter. If you see a brother caught in sin, pray, and trust that God will answer that prayer for restoring the wayward brother. Until repentance is out of reach, do not fail to pray for restoration. This reality is brought out in greater clarity in verse 18, reminding us that those born of God leave off their habitual pattern of sin. Those born again will not persist in unrepentant sin, so pray boldly for their restoration.

The “sin unto death” shouldn’t be a cause of trepidation, as if you’ll accidentally commit it while pruning your rose bushes one spring morning. Rather, remember that John tells us to pray for the brother who has fallen into sin, trusting for God to restore him; if you can see that there is hope of restoration pray for him. If there is no hope of reformation, don’t pray for him. I take this to mean a few things. First, we ought not to pray for the departed who we suspect were not believers. No purgatory, sorry Rome.

Secondly, remember that the presenting problem which John is addressing is the rampant message of the Rival Christs; their formal renunciation of Jesus Christ should be received with the church’s “amen, so be it.” As Calvin remarks on this tricky verse, “we ought not contend with the just judgement of God, or seek to be more merciful than He is.”^⁠2 If someone begins to hold to a false Christ, and will not recant, this should be met with a sorrowful but certain “so be it” from the church. Cerinthus, Arius, the modern progressive views of Jesus, and other false teachers have made their Christological bed, and should be made to sleep in it. This isn’t describing the Coal Miner, who reads his bible at 4am each morning, prays for his wayward cousins, but misunderstands the finer points of the hypostatic union.

Just because you sinned, even grievously, does not mean that you’ve “sinned unto death.” This is the point of verse 17, all our unrighteousness is sin. This is why we must be born of God. The twice-born see their sin, grieve their sin, and confess it (Cf. 1 Jn. 1:9). This is the case because the “Begotten of God” guards you, and the wicked one can’t touch you. I take the phrase “begotten of God” here as a reference to Christ, and not to the believer. The Father keeps you, because He has answered Christ’s prayer that you would be kept (Jn. 17:11-12).

The “touching” here (v.18) has allusions of the Levitical duty to refrain from touching unclean things. But in this sense, while the saint must refrain from touching the unclean thing, the orientation has been reversed. The OT mindset was to keep at bay the death & uncleanness of the world. But in Christ, the world is made clean, and the devil scrambles to try to find some foothold, and just keeps losing ground. United to God and guarded by His Spirit, we despoil the wicked one, and his efforts to defile us are like a sailboat without a sail. If you are born of God, the Begotten Son of God keeps you, and preserves you––despite your sin––because you are of God.

And although the whole world lies in wickedness, the devil’s war machines are rendered useless (1 Jn. 3:8b). If you believe that Jesus is the Christ of God, you can proceed through the whole earth unafraid, for you are kept. Let the nations rage and rebel, the victory is not theirs but Christ’s and His people. Which was how John began this section of his letter (5:4-5). This whole letter is a letter of triumphal assurance which comes through the clear knowledge of Christ as proclaimed in the Gospel, not grave and mysterious doubt which arises from the mystical knowledge of Antichrists.

¹Smith, David. The Expositors Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. Vol. Five. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. Pg. 198.

²Calvin, Jean. Calvins Commentaries. Vol. XXII. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999. Pg. 270.

1 John 5:6-8 | The Threefold Witness

by Ben Zornes · Apr 14, 2023

6 This is He who came by water & blood, even Jesus the Christ, not by water only, but the water & the blood, and the Spirit bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood and these three agree in one.
1 John 5:6-8

This portion of 1 John has been a topic of vigorous textual debate in recent times. With the rise of Textual Criticism in the late 1800s, this and other sections of Scripture were brought under the scholar’s scrutiny to determine which portions of Holy Writ were actually holy. This project, on the whole, was like using a microscope to chart the course of the planets, or using a telescope to examine mitochondria. Too often, this area of study becomes a worm-hole for doubting the entirety of Scripture. It rarely stays confined to a good faith examination of small sections or ironing out minor discrepancies between various manuscripts. In other words, while the Church must labor to preserve the text of Scripture, it must do so within the bounds of evangelical faith.

Often called the Johannine Comma, the portion that has been brought into question is the last half of verse 7, and the first half of verse 8 (in brackets): 7 For there are three that bear record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.] 8 [And there are three that bear witness in earth], the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agree in one.

As is evident, these lines clearly carry weighty trinitarian doctrine. Plainly, this passage is of no small doctrinal import. This is kinda the whole enchilada. Of course, we can defend the doctrine of the Trinity from other texts, but this is the most definitive prooftext of that doctrine. So, is it any wonder that it was attacked in ancient times, and that attack has been renewed in our own time?

Without going into a lengthy defense of the authenticity of this passage, it’s worthwhile to provide a few reasons that we should stand stalwart for the inclusion of the Comma. The first argument is quite simple, the grammar of the Greek text doesn’t make much sense if you remove the Comma.^⁠1 It also produces an exegetical black hole in verse 9 (the reference to the witness of men & the witness of God becomes a point of confusion).

But another argument can be made that spurious heretics were endeavoring to censor this and other inconvenient texts. Along these lines, one early Christian, Socrates Scholasticus (A.D. c. 380-450), noted that in 1 John 4:2-3 some manuscripts at his time bore evidence of what we nowadays call “tomfoolery”.^⁠2 Whereas the Latin Vulgate read: et omnis spiritus qui solvit Iesum ex Deo non (Every spirit that separates/dissolves Jesus, is not of God); some malicious heretics had apparently been changing the text in such a way which in fact separated the human & divine nature of Jesus Christ. It is not incidental that this was one of the very doctrines of Cerinthus which John was battling. In other words, John’s epistle is clear throughout on Christology, and, more to our point, here in 1 John 5:7-8, he’s clear on the Trinity.

These were the debates of the early church, and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some funny business could have been going on with copyists, scribes, and translators. Along a similar line, Jerome levels an accusation in his prologue to these epistles that “unfaithful translators contrary to the truth of faith” had introduced error which threatened the doctrine of “the unity of the trinity […] in the first letter of John.”^⁠3

But another reason for standing for the authenticity of the Comma is an argument from logic. When it comes to textual variants such as we’re discussing, omission is a far more likely reason than addition is. If you’re a scribe, carefully copying a text to a new manuscript, and you get up to make yourself a cup of coffee, you’re far more likely to accidentally skip a line than to imagine up and write down an entirely new line. Unless the coffee has been laced with hallucinogens, but that’s neither here nor there.

Nevertheless, many of the MSS which we have which omit the Comma were produced in an area that had been a hotbed for the Arian heresy. So it’s not unlikely that some copyists may been grinding their heretical axes. Once they established the omission, later copyists would have unknowingly perpetuated the omission.

Finally, one scholar asks a very insightful question, “If the Comma was a spurious addition to the text, why didn’t the Arian opponents of the Carthaginian council jump all over the council’s use of a verse that was known to be spuriously or recently added?”^⁠4 Taking all this together, there is good, sound reasoning to take this phrase as authentic Scripture, and it should be clear that the omission of it in some manuscripts shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

Now, to the real substance of this text. John has just asserted that if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God. This section answers the likely objection, “Oh, yeah, says who?” The ground of your salvation is in the divine witness of the Triune God. The Three-in-One bears a united witness that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ are indeed born again.

John states that Jesus came by water & blood. There are two reasons this statement is made. The first is that it is a typological fulfillment, and the second is that this typological fulfillment refutes the Rival-Christ which Cerinthus was teaching. The priests of the OT were to wash in water before carrying out the sacrifices of blood. The assurance of cleansing and atonement in the Levitical system was only through water & blood. Christ’s death on the cross, which John alone of the Evangelists notes, brought forth a healing stream of blood & water (Jn. 19:34). But the other reason John makes this statement has to do with toppling the false Christ of Cerinthus. The false teacher said that the divinity of Christ came upon the man Jesus at his baptism and left him at the cross. John is asserting that Christ’s full life and death were necessary for your assurance of salvation.

So John comforts us with the testimony which the Spirit of truth speaks to those who would cast themselves wholly upon the mercy of Christ Jesus for their salvation. In heaven above, a three-in-one witness testifies that those who have believed that Jesus is the Christ are born of God; while on earth beneath, the Spirit along with the water & blood (encompassing all of Christ’s mediatorial work on our behalf) are added in witness.

The Father, Son, and Spirit bear witness to this truth. The Spirit dwelling within, along with the tokens of Jesus’ earthly ministry are sufficient witnesses to assuage any fear that you are not welcomed into the fellowship of the triune God. Indeed, by two or three witnesses shall every word be established (Mt. 18:16). When it comes to your salvation in Christ, the triune God above, the indwelling Spirit, and the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ all tell you the same thing: “If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God.”

To put it short and sweet, you can rest at ease, for you belong to Christ. Christ has won you. Christ has saved you. The triune God says, “Come.” And the Spirit of Christ, who dwells within you says, “Amen (Cf. Rev. 22:17).” And so, the summons to you is this: “Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.”

¹John Calvin takes the view that the Comma is the true reading. (Cf. Calvin, Jean. Calvins Commentaries. Vol. XXII. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999. Pg. 257.)

²Church history (book VII). CHURCH FATHERS: Church History, Book VII (Socrates Scholasticus). (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/26017.htm

³“Prologue Canonical Epistles.” Accessed April 12, 2023. https://faithsaves.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Prologue-Canonical-Epistles.pdf.

⁴“A Defense of the Johannine Comma.” Accessed April 12, 2023. http://www.verhoevenmarc.be/PDF/Comma-Johanneum-Defence.pdf.

Law-Breakers Either Way

by Ben Zornes · Feb 6, 2023

Let me bundle a few Scriptures together. John tells us that “sin is lawlessness (1 Jn. 3:4).” In James we read, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (Jas 2:10).” And finally, Paul describes the Gentiles’ relationship to the law in this way, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Rom 2:14-15).”

Sin is law-breaking. Whether it be the Law that was revealed with thunderous glory on Sinai, or the Gentiles’ attempt to logically organize morality according to their own conscience, either way mankind stands condemned. If we measure ourselves against the revealed Law of God’s Word, we’re embarrassingly guilty. But even for those who reject God’s Word to concoct their own system of morality, soon find ways to break their own laws and prove themselves hypocrites, by their own standard.

Look at your past week. Take either measuring stick of law; the Ten Commandments or just your own subjective standards of good & evil. Did you covet? Did you steal from your employer by fudging on the time card? Did you know the good thing you ought to do, and did the wrong thing anyway? Did you do the thing you’ve told others was wrong but indulged in it yourself? You, my friend, are a lawbreaker.

And so, this is why you must come to Christ. He was the only law-keeper. And He kept it in your stead. And His keeping of the Law, is your keeping of the law when you trust in Him by faith.

1 John 3:13-18 | The World Hates You

by Ben Zornes · Sep 14, 2022

13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not the brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murder has eternal life abiding in him
16 In this we perceive the Love (of God), because He for us laid down His life, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso has this world’s good, and sees his brother have need, and closes up his bowels from him, how dwells the love of God in him?
18 My children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth.
1 John 3:13-18

It can’t be pointed out frequently enough that Jesus told his disciples that their hallmark should be their love for each other. Yet modern Christians have tweaked this and offered up the strange fire of a maxim of their own liking, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, by your niceness.” This had led to an impotent love both for our brethren and for our enemies. John tells his brethren^⁠1 not to be shocked when the world, like their father the devil, hates them with murderous hatred.

But as one expositor points out, “The test is not its [the world’s] hatred but our love.^⁠2” In other words, the world might hate you, not because you’re a righteous man, but because you’re an insufferable pill. The proof of resurrecting grace in the righteous is in their love for the brethren. It shouldn’t escape our notice that love for fellow saints is once more John’s emphasis.

This isn’t a generic, aimless love. This love is tied to covenant obligation. You are joined to your brother in Christ by the “life from the dead” grace which you both share. To neglect that duty of love to the brethren is to deny the grace which won you. John isn’t addressing here how we are to love our enemies, but of course we should show that Christ-like virtue. Rather he is warning the saints that they can’t act like Cain and claim to be like Abel. They must love their fellow saints.

The world only knows the Cainite cycle of hatred which escalates to murder. This is the case because they abide in death. Hatred for your brother indicates that your lineage is satanic (Cf. 3:7-12), and you do not have eternal life abiding in you (v15). But if you have beheld the Love of God (in Christ), you will lay down your life for the brethren, just like Christ did (Jn. 15:13). Thus, someone who will not live sacrificially towards his fellow saints indicates that he hasn’t seen Christ by true faith.

John then makes this abundantly practical. If you have earthly wealth, and see your fellow saint in need and you close up your bowels (a striking phrase if ever there was one), how can you claim that God’s love dwells in you? A poignant question indeed. He follows it up with a succinct moral command. You ought to love your brother, not with just lip service (I.e. “oh, I’ll pray for you”, ”sending good vibes”, “let me know if there’s anything I can do to help”, etc.), but in actuality. The Greek could be rendered here as “in the midst of deed and truth.” Our love is not this ethereal thing, it should show up in our bank statements.

¹This is the only spot in his epistle where he calls his readers “my brethren” instead of his usual “my children”

²Smith, David. The Expositors Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll. Vol. Five. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. Pg 186

1 John 2:20-23 | Knowing All Things

by Ben Zornes · Feb 3, 2022

20 But you possess an anointing (chrisma) from the Holy One, and you know all things.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the Antichrist that denies the Father and the Son.
23 All who deny the Son, have not the Father; he that confesses the Son, has the Father also.
1 John 2:20-23

Knowing and enjoying fellowship with God is not a matter of good brains and good behavior. Rather, it is the result of fellowship with God. Which is why, after the preceding stern warnings, John returns to assure the saints that they have received the anointing of the Anointed One, and all things necessary for life and godliness are made plain to them by Jesus Christ, His Spirit, and the apostles’ testimony.

John had sternly warned of the Antichrist, and the many antichrists who were afflicting the early church. Remember, Antichrist was not an invader, but a seducer. The Antichrist is not some vague figure, which we can discern through some Indiana Jones quest, putting every third letter of every fifth line of Scripture together in order to get the name of Henry Kissinger. Rather, the Antichrist was made manifest by what he taught.

The Antichrist, then, being a false teacher, it follows that those who adopted these teachings could rightly be called antichrists. It is important to understand that John has a real person in mind: the heretic Cerinthus. This heretic distinguished Jesus the man, from the person of Christ, and taught that Jesus was not conceived by the Holy Ghost, Christ came upon Jesus at His baptism, and left him at the crucifixion. Jesus was merely a man that Christ used. He also taught that salvation was found in strict adherence to the Mosaic Law. This undermined the very claims of Jesus, and what John and the other apostles had proclaims about the Christ and His Gospel.

Thus, while warnings against being seduced are necessary, it shouldn’t rattle the saints, but it should reinforce to them the need to look to their anointing, their charisma, their baptism into Christ so that they would not be led astray. The clever arguments of serpentine deceivers should not excite fear for the believers, rather they should turn to their Savior for reassurance that in Him is true wisdom, true illumination. John Calvin comments with great pastoral comfort on this passage:

“It hence follows that men are not rightly made wise by the acumen of their own minds, but by the illumination of the Spirit; and further, that we are not otherwise made partakers of the Spirit than through Christ, who is the true sanctuary and our only high priest.^⁠1”

This is why John has written to them (v21). Not to dismay them, or to accuse them, but to fortify them in the truth they’d previously received. You spot a counterfeit by being intimately familiar with the authentic thing. Which is why Cerinthus’ teaching (which John summarizes in v.22) is plainly a false gospel.

The additional clause in verse 23 is striking in that it harkens back to the confession in 1:9. Confessing your sins is agreeing with God about what He says about your sin. Here, your confession is saying the same thing about the Son as what the Father has said about His Son. Some dispute has arisen about the authenticity of this last clause, and whether it should be considered as part of the original text. For my part, I take the view that it matches John’s typical style of making the same point negatively and then positively (which we have here in the contrast between “deny” and “confess”). The point stands regardless, one cannot affirm the Father and deny the Son or vice versa. John is laying a strong Trinitarian foundation for the Church.

All this to say, cling to Your union with God the Father, through the Son, by the quickening grace which the Holy Spirit has sealed you with. This should fortify you as you oppose Rival Christs who would seduce you, for you will recognize that their tempting words undermine the basis of your salvation: Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, and He is the propitiation for all your sins whereby through Him alone are you brought into fellowship with the Father.

¹Calvin, Jean. Calvins Commentaries. Vol. XXII. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999. Pg.194.

To the Victor Go the Spoils

by Ben Zornes · Jul 30, 2018

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Introduction

Our culture is infected with oath-breaking, reneged campaign promises, defaulted debts, divorced marriages, & fake news. Promises are only as good as the promiser. The Gospel promise is salvation from sin & eternal life. It insults the idolatrous religion of self-sufficiency. It tears down & defiles the altars of works righteousness. It fills the believer with swagger. And the world despises it. So, should we believe it?

Summary of the Text

Believing that Jesus is the Christ & being born of God are inseparable, you canâ€™t have one without the other. The new birth results in both love for the Father who begot you and love for all those whom the Father begets (v1). Loving Godâ€™s people flows from love to God & obedience to His Word (v2). Loving God means obeying God. This doesnâ€™t make God a dystopian tyrant, because His commandmentâ€”to believe upon His Sonâ€”results in our eternal life & joy (v3, cf. 1 Jn. 1:4). Whoever is born again is assured of their victory over the world, because they trust in Jesusâ€”who has conquered sin, the devil, the world (vs.4-5).

The incarnation & death of the Word has Trinitarian fingerprints: the Father sent His Son, & the Spirit bears witness to the truth of this Gospel (vs. 6-8). God Almighty is witness to the eternal Sonship of Jesus; this doctrine wasnâ€™t cooked up in the lab of manâ€™s cranium (v9). Refusing to trust that Jesus is the Christ makes God out to be a liar, because God has testified that eternal life is given only through His Son. Without Jesus you do not have life (vs.10-12).

John repeats his slogan: all this is written that your faithâ€“â€“and assurance of eternal lifeâ€“â€“may be strengthened (v13). The practical cash-out of this assurance is that we can pray like Calvinists (vs. 14-15). Prayerful intercession for a brother in sin isnâ€™t a hopeless cause; however, a warning is here: rejecting Jesus as the Christ is a sin that most certainly ends in eternal death (v16). Unrighteousness is sin, but Christ is our promise of cleansing (cf. 1 Jn. 1:9), our assurance of eternal life, & our salvation from the wicked one (vs.17-18). The worldâ€™s humanistic doctrine ensures it remains in league with the wicked One & his wickedness. Only through the light of Christ can we behold the truth of our union with the true God, the source of eternal life (vs. 19-20). All other saviors are idols. So John adjures his little children to forsake idolatryâ€™s many forms (v.21).

Water & Blood

John is rebutting the rising heresy of Cerinthus: the eternal Christ merely came upon Jesus at His baptism, and left him at the cross. If Cerinthus was right, the water & blood from Jesusâ€™ side meant the man had died, but his death was pointless & retained no promise of resurrection or eternal life.

The Jews knew that covering for sin & entrance into Godâ€™s presence were only through the ceremonial washings & bloody offerings of Mosesâ€™ Law. John sees in Jesus the fulfillment of the Lawâ€™s ceremonies & offerings. John is the only Gospel writer who recorded how after a soldier pierced Jesusâ€™ side, blood & water came pouring out (Jn. 19:34). John pauses to add this commentary:

He that saw it [John] bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced (Jn.19:35-37).

This episode was a big deal for John. It not only showed that Jesus was a real man who had really died. It also revealed that His death was pregnant with redemptive meaning. The questions which the OT raised were answered by Jesusâ€™ death. He was the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:46). He was the fulfillment of Zechariahâ€™s cryptic prophecy (Zec. 12:10).

The Jews quibbled & puzzled over what in tarnation Zechariah could have meant. Surely he didnâ€™t mean God was pierced by the sins of His people. How could you even pierce God? Johnâ€™s eye-witness account of Jesus being pierced by the spear, cinches up this question. Contrary to Cerinthus, it wasnâ€™t a phantom on the cross. It was a man who was also God. He was the final sacrifice for sins. All who look upon Him find salvation & life. John bore record that you (the reader) might believe; and then bear record yourself.

Living Like a Martyr

We think of a martyr as someone who dies for the faith, but that only describes what happens to a martyr. It doesnâ€™t tell us what a martyr is & does. A witness (martys) declares what it is they have witnessed (martyreÅ)â€“â€“that is their testimony (martyria); a martyr testifies regardless of personal consequences. John is bearing witness to the fact that â€œthe life was manifested (1 Jn. 1:2).â€ But John makes it plain that his testimony is second fiddle to the witness of the triune God. In believing upon Jesus for salvation & eternal life, it is not manâ€™s witness, but the witness of God which we believe (1 Jn. 5:9-10).

John calls Jesus Christ â€œthe faithful witness/martys (Rev. 1:5).â€ Jesus washes us from our sins in his own blood, He makes us kings and priests unto God & his Father (cf. Rev. 1:5-6). Those who trust in Him are joined with Him, made new, & are made witnesses of the miraculous power of His life, death, resurrection, & ascension to all dominion. Christians live like living martyrs. We declare the power of the Gospel. No matter the cost. John is joined by Paul in making this clear: our testimony doesnâ€™t come from us, nor is it about us. â€œYou are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3).â€ Our witness is carved on our heart by the Spirit.

The Victory Lap

The Word was made flesh (Jn. 1:2) that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8). But since we fight a sore loser, weâ€™re told that weâ€™ve â€œalready overcome, in order that [we] may fight more courageously & more strenuously (Calvin).â€

As John concludes this letter of assurance, he takes us on a victory lap of what Jesusâ€”the Word made flesh, the true Christ, Whom the Father sent to be our Savior, Propitiation & eternal Lifeâ€”has done for you. â€œFor whatsoever is born of God overcometh (nikaÅ) the world: and this is the victory (nike) that overcometh (nikaÅ) the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh (nikaÅ) the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God (1 Jn. 5:4-5)?â€

[epq-quote align=”align-left”]Your union with God is not dependent on your ability to solve the problem. Your salvation from sin & hope of obtaining eternal life are found in a man who was God in the Flesh.[/epq-quote]John doesnâ€™t hand us the chalk, fold his arms, & watch to see if we can solve the theological calculus problem on the board. Your union with God is not dependent on your ability to solve the problem. Your salvation from sin & hope of obtaining eternal life are found in a man who was God in the Flesh. Your salvation is in Christ, who was the eternal Word, the life, the propitiation, the life, the Spirit Who indwells you, the Father Who secures you.

What does it mean to be born again or born of God? It means you believe that Jesus is the Christ. How can I be sure? Because God Almightyâ€“â€“Father, Son, Spiritâ€“â€“says so. What about the penalty of my sin? It is covered. What about when I die? You are given eternal life. What if I sin again after believing in Jesus? Look to Jesus, only, ever, always. Are you sure about all this? Johnâ€™s answer, â€œOh, yeah!â€

Book Review: “The Gospel According to John” by Leon Morris

by Ben Zornes · May 27, 2016

The Gospel According to John by Leon Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Morris’ commentary on John’s Gospel was incredibly helpful, insightful and full of poignant, memorable quotes.

He defends the authorship of John, when many scholars contend for a later writing of the Gospel by anonymous authors; Morris shows how these scholars only attempt this because they are trying to organize John’s writing according to our standards and sensibilities.

This volume was very thorough, helpful and it will be often referenced when the Beloved Disciple’s Gospel is studied.

View all my reviews