Eternal Life, Prayer, and Sin
Read 1 John 4:13
– Who has eternal life?
– What does believing in the name of the Son of God mean?
Read 1 John 5:14-15
In 1 John 5:13-15, John moves from the greater to the lesser. If God has given us eternal life in Christ, then He is also concerned to hear and grant our prayers.
John 14:13-14: [Jesus said to His disciples,] “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
Matthew 7:7: [Jesus said to the crowds,] “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
– What does Jesus say about prayer?
Read Hebrews 4:14-16
– How do we know that our prayers will be answered?
Read 1 John 5:16-18
John encouraged his readers to pray for Christians who sin, but not those who commit the sin that leads to death. We must remember that John is dealing with Gnostics who denied the truth about Jesus. This wasn’t simply speaking a falsehood against Jesus–that’s forgivable. This was persistent teaching that took away what Jesus did to save us. This was the “sin that leads to death.” In other words, the Gnostics didn’t simply disparage the real Jesus, they replaced Him with a Jesus of their own making. This misled people to believe in a false Jesus, undercutting the work of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:30-31: [Jesus said,] “I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
In his Gospel, John wrote that the Holy Spirit would bring to mind to Jesus’ Apostles all that He had said and taught (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit also testifies to Jesus (John 15:26), and guides us to the truth to glorify Jesus (John 16:13-14). In other words, the Holy Spirit delivers Jesus to us.
– What then is the sin against the Holy Spirit?
– Why does that sin lead to death?
Verse 18 can be confusing. So, here is my [pastor’s] own clarified translation:
We know that everyone who has been born from [ek] God does not keep on sinning [present active verb], but the one who has been born from God continues to guard over [present active verb of tereo] himself, and the Evil One does not hold [that is, control] him.
Understanding
Read 1 John 5:19-21
– We are from God, but the world is under the sway of the Evil One. What relationship then should we have with the world?
Colossians 3:5: So put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
– How do we keep away from idols?
