1 John – Testing to Know – Part 12 – Summary

Summary Statements

At the beginning of this series, I made mention of the purpose John had in giving these tests for believers. Was it to confirm fellowship or to confirm identity (i.e. whether you are a believer or not).

Let’s read the following passage afresh and consider the message John is giving us.

1 John 5:10
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

1 John 5:11
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

1 John 5:12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:13
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.

1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

John, in his summary statement, seems to make it clear.

Lets follow his logic…

God has supplied a message – a testimony.
This message is that He gave believers eternal life.
This life is in His Son.
Have life as defined in the epistle? You have the Son.
Don’t have the Son, as evidenced by the tests supplied? John says you do not have life.

It all hinges on the relationship, if any, with the Son.

His is the only One who has the life of God resident in Him. We do not have the life resident in us, other than through Him.

Then John supplies the summary statement

1 John 5:13
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.

1 John 5 12 But John, you just taught of who had life and who didn’t and now you are addressing believers?

Is this simply a reminder of where believers come from, i.e. that at one time we did not have the Son and therefore had no life?

Is John providing tests in order that some believers may experientially know of their relationship before God? Does this imply that some believers do not have that experience?

Or is John’s purpose a call to faithfulness in passing the tests?

Does the message of John challenge you to greater love and faithfulness, or does it simply define the life you are living currently?

Let me know of how you understand this book, reasons for thinking the way you do and how this entices you to follow Him. Let me know if our journey together in the book of 1 John has challenged you in a specific area.

Although this series of posts is complete, I intend to chase down a word study in the book of 1 John, looking at the term “know”. If this is of interest to you, please come join me in looking at 1 John – Knowledge to Know

I hope you found a truth that was helpful in your life within this post. Drop me a line, or send this post to a friend that you thought of recently.