1 John 5:1-15 “1 John 5 - Faith in the Son of God

   “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world?  Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

   6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. 7 So we have these three witnesses—8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. 9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

   11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

  13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

   Jesus is so wonderful!  He has given us His Spirit within us!  He’s so wonderful!  He teaches us all a little bit at a time, as we seek Him, as we ask of Him, and as He feels our heart yearning for Him, for knowledge of Him, for a better understanding of His Word and what He means by it.

   Jesus said  “23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

   24 Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. 25 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”  Mark 4:23-25

   Beware of people who are preaching or teaching what others have written.  Jesus said He was leaving us with His Holy Spirit within us to teach each one of us.  We do need preachers and teachers, but if they’re teaching from other books, how is that helping?  We have to be able to discern if the teacher or preacher is teaching us true Scripture that’s coming out of our bibles, and not out of their mind (or someone else’s).

   Paul said “1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

   He also said to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”  1 Thessalonians 5:21

   Whatever one tells you about the Word of God, Paul said “Prove all things”.  That means to look it up to see if it’s really in your bible, and if your bible has a reference, it helps to read it, and follow the Scripture references to learn more about it.  As Jesus said “29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30

   Did you see there that He said “Let me teach you”?  He teaches us when we read His lessons in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Plus, He also gave us His Holy Spirit, the Comforter!  He said “26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”  John 14:26

   (Those things that He told us are the parables and lessons in the 4 Gospels!)  So we have to read them, so the Holy Ghost will bring them up to remembrance within us!  That is really, really cool.

   1 John 5:20-21 “20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.  21 Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”

   Jesus said “14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others.”  Mark 4:14

   Hey, it’s raining!  Let’s go plant some seeds!