1 John 5

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:6-8

John goes on to speak of the triple witness. There is the witness of the Spirit. In this John is thinking of three things. (i) The New Testament story is clear that at his baptism the Spirit descended upon Jesus in the most special way ( Mark 1:9-11 ; Matthew 3:16-17 ; Luke 3:21-22 ; Acts 10:38 ; John 1:32-34 ). (ii) The New Testament is also clear that, while John came to baptize with water, Jesus came to baptize with the Spirit ( Mark 1:8 ; Matthew 3:11 ; Luke 3:16 ; Acts... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:9-10

5:9-10 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne testimony about his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has that testimony within himself. He who does not believe God has made God a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God bore to his Son. Behind this passage there are two basic ideas. There is the Old Testament idea of what constitutes an adequate witness. The law was quite clear: "A... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:11-13

5:11-13 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life and that that life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son has not life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. With this paragraph the letter proper comes to an end. What follows is in the nature of a postscript. The end is a statement that the essence of the Christian life is eternal life. The word for eternal is... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:14-15

5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have towards him, that, if we ask anything which is in accordance with his will, he hears us; and, if we know that he hears anything that we ask, we know that we possess the requests that we have made from him. Here are set down both the basis and the principle of prayer. (i) The basis of prayer is the simple fact that God listens to our prayers. The word which John uses for confidence is interesting. It is parrhesia ( Greek #3954 ).... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:16-17

5:16-17 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which is not a sin whose end is death, he will ask life for him and he will give it to him, that is, to those whose sin is not a sin whose end is death. There is a sin whose end is death. It is not about that that I mean he should ask. All wrongdoing is sin; but there is a sin whose end is not death. There is no doubt that this is a most difficult and disturbing passage. Before we approach its problems, let us look at its certainties. John... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:16-17

This passage speaks of the sin whose end is death and the sin whose end is not death. The Revised Standard Version translates "mortal" sin. There have been many suggestions in regard to this. The Jews distinguished two kinds of sins. There were the sins which a man committed unwittingly or, at least, not deliberately. These were sins which a man might commit in ignorance, or when he was swept away by some over-mastering impulse, or in some moment of strong emotion when his passions were... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:16-17

First of all, let us try to fix more closely the meaning of the mortal sin. In the Greek it is the sin pros ( Greek #4314 ) thanaton ( Greek #2288 ). That means the sin which is going towards death, the sin whose end is death, the sin which, if continued in, must finish in death. The terrible thing about it is not so much what it is in itself, as where it will end, if a man persists in it. It is a fact of experience that there are two kinds of sinners. On the one hand, there is the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:18-20

5:18-20 We know that he who has received his birth from God does not sin, but he whose birth was from God keeps him, and the Evil One does not touch him. We know that it is from God that we draw our being, and the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One. We know that the Son of God has come, and that he has given us discernment to come to know the Real One; and we are in the Real One, even through his Son Jesus Christ. This is the real God and this is eternal life. ... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 John 5:21

5:21 My dear children, guard yourselves from idols. With this sudden, sharp injunction John brings his letter to an end. Short as it is, there is a world of meaning in this phrase. (i) In Greek the word idol has in it the sense of unreality. Plato used it for the illusions of this world as opposed to the unchangeable realities of eternity. When the prophets spoke of the idols of the heathen, they meant that they were counterfeit gods, as opposed to the one true God. This may well mean,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 John 5

INTRODUCTION TO 1 JOHN 5 In this chapter the apostle treats of the nature of faith and love; of Christ the object of both, and of the witness that is bore to him; of the necessity of believing the testimony concerning him; of the confidence of prayer being heard, and concerning whom it should be made; of the happiness of regenerate persons, and of their duty to keep themselves from idols. Faith in Christ is the evidence of regeneration, and where that is, there will be love to the author... read more

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