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In 1 John 5 we see Christ as our life and our victory.
First John 5:1 says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God.” We must believe that Jesus is the Christ sent by God to be our Savior before we can obtain the life of God. We do not need to do anything but believe this in order for the Holy Spirit to enter into us, give us God’s life, and cause us to be regenerated, to be born of God. Whoever believes that the man Jesus is the Christ, God incarnate (John 1:1, 14; 20:31), has been begotten of God and has become a child of God (1:12-13). Our being begotten of God is the base of our enjoyment of Christ.
First John 5:4-5 continues, “Everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory which has overcome the world — our faith. And who is he who overcomes the world except him who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” The word everything in verse 4 refers to every person who has been begotten of God. Yet such an expression should refer especially to that part, that is, the spirit of the regenerated person, that has been regenerated with the divine life (John 3:6). The regenerated spirit of the regenerated believer does not practice sin (1 John 3:9) and overcomes the world. The believer’s divine birth with the divine life is the basic factor for such victorious living.
Both in his Gospel and in this Epistle John stressed the divine birth (John 1:13; 3:3, 5; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18), through which the divine life is imparted into the believers in Christ (John 3:15-16, 36; 1 John 5:11-12). This divine birth, which brings in the divine life, is the basic factor of all the mysteries concerning the divine life, such as the fellowship of the divine life (1:3-7), the anointing of the Divine Trinity (2:20-27), the abiding in the Lord (v. 28—3:24), and the divine living that practices the divine truth (1:6), the divine will (2:17), the divine righteousness (v. 29; 3:7), and the divine love (vv. 11, 22-23; 5:1-3) to express the divine Person (4:12). The divine birth with the divine life assures the God-begotten believers, giving them confidence in the ability and virtue of the divine life.
Regeneration takes place definitely and particularly in our spirit. John 3:6 says that that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. This indicates that regeneration takes place in our spirit. Because our spirit has been regenerated, it cannot sin. On the contrary, our spirit can overcome all negative things.
Our spirit has been regenerated with the divine life. This means that the divine life has been imparted, or infused, into our spirit. Regenerated believers have the capability in the divine life to overcome the world, the powerful satanic world system. Regarding overcoming the world, we should not trust in our own ability or effort. Instead, we need to trust our spirit. Our spirit is well able to overcome Satan and the world, the evil system. But in ourselves we cannot overcome the world. When we exercise our spirit, stay in our spirit, and walk by our spirit, we will see that our spirit has the life ability to overcome all negative things. This is why we need to exercise our spirit to have fellowship with the Lord and pray concerning the enjoyment of the Lord. We also need to exercise our spirit to call on the Lord’s name and to pray-read the Word. This exercise stirs up the ability in our spirit to overcome the world.
It is the divine life in our spirit that has the ability to overcome the evil, satanic world. We are surrounded by temptations. What can overcome them? The divine life in our spirit can overcome temptation. We all need to see that our spirit is mingled with the divine life and is the organ that can overcome the world.
Although we have been born of God, according to our experience we still commit sins. After a person has been saved through regeneration, experientially speaking, he still can sin. Even 1 John says that to this day we still have the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life (2:16). Why is it then that chapter 3 says, “Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin” (v. 9)?
The only thing in the universe that has been begotten of God is our spirit. Our flesh and our soul, including our mind, emotion, and will, were not begotten of God. No one can deny that the spirit in us has been begotten of God. Our flesh as well as our mind can sin, but our regenerated spirit cannot practice sin. In fact, while our flesh is sinning, our regenerated spirit continually admonishes us not to sin. There is only one place in this universe that has been reserved by God and does not have Satan’s footprints on it — our regenerated spirit. Satan cannot cross this boundary to reach us. How we need to take refuge in this high tower!
Our regenerated spirit, as that which has been begotten of God, keeps us from sinning. We can testify that many times we have been kept by this spirit, which has been begotten of God. We all are vile sinners and are capable of committing gross sins, yet our regenerated spirit has kept us. In our spirit we are safe from the evil one. This is our hiding place, our refuge, and our high tower. To this place we flee whenever Satan comes. If we find our temper flaring, we must not struggle to keep it under control. Instead of fighting to keep our self-control, we must withdraw to our spirit. This is our refuge.
The writings of Paul have this same thought, expressed in different terms. Galatians 5:17 says, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” The word Spirit here refers to the Holy Spirit mingled with our human spirit. There is a part of our being, the flesh, which is against another part, our spirit. In verse 16 Paul exhorts us to walk by the Spirit in order that we may not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We must not stay in our flesh but abide in our spirit, the part of our being which is born of God. Romans 8:4 also tells us that we are not to “walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.” Within us we have not only a spirit, which has been born of God, but also the flesh, which was born of the fallen nature. We must choose to walk in the part that has been born of God, does not and cannot sin, overcomes the world, loves what God loves, and keeps us from the evil one.
Now that we have been born of God in our spirit, we must remain in our spirit. We should not try to do anything outside of our spirit. We should not attempt to do anything in our soul-life. We should not try to solve our problems by using our mind, act in our emotions, or rely on our will. The only part within us that counts in God’s eyes is our spirit, which has been born of God. This divine birth brings the divine life and nature into our spirit.
We should keep returning to our spirit. We should not take any action outside of our spirit. We should not even think about loving or hating, about doing good or doing evil. We should make sure only that we are in our spirit. When we need to love someone, we should tell the Lord, “Bring me into my spirit so that I can love this person.” We need to pray continually, “Lord, keep me in my spirit.” If you are a student, when you read textbooks, study assignments, or attend classes, you should stay in your spirit. As long as we abide in our spirit, we overcome the world, we do not sin, and we can do what the Father would do and love what He would love.
In 1 John 5:4b, John says, “This is the victory which has overcome the world — our faith.” This is the faith that brings us into the organic union with the Triune God and that believes that Jesus is the Son of God (v. 5) that we may be begotten of God and have His divine life, by which we are enabled to overcome the Satan-organized-and-usurped world. Faith is the substantiation of the unseen, divine, and spiritual things (Heb. 11:1); this substantiating power overcomes the world.
Actually, our trust should not be in our faith itself. The faith by itself does not overcome the world. Our faith brings us into an organic union, and it is this organic union, not the faith directly, that overcomes the world. We may say that faith is the means for us to be united with the Triune God. By believing in the Lord Jesus, we are brought into an organic union with the Triune God; this union, produced by faith, then overcomes the world.
In 1 John 5:5, John continues, “And who is he who overcomes the world except him who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” Such a believer is one who has been begotten of God and has received the divine life (John 1:12-13; 3:16). The divine life empowers him to overcome the evil world energized by Satan. The Gnostics and the Cerinthians, who were not believers of this kind, remained pitiful victims of the evil satanic system. But our believing that Jesus is the Son of God brings us into an organic union with the Son, who is the embodiment of the Triune God. It is this organic union with the Triune God in the Son that overcomes the world.
First John 5:6 through 8 say, “This is He who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ; not in the water only, but in the water and in the blood; and the Spirit is He who testifies, because the Spirit is the reality. For there are three who testify, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are unto the one thing.” Here we see that Jesus came through water, blood, and the Spirit who is the reality. The reality here refers to the reality of all that Christ as the Son of God is (John 16:12-15).
He, Jesus Christ, came as the Son of God that we might be born of God and have the divine life (10:10; 20:31). It is in His Son that God gives us eternal life (1 John 5:11-13). Jesus, the man of Nazareth, was attested to be the Son of God by the water He went through in His baptism (Matt. 3:16-17; John 1:31), by the blood He shed on the cross (19:31-35; Matt. 27:50-54), and also by the Spirit He gave not by measure (John 1:32-34; 3:34). By these three God has testified that Jesus is His Son given to us (1 John 5:7-10), that in Him we may receive His eternal life by believing into His name (vv. 11-13; John 3:16, 36; 20:31). The water of baptism terminates people of the old creation by burying them; the blood shed on the cross redeems those whom God has chosen from among the old creation; and the Spirit, who is the truth, the reality in life (Rom. 8:2), germinates those whom God has redeemed out of the old creation, by regenerating them with the divine life. Thus they are born of God and become His children (John 3:5, 15; 1:12-13) and live a life that practices the truth (1 John 1:6), the will of God (2:17), the righteousness of God (v. 29), and the love of God (3:10-11) for His expression.
By these three steps of termination, redemption, and germination, Jesus Christ not only has been testified as the Son of God but also has entered into us. Through the water of His baptism, through the blood of His cross, and as the Spirit, Christ has been testified as the Son of God and has come into our spirit. This means that by termination, redemption, and germination, Christ is now within us. We are a terminated, redeemed, and germinated people. We are no longer the old creation; we are the new creation with the new birth and a new life. Because we are the children of God, we have the life ability to overcome the world and all negative things.
First John 5:6-8 says that God testified that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God testified this in three steps: by water, by the blood, and by the Spirit. Christ came through water at His baptism, blood at His crucifixion, and the Spirit who is the reality at His resurrection. The water refers to the baptism of the Lord Jesus. According to the record of the four Gospels, immediately after the Lord came up from the water, the heavens were opened and a voice declared that He is God’s beloved Son. This was God’s testimony that Jesus Christ is His Son, the testimony by water, by baptism. Three and a half years later, the Lord Jesus died on the cross, shedding His blood. The centurion standing near the cross testified, after the Lord died, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39; Matt. 27:54). That was the testimony of God by the blood shed on the cross concerning Jesus Christ being the Son of God. Following this, we have the testimony of the Spirit. In resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit. In Romans 1:4 Christ was designated the Son of God in resurrection according to the Spirit of holiness. Accordingly, the anointing Spirit constantly witnesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Therefore, there are three occasions — His baptism, crucifixion, and resurrection — that testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who is qualified to be our life for our divine birth that we may overcome the world.
Whenever the New Testament uses the title the Son of God, its significance always involves the imparting of the divine life. The Son of God was manifested for the purpose of imparting the divine life (1 John 5:11-13). The Son of God came that we might have life (John 10:10). But He came in a way that puzzled people. He appeared as a Nazarene with no outward honor and with nothing to command respect. Yet Jesus was manifested as the Son of God in an open way by the water of baptism, by the blood He shed on the cross, and by the Spirit. By these three means God introduced His Son to mankind that they might believe and have eternal life.
The baptism of Jesus testifies of the termination of the old creation. We all need to be buried, that is, terminated. God does not want the old creation. Whether we consider ourselves good or bad, precious or worthless, God declares that we all are worthy of nothing but death and burial. The water of baptism testifies of God’s judgment that we and the rest of the old creation need to be terminated.
The blood is for redemption. From the old creation, which needs to be terminated, a part has been predestinated by God unto the divine sonship (Eph. 1:4-5). This part needs to be redeemed to Him. When Jesus died on the cross, His all-inclusive death terminated all the old creation, including the old man and the flesh. At the same time, He shed His blood to redeem those whom God had chosen and predestinated.
The Spirit germinates. We have been terminated on the cross, but we were chosen to be holy and predestinated unto sonship before the foundation of the world. Because God chose and predestinated us, He redeemed us. However, we were lifeless because we were terminated. When the Spirit came, He caused the seed of the divine life, the Son of God, to germinate within us. The Holy Spirit today is the Spirit of life. This life is the germinating seed within us.
In 1 John 5:6, John says that the Spirit testifies because the Spirit is the truth. The Spirit, who is the truth, the reality (John 14:16-17; 15:26), testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, in whom is the eternal life. By thus testifying, He imparts the Son of God into us to be our life (Col. 3:4).
We have been terminated, redeemed, and germinated. This life germ within us should be the source of our life and all our actions, even our breathing. First John focuses on the life germ, not on outward doing. The Lord Jesus has come to us in water, terminating us; in the blood, redeeming us; and in the Spirit, germinating us. Once we see that we have been terminated, that God has chosen and redeemed us, and that He desires to bring to fruitfulness the life He has germinated in us, we will cease from our doing. As He lives, we will live with Him. As He moves, we move with Him. As He works, we work with Him.
In 1 John 5:11-12 we are told that “this is the testimony, that God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” God gave to us His eternal life, and this life is in Christ, the Son of God, and is even Christ Himself.
The testimony of God is not only that Jesus is His Son but also that He gives to us eternal life, which is in His Son. His Son is the means through which He gives us His eternal life, which is His goal for us. Because the life is in the Son (John 1:4) and the Son is the life (11:25; 14:6; Col. 3:4), the Son and the life are one, inseparable. If we have the Son of God, we have eternal life, because eternal life is in the Son. We may say that the Son is a container of eternal life. When we receive the Son by believing in Him, we have eternal life. Hence, he who has the Son has the life, and he who does not have the Son does not have the life.
We may say that eternal life, the divine life, is the “capital” of our Christian life. Actually, this eternal life is the Son, and the Son is the embodiment of the Triune God. By this we see that eternal life is the Triune God. Now the Triune God is moving and working within us as the anointing. This anointing is also the moving of eternal life. Eternal life is not a thing; it is a person who is the embodiment of the Triune God. Now this person is moving within us to anoint us with Himself, that is, with eternal life and with the essence of this life, which is the Triune God. The Triune God is the content, the essence, of eternal life. Therefore, when eternal life anoints us, it anoints us with the Triune God. This gives us the basis and the means to live a life that practices the divine righteousness, practices the divine love, and overcomes the world, death, sin, the devil, and idols.
God’s New Testament economy teaches that eternal life is the embodiment of the Triune God and that this life is anointing us with the essence of the Triune God. Eventually, through continuous anointing, we will become the same in life and nature as the Triune God, in that His essence will become ours, making us the same as He. Then we will live a life full of righteousness and love, a life that spontaneously overcomes the world, death, sin, the devil, and idols. There is no need for us to try to live such a life. As long as we dwell in the fellowship of eternal life according to the anointing, we will spontaneously practice righteousness and love and simultaneously overcome all negative things.
In 1 John 5:13, John says, “I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God.” The written words of the Scriptures are the assurance to the believers, who believe into the name of the Son of God, that they have eternal life. Our believing to receive eternal life is the fact; the words of the holy writings are the assurance concerning this fact — they are the title deed to our eternal salvation. By them we are assured and have the pledge that as long as we believe into the name of the Son of God, we have eternal life.
The word of the Bible is the pledge of eternal life. The Bible is also the title deed of our salvation. This is why the Bible is called a covenant, or testament. We not only have the fact of eternal life; we also have the pledge, the guarantee, the title deed, to prove that we have eternal life. We should praise the Lord that we have salvation and eternal life and also the title deed to prove it!
Verse 18 says, “We know that everyone who is begotten of God does not sin, but he who has been begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him.” According to the context of chapter 5, the word he in this verse refers to our regenerated spirit. This indicates that our spirit has been regenerated and that this regenerated spirit keeps itself from the touch of the evil one.
Sin interrupts the fellowship of the divine life (1:6-10) and may even bring in physical death (5:16-17). In order that we might avoid sinning, the apostle John assures us of the capability of the divine life and stresses our divine birth, which is the basis of the victorious life. The basic fact of our divine birth prevents us, the regenerated ones, from practicing sin (3:9), that is, from living in sin (Rom. 6:2).
In 1 John 5:18 John says that everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin. Then he says that he who is begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him. Regenerated persons can keep themselves from sinning. Their divine birth with the divine life in their spirit is the basic factor of such a safeguard.
This understanding of the pronoun he in verse 18 is supported by John’s word in verse 4: “For everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world.” Strictly speaking, this verse refers to our regenerated spirit. It is this regenerated spirit that keeps us from sinning.
Verse 18 says that the evil one does not touch the one who has been begotten of God and who keeps himself. Here touch means “to grasp, to lay hold of, for doing harm and fulfilling evil purposes.” The Greek word rendered “evil one” is poneros. This word differs from kakos, which refers to an essentially worthless and wicked character, and also differs from sapros, which indicates worthlessness and corruption, degeneracy from original virtue. The Greek word poneros means one who is pernicious, harmfully evil, affecting and influencing others to be evil and vicious. Such an evil one is Satan the devil, in whom the whole world lies (v. 19).
At least one version says, “The evil one cannot touch him.” To say that the evil one cannot touch you is different from saying that the evil one does not touch you. The correct translation is, “The evil one does not touch him.” The thought here is not that the evil one is not able to touch us; the thought is that the evil one does not touch us. Here John is saying that as long as we abide in our regenerated spirit, this spirit will keep us from sinning, and the evil one does not touch us. He knows that if he tries to touch us when we are abiding in our regenerated spirit, he will accomplish nothing. Hence, the thought here is not that the evil one cannot touch us, but that he does not touch us when we are in spirit. We know from experience that when we are in the flesh, forgetting our regenerated spirit, we become prey to the evil one. The evil one will not only touch us — he will devour us. But when we are in our regenerated spirit, he will not waste his time with us.
The thought in verse 18 is that we have been born of God and have the divine life. This divine birth took place in our regenerated spirit, and now the divine life is in our regenerated spirit. Therefore, we should simply stay in our regenerated spirit. Regeneration with the divine birth and the divine life keeps us from sin, failure, and defilement. When we stay in our regenerated spirit, Satan knows that there is no way for him to touch us, and he will not try to touch us. As long as we stay in our regenerated spirit, we are in a refuge, a place of protection and safeguard, and the evil one does not touch us.
Christians often complain about how strong the devil is. But John’s writings tell us that we have been begotten of God and that the devil does not touch us. The devil knows that his efforts will be in vain if he tries to touch one who has been begotten of God and who is keeping himself.
John also tells us that the whole world lies in the evil one (v. 19). The world includes the events, things, and people of the world. In God’s eyes the whole world, including all human beings and societies, are under the hand of Satan. The only exception is our regenerated spirit. We should not think that the unbelievers are under the authority of Satan and that we are not. Our mind may be still under Satan’s authority, but our regenerated spirit is not. Actually, even our reading of the Word and our prayer may be under Satan’s authority because they may come not out of our regenerated spirit but out of our mind, emotion, and preference. Aside from our regenerated spirit, all the other parts of our being may be under the hand of Satan.
Consider the day that the Lord Jesus went to the little house in Bethany, where He fellowshipped with His disciples. While the high priest was offering sacrifices and burning incense in the temple in Jerusalem, God was not there — He was in the house in Bethany. The high priest’s service, the burning of the incense, and the worship in the temple were under the hand of the evil one. For this reason, although the Jews were worshipping God and learning the Scriptures in their synagogues, the Lord Jesus said that those who called themselves Jews are actually “a synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9; 3:9). Although the Jews worshipped God, studied the Scriptures, and served God in their synagogues, God was not there. When the Lord spoke those words, He was in the believers’ spirit, today’s Bethany, where He fellowships with them. This indicates that any worship or service that is without the Lord Spirit is of the devil. This is a solemn matter.
We must ask ourselves whether the Lord is in our prayer, our reading of the Bible, and our bread-breaking meeting. If we are not in the spirit, then the Lord is not in these things, and all these things are still under Satan’s hand. Not only are immoral and worldly entertainments under Satan’s hand, but even our reading of the Word, our prayer, and our attending church meetings can be under Satan’s hand unless they are done in the spirit. This is because the only thing in the universe that does not have Satan in it is our regenerated spirit. Unless we are in our spirit, whatever we do is under Satan’s hand.
Today God is in our spirit; our spirit is God’s Holy of Holies. The three parts of our being — our spirit, our soul, and our body — correspond to the three parts of the tabernacle: the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the outer court. Our spirit is the Holy of Holies, and God’s habitation in the heavens is also the Holy of Holies. These two realms are connected. Only our regenerated spirit as the Holy of Holies is not under the authority of Satan. Besides our regenerated spirit, everything else in the universe has been defiled by Satan.
In the universe God has drawn a boundary around one thing — our spirit. God has set a limit for Satan, forbidding him to transgress this boundary. As long as we remain in our regenerated spirit, we will be kept, and Satan will have no way in us and cannot harm or touch us. Only our regenerated spirit is not under Satan’s hand. Besides this, everything else, including our flesh, our mind, our emotion, and our will, are all under Satan’s hand.
Furthermore, the totality of all the believers’ regenerated spirits is the church. The church is not in a physical building. The church is in our spirit (Eph. 2:22). The church is God’s Holy of Holies because the church is the aggregate of our regenerated spirits in which God dwells. Therefore, when we pray, read the Word, worship God, and serve Him, we must be in our spirit and in the church. Satan cannot touch the church as the aggregate of our spirits. He knows that whenever he touches that church, he suffers a loss.
