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Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:18-21
Before we consider 5:18-21, I would like to say a further word concerning the life-giving petition in 5:14-17. In 5:14-17 there is the indication not only that we have eternal life and enjoy it, but also that we can minister this life to others. This means that we can give eternal life to others. Regarding this matter, John’s thought is deep. Although the thought here is deep, the matter is very practical in our Christian life. If we enjoy eternal life and experience it, surely we shall be able to channel this life to others. We shall be able to minister eternal life to other members of the Body.
In 5:16 John says that there is sin unto death and that we should not make request concerning it. We have pointed out that under God’s governmental dealing a certain sin may be unto death. But this matter of sin unto death should not distract us from the basic thought in these verses of ministering eternal life to others. This section implies that we can channel eternal life out from within ourselves into others. You should not try to know whether or not someone will be healed or whether or not a particular sin is unto death. Instead, you should simply recognize that the saints around you, as fellow members in the Body, all need eternal life to be channeled out from within you into them.
We need to minister life to others. We can minister life to the saints by praying with them or by having fellowship with them. Sometimes we may minister life to a brother simply by visiting him without saying much to him. Our contact with him ministers life to him. As long as we are present with this brother, life comes out of our being and flows into him. From 5:14-17 we need to see that we have eternal life and that we may experience and enjoy this life and then minister it to others.
In 5:18-21 we have a strong conclusion to the Epistle of 1 John. In this conclusion John once again emphasizes the divine birth (v. 18). As we have pointed out, this book is structured with the divine birth, divine life, divine fellowship, the divine anointing, and all the virtues that come out of the divine birth. I hope that we all shall have a deep impression concerning the divine birth, concerning the fact that we have been begotten of God. We also need to be deeply impressed concerning the divine life, which has been sown as the divine seed into our being; the divine fellowship, for us to enjoy the riches of the divine life; the divine anointing, by which we abide in the Lord and have fellowship with Him; and all the virtues that proceed from the divine birth. Concerning these matters, we should not have mere knowledge; we need to touch the depth of the reality of these things in this Epistle.
In 5:18 John says, “We know that everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, but he who is begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him.” In order to avoid sinning, which not only interrupts the fellowship of the divine life (1:6-10), but also may even bring in physical death (5:16-17), the apostle stresses here again, with the assurance of the capability of the divine life, our divine birth, which is the basis of the victorious life. This basic fact does not allow us, the regenerated ones, to practice sin (3:9), that is, to live in sin (Rom. 6:2).
In 5:18 John tells us something that is closely related to our Christian life. He 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. Here we have a thought that has not previously been introduced — the thought that regenerated persons can keep themselves from sinning.
Some teachers say that “he” in 5:18 refers to Christ, who was begotten of God and keeps the regenerated one, based upon John 17:15. But the phrase “begotten of God” in this clause, as a repetition of that in the preceding clause, should be the logical and determining factor that “he” refers still to the regenerated believer. A regenerated believer (especially his regenerated spirit, which is born of the Spirit of God — John 3:6), keeps himself from living in sin, and the evil one does not touch him, especially his regenerated spirit. His divine birth with the divine life in his spirit is the basic factor of such a safeguard.
This understanding of the pronoun “he” in 5:18 is supported by John’s word in 5:4: “Because 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.
As we have indicated, some translators say that “he” in 5:18 refers to the Lord Jesus and should be rendered “He.” According to this understanding, Christ has been begotten of God, and He keeps us. But as the result of much study and according to our experience, we have come to understand that the pronoun “he” refers to the person who has been begotten of God. This is indicated by the fact that “begotten of God” is used twice in this verse. First, we are told that everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, and then that he who is begotten of God keeps himself. It is not logical to say that in the first case “begotten of God” refers to a regenerated believer and that in the second case this phrase refers to Christ. In 5:18 “he” refers to a regenerated person, a person who has been begotten of God and who thereby keeps himself from sinning. The word “keeps” means to guard by watchful care.
In 5:18 John 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 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,” instead of, “The evil one does not 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 be wasting his time. 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, even a “delicious dish” for him to eat. At such a time, the evil one may say, “Oh, here is something good for me to eat.” The evil one will not only touch us — he will swallow us. But when we are in our regenerated spirit, he will not waste his time with us.
The thought in 5:18 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.
If we consider the entire Epistle, we shall realize that the apostle John is trying to impress us with the fact that we have been born of God. We have had a divine birth, and we possess the divine life. A specific part of our being — our spirit — has been regenerated with the divine life. Now we have a safeguard: our regenerated spirit with the divine life. 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.
In 5:19 John goes on to say, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one.” Literally, the Greek word for “of” here means out of, out from. Since we have been begotten of God, we are out of Him, out from Him, possessing His life and partaking of His nature. By this we are separated unto God from the satanic world which lies in the evil one.
In 5:19 John says that the whole world lies in the evil one. The whole world comprises the satanic world system (2:15) and the people of the world, the fallen human race (4:1). For the whole world to lie in the evil one means that it remains passively in the sphere of the evil one’s influence, under his usurpation and manipulation. While the believers are living and moving actively by the life of God, the whole world is lying passively under the usurping and manipulating hand of Satan, the evil one. This is especially true of the people of the world. Whereas we are out of God, belong to God, and are one with God, the world lies in the evil one and belongs to the Devil. The people in the world do not have their own freedom. Rather, they are under the Devil’s control and manipulation.
We may use surgery as an illustration of how the whole world is lying in the evil one. During surgery a patient lies passively on the operating table, and the surgeon performs the operation. The patient is fully under the surgeon’s control. The whole world today is like this in relation to Satan. Satan is an evil “surgeon,” and the people of the world are the “patients” lying on his “operating table.” Praise the Lord that we are of God and have a relationship in life with Him!
In verse 20 John continues, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we might know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” The word “come” here indicates that the Son of God has come through incarnation to bring God to us as grace and reality (John 1:14) that we may have the divine life, as revealed in John’s Gospel, to partake of God as love and light, as unveiled in this Epistle.
In 5:20 John says that the Son of God has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true, or know the true One. This understanding is the faculty of our mind enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of reality (John 16:12-15) to apprehend the divine reality in our regenerated spirit. In this verse to “know” is the ability of the divine life to know the true God (John 17:3) in our regenerated spirit (Eph. 1:17) through our renewed mind, enlightened by the Spirit of reality.
The understanding spoken of in verse 20 involves our mind, our spirit, and the Spirit of reality. According to our natural being, our spirit is deadened, and our mind is darkened. Hence, in our natural being we do not have the ability to know God. How can someone with a deadened spirit and a darkened mind know the invisible God? This is impossible.
The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has come and has given us an understanding that we might know the genuine and real God. He has come to us by the steps of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. He accomplished redemption for us, and when we repented and believed in Him, we received Him. Now that we have believed in Him and received Him, our sins have been forgiven, our darkened mind has been enlightened, and our deadened spirit has been enlivened. Furthermore, the Spirit of reality, who is the Spirit of revelation, has come into our being. This means that the Spirit of reality has been added to our quickened spirit and has shined into our mind to enlighten it. Now we have an enlightened mind and a quickened spirit with the Spirit of reality, who reveals spiritual reality to us. As a result, surely we have an understanding and are able to know the true One. Before we were saved, we did not have this understanding. But the Son of God has come to us and has given us this understanding so that we may know God.
In John 17:2 and 3 we see that eternal life has the ability to know God: “Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.” Eternal life is divine life with a special function — to know God. In order to know God, the divine Person, we need the divine life.
Because as believers we have been born of the divine life, we are able to know God. In order to know a certain living thing, you need to have the life of that thing. For example, a dog cannot know human beings, because a dog does not have a human life. It takes human life to know human beings. The principle is the same with knowing God. The Lord has given us eternal life, the divine life, the life of God. The life of God certainly is able to know God. Therefore, the life of God, which has been given to us, has the ability to know God and the things of God.
In 5:20 John speaks of knowing the true One. Here the word “know” actually means experience, enjoy, and possess. Therefore, to know the true One is to experience, enjoy, and possess the true One. In this universe only God Himself is the true One. We need God’s life in order to experience, enjoy, and possess Him.
This Epistle reveals clearly that we have received the divine life, for we have been born of Him. Just as a child can know his father because he has the father’s life, so we can know God because we have God’s life. Having the divine life, we have the ability to know God. Because we have the life of God, we are able to experience God, enjoy God, and possess God.
The Son of God has come through incarnation and through death and resurrection and has given us an understanding, the ability to know the true God. This understanding includes our enlightened mind, our quickened spirit, and the revealing Holy Spirit. Because our mind has been enlightened, our spirit has been enlivened, and the Spirit of reality dwells in us, we have the ability to know God, the ability to experience, enjoy, and possess the true One.
