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Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:18-21
In 5:20 John says, “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 Son of God, who has come to us in incarnation and through death and resurrection, has given us the understanding, the ability, to know the true God. This understanding, this knowing ability, includes our enlightened mind, our enlivened spirit, and the Spirit of reality. Now we have the ability to know God. As we have pointed out, to know God is to experience Him, enjoy Him, and possess Him.
In 5:20 John twice speaks of “Him who is true.” A better translation would be “the true One.” To speak of God simply as God may be to speak in a rather objective way. However, the term “the true One” is subjective; it refers to God becoming subjective to us. In this verse, the God who is objective becomes the true One in our life and experience.
What is the meaning of the expression “the true One”? In particular, what does the word “true” mean? Here the Greek word translated “true” is alethinos, genuine, real (an adjective akin to aletheia, truth, verity, reality — John 1:14; 14:6, 17), opposite of false and counterfeit. Actually, the true One is the reality. The Son of God has given us an understanding so that we may know — that is, experience, enjoy, and possess — this divine reality. Therefore, to know the true One means to know the reality by experiencing, enjoying, and possessing this reality.
First John 5:20 indicates that God has become our reality in our experience. The Son of God has come through incarnation and through death and resurrection and has given us an understanding so that we may experience, enjoy, and possess the reality, which is God Himself. Now the God who once was objective to us has become our subjective reality.
In 5:20 John says that we are in the true One. We not only know the true God; we are also in Him. We not only have the knowledge of Him; we are in an organic union with Him. We are one with Him organically.
When John says that we are in the true One, He is making a crucial point. Not only do we know the true One, and not only do we experience, enjoy, and possess Him as the reality, but we are in this reality. We are in the true One.
In 5:20 John says, “We are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.” To be in the true God is to be in His Son Jesus Christ. Since Jesus Christ as the Son of God is the very embodiment of God (Col. 2:9), to be in Him is to be in the true God. This indicates that Jesus Christ the Son of God is the true God.
Let us consider in more detail John’s word “we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.” Notice that there is a comma after the word “true.” In the original Greek text there is no punctuation at all. Hence, translators differ concerning whether or not a comma should be placed after “true.”
Moreover, there is a question whether the phrase “in His Son Jesus Christ” is in apposition to “in Him who is true,” or is an adverbial phrase. Some interpreters say that this phrase is in apposition; others say that it functions like an adverb. If this phrase is in apposition to “in Him who is true,” the meaning would be that to be in the true One is equal to being in His Son Jesus Christ. If “in His Son Jesus Christ” is an adverb, then this phrase indicates that we are in the true One by being in His Son Jesus Christ.
Grammatically speaking, it may be preferable to say that “in His Son Jesus Christ” is not in apposition to the foregoing phrase, but is a modifier describing how we are in the true One. In this case, the meaning is that we are in the true One because we are in His Son Jesus Christ. In other words, we are in the true One by being in Jesus Christ. The reason we need to consider this matter is that it is vital to our spiritual experience.
After much study, I have come to the conclusion that either way we understand the function of the phrase “in His Son Jesus Christ,” the outcome is the same. Whether this phrase is in apposition to the foregoing phrase or is a modifier, the result is the same. If the latter phrase is in apposition to the former, the meaning is that to be in the true One is equal to being in His Son Jesus Christ. This would also indicate that the true One and Jesus Christ are one in the way of coinherence. Therefore, to be in the Son is spontaneously to be in the true One. If “in His Son Jesus Christ” is a modifier, the meaning is that we are in the true One by being in His Son Jesus Christ. How are we in the true One? We are in Him by being in His Son Jesus Christ.
If we consider this matter carefully, we shall see that in both ways of understanding these phrases, the meaning is actually the same. Whether we say that to be in the true One is to be in His Son Jesus Christ, or we are in the true One by virtue of being in Jesus Christ, the outcome is the same.
Let us now go on to consider the last part of verse 20: “This is the true God and eternal life.” “This” refers to the God who has come through incarnation and has given us the ability to know Him as the genuine God and be one with Him organically in His Son Jesus Christ. All this is the genuine and real God and eternal life to us. This genuine and real God is eternal life to us so that we may partake of Him as everything for our regenerated being.
We need to pay special attention to the word “this.” In 5:20 John does not say “He is”; he says “This is.” This is the correct translation of the Greek. Furthermore, John uses the word “this” to refer both to the true God and to eternal life. By this we see that the true God and eternal life are one.
We have seen that we are in the true One and in His Son Jesus Christ. Doctrinally, the true One and His Son Jesus Christ may be considered two. But when we are in the true One and in Jesus Christ experientially, They are one. For this reason John uses “this” to refer both to the true One and to His Son Jesus Christ.
For someone who is not in the true One and Jesus Christ, They are two. But when we are in Them experientially, They are one. We have seen that to be in the true One is to be in His Son Jesus Christ. This means that in our experience of being in Them, They are one.
Moreover, when we are in the true One and Jesus Christ, They are our true God and also our eternal life. First, John speaks of the true One and His Son Jesus Christ, and then he speaks of the true God. Here there may be some distinction between the true One and the true God. When we are in the true One and His Son Jesus Christ, the true One is called the true God, and His Son Jesus Christ is called eternal life. This means that first They are the true One and His Son Jesus Christ. But when we are in Them, They become the true God and eternal life.
We need a clear understanding of what “this” in 5:20 refers to. The word “this” refers to the very God who has become experiential to us through our being in Him. No longer are we outside of this God. Rather, we are in this God, and we are in the true One, in His Son Jesus Christ. Because we are in Them, God and Jesus Christ are no longer objective to us, and in our experience They are no longer two. When we are in Them, They become one to us. Therefore, John says that “this” is the true God, and “this” is eternal life. Who is “this”? “This” is the very God and the very Jesus Christ in whom we are. We may also say that “this” includes the condition of our being in God and Jesus Christ. Hence, the true God and eternal life include our being in the true One and His Son Jesus Christ.
We are in the true One and in Jesus Christ. Now in our experience this true One becomes the true God, and Jesus Christ becomes eternal life. Where are we now? Are we outside the true God and outside eternal life? No, we are in the true God and in eternal life. The word “this” includes this fact of our being in the true God and eternal life. Hallelujah, this is the true God and eternal life, and we are in this God and in this life! We know that we are in the true God and in eternal life because we are in the true One and in His Son Jesus Christ.
Verse 20 says that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding so that we may know the true One, and we are in the true One, which means that we are in His Son Jesus Christ. When we are in the true One and Jesus Christ, this, including the fact that we are in Them, is the true God.
If we are not in God, we cannot say from experience that to us He is true. Of course, He would still be true in Himself, but we could not testify that in us He is true. But since we are in the true One, to us He is the true God. Furthermore, Christ is eternal life to us. If we were not in Him, Christ would still be eternal life in Himself, but He would not be eternal life to us. Because we are now in Him, to us Jesus Christ is eternal life.
Verse 20 indicates strongly that we are now experiencing the true God, and we are experiencing Him by being in Him. We experience, enjoy, and possess Him by being in Him. This, to us, is the true God and eternal life.
In verse 20 we have the crucial conclusion of the entire Epistle of 1 John. This Epistle reveals that now we are truly one with the Triune God, and He becomes true, real, to us. He becomes reality and life to us because we are in Him.
In verse 21 John goes on to conclude “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” The word “guard” means to garrison ourselves against attacks from without, like the assaults of the heresies. “Idols” refers to the heretical substitutes, brought in by the Gnostics and Cerinthians, for the true God, as revealed in this Epistle and in John’s Gospel and referred to in the preceding verse. Idols here also refer to anything that replaces the real God. We as genuine children of the genuine God should be on the alert to guard ourselves from these heretical substitutes and all vain replacements of our genuine and real God, with whom we are organically one and who is eternal life to us. This is the aged apostle’s word of warning to all his little children as a conclusion of his Epistle.
According to John’s understanding, an idol is anything that replaces, is a substitute for, the subjective God, the God whom we have experienced and whom we are still experiencing. Through this enlightenment, we are able to understand 5:18-21 in a very experiential way.
Before we were saved, we were outside of God. God was true in Himself, but we could not say in our experience that He was true to us. But after we believed in the Lord Jesus, we entered into God. Therefore, 5:20 says not only that we know the true One, but also that we are in the true One. We have seen that to be in the true One means that we are in His Son Jesus Christ. Because we are in God, He now experientially becomes true to us. Likewise, because we are in Jesus Christ, He becomes experientially true to us. Due to our experience of God and Christ by being in God and in Christ, we can say that this is the true God and eternal life.
The word “this” in 5:20 implies that God, Jesus Christ, and eternal life are one. In doctrine, there may be a distinction between God, Christ, and eternal life, but in our experience they are one. When we are in God and in Jesus Christ and when we experience eternal life, we find that all these are one. Therefore, John concludes verse 20 by saying, “This is the true God and eternal life.” This sentence is not merely the conclusion of verse 20; it is actually the conclusion of the entire book. What this Epistle reveals is the true God and eternal life.
John’s last word, in 5:21, is the charge to guard ourselves from idols. Anything that is a substitute or replacement for the true God and eternal life is an idol. We need to live, walk, and have our being in this God and in this life. If we do not live in the true God and eternal life, then we shall have a substitute for the true God, and this substitute will be an idol.
The center of the revelation in this Epistle is the divine fellowship of the divine life, the fellowship between the children of God and their Father God, who is not only the source of the divine life, but also light and love as the source of the enjoyment of the divine life (1 John 1:1-7). To enjoy the divine life we need to abide in its fellowship according to the divine anointing (1 John 2:12-28; 3:24), based upon the divine birth with the divine seed for its development (1 John 2:29; 3:1-10). This divine birth was carried out by three means: the terminating water, the redeeming blood, and the germinating Spirit (1 John 5:1-13). By these we have been born of God to be His children, possessing His divine life and partaking of His divine nature (1 John 2:29; 3:1). He is now indwelling us through His Spirit (1 John 3:24; 4:4, 13) to be our life and life supply that we may grow with His divine element unto His likeness at His manifestation (1 John 3:1-2).
To abide in the divine fellowship of the divine life, that is, to abide in the Lord (1 John 2:6; 3:6), is to enjoy all His divine riches. By such abiding, we walk in the divine light (1 John 1:5-7) and practice the truth, righteousness, love, the will of God, and His commandments (1 John 1:6; 5, 2:17, 2:29; 3:10-11; 5:2) by the divine life received through the divine birth (1 John 2:29; 4:7).
To preserve this abiding in the divine fellowship, three main negative things need to be dealt with. The first is sin, which is lawlessness and unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-10; 2:1-6; 3:4-10; 5:16-18). The second is the world, which is composed of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of this life (1 John 2:15-17; 4:3-5; 5:4-5, 19). The last is idols, which are the heretical substitutes for the genuine God and the vain replacements of the real God (1 John 5:21). These three categories of exceedingly evil things are weapons used by the evil one, the Devil, to frustrate, harm, and, if possible, even annihilate our abiding in the divine fellowship. The safeguard against his evil doing is our divine birth with the divine life (1 John 5:18), and, based upon the fact that the Son of God has through His death on the cross destroyed the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8), we overcome him by the word of God that abides in us (1 John 2:14). In virtue of our divine birth, we also overcome his evil world by our faith in the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5). Moreover, our divine birth with the divine seed sown into our inner being enables us not to live habitually in sin (1 John 3:9; 5:18), because Christ has taken away sins through His death in the flesh (1 John 3:5). In case we sin occasionally, we have our Paraclete as our propitiation to care for our case before our Father God (1 John 2:1-2), and the Son’s everlasting efficacious blood cleanses us (1 John 1:7). Such a revelation is the basic and substantial element of the apostle’s mending ministry.
