God's Testimony (1 John 5:11-12) - Alpine Bible (2024)
1 John 5:11-12 (NASB) And the testimony is this, that God has given 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.
Our next series of verses are about assurance or inner peace and security. These are two of the best verses in the Bible about assurance of salvation. If you know these verses, you’ll never doubt being saved. This is the testimony. This is what God Himself has declared as truth. This is the record. These are the facts. The first part of God’s testimony is that eternal life is a gift from Him. It is not something earned.
It’s not just a generic promise that He has given eternal life. Life is the opposite of perishing. It is deliverance from condemnation and death. It is the stopping or cessation of decay, and corruption.
He has given us eternal life. While the whole Bible teaches that God is eternal and He bestows everlasting life on His children, it’s John who is the apostle of eternal life. He used the phrase twenty-three times in His writing. John is reminding his readers that they possess eternal life, freely given them by God. He is not calling upon them to receive that life. Rather, he is reminding believers that they have already received it. He is also reminding them of that life’s source—God.
And this life is in His Son. Jesus not only gives us life; He is the Source and Creator of life. And yet—paradox of the ages—He died to conquer death, and because He lives, we live also.
In verse 12, we can see that our eternal future depends on whether we have Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and that message should prick your heart like a needle. If you haven’t already put your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord this verse should move you to accept Jesus as your Lord.
The second part of God’s testimony is that eternal life is found in His Son. This takes us back to the prologue wherein eternal life is found to be a person, Jesus, and not a possession. This supports Jesus’ own words wherein He identified Himself as “the resurrection and the life” to Martha (John 11:25) and “the way, the truth, and the life” to His disciples (John 14:6). Additionally, though possessing eternal life is an automatic result of regeneration, experiencing eternal life is contingent on one’s relationship with Jesus, who is eternal life itself. God’s testimony that life is in His Son speaks to two aspects of eternal life. No lost person can receive it apart from believing in His Son. No saved person can enjoy it apart from believing in His Son.
Memory Tip
(1) 1 John 5:11-12 about assurance of salvation;
(2) and 1 John 5:14-15 about assurance of answered prayer. Why not memorize verse 13, too, I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13) and you’ll have an entire paragraph of assurance packed away forever in your mind.
This passage affirms that eternal life is something that God has given to us. It is a gift he freely gives to all who believe in Jesus, the Son. There is nothing I can do to earn or deserve it. This passage also tells us that this eternal life is in Jesus, the Son of God.
John wrote this letter so that his beloved children will not fall prey to false teachers. If they believe in the name of the Son of God, then they know that they have eternal life. John doesn't want us to hope so, but to know so. You can know because God's testimony about His Son is trustworthy.
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:5–12).
“And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in God's Son. Whoever has the Son has life…” (5:11). Thus, the most compelling evidence is the gift of eternal life. The author is not trying to persuade people to believe in Christ — his readers are already among the believers.
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son” (1 John 5:9).
Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God's own testimony regarding his Son. This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.
Verse 13 directly states the overall purpose of John's letter, which is assuring true believers of their salvation. "These things" refers to the contents of the previous passage. Specifically, that belief in Christ guarantees salvation. A Christian does not need to guess whether he or she will have eternal life.
Chapter 5 emphasizes the believer's ability to "overcome" the world (1 John 5:1–5) through the power of Christ. John gives testimony regarding Jesus as the Son of God (1 John 5:6–12). This passage also reassures believers, telling them they can know they have eternal life (1 John 5:13–21).
The specific verse, John 1:11, highlights the tragic reality of the Israelites' rejection of their long-awaited Messiah. Jesus, the Son of God, came to his own people, the Jews, with a message of love, redemption, and salvation, yet they did not receive him.
In these instances, testimony more specifically refers to the revelatory self-witness of God to his people. Here, by the ark in the tabernacle, God testifies to his own existence in the act of revealing himself to Moses ( Exod 25:22 ; 33:9-11 ; Num 7:89 ) and to future generations ( Exod 29:42 ).
A testimony is the spirit of prophecy (see Rev. 19:10). It is a personal revelation from God, revealing the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A testimony comes through the Holy Ghost; it makes a deep and lasting impression on the soul.
The Hebrew word for testimony is Aydooth, which means "do it again" in the context of Jesus' power and authority. When we share our testimonies, we are not letting others know HOW He can do it, but we are letting them know that Jesus HAS the POWER and AUTHORITY over everything we experience in this world.
He came to 1 John 5:12: The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn't have the Son of God does not have life. He saw clearly that our eternal future depends on whether we have Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and that message pricked his heart like a needle.
John 5:1–15 contains the third of John's seven ''signs'' of Christ. A man crippled for decades expresses no prior knowledge of Jesus, nor an immediate desire to be healed. Jesus heals the man and tells him to walk. For carrying his mat—working—local religious leaders then confront the man.
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
This would mean that the Son agrees in the sending of the Spirit, that the Spirit is His ambassador. In turn, theologians see in this text an allusion to eternal realities. The Father and the Son send the Spirit because from all eternity, the Spirit has proceeded from the Father and the Son.
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
When we make the good confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we are accepting His authority (Matthew 28:18-20). Our authority is not Moses, or Elijah, or one of the prophets. We must listen to Jesus Christ (Matthew 17:5). We will be judged by Him and His Word at the Last Day (John 12:48; Acts 17:30-31).
John 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It relates Jesus' healing and teaching in Jerusalem, and begins to evidence the hostility shown him by the Jewish authorities.
Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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