LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Exegetical Research Paper
Submitted
to
Dr. Roy Lucas
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course
NBST 610 – B05
by
Barbara Ladson
September 30, 2019
Contents
Passage............................................................................................................................................3
Outline.............................................................................................................................................4
Introduction....................................................................................................................................5
Text and Translation......................................................................................................................5
Form and Structure.......................................................................................................................6
Historical and Biblical-Theological Context ..............................................................................8
Exegesis ..........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................15
1 John 5:13-21
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know
that you have eternal life.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of
him.
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and
God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads
to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is a sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God
keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
19 We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil
one.
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may
know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the
true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Outline
1. Introduction
2. Text and Translation
3. Form and Structure
4. Historical and Biblical-Theological Context
5. Exegesis
6. Conclusion
Introduction
This exegetical paper will outline the purpose and reason why John wrote this letter. This
letter was written as a closure to the first letter written by John. Even though it has some form of
comparison to the Gospel of John, however, it stands out by itself as a distinct source of writing.
In 1 John 5: 13-21 he was addressing the believers assuring them the certainty of their faith and
to refute heretical doctrines teaching that Jesus was not fully human and fully divine. John wrote
this letter intending to encourage the believers to be strong in their faith and not to lose focus on
the price. Therefore, this study will analyze the theological meaning the scriptures impact the
people of this present world.
Text and Translation
1 John 5:13-21
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know
that you have eternal life.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of
him.
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and
God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads
to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is a sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God
keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
19 We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil
one.
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may
know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the
true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
The above text was taken from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. According to
Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard Jr., the NIV falls between formal and dynamic equivalence and
has become by far and away from the translation of choice in evangelical circles, much as the
RSV and NRSV have in ecumenical circles. Therefore, it is obvious that the NIV is the most
1
relevant translation to be used in the study of this paper. Also, the NIV was completed and
published in 1978 by international scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts
available.2 The NIV is seen as a more formal standard translation than dynamic with the best
reading, understanding, and accuracy to its readers today. To make this presentation attractive to
its audiences or readers, so they can have a better understanding of the translation. Exploiting
The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance
3 would be the best opinion for origination and
interpretation of the text.
Form and Structure
1 William W. Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, rev. &
expanded. ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ©2004), 129.
2 Ibid
3 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004).
John wrote this text of 1 John as affirmation concluding the promised life of eternal
salvation. In this exhortation, he was addressing the believers of Western Asia Minor. Even
though he was addressing a particular audience, however, it was not presented as a letter in the
actual sense. He did not open the passage with his formal letter greeting as normal. The content
4
of his presentation was more of a sermon style. As he concluded his presentation in 1 John
5
5:13-21, he distinctly outlines the structure of his message so it can be easily understood. He
started this portion with the concluding verse (v. 13) in which he assured the believers the
purpose for writing this letter. His writing to the believers in this letter was to remind them that
Jesus was the Son of God and through him, they have eternal salvation. John continues to
encourage them not to lose focus on Jesus the one who has the power to save and continue in
prayer with faith and confidence (v. 14-15). He is his encouraging them that Christ hears their
prayers and he will never leave them. So they should pray in confidence because He is always
listening and He is with them every step of the way. Believers must pray in love and confidence
as they await the judgment to come (1 John 2:28; 4:17). “In the Bible, there are numerous
6
promises in which the believers can claim. For example, I can do all things through him who
gives me strengthen, (Phil 4:13). If we believe when we pray nothing is impossible for God to
do. He will let it happen in His timing. ” John also, emphasizes that believers in Christ must
7
abstain from sin and should pray for their brother or sister who has committed the sin that does
not lead to death (v. 16-19). In the partway of a believer, they are frequently faced with three
basic enemies adversaries, which lead to sin and they are worldly pledger, the lust of the flesh
4 Charles M. Laymon, ed., The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary On the Bible: Introd. and Commentary for
Each Book of the Bible Including the Apocrypha, with General Articles (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1971),
935.
5 Ibid
6 Warren W. Wiersbe, (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, ©1989), 528.The Bible Exposition Commentary
7 Ibid
and the attack of the devil. As believers, we should remember the adversary the devil is like a
8
roaring lion seeking who he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, believers need to be alert to his
plan. In verse 20 of 1 John 1, John emphasized that the Christian faith is not a hindrance of
thinking the right things but must know who is the true and living God and that they can
overcome sin and death through Jesus Christ. Throughout John's letter, he emphasizes that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God and that salvation comes through Jesus Christ and him alone. He
9
continues by saying only in Jesus Christ there is eternal life, therefore, without Him then the sin
which leads to death will emerge. This leads to John’s final request. Dear children, keep
yourselves from idols (v. 21). In this verse John speaks from his heart because of the danger of
the false teaching on false god, opposing the true and living God.
1. Beginning of Final Greetings (v. 13)
2. Prayer of Faith (v. 14-15)
3. Refrain from Sin (v. 16-19)
4. Life in Christ is Eternal (v. 20)
5. Final Appeal (v. 21)
Historical and Biblical-Theological Context
When John wrote the Epistle (1 John) he was addressing the community of the Johannine
believers, which is completely different from 2 and 3 John, which were written as traditional
letters.10 According to scholars the estimated time the biblical book was written could be around
A.D. 100. Even though the author is still been debated, according to its style and presentation it
11
8 Ibid (p. 529)
9 Ibid (p. 531)
10 Trent C. Butler, Holman Bible Dictionary: With Summary Definitions and Explanatory Articles On Every Bible
Subject, Introductions and Teaching Outlines for Each Bible Book, In-Depth Theological Articles, Plus Internal
Maps, Charts, Illustrations, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, ©1991), 808.
11 Ibid
is obvious that it was written by the Apostle John, son of Zebedee and first cousin of Jesus.
12
From this arose a debate on the use of the term Elder instead of term Apostle, even though most
scholars consent that 1 John, 2 and 3 were written by the same person. In the epistle of 1 John, he
was addressing the heretical doctrines which teach that Jesus was not fully human and fully
divine. John also, found out that there were individuals who have disassociated themselves from
the body of Christ and have fallen heresy of false doctrine against the incarnation of Christ (4:1-
6). Due to this schism, the believers of the community becomes fearful and some minds began to
wavier so John had to write to the believers assuring them of the certainty of their faith and not
to refute to heretical doctrines. He also, caution them of false teaching and that they should test
the spirit to see whether they are from God (4:1). As he encourages the believers, he emphasizes
the need for God's love in their lives and they must love one another because love comes from
God.13 With this in mind, believers will focus on Christ regardless of the crisis they are facing in
their lives.
Exegesis
1 John 5:13-21
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may
know that you have eternal life.
The phrase “these things” mention above is normally used as a transitional phrase. This
14
gives the audience the reason for the writing and also prepares them for a new subject to begin.
The phrase can be identified as what comes before the phase or what comes next after the phase.
However, in this situation, John is indicating what he had written earlier as a transitional phrase.
He is also authentically re-enforcing what he specified as the reason for his writing. As he
12 Ibid (p. 807)
13 Ibid (p. 808)
14 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 1141.
affirmed in the verse, “to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,” this means he was
referring to the believers. He wants to make sure the person who is reading the text knew who he
was addressing to avoid miss-understanding
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to
his will, he hears us.
In this verse, John emphasizes the importance of praying with confidence. Here the word
confidence is described by Greek term , which means boldness, frankness, and openness parrēsia
(of speech) . Here John is encouraging the Christians that should have confidence when asking
15
for things from God. The word confidence is also used two more times in the epistle of 1 John,
first in 3:21 and again in 4:17 . Confidence being repeated more than once in the epistle is
16 17
encouraging the Christians to be bold and fearless in their faith by standing for the truth and for
what they believe regardless of the situation. In his encouragement to the believers, he outlines
that, when they approach God they should ask by following the will of God. The word will is
described by the Greek term , meaning decision or desire. Therefore John expresses to
thelēma 18
the believers that the Lord will hear and answer according to His will. The word hears is
described by the Greek term , which means, to hear, understand, pay attention, and obey. Inakouō
other words, if you asked according to God's will He will grant it unto us.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we
asked of him.
This verse gives the assurance that God hears the Christians prayers when they pray and
15 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 225.
16 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this
world we are like Jesus.
18 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 1255.
He will give answers according to their request. This verse is also a continuation of verse 14 of
the text, therefore there is not much difference in information. However, the word hears gives the
same Greek meaning as in the previous. So John reaffirms the believer that if they asked
anything in God's permissive will He will granted unto them. The word “whatever” which is
used in the verse is derived from two Greek words, which are, which means if, or that ean,
conditions apply, and , which means some or anything. Therefore the reality of the condition hos
is that it is in God’s will. The closing words of the verse are, "we know that we have what we
asked of him," thus assuring the believers that God will supply their needs according to their
request and not their want. This shows that “John did not write, ‘we shall have what we ask,’ but,
‘we know that we have what we ask.’ Because the verb is present tense. When we pray we may
never see the answer right away however, by believing with confident God will answer."19
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray
and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin
that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
Everyone should be their brother’s or sister’s keeper, therefore we should show our best
interest in assisting our brethren, walk with Christ. “As iron sharpens iron so one person
sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17). So when we see our brethren, the sin we who are stronger
should restore them in the Spirit of meekness by praying for them. Sin in the verse comes from
the Greek word , which means wrongdoing or an offense, which means behavior that is hamartia
disobedient to the will and law of God. Anything that comes between us and God is sin,
20
therefore avoiding sin is the best thing to do. “‘The sin unto death’ is not referring to on specific
sin. Rather, it is a kind of sin––it is the sort of sin that leads to death.” With this in mind, we
21
19 Warren W. Wiersbe, (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, ©1989), 529.The Bible Exposition Commentary
20 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 1048.
21 Warren W. Wiersbe, (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, ©1989), 530.The Bible Exposition Commentary
should pray for our brothers and sisters when we see them sinning, and encourages them to
return to the faith by confessing their sins.22
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is a sin that does not lead to death.
This verse is just a continuation of verse 16 which describes sin. Here John was
reminding his readers that sins committed by believers that are not unto death can be prayed for
and be forgiven. He also indicated that God, as establish a moral protocol for His people to abide
by therefore all unrighteousness, is a sin.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of
God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
In this verse, the writer is affirming the importance of being born of the father. As 1
John3:9 states "Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin". In the verse, the word
born derives from the Greek word , which means to be conceived of. The word born was gennaō
mention more than once in the epistle of which one was recorded in John 3:7. Therefore, God
23
requires His people to be new creatures (2 Corinth. 5:17).
19 We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of
the evil one.
Here John is telling the brethren that the world is under the influence of the evil one.
However, he affirms the believers that they do not belong to the world anymore but to God. Here
the writer uses the word , which means world systems opposing God. However, when
kosmos 24
defining the actual word it is obvious that John was not saying that the evil one controls the
world, but relatively setting ways to disconnect or distract the believers from focusing on God.
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we
22 Ibid (p. 530-531)
23 You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.”
24 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 1272.
may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.
In this verse, John affirms the believers that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that in
Him there is the hope of eternal salvation. He also mentions that "we as believers are in Christ
who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ,” this enlightens the believers, that to be with God,
they must come through Jesus Christ the Son of the living God. This is a reiteration to Jesus’
words in John 14:6-7. To receive this promise of eternal life we need to accept God's Son as our
25
savior.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Here John concluded his final plea of abstaining from idol worship. In this verse, John
uses the Greek word Teknion,26 which is translated as dear children. This word used five different
times in the epistle of 1 John, showing his love and passion for the brethren. This gives a
revelation in the sense of making connection to the believers has he write to the community of
Johannine believers, meaning there was a special bond with the Johannine believers. This is
27
showing that the Johannine believers were more family than believers, that’s is why he
emphasizes the need for love among fellow believers (4:21). Also to keep themselves from idols.
The word keep comes from the Greek word , which means to guard. The word idols
phylassō 28
come from the Greek word , which means an object that is worshiped. John is being
eidōlon 29
precise and truthful here, that the world filled with false gods and idolatry especially in Asia
25 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you
know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
26 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 264.
27 Trent C. Butler, Holman Bible Dictionary: With Summary Definitions and Explanatory Articles On Every Bible
Subject, Introductions and Teaching Outlines for Each Bible Book, In-Depth Theological Articles, Plus Internal
Maps, Charts, Illustrations, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, ©1991), 808.
28 Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Zondervan, 2004), 612.
29 Ibid (p. 549)
Minor. Due to the persistence of these false teaching and idol worshipers, John knew it was very
challenging for the believers to keep their faith and resist the temptation of these false teaching.
So John beseeched them to maintain their Christ-like principles.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this text was written for a particular group of believers encouraging them
to be alert of false doctrine. Therefore as children of God, we need to be reminded now and then
that Christ was fully man and fully divine. Also, he is the only way to the Father and that He
played the role of humanity by living a mortal life here on earth, and died for the sins of the
world then arose from the grave. Us as believers need to remember that God listens to our prayer
and He answered at his permissive will. He may not answer in our timing, but we should rest
assured He will answer if we stay confident in His will. Also, we should remember God has our
best interests at heart. We should always be alert that the enemy is real and he is seeking all who
he can devour. We should be our brother’s keeper so if they fall into sin we who are strong
should restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. John's final plea to the brethren is to avoid
idol worshipping and false doctrine. Therefore we should stay focus on the prize in Christ and do
everything humanly possible doing the service of God (Col 3:23) .
30
30 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
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