Context for 1 John 5:4-21
John’s first epistle closes with great confidence, stating boldly what John pronounces throughout the entire letter: believe these things and you will get to Heaven by the power of the faith given to you. Fail to believe these things, and fail to get to Heaven.
These things I have written 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 NASB
John affirms the purpose for his letter, and that purpose is to reassure the Christians to whom it is destined of the surety of their faith. This reassurance is helpful, but it is also a warning.
1 John spells out clearly the nature of our faith and the effect it has on us as Christians. Where the evidence John clearly spells out is not present, faith must be questions. This questioning is not an accusation, but rather a challenge by the Holy Spirit through John to examine our own lives and faiths to see if they hold up to the measure God has for us.
And if we do not measure up, as none of us ever will, we are then challenged to try that much harder to focus ourselves on our salvation and on Heaven our goal. The more we focus on those things, the less hold the devil, the world, and our own sinfulness can have over us, and we will rest that much more in the assurance of our salvation.
DLH
