What is Guaranteed for Those Who Believe

1 John 5:6-21 - Riley Boggs

In the year 69 AD a man named Polycarp was born. He would go on to be the bishop of the church in Smyrna, a city in Asia Minor which is modern day Izmir in Turkey. He was a disciple of none other than John the Apostle who wrote the book we have been working through, and had strong ties with the apostles. He was a faithful follower of Christ whose influence was great, and since this was during the time of the Rome’s violent hatred towards Christians, he was martyred. His martyrdom story is the earliest one that exist outside of the New Testament. And the reason we have it is because eyewitnesses wrote letters to other churches telling them of what happened. Here is what the letters recall…

In the year 155 AD Polycarp was laying down in the upper room of a cottage, knowing what was going to happen. Two men had just been taken from his own house and tortured into telling them where Polycarp was. So that evening, the police and horsemen showed up to the cottage to arrest him. When they got there, Polycarp called for food and drink to be made for them and asked for an hour of uninterrupted prayer. While they ate, he prayed for 2 ours straight, and then afterwards they took him to the city. Soon after he was taken into the arena, and while he was walking in many witnesses said they heard a voice from heaven say, “Be strong Polycarp and play the man!”. Many people heard it, but no one could tell where it had come from. The crowd roared as they saw it was Polycarp being brought in, as they had been wanting this to happen.

The Proconsul then began the process of trying to get him to turn from his faith saying, “Have respect for your old age, swear by the fortune of Caesar. Repent, and say, ‘Down with the Atheists!’” At this time Christians were called atheists because they refused to believe in the Roman gods. Polycarp turned, pointed at the crowd in the stadium, and grimly said, “Down with the atheists!” The Proconsul continued, “Swear! Reproach Christ, and I will set you free.” Polycarp responded, “86 years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my savior?”

The Proconsul replied, “I have wild animals here, I will throw you to them if you do not repent.” “Call them,” Polycarp replied. “It is unthinkable for me to repent from what is good to turn to what is evil. I will be glad though to be changed from evil to righteousness.” The Proconsul said, “If you despise the animals, I will have you burned.” Polycarp replied, “You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and is then extinguished, but you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want.”

And so that’s what happened. The crowd began to collect wood, and they brought him to where the pile of wood was to be killed. It was typical in this time to nail the person who was being burned to the pile so that they would not run away, but as they were about to do this to Polycarp said, “Leave me as I am, for he that gives me strength to endure the fire, will enable me not to struggle, without the help of your nails.” And so they did not nail him. Then, right before the fire was lit, he looked up to heaven and said this, “O Lord God Almighty, the Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of you, the God of angels, powers and every creature, and of all the righteous who live before you, I give you thanks that you count me worthy to be numbered among your martyrs, sharing the cup of Christ and the resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body, through the immortality of the Holy Spirit. May I be received this day as an acceptable sacrifice, as you, the true God, have predestined, revealed to me, and now fulfilled. I praise you for all these things, I bless you and glorify you, along with the everlasting Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. To you, with him, through the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and forever. Amen.” 

Then, the first was lit and it began to grow and grow. Except, it didn’t burn him. The fire formed a kind of arch over him, and he appeared to not be harmed. Eventually, the wicked men saw that he was not being burned and so pierced him with a dagger.

And his own blood extinguished the fire, and he passed away.

Why do I tell this story? One, it is incredible to see how the Spirit strengthens martyrs to endure unspeakable things. Stories that make no sense without God clearly orchestrating it all. But the other reason is this. Our faith, what we believe, is not new. It doesn’t change with time, and there have been millions upon millions of people who have lived their lives devoted to Christ. People who have their stories recorded like this, but so many more who we will have never hear of until eternity. And yet, all those people confessed the same thing that we confess. They gathered week by week to worship the same God, according to the same truths laid out in the same Bible. What we believe is beyond us. These beliefs continue to exist not because of us, but because they are true. Because they are of God Himself, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. 

So this morning I want to answer 2 questions directly from the text. In your sermon note sheet I have the questions there, but under each point I’ll have several subpoints. The first question is this…

1.) What do we believe as followers of Christ? (vv.6-12)

The first thing we need to flesh out is what is being said here in verse 6 concerning the water and the blood. There are multiple interpretations of what these refer to, so I’ll tell you the most likely 3 and then tell you which one I think it is. 

The first one is that the water and the blood refer to the sacraments, or ordinances, of the church. Water is a reference to baptism, and blood is a reference to the Lord’s supper. But if you interpret this text in that way, and then read it through, I don’t think it really makes sense.

The second is that this is reference to what happened to Jesus on the cross. The Jews had asked that the legs of those on the cross be broken so that they would die quicker, but instead of doing that to Jesus, John 19:34 tells us that, “one of the solders pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” I think this interpretation is better, but again if you apply this meaning to this text, it still doesn’t clarify it completely. 

The third, and what I think is the best, interpretation is that the water and blood is a reference to the bookends of Jesus’ ministry on Earth. His baptism and His death, the water and blood. Jesus came to have an earthly ministry, that was sort of started at his baptism, by the water. But He did not just come by the water, but He came for His ultimate purpose of shedding His blood on the cross, atoning for the sins of His people. Whether you take any of these 3 interpretations, though I think second and third are better, and the last one is the best, the point John is making is the same. And that is the first answer to the question, what do we believe as followers of Christ?

A.) God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, fully God fully man

As followers, this is what we believe. The false teachers in this situation were missing this, they didn’t believe in a fully human Jesus. But this is what we believe, and it’s imperative that we get it right. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, not created by the Father, but eternal. He was sent by the Father, to Earth, taking on humanity. He didn’t set aside His divinity, and He didn’t become less God. And He also wasn’t God in a human Halloween costume. No, he was 100% God and 100% man. And if that’s hard to comprehend, good. The mystery of the incarnation of Christ is beyond our finite minds, but the Bible is abundantly clear on it. 

And He came with a specific purpose, to redeem God’s people. He didn’t come to bring social reform or to build an earthly kingdom. No, He came to atone for the sins of those who would call upon His name. He came to inaugurate the great redemption plan when all things will be made right. That is who He is, that is why He came, and it is what we believe as the Christ followers.

B.) Our Triune God planned this redemptive work

Most of you know by now that Shelby and I recently bought a house. It needed a little bit of work and there were some things that we wanted to do before we moved in. We talked about it all and we had planned exactly how it was going to work out and we were excited. Well, day 1 all our plans sort of changed. We started projects we didn’t intend to, some things didn’t work out like we planned, and so on. You know, life. We have constantly been rearranging and shifting our plans throughout the whole process. I mean that’s just how things go for us as humans. We are finite creatures who sort of make it up as we go a lot of the time.

That is not the case with God. God has never, ever, resorted to plan B. There is no plan B for Him. What has happened and what will happen, was according to plan. That’s why John points that out here in verses 7-9. The testimony of God says that the plan of God all along was that Jesus Christ would come and save us from our sins. It wasn’t a plan that began with the Father and He informed the Son of it, and the Spirit sort of just tagged along. No, it was the plan of God, the Triune God, to do this. And we proclaim this testimony to be true. We believe in the testimony that God has given us in the Scriptures, and we reject any testimony that men may put together that does not align. 

C.)  There is life for those in Christ

John couldn’t make it clearer than he does in verse 12. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Think about that story of Polycarp. Why didn’t he just denounce the faith? Or even more so, how was he brave enough to not denounce the faith knowing that his brutal death would come? Because he believed this very truth. Because he knew that he had been given life in Christ, a new birth, that had given him joy for 86 years. And not only that, but he knew that there was eternal life ahead for him. A life with no pains or troubles, but of endless joy. The Spirit reminded him of these very truths as we saw in his final words. 

And maybe we won’t experience such extreme circumstances in our own life, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t cling to this truth any less. The fact that we have life in Christ is what compels us to do so many of the things we do. 

Why would we leave a healthy church to start a new church in Glasgow? Because we believe there is life in Christ, and we want others to have it, and we believe God will use this work to bring it about. Why do gather every week and worship, even when things are hard or confusing? Because we know our circumstances don’t tell the whole story, and there is life in Christ. Romans 6:23 says that, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is a key belief for those who follow Christ.

2.)  What can we know for certain if we believe? (vv.13-21)

John starts this section by reminding us of who he is writing to and what his purpose is. He says that he is writing to those who believe in the Son of God, and he is writing to them so that they may know things. Know, I believe, with certainty. He wants them to remember what they can know for certain if they believe, so that when the false teachers try to convince them of lies, they aren’t even budged, because they remember what John wrote to them, telling them of what God had promised. And so in this section, I want to work through this text and look at 6 things we can know for certain if we believe.

A.) We have eternal life

I just hit on this, so I won’t spend much time again. I’ll only say this. You who believe in Christ, have eternal life that cannot be taken from you. Our desires, our bodies, our earth, our everything will be made right once and for all. And it is going to be glorious in a way we can’t comprehend, but can only imagine. And whatever you imagine that is, it’s far better. And it’ll be far better, forever and ever. 

B.) We have a God who hears us and does what is best for us

If you believe in Christ, you are never alone. You have a loving Father who always listens. He never gets tired of listening, never annoyed. He doesn’t want you to come back later. He is always eager for you to speak to Him, and He is eager to answer your prayers according to His will. Always, without a doubt, doing what is best for you. 

People have different personalities when it comes to being alone, but I’ll be the first to admit that I do not enjoy it. Maybe I enjoy it for a few hours, but then I can’t help myself and I want to talk to someone. You can ask my wife, my parents, or my close friends. I am always calling because I just don’t like being alone. 

And honestly, in a moment of confession, I think it’s partly because I don’t know this know this truth well enough yet. I think sometimes how I feel gets in the way of me seeing what is actually true. I feel alone and I don’t feel like God is hearing me, so I don’t spend enough time speaking to Him. And so I try to fill that loneliness by talking to calling someone. But, by God’s grace, I want to know this truth more and more. I want to know that God hears me in such a way that I don’t feel alone as easily, and that my gut reaction is to go to Him in prayer when I feel lonely.

I’m not saying that it isn’t good to constantly talk to your friends and family. In fact, I think God gave people to us so that we would not feel alone. God even said that He created Eve because it was not good for man to be alone. But what I am saying is that regardless of who is around you or who you are talking on the phone or anything like that, you are not alone. You have a loving Father who is listening, and then acting in such a way to answer your prayers for your good, according to His will. You can know this with certainty.

C.) We will be kept until the end

Do you know those coupon books that different sport teams or clubs sell to as fundraisers? Have you ever thought about how those are successful for the businesses? I mean imagine every coupon book that was sold was used to their fullest potential. I think the restaurants or whatever the coupons are for, would stop being a part. The reason it works is because it relies on the human forgetfulness. You lose them somewhere, or you never have the right one when you need it, and then eventually times up and they are expired. 

I use that silly analogy to tell you that is exactly what John is NOT saying here in verses 16-17. These verses can get a bit tricky, but I don’t think that is what John intended. Listen to what he says.

Again, this text is debated and there are a few ways you can interpret it. But in short, 2 questions have to be answered. What is the sin of death, and can a believer commit it? I think the sin of death is a rejection of Christ, a final unbelief. In that unrepentance and unbelief, you are committing a sin that means you do not get the life that is in Christ. And no, I do not think that a true believer in Christ can commit this. 

That’s why I mentioned those coupon cards. Believers do not have to keep up with their salvation card so that they will be good on the day of judgement. You can’t lose it, you can’t forget it at home when you need it, and it doesn’t expire. Your salvation is forever because God has said you are His. When you repented and placed your faith in Christ, you made a decision that is eternal because God is going to keep you until the end. He has promised so.

And so John is saying, for those who believe and are struggling with sin, pray that God will enable those brothers and sisters to overcome it. But for those who refuse to believe, and who are committing the sin of death, you don’t have to prayer for them. I think here he has in view the false teachers who are deliberately refusing to believe the truth. And he isn’t saying that we shouldn’t pray for them, just that it isn’t required in the same way that it is for you to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And so here’s what you can know for sure if you believe. God is keeping you, and you cannot commit a sin that He will not forgive, because all your sin past, present, and future, have been atoned for by Christ once-and-for-all. Now of course there will be those who seemed to truly believe and they later they reject Christ. But we would say, like John said earlier in this book, that they never really believed. If you have repented and believed in Christ, God will keep you until the end.

D.) We are protected and have the ability to not sin

This is a two-fold truth that we can know with certainty if we believe. First, as I have mentioned several times preaching through this book, as people who have been given a new heart, you are able to not sin. That is a unique quality of those who have given their life to Christ, and it makes them distinct from the rest of the world. And it is often what shows a believer to be a true believer, because they do not keep on sinning, but instead war against it.

The other part of this is that you are protected from the evil one. Now John says here that the evil one does not touch him, but this is what I think he is getting at. I don’t think he is saying that believers cannot be experience severe spiritual warfare from the enemy and I do not think he is saying that can’t affect us physically. This stuff happens, and it is not in any way an indication that you are not in Christ. In fact, it might mean that you are following Christ well, and so the enemy seeks to attack you all the more. 

What I think John is getting at is that first, you cannot be spiritually indwelled by the evil one anymore, in such a way as demonic possession or anything like that. The Spirit resides in you, and He is not leaving. Second, no spiritual warfare happens outside of the scope of God’s sovereignty. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:9-13, “9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

God will not let you be tempted in such a way that you must falter. He always provides a way. That doesn’t mean we don’t fail often and that we don’t miss the way out, but it does mean that God is using these moments to grow us in Him. To help us see our need and reliance on Him, and so much more. No matter how much the evil one may want to destroy you, or make you feel like he is capable of destroying you, He cannot. God is protecting you, and He will protect you until the end.

E.) We are no longer under the domain of darkness

You know how when you’re in a really dark room, and then you walk outside all of sudden, and everything is too bright to see? Well, this is sort of what happens when we come to know Christ. All of sudden, our eyes our opened. We begin to see things that we hadn’t seen before. We see our sin, our inability to save ourselves, and need of Christ. But things are still not altogether clear yet. We see the basic truths, the outlines, but our eyes have to adjust. We have to spend more time in this situation to learn more and more. To come to a fuller understanding of where we are.

Colossians 1:13-14 says, “13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” This is what I think John is saying here in verse 19.  As those who believe, you can see things that those in the dark cannot see yet. They need to come to saving faith, they need for their eyes to be open. But for us, we need to be reminded of the transformation that has taken place in our lives. We have been taken out of the hands of the evil one, and are being held in the hands of God, learning to see more and more clearly every day. And so as you walk with Christ, be reminded your salvation. Don’t let your normal life in the light allow you to forget how glorious it is that He brought you into it from the darkness.

F.) All of these things are entirely grace and mercy, and not of us

John wraps up this book in such a good way. Simply pointing to the fact that all the truths that have been given to us are because of the grace and mercy of God. We cannot claim any of it as the product of our own hands. He is the one who saves us, who gives us understanding, who sanctifies us, who listens to us, who protects us, who keeps us, and so much more. And all we do from that is worship and walk with Him in daily ordinary obedience. Not to forget that He has planned all the good works for you to walk in, and He is going to enable you to walk through them.

God is good. He is so good, so gracious, and so merciful to us. And so in closing our time in this book I want to make 2 comments. First, for those who know Christ, this world is broken. I know it’s easy to say that God pours out grace and mercy when things are going well, but it’s not as easy when things are really hard. But I promise you, He will sustain you. Ask other believers. They have experienced. Our God is going to give you all the grace you need to press on, so keep going. Fight the good fight.

Second, if you don’t know Christ, do you see what you are missing? There is a God who sent His only begotten Son to die on your behalf. If you repent of your sins and place your faith in Christ, you will have more than all the world can offer a million-fold. Let go of your sin and your own works, and cling to Christ. 

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/polycarp/

https://wau.org/resources/article/the_martyrdom_of_polycarp_1/