Verses to review today: 1 John 5:1-11
New Verse: 1 John 5:12

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (ESV)

He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (KJV)

Greek: ὁ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει τὴν ζωήν• ὁ μὴ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ζωὴν οὐκ ἔχει.

Transliterated Greek: ho echōn ton huion echei tēn zōēn• ho mē echōn ton huion tou theou tēn zōēn ouk echei.

Literal Word for Word Translation: The one having the Son has the life; the one not having the Son of God does not have the life.

Vocab:

Commentary: Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (Jn 14:6). The life is in the Son (1 Jn 5:11). Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life (1 Jn 2:24-25). Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:1-3) Jesus also said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Eternal life is the very life of God. By knowing God through Jesus Christ, we know and have that life. Eternal life is not ritual. It is not church attendance. It is great sounding prayers. It is not incredible philanthropy or charity. It is not being a minister. It is not being poor. It is not about being better than the next person. It is about loving God, who loves Himself through the Trinity, and loving mankind. It is about conforming to the image of Christ. It is about obeying God’s commandments, not to gain righteousness, but because we love Jesus. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments (1 Jn 5:3) Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). Thus, eternal life is not merely confessing a prayer, but it is truly turning from one’s own life apart from God (whose character is shown by His commandments), and turning to Christ, who is our life (Col 3:4). That life is manifested in our behavior. If there is no manifestation of that life, no fruit of the Spirit, there is no life and no Spirit and thus no knowledge of Jesus and no salvation. Salvation is not by works, but by faith. Works are an outworking of salvation (Eph 2:8-10). Salvation is not through the church, but is manifested by the church through the Spirit in the believers where it is and is to be proclaimed to all the world so that many may become children of God. Whoever rejects the Son, has rejected the offer of life.