The Conclusion, 1 John 5:11-21

You know the feeling when you’re not really sure how to bring everything you’ve been saying to the finish line so you can stop talking? You’ve made all the points you were hoping to make, and you find yourself in a mental scramble to reach the conclusion. For me, that attempt often sounds like mumbled phrases, disconnected from the main points, and it comes out as, “So… yeah… that’s what I’m thinking”. 

1 John ends exactly opposite of that. Instead of slowly trailing off into the sunset, it’s more like approaching a mountain summit, only to realize that as the end comes into sight, it demands greater focus. The final stretch includes the toughest hurdles. Confidence in answered prayers, sin leading to death, and avoiding idolatry are major themes, jutting out like jagged rocks at the peak of this conclusion. Let’s navigate them briefly.

Since God hears our individual prayers, we have confidence that if we’ve asked for something He has promised, like eternal life through His Son, He will give it to us (2:25; 3:23; 4:9; 5:11,12). Assurance that He answered this foundational prayer allows for certainty that God will answer other requests; doubts about God giving eternal life will break down confidence that He’ll respond to any additional prayers.  

Have I experienced uncertainty in prayer because I doubt whether God responded to my request for eternal life?

We’ve already learned in 1 John that we can pray confidently if we’re living obediently (3:21,22), and now we learn that we can pray confidently if we’re asking submissively, deferring to God’s will being done (5:14,15). There is mystery in prayer, but if our lives and requests align with God’s will, we will have what we’ve asked for if it is God’s will. Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane is the primary example I cling to when I long for something in prayer.  Although Jesus aligned perfectly with God’s will, His request to be spared suffering the Father’s judgment against sin, was not God’s will (Matthew 26:39). Even Jesus had a desire which God didn’t grant, but that does not mean it was wrong to have that desire or that it was wrong to ask for it. He ultimately asked for the Father’s will above His own desire, and in this way, His prayer was answered. 

Have I been too afraid to pray because I’ll doubt God if my desire is not His will?

Have I been too afraid to put my desire in a secondary position to God’s will, because I imagine that my will would turn out better than His will?  

As an extension of living life in fellowship with God, we live in relationship to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Members in God’s family share a proximity like members of a body, called to be lovingly concerned for each other’s well-being and prayerfully aware of the other’s struggles. Physical sickness and spiritual wandering are both cases where believers in the church body are to come alongside in prayer (James 5:13-20). Before we get caught up in defining “sin leading to death”, we ask ourselves a bigger-picture question: 

Do I have close enough relationships that others can recognize and pray about sin in my life? 

Sin can cause two kinds of death: physical and/or spiritual. Spiritual death is a result of denying who Jesus is, and it’s evident in a lifestyle of disobedience and a perpetual lack of love (1 John 2:3, 3:14, 5:11,12,18). True believers in Christ cannot commit sin that indicates or leads to spiritual death, as taught in 1 John and elsewhere (John 10:28; Ephesians 1:13,14, 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22).

Physical death exists in the world because of sin’s presence in it (Romans 5:12). Scripture does include occasional cases where believers were disciplined by God for the severity of their sin through sickness or premature physical death (note the reasons for discipline in Acts 5:1-10 & 1 Corinthians 11:28-32). Not all physical suffering is because of a specific sin, but, as difficult as it may be for us to understand, sometimes this is how God corrects His child. 

Sin in our lives as believers disrupts fellowship with God and limits the power of Jesus’ life flowing through us, like pressure on a garden hose slows the supply of life for the plants. When we pray for our brother or sister whose life is hindered because of “sin not leading to death”, our desire is that their repentance would allow them to fully experience the life God offers. The kind of life God promises is abundant life in Christ (1 John 1:3,4,7,9; John 10:10), so we pray for and expect God to give what He promises.

Do I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ to experience abundant life in Him?

My prayer for you as we conclude 1 John, is that since Jesus is the true God and eternal life, you would run from whatever threatens to become a substitute god or a substitute life. As you do, may you fully experience your eternal life, filled with God’s light and His love in real life.

So… yeah… that’s what I’m thinking.