1 Jn 5:1 says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”.  The Christ is a reference to Jesus as the Messiah, Jn 4:25-26.  As the Christ, he is the Son of David, Matt 22:41-45, and the Son of God, Matt 16:16, 26:63.

According to 1 Jn 5:1-3, Those who are born of God love God, “him that begat”, love Jesus, “him also that is begotten of him”, and love the children of God.  They keep his commandments.  

In Jn 8:42, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “If God were your Father, ye would love me”.  And he said to his disciples, “If ye love me, keep my commandments”, Jn 14:15.  And his commandment is, “That ye love one another”, Jn 13:34.  His commandments “are not grievous”.  That is, they don’t impose a burden.  Contrast the yoke of Christ, Matt 11:30, with the yoke of bondage, Gal 5:1.

In 1 Jn 5:4, Those who are born of God overcome the world.  See 1 Jn 4:4.  The victory that overcomes the world is our faith.  Faith in God and in the words of God gives us victory over the world.  We love God who is in us, rather than the world in which we live, 1 Jn 2:15-17.  

In 1 Jn 5:5, Those who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  We believe that Jesus is the Son of God:

By the water and the blood, 1 Jn 5:6.  In Jn 19:34-35, John recorded that he saw the blood and water when the soldier pierced Jesus’s side.  The blood manifested the life of the flesh, Lev 17:11, since he is the Son of David.  And the water manifested the life of the Spirit, Jn 7:38-39, 4:14, since he is the Son of God.  As the Son of God, he could have come by water only.

By the witness of the Spirit, 1 Jn 5:6.  The Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, and he testifies of Jesus Christ, Jn 15:26.  He doesn’t speak of himself, Jn 16:13, he glorifies Jesus, Jn 16:14.

By the record in heaven, 1 Jn 5:7.  The record in heaven is that God the Father, and Jesus the Word, and the Holy Ghost are one.  They are all God, three in one.  It is astonishing that most modern Bibles remove this record in heaven to the deity of Christ.

By the witness in earth, 1 Jn 5:8.  The spirit and the water and the blood agree that Jesus is the Son of God, Jn 1:32-34, 19:34.

By the witness of men, 1 Jn 5:9.  Jesus said to his disciples, “ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning”, Jn 15:27.  See Jn 17:20.

By the greater witness of God, 1 Jn 5:9.  Jesus said, “I have greater witness than that of John… the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me”, Jn 5:36-37. See Matt 3:17, 17:5.

By the witness in ourselves, 1 Jn 5:10.  Rom 8:16 says “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”.

By the record of God, 1 Jn 5:10-11.  The record of God is “that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son”.  John wrote, “He that believeth not God hath made him a liar”, v.10.  He doesn’t believe “the record that God gave of his Son”.

Those who are born of God have eternal life.  1 Jn 5:12 says, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Sonf of God hath not life”.  It’s that simple.  

In 1 Jn 5:13, John summarizes why he wrote these things.  He said, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God”.  He wrote for two main purposes.  First, to give assurance to the believers that they have eternal life.

He said, “that ye may know that ye have eternal life”.  Second, to strengthen their faith.  He said, “that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God”.  

It is a challenge to some believers today to continue to believe in Jesus after they have been born of God.  And this will be much more of a challenge in the Tribulation.  

To study the previous lesson, see Let Us Love One Another.