GET REAL
Part 13
Chapter 15
“Being Bold”
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14, NIV
Confidence means, “free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, or assurance.” As the powerful passage in Hebrews describes:
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”—Hebrews 4:16, NLT
The word boldly in that verse is the same word translated confidence in 1 John 5:14. Confidence does not mean we approach God arrogantly,
presumptuously, or with a cocky attitude.
It means that, because of what we know the blood has done in clearing the way for us to approach God, we can approach him without fear.
“Ask” is in a verb tense signifying a continuous action. It’s also in what is called the middle voice, meaning the asker is requesting something for his own interest. John is saying, “if we keep on asking something for ourselves.”
The phrase “according to his will” gives us the stipulation by which God answers all prayer. He is not going to give you something that is outside of his will.
This passage balances out the often misunderstood and mistaught verse in Mark 11:24:
“I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”
John balances it out by stipulating your prayer must be in His will!
The model prayer for this principle is shown by Jesus’ words in the Garden of Gethsemane:
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”—Matthew 26:39, NKJV
The promise contained in these verses is not that God will always give us what we ask for, but that he hears us, literally that he hearkens to us. He answers in his own way, usually a far better way than we could have imagined. We are given what we would have prayed for had we been wise enough to ask for it.
“If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.”—1 John 5:16-17, NIV
This verse is not talking about some outstandingly horrific sin that brings physical death as its punishment from God. Rather, John has in mind those “antichrist” types who:
“…went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us…”—1 John 2:19, NIV
What had these people done? John tells us:
“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.”—1 John 2:22, NIV
So, the sin leading to death is denying the incarnation, rejecting the truth that God came in the flesh in the person of Christ to save us from our sins.
If we see our brother sinning in any way other than the grievous sin of denying the incarnation (which would make one an unsaved person even if professing to be a Christian), we may pray for our brother who is in sin, and God will answer by restoring him (giving him life)! Paul touches on this in Galatians:
“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”—Galatians 6:1, NLT
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“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”—-1 John 5:18, NKJV
As in earlier verses, “we know” is oida in the Greek, meaning “to have positive, absolute knowledge.”
“Does not sin” is a phrase in the present tense meaning, “does not keep on habitually sinning,” (living an open, sinful lifestyle without Spirit-induced conviction).
And “keeps himself” means, “to take care of, to guard,” as in this verse from the Book of Acts:
“And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.”—Acts 16:23, ESV
So “keeps himself” is better rendered as simply “keeps him.” Jesus keeps those that have been born again!
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The word translated here as “touch” (“the wicked one does not touch him”) means “to grasp, to lay hold of.”
The evil one cannot lay hold of us because Jesus strongly and perfectly keeps us.
“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”—1 John 5:19, NKJV
“Lies under the sway” means that the world passively exists within the sphere of Satan’s influence. There is no resistance, no fight, and no struggle to get out from under the enemy’s hold.
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”—1 John 5:20, ESV
When this verse says that “the Son of God has come,” it is in the verb tense meaning, “Has come, has arrived, and is still here.” While Jesus departed in his glorified body to heaven, he is yet here and present in his Church.
“Him who is True” is a word for genuine as opposed to false and counterfeit. Jesus is the authentic God and Savior!
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John’s letter closes out with a warning:
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”—1 John 5:21 NKJV
“Keep” is the same word used in the passages above, meaning “to guard, or to watch over.” The heart is like a fortress that must be guarded from the enemy’s assaults.
When the scripture speaks of idols, context tells us John is referring to the false, counterfeit gods of the pagans.
So the verse would literally read, “Little children, guard well yourselves from the counterfeit gods of the unbelievers.”
NEXT TIME: Spiritual Portals: Are They Real?