For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here. https://stevehusting.com/alivetogod/meditations-on-1-john-11-4-with-notes/
v. 18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “Each verse in John 5:18-20 begins with ‘we know.’ ” This ‘we’ is “probably fundamentally apostolic. … anyone born of God is a person whose true, inward nature is inherently sinless. … the one who has been born of God keeps himself. … A believer’s new man (or ‘new self’; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10) is fundamentally impervious to sin and hence the evil one, Satan, does not touch him.”
(Vincent’s II) “Toucheth. … express a touch which exerts a modifying influence upon the object.” (Life) “5:18-19 God has freed believers from their slavery to Satan, and he keeps them safe from Satan’s continued attacks.”
(ESV) “The evil one does not touch believers in the sense of causing permanent spiritual loss. See 1 John 4:4.”
(Recovery) “… the phrase begotten of God in this clause, a repetition of the phrase in the preceding clause, is the factory that, according to logic, determines that he refers still to the regenerated believer.” “The basic fact of our divine birth prevents us, the regenerated ones, from practicing sin, that is, from living in sin.” “I.e., guards himself by watchful care. ”
v. 19, We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “John is seeking in these summarizing statement to reinforce the readers’ consciousness that they are distinct from the satanically controlled world system and basically free from its power.”
(Vincent’s II) “Lieth.” … the passive, unprogressive state in the sphere of Satan’s influence … [as opposed to] we are from God, implying a birth and a proceeding forth, and a change of state.”
(ESV) “Christians have been spiritually reborn and are in that sense children of God.”
(Recovery) “ ‘the whole world’ comprises the satanic world system (2:15 …) and the people of the world, the fallen human race.” “the whole world … is lying passively under the usurping and manipulating hand of Satan.”
v. 20, And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one — that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “the coming of the Son of God has granted to believers an understanding which makes possible a knowledge of God.” The apostles were “in Him who is true (and so were his readers as they continued to ‘abide’).” Jesus Christ’s deity is affirmed, going against the lies of the antichrists.
(Vincent’s II) “We may know. Apprehend progressively.” “Him that is true. …This incarnation is God making Himself accessible to human thought—God opening to man the possibility of correspondence through Jesus Christ.”
(ESV) “Christians receive grace in order to grasp biblical teaching and receive the will to put it into practice, so that we may know him.”
(Recovery) “All that this genuine and real God is to us is eternal life to us, that we may partake of Him as everything to our regenerated being.”
v. 21, Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “should be Dear children (‘born-ones’). … any moral compromise with worldly perspectives was likely to lead to some involvement with idolatry.”
(Vincent’s II) “Idols. Strictly, images. … to guard against everything which occupies the place [that is] due to God.”
(Life) “John presents a clear picture of Christ.”
(Recovery) “The center of this Epistle’s revelation is the divine fellowship of the divine life, the fellowship between the children of God and their Father God, who is not only the source of the divine life but its also light and love as the source of the enjoyment of the divine life.” [If we are convinced of this, why would we succumb to idols?]
FIRST JOHN 5 MEDITATION v. 18.
“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin.” (v. 18). This is a very difficult verse to believe, as also is 3:9, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” Who can say they do not sin? Let’s unpack v. 18 to see what it is actually saying.
“We know …” The “we” are the people in John’s circle who know what they are talking about. They write these words with confidence. They can explain the character of the saved person discussed throughout 1 John because they have personal experience of the doctrines discussed. The doctrines are not merely dogma, but reality in their lives. They are living out the kingdom of God wherever they go and know what eternal life is. They are the fathers who are well acquainted with the communion of the Father and the Son, and can guide the children and young men when they spot them going astray. We can trust their word.
“… everyone who has been born of God …” These are not people who merely attend church. They are not people who merely believe in a handful of Bible doctrines and try to be good people. They have had a genuine encounter with the Savior and Lord that impels them to repent of their old life, read the Scriptures, and live by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Father Himself has drawn these to Jesus (John 6:37), not religious piety, and by grace granted them a living faith that changed their lives (Eph. 2:8-9). They have overcome the work and lies of the devil (1:14).They were born of God, born again from above by the Spirit, not by blood relation to someone, not by their own working hard in the flesh, nor by willing themselves into position (John 1:12). People of false conversion are not in this class, nor of those who are partaking of the poison of the antichrists that points their faith away from Jesus Christ, nor of those who are trusting in their religious work. Rather, these are not loving the world or the things of the world, but loving the will of the Father (2:15-17).
They have the anointing of the Spirit that exposes error and keeps them from it (2:20, 24-27). They have hope that they will be conformed to the image of the Son, and so keep doing those things that keep them abiding in Him (3:3). They love, not hate, their brethren and use their goods to care for them and build them up (3:16-17). They know the strength of Him who is in them, and they overcome the world by Him (4:4). They not only know God, but know what God’s love is like, and have learned to put aside their selfish love and love as God does (4:7-11). They keep God’s commands in faith and care for the brethren God’s way (5:2-4).
“… does not sin.” In other words, because they are a new creation of which God is a large part, and they are taking advantage of all that the Lord has said and done for them, and enjoy the communion of the Father and the Son, they are in a marvelous position to resist sin’s pull, Satan’s lies, and the manipulations of the world. They know Satan’s lies. They know the antichrist’s errors. They abide in Christ and are safe. They see the trap lying before them and step around it. They hear the voice of their Shepherd, not the voice of strangers, and are safe (John 10:27-28).
Because of all these protections built up in their hearts over time by the leading of the Spirit, they do not practice sin like they used to. They are living out the character of God and keeping themselves from sinning. They are resisting the devil and he is fleeing from them. They are walking in the light and the blood is cleansing them (1:7). If they do sin, they do not deceive themselves (1:8-9), but run to the throne of grace for forgiveness and help.
All the protections and growth mentioned in 1 John is available to all of God’s children who place their faith in Jesus day by day. The righteous shall live by faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Be sure that your faith is in the Word and not in your own thoughts. Those who hear His words and keep them will be like the house built on a rock that the storms do not destroy (Matt. 7:24-29). In this way the Word and the Spirit will build up all these safeguards, the strong house you need to stand against sin, enter into abundant life, and keep it.
SOURCES – BIBLIOGRAPHY (*= used in this study)
(Apologetics) = The Apologetics Study Bible
(Arc) = NIV Archaeological [not “Cultural”] Study Bible
(Bible Back Comm 4) = Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary vol. 4
(Bible Knowl Comm NT) = The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament
(BLB) = BlueLetterBible.com
(Cultural) = NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
(ENT) = Encountering the New Testament
(ESV) = English Standard Version Study Bible
(Expository) = Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
(Life) = Life Application Study Bible, New American Standard Version
(Moody) = The Moody Bible Commentary
(NKJV margin) = Holy Bible, The New King James Version, margin note
(Prophecy) = Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible
(Recovery) = The New Testament Recovery Version
(Steve) = Personal observation
(Strong’s) = Strong’s number as in Blue Letter Bible
(Vincent’s I or II) = Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. I or II
(Vine’s) = Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
(Wiersbe) = The Wiersbe Study Bible
