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1 John 5:1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begat Him also loves Him who was born of Him. 1 John 5:2. We learn that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. And this is said to confirm the above. If we received the commandment from the Teacher to love one another, then, without a doubt, if we believe that our Teacher Jesus is Christ, and He is Christ in the sense that He is God and at the same time man, we must keep His commandments, both as Teacher and as God. Believing that He is God, we receive the name of His children, as the Gospel says: “To those who received Him He gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12), that is, those who believed in Him became His children. If we were born from Him, then, without a doubt, we must show respect to the Parent, that is, love the One who gave birth. If all of us who have believed have been born of Him, then we must love each other both as brothers and as those born of Him. In confirmation of this, the apostle says that he who loves the one who gives birth also loves the one born of him. Then again he says that love for brothers or children of God proves love for the One who gave birth. Above, he said that he who loves God loves his brother, but now he says that he who loves God’s children also loves God, and puts love for his brother as proof of love for God. 1 John 5:3. For this is love for God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:4. For everyone who is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. The connection is this: love consists in our keeping His commandments, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. Since the apostle pointed out the observance of the commandments as complete proof of love for God, and some thought that God’s commandments were difficult, he says: His commandments are not difficult. For what is so hard about loving a brother? What, for example, is so hard about visiting a prisoner in prison? For the command is not to let him out of prison, which would be difficult, but only to visit. And the sick person is commanded not to free him from the disease, but only to visit him. And he does not command the hungry to offer a table of many dishes, or to give the naked a garment made of precious material, but to provide the extremely necessary things that the hungry and naked seek. Having said this, it also indicates another motivation for love. Which? Victory. He says that, through love for your brother, making yourself children of God, you already have a reward for this good quality - victory over the world; for he who is born of God overcomes the world. Then he explains what victory consists of and how it is accomplished; he calls both faith, that is, faith in God, which, being born of God, conquered and drove away all unbelief, and neither Jew, nor Greek, nor heretic is strong against it. And since faith conquers not alone, in itself, but together with those who have it, he adds: and who conquers the world if not the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Who is this Jesus? Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood. 1 John 5:5. Who overcomes the world if not the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:6. This is Jesus Christ, who came by water and blood and the Spirit, not by water only, but by water and blood. In the words “everyone born of God,” the apostle mentioned adoption to God and birth. And this is accomplished together through holy baptism. Therefore he says: This is Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, regenerating us and making us sons of God. For this is implied and as a consequence in the words: “he who is born of God” overcomes the world. As in "born"? Water and blood. For Jesus Christ, who came, regenerates by water and blood. And again he adds, repeating the words: he who regenerates not with water only, but with water and blood. For he first wants to prove the glorification of Christ, who adopts us, because man who is in Christ was first adopted by God, and then Christ, through His adoption, gave us such dignity. And His sonship was declared three times: once at baptism in the Jordan, when the Father from above testified that the one being baptized was the beloved Son. So, Jesus came “by water,” that is, declared to be the Son of God through the testimony of the Father at baptism in water. “Blood,” when, going to the cross, he said: “Glorify Me, Father!” and when the voice came: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again,” which those who heard took it for thunder (John 17:5, John 12:28, 29). “By the Spirit,” when God rose from the dead; for it is characteristic of God alone to resurrect Himself, and the word Spirit is called God, as can be seen in the saying: “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). So, with the testimony of three (baptism, cross and resurrection) about the sonship of Jesus, the sonship of the Lord is indisputable. And through His sonship, as the firstfruits of the entire human race, He gave us the right to be sons of God. And these three are in one Christ. For this means the expression: “and these three are one,” that is, in relation to the testimony of Christ. You need to know that some of the fathers understood the word Spirit not about the resurrection of Christ, but about the Father, when He cried out on the Jordan: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), since God is Spirit, as we said above. Having said this, he confirms his words with evidence from less. If we accept human testimony about something, shouldn’t we even more justly accept a greater testimony from God? For is this testimony about the Son of God, that is, Christ, not from God Himself? So, he who believes in the Son of God that He is God, as the Son of God, has a testimony in himself, because he who believes is himself adopted as sons through Jesus, adopted as sons of God. And the unbeliever is guilty in two respects: of unbelief, representing God as a liar, and of depriving himself of adoption, and through this, eternal life, which Christ has in Himself, as the Gospel says: “in Him was life” (John 1:4). Therefore, whoever has the Son in him through baptism also has life, for all of us who were baptized into Christ have “put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). And whoever does not have the Son of God through baptism does not have life, he is dead. For having received us, dead through sins, He resurrects us through holy baptism. How? Because whoever is buried with Christ through immersion in baptism is dead to the world, that is, to worldly whims, and no longer lives for the world, but for Christ. And the Spirit bears witness of Him, because the Spirit is truth. Blzh. Theophylact omitted the following (seventh) verse here: 1 John 5:7. For three bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. The reason for this, of course, is that he had at hand a text of the New Testament that does not contain this verse. Meanwhile, this verse is in many other copies of the New Testament; it was used by St. by the church fathers and writers, it is necessary for the composition of the apostolic speech; in short, this verse is undoubtedly genuine. - Makar. Right dogma theologian vol. 1, p. 235–241. St. Petersburg 1850. 1 John 5:8. And three testify on earth: spirit, water and blood, and these three are about one thing. 1 John 5:9. If we accept the testimony of man, the testimony of God is greater, for it is the testimony of God, with which God testified about His Son. 1 John 5:10. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; He who does not believe God represents Him as a liar, because he does not believe in the testimony with which God testified about His Son. 1 John 5:11. This testimony is that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:12. He who has the Son of God has life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. And these three are one, that is, in relation to the testimony of Christ, they show that He was adopted by God the Father, and that what He Himself received, He passed on to those worthy who believe in His name. 1 John 5:13. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that by believing in the Son of God you have eternal life. 1 John 5:14. And this is the boldness we have towards Him, that when we ask anything according to His will, He listens to us. 1 John 5:15. And when we know that He listens to us in everything we ask, we also know that we receive what we ask from Him. Here a conclusion is drawn, as it were. I, he says, wrote this to you as heirs of eternal life. For for those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life, this could not be written, because to give what is holy to dogs and to cast pearls before swine is not commendable (Matthew 7:6). Recalling what has been said, he repeats, firstly, that we must undoubtedly believe in the name of the Son of God, that is, in the worship of God handed down to us from Him, for this means, as we said, the name of the Son of God. Then he says that the sign of this undoubted faith is nothing other than the boldness that we find before Him through immaculate faith, as we said above, and that again the sign of such boldness is the receipt of everything we ask. But since not everyone receives everything they ask for, and not all requests are listened to, he adds: “according to His will,” that is, whoever asks something contrary to the will of the Teacher will not be heard. In this case, he speaks like Saint James: “You ask and do not receive,” he says, “because you ask wrongly” (James 4:3). Turning this sign into the clearest sign, he says: and if we know that He listens to us in everything we ask, then we also know that we receive from Him everything we ask of Him. He says something like this: if we ask God for something in accordance with His will, then He listens to us; if He listens to us in our requests, then we know that we bring requests that agree with His will, and we ourselves have what we ask for. Such objects are the Kingdom of God and His truth, which He Himself commanded us to ask for in the Gospel (Matthew 6:33). 1 John 5:16. If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that does not lead to death, then let him pray, and God will give him life, that is, the one who sins a sin that does not lead to death. There is a sin leading to death: I’m not talking about praying. 1 John 5:17. All untruth is sin; but there is a sin that does not lead to death. Having said that God fulfills our requests that are in agreement with His will, the apostle now clearly expresses his desire about what we would ask according to the will of God. And how much he, almost throughout the entire letter, spoke about love for one’s brother and that God wants us to observe love for one’s brother without hypocrisy; then now one of His desires and the best is that when someone sees his brother sinning with a non-mortal sin, let him ask and it will be given to him. What will it give? Eternal life. To whom? Those who sin do not lead to death. In general, he divides sin like this: all unrighteousness is sin, and one sin leads to death, the other does not lead to death. But about sin leading to death he says: let him not ask, that is, not pray: for he will not be heard, because he asks not for good. Understands the one who does not show any appeal. For that is the only sin that leads to death, for which one does not repent. Judas suffered from this sin and suffered eternal death. Those who hold grudges also sin unto death; for Solomon says: “The path of those who remember evil leads to death” (Proverbs 12:28). For those who remember evil and do not stop being angry at their neighbor do not turn to repentance, but sin unforgivably. 1 John 5:18. We know that everyone born of God does not sin; but he who is born of God keeps himself, and the evil one does not touch him. 1 John 5:19. We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies in evil. 1 John 5:20. We also know that the Son of God came and gave us light and understanding, so that we may know the true God and may we be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Having instructed us which sin leads to death and which sin does not lead to death, then he designates who can sin leading to death, and says: he who is adopted by God can never be sick with a sin either leading to death or not leading to death. For once having given himself over to Christ, who dwells in him through adoption, he remains inviolable from sin. However, lest anyone think that his nature is being transformed and is already becoming elusive for sin, he adds: “keeps himself,” that is, if he does not guard and protect himself from the evil one, then, without a doubt, he will sin. So, he does not achieve sinlessness by nature, but by the great gift of God. God, having adopted us, has honored us with such grace that we, preserving and observing the gift given to us from Him, can not sin. Otherwise, since the world (by the world means those who have not placed themselves in relation to God in the position of sons through righteous deeds) lies in evil, nothing would prevent us from sticking to the perishing, because the thought of man from his youth is diligently devoted to evil (Gen. 8:21), as God showed this at the flood. But how the Son of God came and gave us understanding to know Him, the true God, and to abide in Him, His true Son, Jesus Christ; then through this great gift we have come to know that He is the true God and eternal life, and having known it, we remain untempted from the evil one and his temptations. 1 John 5:21. Children! keep yourself from idols. Amen. Since the apostle was writing this epistle to perfect believers, some asked why he commanded them to keep themselves from idols. We answer. The Apostle wrote this to the entire Church, which was not all filled with chosen people, but among them there were others with wrong dispositions. To such he gives this commandment, fearing for their weakness. The end of the conciliar message of St. John. Written from Ephesus. You might be interested in: