The Second Birth and its Purposes: 1 John 5:1-5

 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? – 1 John 5:1-5

In these verses John summarizes and ties together his main arguments that he has made several times now. We have the Christological test of belief in Jesus Christ, the test of love toward our brethren, and we have the test of obedience. Then in verse 4 and 5 John talks about the world and overcoming it, as he has also done a couple times in previous sections. John takes all of these ideas and he holds them up together to show how they are all intertwined together, so that we cannot simply take one of the tests to ourselves and throw out the ones we do not like. But they are all connected in such a way that one who is born again from above, will exhibit these things in his or her life, to various degrees.

Within these verses John mentions three times the idea of being born of God. He has mentioned this numerous times through his epistle up to this point as we have observed. This of course is one way to say the second birth, or being “born again,” as John notes Jesus saying to Nicodemus in John chapter 3. This second birth refers to the doctrine of regeneration. Regeneration is a gracious work of the Spirit wherein the Spirit of God quickens, or gives new spiritual spiritual life to an individual. It is entirely a work of God, that precedes faith, and that produces certain results in the life of the one who receives this new birth. That is one of John’s running ideas that we will look at today, that the new birth produces certain results in the life of the one who has been born again. Thus I have titled the message today, The Second Birth and its Purposes. We will see in our passage today that we are 1) Born Again to Believe, 2) Born Again to Love, 3) Born Again to Obey, and 4) Born Again to Overcome.

 

Born to Believe

 

The first observation we make in verse one is that regeneration precedes faith. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…” We do not believe in order to be born of God, but rather, our belief in Jesus Christ is evidence that we have already been born of God. Indeed, belief in Jesus as the Christ is one of the very purposes for which we are born of God. The doctrine of regeneration does not really even makes sense unless it precedes faith. If natural man, in his depraved and dead spiritual state had the capacity to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and Master, then that would defeat the purpose of the regenerating work of the Spirit. Indeed, regeneration is necessary because we are dead and blind in our sins, unable by our power to have saving faith in Christ. So the will of God was not to simply leave mankind to his own devices and will, but, by his sovereign decree, to send his spirit, to effect the new birth in his elect, that they might come to know Him. So it is that one of the very purposes of being born of God is so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ.

 

So John says that “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…” Saying, “Jesus is the Christ” is like saying “Jesus is the anointed.” So this is not to be seen as a mere agreement to the facts that Jesus lived, died, and rose. It is a specific belief that Jesus is the Anointed One; that He is the Messiah. This points us to the offices for which He was anointed. In the Old Testament you had the offices of prophet, priest, and king among God’s people. Each of which were anointed and set apart for the office, and each of which point forward Jesus Christ who fulfills and occupies all of those offices for His people.

 

Jesus Christ is anointed as prophet, and He is our prophet who speaks to us a better word, as He Himself is the Word. As Hebrews 1 tells us, “In these last days God has spoken to us through His Son…” Jesus Christ is the Word of God in the flesh. He leads us in all truth. As Colossians 2 tells us that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Jesus Christ is anointed as Priest. He is our great high priest who alone enters the holy of holies, and makes the full and final sacrifice for our sins, as He Himself is the sacrifice. He is our priest whose sacrifice is completed as He has gone up and has sat down at the right hand of God.

Jesus Christ is anointed as King, as He is our conquering King who went in to battle and fought for us, conquering our greatest enemies that we were in bondage to, the Devil, the World, and the Flesh. And He is our King who we humbly submit our lives unto, as we bow before His Sovereign rule, and He rules seated on the Throne, and upon the throne of the hearts of all his people, as His prophetic Word goes out to all the world through them.

 

 

All of these things have to do with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all of these things are wrapped up in the simple looking phrase that John writes: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…”

Our confession tells us in Chapter 8, Of Christ the Mediator, and in paragraph 10, “This number and order of offices is necessary; for in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical office; and in respect of our alienation from God, and imperfection of the best of our services, we need his priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable unto God; and in respect to our averseness and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue and security from our spiritual adversaries, we need his kingly office to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom.”

I say again, this is not a mere intellectual agreement to the facts. This is faith that Jesus Christ is these things for you. It is true faith that Jesus Christ has accomplished what is necessary for our salvation through these roles, his person and his work. You can believe it to be true all day long, but if you do not believe it to be true for you, it is not effective for you. That is, you can believe that Jesus is the Christ, but if you do not have faith to believe that He is your Christ, then you are lost.

So the question here is this: Do you believe him to be your prophet, priest, and king? If not, then you cannot say that you believe Jesus to be the Christ. This is not mere intellectual, doctrinal agreement to be made, but a believing upon a person – the person of Jesus Christ and all of who He is.

Notice, that it is not simply that we are to believe just any old thing. It is not that whatever we believe is fine, as long as we believe it with all our heart and good intentions. Note as well that it is not anything even within the ideas of Christianity that are to be the object of our faith. It is not our good works or efforts that our faith is to fix upon. It is not our love for God that is to be the object of our faith. It is not our attendance to religious duties that are to be the object of our faith, or anything of the sort. Rather, Christ, and Christ alone is to be the object of our faith. Not even Christ, plus my good works, or Christ plus this or that. Christ alone is to be the object of our faith. This is a distinctive mark of Christian people. Can it be said of you?

 

Born to Love

This has been one of John’s most emphasized points in this letter, that we are to love one another, and that true Christians do love one another. He has been saying that if we truly love God, then there will be a certain effect in our lives, and that effect is love for all the other children of God. Here again, the order is very important. It is not our love for God or brother that makes us Christians and children of God. It is not our love that makes us born again. Rather, our love is a result and an effective of the new birth, it is evidence that we have been born of God. That is why John has been saying with such certainty that by this test of love we may know that we have come to know him – because God is the source of true, divine love in our lives.

At the end of verse 1 John puts it like he has been saying, “everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” Love for brethren is a result of the new birth. If we have received such grace, mercy, and love from God despite our sin and our rebellion and our unworthiness, then we are going to love other sinners who have received the same saving mercy and love from God that we have. That is what binds us together in brotherhood – that we have both received the same divine gospel love. We were both wretches who have been called righteous. We were both once blind, but now can see. If that has happened to us, we will love one another.

Then in verse 2 John says it in another way to emphasize his point, saying, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” How do we know that we love God? By loving the brethren. How do we know that we love the brethren? By loving God and obeying his commands. You can say that you love the children of God, but if you do not love God himself and show it in obedience to him, then you do not really love God’s children. Whatever love you may think you have for them, is not divine love from above, but it is something from the flesh, tainted, with a faulty foundation and sinful intents. If you haven’t caught on yet, John’s overarching point is this: love for God and love for one another are not two separate loves that we are able to have one without the other. Love for God and love for others are so closely united that you cannot have one without the other. They necessarily go together. Anyone who claims to have one of them, but yet his love is empty of love for the other, proves that he has neither of them. True love is twofold, and this is one of the purposes of the second birth.

I like the way Calvin puts it, “…there is never a true love to God except when our brethren are also loved; for this is ever its effect.” As the application question has been for several weeks now, do you love God? Do you love the children of God? Do you see both in your life? If the love in your life is real, then you will. You cannot love the Father without loving the children of God, and you cannot love the children of God without loving the God of the children. Surely this is a logic that we can all understand. If you had a friend who came to you and said, “you know, I love you, but your kids, I really hate those kids.” What would you do? You would be angered and you would declare that that person does not really love you, if they hate your own flesh and blood that is most precious to you. Likewise, if your children had a friend who expected to hang out with your kids and professed to love them, and yet when they came around you they told you they hated you and disrespected you, you would send them home never to return, because they never really loved your kids.

 

Born to Obey

 

Here we see what John has iterated so many times and in so many ways, that if we love God we will keep His commandments. This is one of the effects of the second birth, that because we have been born of God and love him, we have been given a new nature, and God’s Spirit dwells within us, therefore, we will obey God. Of course we will not do this to perfection while we battle our flesh in this life, but to some measure, the second birth necessitates a love for God, that is accompanied by obedience to God. Indeed just as we said about love for God and love for others, love for God is inseparable with obedience to God.

As we see in verse 3, there are two things here that John says about the commands of God. He says that if we love God, we will obey them. Then he says that his commandments are not burdensome.

 

Here are seven reasons why the commands of God are not burdensome:

 

1. Because We Love God: Unfortunately there is a segment of belief today that believes that somehow the law of God is opposed to love for God. But someone who has been born of God, knows by experience that the law does not put a damper on one’s love for God, and they are in no way at odds with one another. Love and law are complementary. David wrote songs saying, “O how I love your law!” (Psalm 119:97) It is as Jerry Bridges put it, “Love provides the motive for obeying the commands of the law, but the law provides specific direction for exercising love.” When you love, duty becomes delight. When you love someone, it is no problem for you to do whatever they ask or need! You love doing it. When you are married there are certain things that you have to do for your spouse. But when you love them, that duty becomes a delight. On such a more pure level this is true with regard to the commandments of God. If we love God, our duty to obedience, is delightful and happy service to our king! We love to obey him!
2.  Because God Loves Us: God’s love was set upon his people before they ever came into existence, and his love was set upon them, not because He foresaw that they would love Him, but despite the fact that they would not. He set His love upon us, in order to save us and give us the second birth that we might, as a result, turn in love to Him. God loved us before our obedience, God loved us despite our lack of obedience, and not because of our obedience. Therefore we are free from thinking we have to obey in order to earn the love of God, or so that God will love us. It is because He loves us that we obey in the first place. It is because He loves us that we are motivated to obey in the first place. It is because He loves us that we, by His grace, are able to obey in the first place.
3. Because We have been born of God: We do not obey God’s commands and live the Christian life according to our own flesh, or power, or will. We love and obey God, because we have been born of God. God has given us life, and has taken out our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. He indwells us by His Spirit. It is because of the new birth, and through the power of Christ that we love and obey the commands of God. Therefore the burden has been lifted from us. We do not have to carry God’s commands on our own, or in our own power, but by the very power of God.
4. Because We are not Obeying for Merit: The burden of God’s commands are removed because we are not obeying them to merit anything from God. We do not keep them to merit salvation. We do not keep them to merit our justification. We do not keep them to merit righteousness before God. The burden of merit has been lifted. It is “Sola Gratia” saved by grace alone!
5. Because We are Already Righteous: The burden of God’s commands are removed because we are already righteous; and we are already righteous by imputation! Our righteous standing before God is given to us as a gift. It is not a righteousness based on our own works of righteousness, but it is the very righteousness of God’s own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and it is given to us, freely, as a gift. Therefore, though we are yet sinners and impure in all our ways, we are seen and counted as righteous by God before Him because we clothed in the righteousness of Christ. When you understand this wondrous doctrine and know that you are righteous before God in Christ, it lifts every burden from your shoulders and gives you a power and motivation to love and obey that the law could not work within you. We are already righteous.
6. Because Christ Already Bore the Burden: Through Christ’s substitutionary life of perfect obedience unto the Father, the burden was borne by Him. It was lifted from our shoulder and placed upon Christ. He bore our burdens, for we could not bear them ourselves. He lived a perfect life of obedience for us, in our place, because we cannot. Christ already bore the burden.
7. Because Obedience Brings us Joy: For something that brings you joy and happiness, it is not a burden. It is only a carnal, lost man who despises God’s commands. For the one who has been born of God, they are never more happy than when they are obedient, and they are never more distressed than when they are in sin. Holiness and happiness are not opposed to one another, but for the child of God, they go hand in hand. When a Christian is at his happiest, it because he is at his holiest. All of these different elements of the gospel are what cause us to have joy in obeying the commands of God. So it is, we are born again to obey.

 

Born to Overcome

 

When John talks here about overcoming the world, we must note that in talking about the world, he is referring back to chapter 2, where he warned against loving the world and things in the world. We must understand that when John is talking about the world here, he is talking about the sinful desires of the flesh that form an unbelieving worldview and systemic way of life that is contrary and opposite of the Kingdom of God, and the way in which those who have been born of God live and think. In chapter 2, verse 16 John sums up all that is in the world as “the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life.” These are the temptations that we are at war with in this life. These are things we battle and we strive to overcome. These are the things that we were born of God to overcome. Notice the way that we overcome there in verse 4: “And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”

What is it that overcomes lust and pride (in other words the world), which is living by instant gratification? Faith in something better; living by faith in the promises of God; living by faith in Christ. That is how we say no to sin and temptation, by believing in something better. As John essentially says there in verse 5, it is only by faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and all that He has done and is, that we have the faith to say no to sin, and thus overcome the world by faith. If you do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that obedience to Jesus is better than obedience to sin, Satan, and self, then you will not resist sin and overcome the world, but you will be overcome by the world, the flesh and the devil. It is by faith, a gift, that comes as a result of the new birth, that we overcome what may seem so powerful, not by striving, not by the flesh or the willpower, but by faith, and faith in the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

“He only then can conquer Satan and the world, and not succomb to his own flesh, who, diffident as to himself, recumbs on Christ’s power alone.” – John Calvin

It is my prayer that we have seen some of the purposes of the new birth here today, which is a gracious work of God; and I pray that we can examine our lives and see these effects of the new birth in our life, that we might have assurance and joy in our lives, as we overcome the world by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our passage today in verse 1 and verse 5 begins and ends the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the alpha and the omega. He must be the beginning and the end of our lives, as He is the beginning and the end of our salvation. Our salvation begins with the gracious work of God to give us faith in Christ, and it ends with never-ending fully consummated union with Christ. All of our life in between is dependent upon Christ and His grace and power to effect these changes in our lives that we have seen in our text here today. So let us depend upon Him with all of our might, that we might believe Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God, for us, that we might love God, and love one another, that we might obey His commands, and that we might overcome the world. Amen.