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Before reading on, make sure you've read 1 John 5:1-5.
V. The Points that John makes in this passage, So that We'll Know we have Eternal Life:
1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God.
2. Everyone who loves the begetter also loves the one who has been begotten from him.
3. We know we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commands.
4. Love of God is to keep his commands, which are not burdensome.
5. Everyone born of God has victory and overcomes the world.
6. The victory that overcomes the world is our faith.
7. Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God overcome the world.
1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God.
What does John mean by believing that Jesus is the Messiah? Well, let's first eliminate from our minds what he can't mean by that phrase given the context, given other things that John says.
First, believing can't be something that someone not born of God could do, because he says right here that everyone who believes has been born of God. So I conclude that no one who hasn't been born of God can by definition believe that Jesus is the Messiah. There might people who intellectually consent to the fact that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah that don't fit that category, but that's not what John's talking about. John is talking about a deeper kind of belief, than say James is talking about when he says, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!" (2:19). He's talking about the type of belief that only children of God have, not demons.
Second, this belief can't be something that you can lose. This can't be the type of belief that is sown in the soil, but then the world and all its pleasures come and choke it out so that it's not fruitful. Why do I say that? Because of what John says in verse 4: "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world." And if every one who believes has been born of God, and every one who has been born of God overcomes, then necessarily everyone who believes overcomes. So this belief can't be something you can lose. This is a belief that is victorious over the world.
So in light of all that, that this has to be child-of-God-belief, conquering-belief, we can now explain why John would say belief in this particular thing, that Jesus is the Messiah. God promised under the Law the restoration of all things through the Messiah. He was to be the fullfiller of the covenant, the one that would bring in the new age, the one that would turn away godlessness from Jacob and give them a new heart of flesh and write his commands on their hearts, so that God's people wouldn't rebel against him anymore. So to believe that Jesus is the Messiah is to believe that he fits that bill. He does all those things, and I think, John would say, accomplishes all those things in you in particular. Jesus is the Messiah, in the sense that he is your Messiah. He gives you a new heart, and writes his commands on your heart. So that's my explanation for what John means by believing that Jesus is the Messiah, having a true, born again, conquering belief that Jesus is the fullfiller of all that was promised in the law and the prophets for you, on your behalf.
One last comment about this point: Notice that true belief shows that regeneration has happened, that the new birth has already taken place. John says that everyone who believes, present tense, is currently believing, has been, past tense, born of God. So I draw the conclusion from that, that right belief doesn't cause you to be born again, it witnesses to the fact that you have been born again. Because no one can believe unless they are first born again. And no one is born again without also believing as a direct result.
What does John mean by believing that Jesus is the Messiah? Well, let's first eliminate from our minds what he can't mean by that phrase given the context, given other things that John says.
First, believing can't be something that someone not born of God could do, because he says right here that everyone who believes has been born of God. So I conclude that no one who hasn't been born of God can by definition believe that Jesus is the Messiah. There might people who intellectually consent to the fact that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah that don't fit that category, but that's not what John's talking about. John is talking about a deeper kind of belief, than say James is talking about when he says, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!" (2:19). He's talking about the type of belief that only children of God have, not demons.
Second, this belief can't be something that you can lose. This can't be the type of belief that is sown in the soil, but then the world and all its pleasures come and choke it out so that it's not fruitful. Why do I say that? Because of what John says in verse 4: "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world." And if every one who believes has been born of God, and every one who has been born of God overcomes, then necessarily everyone who believes overcomes. So this belief can't be something you can lose. This is a belief that is victorious over the world.
So in light of all that, that this has to be child-of-God-belief, conquering-belief, we can now explain why John would say belief in this particular thing, that Jesus is the Messiah. God promised under the Law the restoration of all things through the Messiah. He was to be the fullfiller of the covenant, the one that would bring in the new age, the one that would turn away godlessness from Jacob and give them a new heart of flesh and write his commands on their hearts, so that God's people wouldn't rebel against him anymore. So to believe that Jesus is the Messiah is to believe that he fits that bill. He does all those things, and I think, John would say, accomplishes all those things in you in particular. Jesus is the Messiah, in the sense that he is your Messiah. He gives you a new heart, and writes his commands on your heart. So that's my explanation for what John means by believing that Jesus is the Messiah, having a true, born again, conquering belief that Jesus is the fullfiller of all that was promised in the law and the prophets for you, on your behalf.
One last comment about this point: Notice that true belief shows that regeneration has happened, that the new birth has already taken place. John says that everyone who believes, present tense, is currently believing, has been, past tense, born of God. So I draw the conclusion from that, that right belief doesn't cause you to be born again, it witnesses to the fact that you have been born again. Because no one can believe unless they are first born again. And no one is born again without also believing as a direct result.
So, how does this help us know that we have eternal life? Well, eternal life is one of the privileges of those who are born of God. And if everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, then the only question we need ask ourselves to assure our hearts of eternal life is, "Do we truly believe that Jesus is the Messiah?"
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