Saturday 11 January 2014

Background

The writer of the epistle returns to his concern with authenticwitness to Jesus Christ. The prime witness is the Holy Spirit, butsince claims of spiritual inspiration are notoriously subjective,the writer appeals to other sources to validate this witness. Oneis the historical event of Jesus' crucifixion, symbolised here bythe water and the blood, which highlight the cleansing andredeeming functions of Jesus' death. This event was reported by atrustworthy eye-witness, and passed on through the faithfulcommunity. Thus the writer appeals to three of the traditionalsources of knowledge about God: experience, Scripture andtradition.

The next section concerns prayer and sin. The writer exhortsbelievers to pray "according to his will" (v. 14). This highlightsthe idea that petitionary prayer is not about persuading God to dowhat we want, but rather about discerning God's will and aligningour own with it. Such oneness of will is a part of being a child ofGod, so petitionary prayer is an important way of abiding inGod.

But why are believers encouraged to pray for those who sin, butnot for those who commit 'mortal sins' (v. 16)? The Greek is 'prosthanaton'meaning 'towards death'; thus the kind of sin the writerrefers to, is unredeemed sin, which must therefore be unconfessedsin. The writer is saying that believers are not to pray for God togive life to those who do not confess their sins and who do notacknowledge their need for God's forgiveness and grace. If God wereto do that it would undermine Christ's work of atonement. Instead,believers are to pray that others will confess their sins and beredeemed by the love of God in Christ. The writer ends with afurther reassurance that believers who confess their sins andreceive God's grace are freed from sin and are living in theeternal life of God.

To Ponder

• Which is your most important source of knowledge of God?

• What are the qualities of eternal life in God?