The Great Jurisdictional Dispute Text: 1 John 5:18-21
Introduction: Two Teams, No Neutral Ground
The Apostle John, as he brings this magnificent letter to a close, does not do so with a gentle, fading whisper. He does so with a series of thunderclaps. He is a master of the stark contrast, the black and white reality. In our day, we are addicted to gray. We love nuance, not because we are intellectually sophisticated, but because we are morally compromised. We want to blur the lines, smudge the boundaries, and create a demilitarized zone between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil where we can comfortably reside. But John will have none of it. For him, there are two teams on the field, and only two. There is no third option, no conscientious objector status, no room in the stands for neutral observers. You are either of God, or you are in the lap of the evil one. You are either kept by Christ, or you are touched by the devil. You either know the true God, or you are fashioning idols. There is no middle ground.
John is concluding his letter by giving the saints a threefold, rock-solid assurance. He says, "We know... We know... And we know..." This is not the language of hopeful conjecture or pious sentimentality. This is the language of certainty, of bedrock conviction. In an age that considers doubt a virtue and certainty a vice, this is a bracing tonic. The Christian faith is not a leap in the dark; it is a stand in the light. John wants to anchor our souls in these glorious, objective realities so that when the world, the flesh, and the devil come against us with their lies and accusations, we can stand firm, knowing whose we are and where we stand.
This passage is about a great jurisdictional dispute. It is a cosmic custody battle. Who has the rights to you? Who is your head? Who is your father? Whose kingdom are you a citizen of? John lays out the terms of this conflict with unflinching clarity. He shows us the radical difference between the one who is born of God and the one who is not. He shows us the nature of our security in Christ, the nature of the world's bondage, the nature of our understanding, and the one great danger we must constantly guard against. This is meat for men, not milk for babes.
The Text
We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
(1 John 5:18-21 LSB)
The Unbreachable Defense (v. 18)
The first great "we know" statement establishes the believer's fundamental orientation away from sin and his absolute security in Christ.
"We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him." (1 John 5:18)
Now, on the surface, this verse can be troubling. "No one who has been born of God sins." We read that, and then we remember what we thought about in traffic this morning, or the sharp word we spoke to our spouse yesterday, and we think, "Well, that rules me out." Earlier in this very letter, John said, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). So is John contradicting himself? Not at all. We must read him carefully.
The verb for "sins" here is in the present active indicative, which in Greek often denotes a continuous, habitual action. John is not saying that a Christian never commits an act of sin. He is saying that the one born of God does not live a life characterized by sin. Sin is not his master, his practice, his identity. The new birth, the regeneration, imparts a new nature. The seed of God abides in him (1 John 3:9). The entire trajectory of his life has been radically altered. He was once headed due south, into the darkness, and now he is headed due north, into the light. He may stumble on the path, he may fall into a ditch, but the fundamental direction of his travel has been permanently changed. Sin is now the alien intruder, the hated parasite, not the defining principle of his life.
And why is this so? The second half of the verse tells us. It is not because of our own grit and willpower. It is because "He who was begotten of God keeps him." This is a glorious statement of the doctrine of the perseverance, or rather, the preservation of the saints. Christ, the only-begotten Son, actively guards, protects, and keeps His own. We persevere because He preserves. Our security does not rest in the strength of our grip on Him, but in the strength of His grip on us. And His grip is omnipotent. As Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27-28).
The result of this divine preservation is that "the evil one does not touch him." This does not mean we are immune to temptation or attack. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion. He shoots his flaming arrows. But the word "touch" here means to grasp, to lay hold of, to seize. The evil one cannot get his hooks into the true believer. He cannot land a mortal blow. He cannot reclaim his former property. We are under new ownership, living in a fortress whose walls are salvation, and the gate is guarded by the King Himself. The devil can shout insults from outside the walls, he can fire his arrows that are extinguished on the shield of faith, but he cannot breach the perimeter. He has no claim, no jurisdiction, no access.
The Great Divide (v. 19)
The second "we know" statement broadens the scope from the individual believer to the entire global situation. It draws the battle lines for all of human history.
"We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (1 John 5:19)
Here is that stark, non-negotiable contrast. "We are of God." This is a statement of origin and belonging. Our source, our life, our identity is from God. We are His children, His possession, His people. We are citizens of His kingdom. This is our fundamental reality.
But then look at the alternative. "And that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." The word for "lies in" is like a child lying in the arms of a parent. The entire world system, with its philosophies, its ambitions, its values, its entertainments, its politics, is nestled comfortably in the lap of the devil. It is his domain, his jurisdiction. He is the "god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4), the "prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2). This does not mean that every individual unbeliever is a cackling demonist, but it does mean that the operating system of the fallen world is satanic. Its foundational principle is rebellion against the true God. It seeks autonomy, it defines its own reality, and it worships the creature rather than the Creator.
This is why Christians are called to be in the world but not of it. We are resident aliens, ambassadors from a foreign King, living in occupied territory. And this is why there will always be a fundamental conflict, an antithesis, between the Church and the world. When the Church is getting along swimmingly with the world, it is a sign that the Church has been compromised, not that the world has been converted. We must not be naive. The world system is not neutral. It is not a friendly playground where we can happily coexist. It is enemy territory, and it is actively hostile to the claims of our King. We are in a war, and this verse tells us who controls the opposing army.
The Decisive Intervention (v. 20)
The third and final "we know" statement explains how this great divide was breached, and how we were transferred from one domain to the other. It is all because of a divine invasion.
"And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." (1 John 5:20)
How did we come to be "of God" when the whole world lies in the power of the evil one? The answer is that the Son of God came. History is not a closed system. God broke in. The incarnation is the D-Day of cosmic history. The Son of God invaded the devil's territory to rescue a people for Himself.
And what did He do when He came? He has "given us understanding." The natural man is blind. He is in the dark. He cannot see or understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14). But Christ, through His Spirit, performs a divine work of illumination. He opens our eyes. He gives us a new mind, a new capacity to see and know God. This is not just intellectual data; it is a spiritual apprehension of reality. He gives us the ability "so that we may know Him who is true."
And this knowledge is not distant or abstract. It is relational, it is covenantal. "And we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ." To know the true God is to be in union with Him through His Son. We are not just fans of Jesus; we are in Jesus. We are members of His body. His life is our life.
John then concludes this thought with one of the most powerful declarations of Christ's deity in all of Scripture. Speaking of Jesus Christ, he says, "This is the true God and eternal life." Jesus is not a lesser god, a created being, or a mere prophet. He is the true God. And He is eternal life. Life is not a substance or a force that God gives us. Life is a Person, and that Person is Jesus Christ. To have the Son is to have life; to not have the Son is to not have life. It is that simple. This is the heart of everything. The Son came, He gave us understanding, we know the Father because we are in the Son, and the Son is Himself the true God and our very life.
The Concluding Command (v. 21)
After these soaring affirmations of what we know, John lands the plane with a short, sharp, intensely practical command.
"Little children, guard yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21)
This might seem like an abrupt shift in topic, but it is the logical and necessary conclusion to everything he has just said. Why? Because if Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life, then anything you substitute for Him, anything you look to for life, security, or meaning apart from Him, is an idol. An idol is not just a little statue in a pagan temple. An idol is anything that takes the place of God in your heart.
John calls them "little children," a term of endearment. He knows our frame. He knows how prone our hearts are to wander. The human heart, as Calvin said, is a perpetual factory of idols. We are masters at taking good things, gifts from God like family, work, nation, security, or approval, and turning them into ultimate things. We look to them for what only God can provide. And when we do, we are committing idolatry.
This command is a call to vigilance. "Guard yourselves." This is active. We are to be sentries at the gates of our own hearts. We must constantly be asking: Where am I looking for life? What do I fear losing most? What am I trusting in for my standing, my righteousness, my future? If the answer to any of those questions is anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, the true God and eternal life, then you have found an idol. And you must smash it.
The great contrast of this passage is between being "in Him who is true" and being "in the power of the evil one." Idolatry is the mechanism by which we flirt with the devil's jurisdiction. It is an attempt to live with a divided allegiance, to serve two masters. But John has already shown us that there is no middle ground. Therefore, the only sane and faithful response to the glorious reality of knowing the true God in Jesus Christ is to ruthlessly guard our hearts from all rivals. He is the true God. He is eternal life. Let us have no other gods before Him.