Kept by our Savior
From the text, John continues to provide reasons why the true child of God will not be in the habit of continually sinning. In v. 16, it is the prayers of believers for one another that sustains each one to be firm in their resolve to continue to live lives pleasing to God. Now, he is saying to the believers that it is the Lord Jesus Christ that keeps them secured in His hands so that the enemy, Satan, will not have the power over them. “For God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them” (1 John 5:18). John begins this section of passages with the phrase “We know.” Once again, he is emphasizing the fact that Christians have the certainty and assurance that God’s power will keep them to overcome sin. Satan will not be able to lay hold of them for God will keep them secured. The Lord Jesus Christ promised that those who belong to Him, those who believed Him by faith and have trusted Him, will never be harmed by Satan spiritually for eternity. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one” (John 10:28-30). Not only that the power of God that takes hold of the life of believers but also the fact that they belong to the family of God. “We know that we are children of God” (1 John 5:19a). What John says here is very important for everyone lives in two families: Christ or Satan. “So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil” (1 John 3:10). The ones who do not belong to God are swayed easily by the world which is under the control of the evil one. It is either we are members of the family of God or not. We were once belonging to the world when we have not received Christ as Lord and Savior but since we realized and repented of our sinfulness and received God’s offer of new life, we became members of the family of God. “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:12-13). Because of the spiritual life that we have, we have spiritual understanding that God gave us and we now know what is true for we know Christ who is true.
Blessings,
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