The Son and the gift of eternal life
The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:12-13 CSB
Closing this section of pivotal salvation truth, John states a simple, yet crucial truth: “The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Jesus stated in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The only path for salvation is through the Son. Apart from the Son, there is no life. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” To accept the Son is to have eternal life, yet to reject Him leads to perishing forever. There is no other way. Nothing we can do can save us, except to repent of our sin and accept Jesus as our Savior. John then follows this up with a summary of his letter to the believers, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” John did something similar at the end of the Gospel of John in John 20:31, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The purpose of the Gospel of John was for the readers to be able to experience life through accepting Jesus Christ and believing in Him. As we have stated previously as a reminder, John is writing this particular letter, 1 John, to believers who are under persecution from antichrists and false teachers who are sowing seeds of doubt as to what true salvation is. John states that his whole purpose of the letter is to encourage the believers that they are saved by knowing that Jesus is your Savior and believing in Him. So for us, a key question remains: have you made that decision to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you do, you can be confident that you have life and life eternal. You do not need to doubt this salvation, for Jesus Christ guarantees that nothing will change that status in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.” But, if you do not have that relationship with Jesus, as John says, “the one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
