...whatever you do, believe in Christ..."

Epilogue

“13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

14 And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. 16 If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one — to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

18 We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. 19 We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. 20 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. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols” 1 John 5:13-21.

Much has been written about these words of John from today’s text: “There is sin that is mortal, (that leads to death)” (verse 16). The sin that leads to death is probably the sin of denial that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, whose death was necessary for salvation. So the unforgivable sin, the sin that leads to death, may, in fact, be the sin that denies Jesus is who He says He is.

But what is most important, and an argument may be made that this is why John wrote his letter, is this: “20 …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. He is the true God and eternal life” 1 John 5:20.

At the end of the day, what seems to me to matter the most, is reflected in the opening words of John’s Epilogue: “13 I write 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 5:13. So today, in prayer, bring to the Lord a fervent prayer that you and I may believe in Jesus Christ, for that is all that matters in life. 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.