Rev. Philip Hoppe, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Colby, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 John 5:13-21.
As St. John concludes his epistle, he tells us that his writing gives us certainty of eternal life in Christ. This certainty is not found within us, but in the sure promise of God. That is the confidence that we have as we approach Him in prayer; we know He wants to give us all that is a part of His will, and so we ask Him for those things, knowing He will keep His promise. In that confidence, we pray for those brothers who have fallen into sin, that God would keep them in life through repentance. Even as we recognize those who have fallen from faith and are walking in sin are no longer brothers in Christ, we seek for opportunities to speak to them of Christ. Jesus is the Son of God, true God and our eternal life. Idols cannot give us what we need; only in the Son of God do we have salvation.
“The Love of God” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the three epistles written by St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. As St. John rejoiced to be the disciple loved by Jesus, so he writes his epistles to give us the same joy when we know that we are the beloved of God. God’s love for us in Jesus shapes our lives as Christians in all that we believe, say, and do.
