1 John 5:17-19 - All wrongdoing is sin

5:17

All sin is wrong, and sometimes this leads to death. We react against this in our silly “do not judge” age, but we should not. Sin is serious and has serious consequences. The correct response to sin is to repent, definitely not to condone or affirm, as many in the church seem all too keen to do. However, sometimes a person will die, when that happens there is nothing more we can do.

5:18

John gives two further features of the Christian, the one born of God. Describing believers as those “born of God” is so important to our understanding. All too often when people speak of Christianity they speak of it as a human endeavour, from a purely human perspective. But someone who is a Christian (in a Biblical sense) is someone who has been born of God, something supernatural has taken place. We need to look at ourselves, and indeed at the whole of life from a God perspective. So if we are born of God we will not continue to sin (in the sense of habitually and deliberately, seeing at as acceptable). So someone who has a teaching that affirms sin is definitely not led by the Spirit. Then John tells us about our protection. We are protected by Jesus (“he who was born of God”). The evil one cannot touch us. This does not mean we will never suffer, the Bible makes that much clear, but we need have no fear, and he cannot touch our salvation.

5:19

This verse sets out the situation very starkly. We are from God, and the world lies in the power of the evil one. So then, why do so many “Christians” seem so keen to follow the so-called wisdom of the world? Do such a thing is utter foolishness, and it is an utterly evil step to take.