“By THIS We Know” - 1 John 5:1-5 (ESV)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Introduction
1 John 2:18-19 (ESV)
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that anticrhist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain they all are not of us.”

1 John 4:1 (ESV)
“1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

John 20:30-31 (ESV)
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book; 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.”

1 John 5:13 (ESV)
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

1 John 5:1-5 Roadmap
    1. What do we say we believe? (5:1, 5)
    2. How do we know belief is real? (5:2-3)
    3. Why does belief matter? (5:4-5)

Question 1
1) What Do We Say We Believe? (5:1-5)

Ezekiel 36:26-28 (ESV)
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Question 2
2) How Do We Know Belief Is Real? (5:2-4)

John 15:17 (NIV84)
“This is my command: love one another.”

John 13:35 (ESV)
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Question 3
3) Why Does Belief Matter? (5:4-5)

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

“The new birth is a supernatural event that takes us out of the sphere of the world, where Satan rules, and into the family of God. We have been delivered from the dominion of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). The spell of the old life has been broken. The fascination of the world has lost its appeal.”
John R. W. Stott

John 16:33 (ESV)
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Revelation 12:11 (ESV)
“And they have conquered [overcome] him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony [confession], for they loved not their lives even unto death.”