1 João 5

1 João 5:1

Constable says "The first part of this verse is one of the clearest statements in Scripture of what a person has to do to be saved (cf. John 20:31). There is no other way that John ever defined a Christian. We must believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (i.e., the Anointed One whom God promised to provide as a substitute sacrifice for the sins of the world). What defines a Christian is his or her faith in Jesus Christ, not lifestyle, good works, or obedience to God." While no one would argue that belief in Christ is the only way to salvation, Constable then goes on to state that there is no role for lifestyle, good works or obedience to God as evidence that one is truly a Christian! Is that really what the Bible teaches (cf Jas 2:14-26+)? Yes, he is correct that faith alone saves, but the faith that truly saves is not alone and John goes on in 1Jn 5:1-5 to give evidences of a faith that truly saves, including a faith that loves fellow believers and a faith that obeys God's commandments. John told us how to be saved in his Gospel (Jn 20:31+ - see uses of pisteuo in the Gospel versus the Epistle) and what he is doing now is giving several lines of evidence that show one is truly a Christian, and the first evidence is that he continues to believe in Jesus. To show how important continuing belief is as evidence genuine regeneration here is an example from Constable's former associate Zane Hodges who had no problem saying that a close friend who had totally abandoned the Christian faith and no longer believed things he once preached and taught was still genuinely saved! John would say whoever does not continue believing is not born of God! (For a complete discussion see item #7 in the paper entitled The Unusual and Troubling Teachings of Zane Hodges.) Let me introduce you to another man named Charles Templeton (see my short article The Tragic Tale of Charles Templeton), who carried on evangelistic crusades with Billy Graham, and ostensibly appeared to be a man born of God. Years later Templeton rejected the truth about God in his book Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith. BORROW the book and see page 232), where he listed 16 things that he now believed (you will be flabbergasted by his list!) I have several personal examples that are similar to Templeton's journey. You cannot convince me that John's words "Whoever continues to believe that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" is not a critically important "test" of one's eternal fate! As an aside, while we are saved by faith alone, that initial faith must be genuine and not fake faith. Does the latter occur in the New Testament? Absolutely. Notice in John 2:23-24+ we read "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name (ED: Ostensibly this sounds like they were genuine believers, but read on), beholding His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men." (Jn 2:23-24+) John