Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Blog
→
He Who Believes That Jesus Is the Christ Is Born of God (1 John 5:1)

He Who Believes That Jesus Is the Christ Is Born of God (1 John 5:1)

March 25, 2020 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 John 5:1, believing that Jesus is the Christ, John 11:25-27, the meaning of the Christ

I received a super question from Europe via email:

I have got a question for your podcast or for a blog article. How can you know what “Christ” means, without John 11:25-27? And can you recommend a monograph about what “Jesus is the Christ” means?

I have got the impression that only a few theologians even think about what it means, although it is very important for a person to get eternal life.

If everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1), then it is vital that we know what John means by the expression the Christ.

Years ago, a friend who is a linguistic genius and has two master’s degrees in NT Greek, one master’s degree in Latin, and a Ph.D. in Patristic Greek (from UCLA), challenged me about what the Christ means. He said that the meaning is clearly the anointed one. Thus in his view, to believe that Jesus is the Christ is not to believe anything about my eternal salvation (as I had argued in print). Instead, it is simply believing that Jesus is God’s beloved, His anointed.

I disagree with my friend. John is clear that the expression the Christ means more than Jesus is the Anointed One. It is a Messianic title that is linked to the salvation He gives to all who believe in Him.

To believe that Jesus is the Christ in the sense that John uses that expression is to believe that He guarantees everlasting life that can never be lost to all who believe in Him for it. We see that clearly in John 11:25-27. After Jesus explains that He will raise from the dead in glorified bodies all who believe in Him and that “he who lives and believes in Me shall never die [spiritually],” He asks Martha, “Do you believe this?” She indicates that she does believe it, and she explains why. She believes what He said because she knows that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God who is to come into the world.” In other words, the promised Messiah is now here, and she believes His promise of everlasting life to the believer.

That is not the only place in which everlasting life is linked with believing that Jesus is the Messiah. In the purpose statement of John’s Gospel (John 20:30-31), John indicates that he has written the signs in his Gospel so that the readers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing that, they might have eternal life in His name.

1 John 5:1 says the same thing. But to see that, one needs to compare 1 John 5:1 with 1 John 2:24-26 and 1 John 5:9-13. To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe His promise of everlasting life to all who believe in Him.

In his commentary on 1-3 John, Hodges explains 1 John 5:1 in this way: “John’s definition of a Christian brother is simple and direct. Whoever (there are no exceptions!) believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. In this verse John recalls the thematic statement of his Gospel” (p. 212). Then he continues, “a Christian is not defined by lifestyle, good works, or obedience to God. A Christian is defined only by faith in Christ” (p. 212). He goes on to point out that the reason John is bringing this up here is that he is saying that believers are to love their spiritual brethren. They are not to be fruit inspectors and decide that so–and–so can’t be “a real Christian” and hence I don’t need to love him.

Hodges concludes concerning 1 John 5:1, “When it comes to loving a Christian brother, whether or not he is living worthily of his Christian faith is totally irrelevant…I love the child of God…because I love the Father of that child! And if I do not love the child, I am simply lying if I say that I love his Father (4:20)” (p. 213).

John 4:25, when linked with John 4:10-14, shows that believing that Jesus is the Christ is to believe in Him for everlasting life.

Peter’s confession in John 6:68-69 links Jesus’ words of eternal life with the fact that He is the Christ, the Son of God. (Peter and the other disciples, except Judas, already believed in Jesus and were born again. In verse 68, Peter is speaking of the fact that the Lord Jesus was teaching them more about the life which they had. However, even though he was not specifically saying that all who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God have eternal life, that is implicit in what he was saying. Only those who have come to believe in Him as Messiah are ready to grow in their understanding of eternal life.)

For more on the truth that whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, see this 1990 article by Brad McCoy.

I am not aware of a book or monograph on the subject.

Subscribe by Email

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
Bob_W

by Bob Wilkin

Bob Wilkin (ThM, PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the Founder and Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society and co-host of Grace in Focus Radio. He lives in Highland Village, TX with his wife, Sharon. His latest books are Faith Alone in One Hundred Verses and Turn and Live: The Power of Repentance.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

Cart

Recently Added

February 3, 2023

Romans–Part 05–The Solution

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Kathryn Wright and Ken Yates conclude this short series as they get to the good part of the...
February 3, 2023

Here’s Why Your February Partner’s Letter Will Be Late

We send a letter each month to those who financially support the ministry of GES. We call the newsletter Partners in Grace. We try to...
February 2, 2023

Romans–Part 04–The Problem

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Ken Yates and Kathryn Wright continue this short series about Romans. Jumping to Chapter 3, they begin with...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Confident in Christ, 2nd Edition $22.00 $5.00
  • Inerrancy for Dummies $7.95 $5.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Paperback) $6.95 $3.00
  • Grudem Against Grace: A Defense of Free Grace Theology $15.00 $10.00
  • The Journey of Faith $15.00 $9.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube