1 John 5:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Here, as it were, a conclusion is drawn. I have written this to you, he says, as heirs of eternal life. For this could not have been written for those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life, because it is not praiseworthy to give what is holy to dogs and cast pearls before swine (Mt 7:6). Recalling what has been said, he repeats first that one must believe without doubt in the name of the Son of God, that is, in the worship of God handed down to us by Him. For this, as we have said, is the meaning of the name of the Son of God.

In conclusion the apostle repeats the main point and says: I have written this to you as heirs of eternal life. For this cannot be addressed to those who do not live in accordance with the hope of eternal life. It is not praiseworthy to give what is holy to dogs or to cast pearls before swine.

The Apostle's words also remind us of that great and consoling truth: if we Orthodox Christians have true faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, then we have eternal life.

To some, will this not seem strange or incomprehensible? How is it that we have eternal life? It is so: Jesus Christ is our life. He Himself says of Himself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me" (Jn 14:6).

If by faith and love we are united to the Lord Jesus, then in Him, our Savior, we have eternal life. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and unto the ages" (Heb 13:8). Therefore our life in Him has no end, if only we remain faithful to Him unto death.

By these words the Apostle not only redoubles attention to the subject of which he speaks. At the same time, he defines with the greatest precision the aim toward which his instruction tends.

Those who believe in the Son of God have here heard the desired voice of the steward of God's grace. Through their faith they have already been made partakers of eternal life.

For them, even when the soul is stripped of the corruptible body, there will be no death. There will be a departure from things most sorrowful to things most profitable and most sweet, and to rest and joy (the fourth prayer at Pentecost).

For faithful is He who has spoken: "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (Jn 6:54).

This inner testimony concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which belongs to the believer, does not have persuasive force for the unbeliever (1 Jn 5:10, 12). “But I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God” (cf. Jn 3:23 and note), so that they may know this and be confirmed in the knowledge and awareness of eternal life. “Here, as it were, a conclusion is drawn. I have written this to you, he says, as heirs of eternal life. For this could not have been written for those who do not live according to the hope of eternal life, because it is not praiseworthy to give what is holy to dogs and cast pearls before swine” (Mt 7:6; Theophylact).

"He who has the Son of God," that is, who believes in Him with his soul and heart, "has life. ... These things I have written to you, that you may know that you, believing in the Son of God, have eternal life" (1 Jn 5:12, 13).

The Apostle then says that the good possessed by believers gives them such confidence that they will be heard in all their prayers, provided, of course, that these prayers accord with the will of God. An example is prayer for the correction and salvation of a sinning brother.

Yet here one must make a great distinction between ordinary sins and sins unto death, for which the Apostle does not command prayer (1 Jn 5:14-17).

The Apostle John presents the Christian hope of eternal life as so certain and living that, in its bestowal, as though already accomplished, he points to a most important testimony to the Godhead of Jesus Christ. Clearly, this testimony, like the general state of Christian souls, could be intelligible only to Christians.

Unbelievers themselves are at fault because they do not wish, through faith, to be assured of the truth of God's testimony. Therefore they regard it with mistrust. Yet if they believed, everything would be opened to them. As living men, they would see all and understand all. Without this, they are as though dead.