1 John 5:18-19
What is written? (ESV)
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
What does it say?
We know that all those who are God born don’t continue sinning and Satan can’t overpower them due to the protection of the Son of God. We know we’re God’s, and the world is Satan’s domain.
What is its immediate context?
John is defining one’s love of God by the obedience (doing) of His word (vs 3). Opposed to this is “the world” which stands in the way of a “victory” made possible by Jesus Christ (vss 4ff). John wants to remind brethern to remain stong and remember to pray to God for help (vs 13-15). The objective John’s letter is to encourage Christians to continue to “practice the truth” and “walk in the light” (1 Jn 1:6,7). Throughout it, John refers to believers as those who are “born of God”. (2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 4) It’s a phrase that he actually introduces in his gospel where he opens, “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1:12-13)
