Outline
I
In 1 John 5:14-17 there is the indication not only that we have eternal life and enjoy it but also that we can minister this life to other members of the Body:
A
Verses 14 through 17 show us that the eternal life within us can overcome death both in ourselves and in other members of the church.
B
Verse 16 is the only reference in the Bible to ministering life to someone:
１
To minister life is to impart life.
２
When we have the surplus of life, we can minister from this supply to others—v. 16.
C
Verse 14 speaks of prayer in the fellowship of eternal life:
１
We should ask according to God’s will, not according to our way, desire, or preference.
２
The prayer that is according to God’s will indicates that the praying one is abiding in the fellowship of the divine life and is also abiding in the Lord Himself, and thus he is truly one with the Lord—John 15:4-5.
３
The knowing in 1 John 5:15 is based on the fact that after receiving the divine life, we abide in the Lord and are one with Him in our praying to God in His name—John 15:7, 16; 16:23-24.
４
In 1 John 5:16 he shall ask and he will give life refer to the same person, that is, to the one who sees his brother sinning and asks concerning him:
ａ
Such an asker, who is abiding in the Lord, who is one with the Lord, and who is asking in one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17), becomes the means, the channel, by which God’s life-giving Spirit can give life to the ones for whom he is asking.
ｂ
This is a matter of ministering life in the fellowship of the divine life.
５
The vital point is that if we would pray for a brother according to what is described in 1 John 5:16, we need to be one with the Lord—John 15:7.
D
The ministry of life is to minister as life the Christ whom we have experienced—2 Cor. 1:3-4:
１
The ministry comes out by the working of the cross; it is by the way of the cross that we have the riches of Christ as life to minister to others—4:12.
２
How much life and how much reality of the riches of Christ we can minister depends upon how much revelation we have received and how much we have suffered for what has been revealed to us—Eph. 3:8.
Morning Nourishment
1 John 5:16-17 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask and he will give life to him, to those sinning not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he should make request concerning that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not unto death.John uses what he has written in 1 John 5:4-13 as a basis to show us that this eternal life can overcome death. We have received eternal life, and this life has been testified, proved, and pledged within us…[In 5:14-17 John shows] us that the eternal life within us can overcome death both in ourselves and in other members of the church. Eternal life swallows up death within us and death within other members.
In the church life we do not live alone. Because the church is the Body, we live with the fellow members of the Body. Since we are in the Body, we are members with the other fellow members. Eternal life not only takes care of our own need; it also takes care of the need of the fellow members around us. It overcomes death within us, and it overcomes death within our brothers. Especially, it overcomes death in those who are weak or who have problems. (Life-study of 1 John, p. 326)
Today’s Reading
First John 5:14 speaks of asking according to God’s will, not according to our desire, preference, or way…A person who asks according to God’s will is one who has been regenerated, who has the divine life, and who is in the fellowship of the divine life…A person who prays in the fellowship of the divine life is truly one with the Lord. It is in this way that we know God’s will: by being one with Him, by abiding in Him, and by remaining in the fellowship of the divine life.The prayer that is according to the will of God indicates that the praying one is abiding in the fellowship of the divine life and is also abiding in the Lord Himself…This makes it possible to have boldness toward God. When we are in the fellowship of the divine life and our conscience is without offense, we have peace with God, and we also have boldness to pray not according to our feeling but according to His will. Because we pray according to His will, He hears us.
In 5:15 John goes on to say, “And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” This knowing is based on the fact that after having received the divine life, we abide in the Lord and are one with Him in our praying to God in His name (John 15:7, 16; 16:23-24).
In 1 John 5:16 John comes to his point in this section…Here John is saying that if anyone sees his brother, someone close to him in the Lord, sinning a sin not unto death, he should ask concerning that one. The word ask here must refer to a prayer made when we are abiding in fellowship with God. The subject of will give life is still he, the subject of the first predicate shall ask. This indicates that the asker will give life to the one for whom he is asking. This does not mean that the asker has life of himself and can give life by himself to others. It means that such an asker, who is abiding in the Lord, who is one with the Lord, and who is asking in one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17), becomes the means by which God’s life-giving Spirit can give life to the ones for whom he is asking. This is a matter of life-imparting in the fellowship of the divine life. To be one who can give life to others, we must abide in the divine life and walk, live, and have our being in the divine life. In James 5:14-16 the prayer is for healing; here the prayer is for life-imparting.
The vital point here is that if we would pray for a brother according to what is described in 1 John 5:16, we need to be one with the Lord. We must abide in the Lord and ask in one spirit with Him. Because we are so one with the Lord, we can become the means, the channel, through which God’s life-giving Spirit can impart life to the one for whom we ask. This imparting of life takes place in the fellowship of the divine life. (Life-study of 1 John, pp. 327-329)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msgs. 37, 39