1 John 5:1 New American Standard Bible
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
To be born of God means that one is born again. Jesus said that unless a man is born again, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3). To become born again a person must confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord. It is by faith that we come to salvation. That salvation is rooted and grounded in believing and receiving Jesus as Savior. The false teachers of John day were claiming to be in Christ while at the same time attacking the deity of Christ and causing division and discord in the body of believers.
John wrote his letter as a defense of truth and an encouragement to the believers. As followers of Christ the enemy will attack our faith and will attack the word of God. It is the child of God who diligently studies the scriptures who will be prepared for the onslaught of the enemy and will stand their ground in this great age of deception.
If we truly love the Father, we will love those who have been born of the Father. Coming to salvation is a choice on our part, but ultimately it is a work of Almighty God. For it is God who draws. It is God who grants repentance. It is God who saves. The only part we have to play in this is responding to the truth. But a litmus test of whether we have truly come to Christ is if we love our fellow brother and sister who has been born of God.
One of Satan’s great strategies is divide and conquer. If he can cause us to become offended or wounded by a fellow brother or sister and cause us to hold bitterness and forgiveness in our hearts, he has worked his strategy well. But if we choose the way of love. If we choose to love even when we don’t feel like loving, we have chosen the higher and better way.
We must remember the body of Christ is made up of a diverse group of people. People from all different places in their spiritual growth. Some have come to a place of maturity while others remain at a place of spiritual infancy. No matter we must love one another. This is the command that Jesus has given us. In God’s kingdom love is not based on feeling or emotions, it is based on sacrifice and a decision of will.
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