Having It, and Living In It
- Chris Gambrell
- Jun 26
- 10 min read
On possessing and inhabiting eternal life — a reading of 1 John 5
There is a distinction between possessing something and living within it, which is central to John’s first letter. He states clearly: I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). The goal is not to obtain eternal life—if you are in Christ, you already have it—but to know it and, knowing it, to begin living as though it is true.
A familiar comparison remains true: a wedding is a day, but a marriage is a lifetime. Vows are made in a moment, but living them out requires lifelong commitment. Similarly, when you trust Christ, you are justified, adopted, and made new instantly—a completed work that cannot be undone. However, the life that begins then is meant to be fully lived, which takes time. It is possible to possess eternal life yet remain unfamiliar with much of it, like owning the deed to a house you have never entered.
It is important to avoid the misconception that John divides Christians into ordinary and advanced categories. The life he describes is not reserved for a select few; it is what genuine spiritual life looks like. John’s letter is written so we may know we have eternal life, and the signs he highlights—walking in the light, loving others, holding to the Son, and keeping His commands—are not barriers to a higher level but evidence of true life. Growing in God is not about surpassing normal Christianity but about inhabiting what every Christian already possesses.
John explains that spiritual life moves in two directions, forming a unified whole. The first is vertical—what older translations call abiding and the CSB calls remaining. Jesus said, Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me (John 15:4). Remaining is not occasional; it is the difference between a branch connected to the tree and a cut flower in a vase. To remain is to stay close to Him, include Him in daily life, and desire what He desires. If you love me, you will keep my commands (John 14:15)—not as a requirement for His love but as the natural expression of genuine love.
The second direction is horizontal, and John insists these cannot be separated. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar (1 John 4:20). Pursuing God while distancing yourself from His people is inconsistent, as loving the family is integral to loving the Father. A believer who isolates from the community begins to wither—not because God withholds Himself but because Christ’s life is meant to flow through His body. We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters (1 John 3:14). Love is not the cause of life; it is its evidence. When both upward connection and outward love are present, eternal life is not only possessed but experienced.
***
John identifies a form of love often overlooked. If anyone sees a fellow believer committing a sin that does not lead to death, he should ask, and God will give him life (1 John 5:16). Loving the family involves more than comfort; it means caring enough to address destructive behavior. Paul emphasizes gentleness: if someone is overtaken in wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted (Galatians 6:1). James highlights its importance: whoever turns a sinner from error will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19–20). Jesus provides a process: go first in private, rebuke him in private; if he listens, you have won your brother (Matthew 18:15).
Note the verbs: restore, turn back, win. The goal is not to condemn but to recover those who have strayed. A parent who allows a child to run into traffic without intervening does not truly love that child; he simply avoids the discomfort of correction. Genuine love seeks to correct what is wrong, like a brace gradually straightening what is crooked—not out of anger or superiority but out of genuine concern. We are given to one another, in part, to help guide each other back before a wrong path leads to lasting harm.
This leads to the question of what true repentance is. The New Testament uses the Greek word metanoia, meaning a change of mind that results in a changed direction. Repentance is an internal decision that leads to outward change. Simply saying 'I’m sorry' is not repentance; sorrow may open the door, but it only acknowledges the wrong without turning from it. Paul distinguishes the two: godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death (2 Corinthians 7:10). One leads to change; the other does not.
Consider driving the wrong way on a highway and realizing your mistake. You may feel regret, but unless you change direction, nothing has truly changed. Repentance is not just regret; it is taking the exit, making the turn, and heading home. John the Baptist said, Produce fruit consistent with repentance (Matthew 3:8), and Paul said, "Do works worthy of repentance (Acts 26:20). The change in direction shows the sorrow was genuine. Sometimes making that turn is difficult, and we may need help from others. This is why the community is called to support one another; sometimes, love is the helping hand that guides us back.
This leads to the question of what true repentance is. The New Testament uses the Greek word metanoia, meaning a change of mind that results in a changed direction. Repentance is an internal decision that leads to outward change. Simply saying 'I’m sorry' is not repentance; sorrow may open the door, but it only acknowledges the wrong without turning from it. Paul distinguishes the two: godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death (2 Corinthians 7:10). One leads to change; the other does not.
***
Before concluding, John shifts focus from the family of believers to the world around them. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one (1 John 5:19). This is not a call to panic, but to realism. The world’s value systems are not neutral; there is an opposing will that seeks to shape our perspectives and priorities, often in ways that replace God’s truth. John urges us not to be naive about this influence.
John’s final words are a clear warning: Little children, guard yourselves from idols (5:21). An idol is not limited to a physical object; it is anything that takes the place meant for God—any treasure, source, or object of trust, fear, or longing. Idolatry is not a private matter; it affects others as well. Paul is direct: what the nations sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and you cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:20–21). Scripture acknowledges the real consequences of misplaced worship.
The remedy for idolatry is clear. John does not offer a ritual or technique, but instructs us to guard ourselves by keeping our worship pure and refusing to give idols a place. Paul echoes this: put to death what belongs to your earthly nature… and greed, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Overcoming idolatry is not a passive process; it requires reordering our worship toward the true God, who is Himself eternal life (5:20). Idols are displaced, not by direct confrontation, but by giving God His rightful place. Guard yourselves from idols by remaining in the true God and honoring Him alone.
John says something near here that sounds, on its face, impossible. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin (1 John 5:18). He has said it before, more starkly still: Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9). The CSB does not soften it. It does not read “does not keep on sinning”; it reads, he is not able to sin. And yet the same letter has already told us, just as plainly, that if we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves (1:8), and has given us the remedy for when we do sin: we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous one (2:1). John is not contradicting himself in the space of four chapters. He is describing two things at once.
Coming to Christ means more than forgiveness; it means transformation. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). God plants something new within you—a seed of new life that cannot be at home in sin. This does not mean you are incapable of sinning, but that the new life within you is fundamentally opposed to sin. The direction of a person born of God is away from sin, because the new life draws them in that direction.
Consider the word: seed. A seed is not a small tree, but it contains the potential for a full tree, though little may be visible at first. We must avoid two errors. The first is to treat the seed as a separate, sinless self within us, while the old self continues unchanged. John rejects this idea. He calls us to take responsibility for our own transformation; the new life is not an excuse for ignoring personal growth.
The second error is to assume the seed grows on its own, requiring no effort from us. Scripture does not describe sanctification as a passive process. It is God’s work in us, but we are called to participate: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to act for his good purpose (Philippians 2:12–13). The seed grows through the means God provides—remaining in Christ, loving others, and putting sin to death. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13). Like a seed, new life grows only when nurtured; left unattended, it remains dormant. The new life in you is meant to grow as it stays close to its source.
***
Ultimately, everything depends on a person and His identity. The text concludes with a bold statement: He is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20). John emphasizes that life is found only in the Son because the Son is Himself the true God and eternal life. Speaking of His two natures is not an external concept, but the letter’s conclusion. He is fully God and fully man—tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15)—and therefore understands our experience. One person, two natures, united and undivided. This is not an abstraction, but the foundation for His ability to reach us.
He did not become the Son for the purpose of redemption; He was already the Son when He was sent. God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16); God sent His Son, born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). Sonship is not a temporary role but His eternal identity. He took on our humanity—our flesh and frailty—and in redemption, submitted to the Father’s will. This submission does not imply inferiority; He is equal to the Father and eternally the Son. It is the eternal Son who humbled Himself.
We should also consider the title Jesus used most often for Himself: the Son of Man. This title is not only a reminder of His humanity, but also refers to Daniel’s vision of one like a son of man… coming with the clouds of heaven, who approaches the Ancient of Days and is given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him (Daniel 7:13–14). The Son of Man signifies authority, not weakness—the one to whom the nations are given and whose dominion is everlasting. The title encompasses both His humanity and His exalted status.
This leads to the image of the stairway. Early in John’s Gospel, Nathanael is found by Philip, who announces they have found the One Moses wrote about. Nathanael is skeptical until Jesus reveals knowledge of his actions— I saw you under the fig tree—prompting Nathanael to confess Him as the Son of God, the King of Israel. Jesus responds with a promise: you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51), which likely refers to what Nathanael was contemplating.
Jesus refers to Jacob’s dream at Bethel, where Jacob saw a stairway… set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it (Genesis 28:12). This stairway connected Jacob’s location to heaven. Jesus places Himself at the center of this image: the stairway is not an object, but a person. He is the connection between earth and heaven, the only way from our place of exile to God. All references to remaining upward are grounded in Him, as there is no access to God except through Him.
The first thing John shows us Him doing, once Nathanael has taken Him at His word, is a wedding running out of wine. He turns water into wine, and John tells us exactly what the sign was for: He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him (John 2:11). Not a spectacle to dazzle them, but a glory unveiled so that faith could take hold. That is what the signs are always for in John—windows onto who He is. We should want the glory and not the spectacle, the One revealed and not merely the wonder.
So here is the shape of it. You possess eternal life the moment you trust the Son, and nothing can take it from you. But you come to live inside it the way a marriage is lived into rather than merely entered—by remaining in Him upward and loving His family outward, by turning back when you wander instead of feeling sorry and driving on, by guarding your worship from every idol that would make itself your source, and by letting the seed of the new creation grow, in its soil and season, into what it already is. None of it is the achievement of the advanced. All of it is simply the life—the life John wrote down so that you would know you have it, and knowing, would no longer live as a stranger to your own inheritance.
He is the true God and eternal life. The stairway is set against the ground. Remain. Love. Turn when you must. And let the seed grow.
Comments