Who
Keeps Us?
By
Arthur J Licursi
1John
5:18, appearing below, is a verse written by John the Beloved Apostle,
specifically to the believing Jews who are looking toward the Messianic
Kingdom on earth.
We
know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1John 5:18 (AKJV)
I
believe the truth learned thereby applies also to the believers who are of
“the dispensation of the grace of God. (Eph 3:2)” But, there
appears a problem for those who see and trust the Pauline truth of pure
grace in “the dispensation of the grace of God,” (Rom 6:14,
11:6) as being versus the works required by the Mosaic Law.
1 John 5:18 in the Authorized KJV seems to be a problem. This verse seems
or appears to be contrary to pure, 100% grace – rather it seems
to promote or require self-effort for one to “keep himself.”
The verse seems to indicate that the regenerated or born again
child of God must keep himself. But let’s look a little closer to
see who it is that is “the keeper.”
If
we look at the Amplified Bible it will help us to better see what is being
said.
We
know [absolutely] that anyone born of God does not [deliberately and
knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten
of God carefully watches over and
protects him [Christ’s divine presence within him preserves him
against the evil], and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on
him or
touch [him]. 1John 5:18 (AMPLIFIED)
As
we study the written (2Tim 2:15) word we will gain a better insight. We
should note that the word “himself” as it appears here
in 1 John 5:18 of the Authorized KJV is not found in the original text of
most manuscripts, but rather the word “him” (See
Companion Bible margin note), and so “himself” should be
transliterated “him” – “he that is begotten of God keepeth
him”. The Amplified, NIV or New American Standard versions of the
Bible reflect this correctly.
This
then would be consistent with our proper perspective as can be seen also
in the Lord Jesus’ capacity to keep all who believe …Jew or Gentile.
John
10:28 And I (Jesus) give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man (Gk., oudemia, no one) pluck
them out of my hand.
Here
the word “man” is more properly translated “no one,”
as seen in the NAS, NIV and Amplified. The “wicked one” of
1John 5:18 is the “no one”; he cannot touch or pluck any believer out
of the Lord’s hand.
It
will help us to clearly identify who is the “born of God” and
who it is that is “begotten of God” in 1John 5:18.
- It
is we believers who are “born of God” (John 1:13)
- It
is Jesus Christ who is the “begotten of God,” in two
ways.
1.
As the “only begotten (monogenes, “only born”) of God”
(John 1:14).
2.
He also was also called the “begotten” (gennao, procreate)
of the Father by resurrection (Rom 1:3-4), when He was raised from the
dead.
Romans
1:3-4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Hebrews
1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art
my Son, this day (resurrection) have I begotten thee?
And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Thus
we can conclude that for we who are regenerated, those born of God, we are
kept by the resurrection life of Christ (Rom 6:4b), which
now indwells our spirit (1Col 1:27, 1Cor 6:17) to be our new and
overcoming life that keeps us (John 17:11, 15). Christ keeps and saves
us by His indwelling life. Romans 5:10 For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Proper
translation of the language always requires us to see the context of a
scripture, before we can interpret that scripture for proper
understanding. Note that 1John 5:1 begins with a similarity.
1
John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God (God the Father): and every one that loveth him
that begat (God the Father) loveth him (Christ) also that is
begotten of him (God the Father). (Parenthesis inserted
by writer)
This
verse mentions both the “born of God” (1Jn 5:1a) and the “begotten
of (God) Him” (1John 5:1b). Reading from V1 through V18 we see that
the emphasis is Christ as “the begotten Son of God” who is the “life”
(V11-12) – the overcoming life, which Paul tells us indwells the
believer’s spirit (Col 1:27, 1Cor 6:17). It is this life of Christ that
keeps the child of God the Father, those who are “born of God.”
This
is not to say we have no part at all in our walk with the Lord. Let’s
see how it is that He keeps us. We, as a free-willed soul-self Christian,
do have a part in co-operating with Christ’s indwelling life. We have a
choice to yield or not to yield to the promptings (“witness in
himself” 1John 5:10), which are of the indwelling Christ. As we are
brought to yield to Him, His life prompting us within, we then are also
… instantly empowered to be kept from evil. Our yielding to the Lord
within then is a measure of our believing and trusting Him; this then is
the “overcoming” faith (1John 5:4) that saves us, “day by day”
(2Cor 4:16).
In
honesty, we must admit that we do not always want to yield; rather we may
choose to exert our own self preference in a situation, independent of
Christ’s promptings within us.
Example:
We may be tempted to retaliate for being wronged by somebody, or seek our
own interest in some way.
We
can be confident that even in this failure of ours our Father is still
then always working to bring us “both to will and to do of His good
pleasure.” How is that possible? He permits us to reap the
consequences of our self-seeking and independent actions; we may suffer
the pain of failure in self-dependence or in harmed relationships, and/or
at least, embarrassment. Thus we learn obedience to yield to the prompting
of the indwelling and saving life of Christ within, who likely was trying
to retrain us from within – we know Christ via our conscience speaks to
us. This then is the Christ of God “working in us to will and to do
of His good pleasure” (Philip 2:13).
Thankfully,
we may be confident in His work to keep us. Philip. 1:6 Being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ
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