1 John 5:13 13I write these things to you so that you might know that you have eternal life, to those who believe in the name of the Son of God.
John reminds the readers of his central purpose for writing this letter. His point has been repeated in numerous ways and summarizes the previous section about the witness of the Holy Spirit to those who believe and receive eternal life. The keyword is know (eidēte) found in the purpose clause. The content of the knowledge is the assurance of eternal life. The type of knowledge needed is not intellectual only, though we need to accept the historical fact that Jesus existed as a real person, lived, died, and was resurrected. This knowledge is also relational, expressed as faith that Jesus is indeed the divine Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Faith and knowledge need to be expressed through obedience and living in righteousness as Jesus did.
Thus, the way we can know we have eternal life is if we have faith in Jesus and live in obedience to his command of love. The Holy Spirit will confirm or convict us about relational knowledge. If we have doubts, we can turn to God in confession of our sins and reject the life of sinning and darkness. The Holy Spirit will give us strength to overcome these and live in a new way. However, the responsibility to respond is on us.
The key question is, what does it mean to believe in the name of the Son of God? The word believe (pisteuousin) can also be translated as “trust.” To believe is to put one’s trust in someone or something, accepting that it is true and trustworthy. Jesus is the only uniquely born Son of God, fully representing God’s love to humanity. Faith in this claim opens the way to deeper insights about the person of Jesus and is the beginning of a journey of life transformation. It brings us into a relationship with God. The Holy Spirit will confirm this in our lives.