I John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
John plainly declares his reason for writing this Epistle; that is, he wrote to assure and strengthen the believers. He is writing to those “that” already “believe on the name of the Son of God”; that is, those who have been given Spiritual Life By the Holy Spirit (John 3:1-8) and have been made to know that Jesus Christ is “the Son of God” by God Himself (Matthew 16:17). He wrote of “These things” so that we “may know that” we “have eternal life”. Those who are in this blessed state of belief can knowingly believe that they “have eternal life” because when we hear about it, what we hear harmonizes with what God has already placed in our heart’s mind at the time of Spiritual Birth. Furthermore, he wrote that we “may believe on the name of the Son of God”. The grammatical sense is that we may be assured and strengthened in our belief “on the name of the Son of God”. We need this continual teaching and assurance because there are ungodly forces in this present world that are constantly trying to dissuade and discourage the Children of God. While we have a God-given Spiritual mind, we also have a carnal natural mind. These vile ungodly forces around us are constantly appealing to our carnal natural mind, trying to overshadow the knowledge in our Spiritual mind. Their ultimate aim is to bring us into such a confused and discouraged state of mind that they can seize control of us and lead us down the path of despair and ruin. This is the very reason we have such Commandments as: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13), “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10), “be ye stedfast, unmoveable” (I Corinthians 15:58), and “be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (I Peter 4:7). The devil and his vile minions are skilled and effective deceivers; thus, Peter instructs us to “watch” (be on vigilant guard); that is, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). And, while we are watching, we must keep right on praying for wisdom and strength to “withstand” and “stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Just like every faithful soldier, we must submit to constant training to remain proficient in our battles against the ungodly. This is one reason why God, our Heavenly Father, from the very beginning, ordered our life so that in the perpetual increment of seven days, we would assemble ourselves on the Lord’s Day to Worship and Learn from God-called Pastors-Teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Let’s be faithful to assemble and worship!