Can anyone really know he has eternal life?
1 John 5 and .
The short answer Settled
Yes. John wrote so that believers would know it. A believer can know now that he has eternal life, because God has said so.
Why John wrote
"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (). He says know, not hope. He says have, not will have. Jesus said the same: the one who believes "has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" ().
Resting on God's word
The knowing does not rest on how a person feels or how well he has lived. It rests on what God has said: "this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life" (). People take a man's word every day, and "the witness of God is greater" ().
A man holding the deed to his house does not say he hopes he owns it. The deed settles it, not his mood that morning.
The usual objection
No one can know in this life whether he has eternal life. That is settled at the judgment, by how a person lived to the end. A believer may hope for it, but to say he knows is presumption.
John says the opposite, and he says it to believers. Taking God at His word is not presumption. It is believing Him.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἵνα εἰδῆτε ὅτι ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχετε hina eidēte hoti zōēn aiōnion echete, "that you may know that you have eternal life" (Strong's 1492, 2222, 166, 2192) | Perfect subjunctive; present indicative | Know, not hope; have, now. | |
| Ὁ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει τὴν ζωήν Ho echōn ton huion echei tēn zōēn, "He who has the Son has life" (2192, 5207, 2222) | Present participle; present indicative | The rule God's testimony gives. | |
| μεταβέβηκεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήν metabebēken ek tou thanatou eis tēn zōēn, "has passed from death into life" (3327, 2288, 2222) | Perfect indicative | The crossing is made and stands. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.