1 John 5:18An Understandable Version (2005 edition)We know that every person who has been [spiritually] conceived by God [and eventually born] does not continue in [a life of] sin, but God’s only conceived One [i.e., His Son] keeps him [from continuing to sin], and the evil one [i.e., Satan] does not continue to touch him [i.e., continue to control his life]. See the chapter |
It was God’s purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of “first fruits” of those He created. [Note: “First fruits” here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God’s creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].
We [who preach the true Gospel] represent God; the person who knows God listens to our message; the one who does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we can know [the difference between those speaking by] the Holy Spirit of truth and [those speaking by] the spirit of [Satan’s] error.
I know where you are living; [it is] where Satan’s throne is. And [I know] that you are holding on firmly to my name, and did not deny [your] faith in me, even in the days of my faithful witness Antipas [Note: The Greek word here for witness is “martyr”], who was killed there where you are, where Satan lives.