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1 John 5:13-15
He states why he has written, then turns to assurance before God, explaining how requests align with God’s will and hearing.
Meaning in context
He states why he has written, then turns to assurance before God, explaining how requests align with God’s will and hearing.
Section 4 of 6
Purpose statement and confidence in prayer
He states why he has written, then turns to assurance before God, explaining how requests align with God’s will and hearing.
Movement
Walk in light and love
Artifact
Assurance in the apostolic witness
Biblical Timeline
Apostolic Age
1 John context: AD 33 - AD 100
Biblical Timeline
Apostolic Age
1 John context
Apostolic Age / AD 33 - AD 100
1 John context is set in the apostolic age, where The early church and the writing of the New Testament.
Scripture Text
Thesis
He states why he has written, then turns to assurance before God, explaining how requests align with God’s will and hearing.
Verse by Verse
Why the letter was written The writer says he has written “these things” to a specific audience: people who believe in the name of the Son of God. His stated goal is that they would “know” they have eternal life. He also ties this purpose to ongoing trust—so their belief is not merely past but continuing.
What confidence looks like in prayer He defines a kind of boldness believers have “toward him” (toward God). This confidence is not unlimited; it is expressed in asking, with the key condition that requests align with God’s will. Under that condition, God is said to listen.
The logical result of being heard He restates the condition as shared knowledge: if believers know God listens to what they ask, then they can also know they “have” the requests they have asked. The argument moves from God’s listening to the believer’s settled confidence that the petitions are secured, even if the timing or form is not described here.
Literary Context
These verses sit near the close of 1 John, where the writer gathers themes he has been repeating—belief in the Son, assurance, and the practical outworking of that assurance. Earlier he has spoken about knowing and having eternal life in connection with the Son (compare 1 John 5:11–12), and he has already linked confidence with approaching God (compare 1 John 3:21–22). Here he turns those ideas into a direct purpose statement and a short, step-by-step claim about prayer: confidence leads to asking, asking according to God’s will leads to being heard, and being heard leads to knowing the request is secured.
Historical Context
First John is commonly placed in the later first century, when Christian groups around the eastern Mediterranean were clarifying boundaries of belief and community life after the first generation of eyewitness leaders. Meetings were typically in households, with strong relational ties and pressure from surrounding civic religion and social expectations. The letter’s tone suggests internal strain and competing claims about true belief and true knowledge, so assurance matters pastorally. In that setting, prayer language about “boldness” and being heard would encourage steady trust and continued public allegiance amid uncertainty and social cost.
Theological Significance
Questions
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These verses close out 1 John’s main aims: the writer addresses people who already believe “in the name of the Son of God,” and he says his writing is meant to produce knowledge—settled certainty—that they have eternal life (v.13). The text presents assurance as something grounded in what has been written about the Son (vv.11–12 just before this) rather than in a vague feeling.
The passage then links that assurance to “boldness” toward God in prayer (v.14). This boldness is real access, but not a blank check: asking is framed by a condition—“according to his will.” Under that condition, God “listens/hears.” The writer then draws a conclusion: if believers know God hears, they can also know they “have” the petitions asked (v.15). The argument is step-by-step: confidence → asking → God’s hearing → confident possession of what is asked.
What “these things” refers to (v.13). Some take it as the whole letter; others take it as the immediately preceding section. Either way, v.13 functions as a purpose statement aimed at strengthening certainty about eternal life for those already believing.
What it means to “have” the petitions (v.15). Some read this as the requests being granted immediately. Others read it as assurance that God has secured the answer, even if its timing or form is not yet visible. Both readings try to honor the text’s strong confidence language while also accounting for the stated condition (“according to his will”).
The wording in v.15 is very strong (“we know… we have the petitions”), but the passage does not spell out when the petition becomes visible or how God’s will shapes the outcome. Also, v.13’s “these things” is naturally ambiguous: it can point backward to a portion or summarize the whole message.
Explicitly, the passage teaches that the writer’s goal is assurance of eternal life for those who believe in the Son’s name (v.13), and that believers have a kind of boldness in approaching God (v.14). It also explicitly states a condition for confident prayer: requests aligned with God’s will are heard (v.14), and God’s hearing is presented as the basis for knowing the petitions are truly secured (v.15). Theologically inferred (but consistent with the logic) is that Christian confidence in prayer is not mainly confidence in personal power, but confidence in God’s attentive response to will-aligned asking (vv.14–15).