1 John 5:20 – This Is The True God
1 John 5:20 (NIV)
20 We know also that the Son of God (Jesus) has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him (God) who is true. And we are in him (God) who is true by being in his (God) Son Jesus Christ. He (God) is the true God and eternal life.
First, there are three pronouns (him, his, and he) in this passage that we have to “correctly” determine who they are referring. It is the “He” in the last sentence that frequently causes some confusion because both God and the Son of God are mentioned in the same passage. But it is the context that determines to whom the phrase “true God” applies.
The passage mentions “him that is true” two times, and both times it is clearly referring to the Father. Since this verse refers twice to the Father as “the one who is true,” that is a strong indication that “the true God” in the last part of the verse is the same being.
Second, if holding the understanding that there is only one God and none else (No God the Son, or “God the…” anything else) (Isa 45:5-6) then this phrase “true God” should mean the same wherever it is written. The phrase “true God” is used four other times in the Bible (2 Chronicles 15:3; Jeremiah 10:10; John 17:3 and 1 Thessalonians 1:9) and in all four of these places, the “true God” refers to the Father and not the Son of God.
Jer 10:10 But the LORD (H3068) is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
This becomes especially relevant in John 17:3, which is Jesus’ prayer to God. In that prayer, Jesus calls God “the only true God.”
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Ask yourself this question:
Who gives eternal life? – The answer is, only the true God.
(Remember all things are either God arranged or God allowed. Nothing takes place unless God allows it.)
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
John 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
John 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he (God) should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
1John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
In closing:
“the Son of God (Jesus) has come and has given us understanding”
What Understanding Did Jesus Provide
“And we are in him (God) who is true by being in his (God) Son Jesus Christ.”
How are we in Christ and in God at the same time? We are not literally inside the body of Christ or that of God. We are in (the will of) Christ when we are in (the will of) God (Mat 7:21, 12:50, John 14:23) who is the true God!