There is a group of people that claim to be the witnesses of God, they even call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. And they claim to be propagating the truth that God wants revealed. They claim to be echoing the witness of God. But the truth that God once revealed, the true witness of Jehovah God is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, God incarnate. And the so-called Jehovah's Witnesses are liars because they deny the very thing to which God gives witness in the New Testament,. The Jehovah's Witness religious movement says that Jesus may be called "a" god, small "g," but not THE God. They say He is mighty but not the Almighty. They say He was created by Jehovah, He is not a member of the Trinity, there is no Trinity. They say that the Son during His pre-human state was really an angel by the name of Michael. They further say that the Son did not even possess immortality. He was created and created to die. They teach that when Christ was born of Mary, He ceased being a spirit person all together and became nothing more than a human being…The Jehovah's Witnesses also teach that Jesus became, or took on, the role of Messiah when He was baptized. It was there that God made this human being His spiritual Son. And so He was first a created angel, then a created man, and finally the spiritual Son. The Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus physically, literally arose from the dead. Well you can see from this mish-mash that these people are not Jehovah's witnesses. They are not witnesses of the true God. They do not echo God's witness. They do not echo God's testimony concerning His Son. They are liars and they are representatives of the father of lies, they are the devil's witnesses. And they have many old heresies reframed in their system, very old heresies that come from ancient Gnosticism. (http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/62-38/the-witness-of-god-part-1)
The apostle John has relentlessly hammered home throughout this epistle the truth that a correct view of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential to salvation (1 John 1:1–4, 2:22, 3:23). In 1 John 4:1–2 John warned his readers against false teachers who deny the truth about Jesus Christ. John began chapter 5 by reminding his readers that only the one who “believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (v. 1), while again we note that verse 13 is the key to the entire letter: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (v. 13). John’s purpose is to demonstrate that there is more than adequate evidence to prove that Jesus is the Son of God who provides eternal life to all who believe in him (Akin, D. L. (2001). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 38, p. 195). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
• If we don’t therefore understand the witness of God about His Son then we don’t have eternal life, we will die in our sins, and face the eternal wrath of God. The message of the testimony of God in 1 John 5, not only is the message of life but a message of hope and direction for those who may be deceived, lost or confused.
In keeping with the biblical injunction that “every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (2 Cor. 13:1; cf. Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16; 1 Tim.5:19; Heb. 10:28), John presents three aspects of God’s witness to Jesus Christ. Then, after delineating 1) the particulars of the Father’s testimony to the Son (1 John 5:6–9), the apostle reveals 2) the purpose of that testimony (1 John 5:11), and, finally, closes this section by illustrating 3) its power (1 John 5:10, 12).
1) The Particulars of God’s Testimony (1 John 5:6–9)
1 John 5:6–9 6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. (ESV)
In 1 John 5:1–5, John described the joys and blessings of overcomers, those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But the apostle knew that many would ask why they should believe that Jesus is who John claimed Him to be. After all, Israel rejected Him; “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). The Jews contemptuously referred to Him as a lying deceiver (Matt. 27:63), guilty of leading the people astray (John 7:12, 47; Luke 23:2) and of fomenting insurrection against Rome (Luke 23:5; cf. John 11:47–48). They blasphemously accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard (Matt. 11:19), of being insane (John 10:20; cf. Mark 3:21), and, most heinous of all, of being demon-possessed (John 8:48; cf. v. 52; 7:20; Matt. 9:34; 10:25; 12:24; cf. vv. 31–32). Ultimately, their murderous hatred of Jesus led them to call for His crucifixion (Matt. 27:22–23). Why then, in light of Israel’s rejection, should anyone believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God Incarnate, the only Savior of sinners? Because of the infallible, unassailable, incontrovertible testimony of God Himself. The pre-existent Son of God, was sent from heaven by God to do His will. He came to earth to fulfill His Mission. In His fulfillment of it, two events are prominent: the Baptism by which He was consecrated to His Messianic work, and the Passion by which He completed His work of atonement and propitiation (Brooke, A. E. (1912). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Johannine epistles (p. 131). New York: C. Scribner’s Sons.)
Identifying Jesus Christ here as: “the one(Houtos) stresses Christ’s uniqueness. This One and no other is God the Son, who came into the world. Jesus Christ’s life did not begin when He was born; He had existed from all eternity (John 1:1–2). The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the glorious central truth of redemptive history and the foundation of the Christian faith. It is to the coming of the Son and to His deity that the Father testifies in this passage. John gives three elements of that confirming testimony: the water, the blood, and the Spirit. It is best to see the water here as a reference to Christ’s baptism and the blood as a reference to His death. Those two notable events bracketed the Lord’s earthly ministry, and in both of them the Father testified concerning His Son. Both are metonymies in which water and blood symbolize something else to which they are each related (Derickson, G. W. (2012). First, Second, and Third John. (H. W. House, W. H. Harris III, & A. W. Pitts, Eds.) (1 Jn 5:6). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.).
The phrase not by/with the water only, but by/with the water and the blood is not redundant, but addresses an important theological point. John was (addressing) those heretics (like Cerinthus) who believed that the heavenly Christ descended upon Jesus at his baptism, but withdrew from him before his death (cf. Irenaeus, Against All Heresies 3.3.4). (This is why John) stresses …the fact that Jesus Christ is the one who came “not by the water only, but by the water and the blood.” Against the heretical opinion that a merely human Jesus experienced baptism and crucifixion, John insists that he was already Messiah (Jesus the “Christ”) on both occasions (Smalley, S. S. (1989). 1, 2, 3 John (Vol. 51, p. 278). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.).
• John understood that ideas have consequences and that wrong ideas will eventually wreak havoc in the lives of those who embrace them. Christians must not only understand the historic, orthodox creeds of Christendom but must also be able to articulate them. (Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1998). 1, 2 & 3 John (p. 110). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.)
Please turn to John 1 (p.886)
At the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, the Father gave testimony to Him at the water when He was baptized. Although Jesus was without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22; cf. John 8:46), it was still necessary for Jesus to be baptized. By doing so, He publicly identified with sinners. Therefore He told John, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). Jesus always performed what God required of His people; He claimed no exemption here, just as He claimed no exemption from paying the temple tax (17:24–27). His perfect obedience (cf. John 4:34; 8:29; 14:31; 15:10) made Him the sinless sacrifice whose death made atonement for sin. After John baptized Him, “Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him” (Matt. 3:16). The physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence provided visible evidence of the Father’s testimony to the Son, especially to John the Baptist. As he later declared:
John 1:32–34 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (ESV)
• After the Father’s visual testimony by the Spirit to Jesus came His explicit declaration, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Those words, reminiscent of Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1, expressed the Father’s approval of the Son, and His attestation of Him as the Messiah.
John then introduces a second witness, the blood, representing Christ’s death. As He had at His baptism, the Father gave striking testimony to Jesus in the miraculous events surrounding His crucifixion. Matthew 27:45 records that “from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.” In the middle of the day came a supernatural darkness, symbolizing the Father’s forsaking of the Son as the sin-bearing sacrifice. Sensing that, “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?’ ” (v. 46; cf. Ps. 22:1). At the moment of Jesus’ death there was another astonishing miracle as “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matt. 27:51a). That curtain, separating the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place, was far too large and heavy for men to tear, especially from the top down. The Father’s act symbolized His acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice, through which the way into His presence was opened (cf. Heb. 10:19–20). In yet another amazing miracle, “the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many” (Matt. 27:51b–53). Their appearance in bodily form testified to Christ’s resurrection as the “first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). So overwhelming was God’s miraculous testimony to Jesus that a battle-hardened Roman centurion who witnessed it cried out in terror, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54; cf. Mark 15:39). His coming by water would then mark the beginning of his ministry, as his coming by blood (i.e., his death) marked its end (Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 175). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.)
The Father also testified to the Son through the ministry of the Spirit, who is the truth (cf. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth in that He is true and, therefore, the source and revealer of divine truth (1 Peter 1:12; cf. Acts 1:16; 28:25; Heb. 3:7; 10:15–17), particularly about Jesus Christ (John 15:26). The Spirit was involved at Jesus’ conception (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35), baptism (Matt. 3:16), temptation (Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1), and throughout His ministry. Jesus always did the will of the Father in the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who testifies. The present tense of the verb indicates that the author wants to show that the Spirit continues in His witness to the community of believers.( Barker, G. W. (1981). 1 John. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation (Vol. 12, p. 351). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
The key to this section is the word testify in verse 7, which in its noun and verb forms appears nine times in verses 6–12. The root word from which both derive is martus, a common word that appears nearly 175 times in its various forms in the New Testament. It has the basic meaning of remembering something and testifying concerning it. That testimony could be in a legal setting (as in Mark 14:63; Acts 6:13; 7:58; Heb. 10:28), or in the general sense of recounting firsthand knowledge (as in Luke 11:48; 1 Tim. 6:12; Heb. 12:1; 1 Peter 5:1). Perhaps because so many people who testified to the true gospel paid with their lives, martus became the root of the English word martyr. The Greek perfect tense is used for this word to stress the certainty of the fact of God’s witness (Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2639). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
For there are three that testify: as verse 7 transitions to verse 8:the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree/are in perfect agreement. In judicial cases it is vital that the testimony of different witnesses should agree. The author builds his case here by showing that his three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, concur in their testimony (Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 179). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.)
All this convincingly demonstrates that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. How foolish therefore, as verse 9 states: to receive the testimony of men about matters of far less significance while rejecting the infinitely greater … testimony of God … that He has borne/testified/given concerning His Son. This is a PERFECT ACTIVE INDICATIVE which implies an action in the past that has come to a state of culmination and is abiding. God continues to testify about his son through his Word and Spirit (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of James and the Epistles of John (Vol. 14, p. 356). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
Poem: Biblical theology was turned into prayer as Charles Wesley grasped this great reality and built upon it, asking for the Holy Spirit to move in convicting and converting power. He wrote: “ Spirit of faith, come down, Reveal the things of God; And make to us the Godhead known, And witness with the blood. ’Tis thine the blood to apply. And give us eyes to see; Who did for every sinner die Hath surely died for me. Inspire the living faith, Which whosoe’er receives, The witness in himself he hath, And consciously believes; That faith that conquers all And doth the mountain move And saves whoe’er on Jesus call And perfects them in love” (‘Spirit of faith, come down’, by Charles Wesley (1707–88).).
2) The Purpose of God’s Testimony (1 John 5:11)
1 John 5:11 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (ESV)
Please turn to John 17 (p.903)
The purpose of God’s testimony through the water, the blood, and the Spirit is that sinners might receive eternal life. Eternal life involves far more than merely living forever in a chronological sense. The essence of eternal life is the believer’s participation in the blessed everlasting life of Christ (cf. John 1:4) through his or her union with Him (Rom. 5:21; 6:4, 11, 23; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3–4; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Jude 21). Jesus defined it in His High Priestly Prayer to the Father:
John 17:1-5 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (ESV)
• The opening petition to “glorify your Son” implies a claim to deity, since the OT affirms that God will not give his glory to another (e.g., Isa. 42:8; 48:11). Jesus is the “one-of-a-kind” Son sent by the Father (cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18) and the only way to him (14:6).Eternal life comes from knowing God and Jesus the sent Son (cf. 1:4; 5:26; 20:31). Knowing God is not confined to intellectual knowledge but entails living in fellowship with him. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2058). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
• Eternal Life, possessed and enjoyed now, foreshadows the age to come (Eph. 2:6–7). In the coming age believers will most fully experience in the perfect, unending glory, holiness, and joy of heaven (Rom. 8:19–23, 29; 1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:20–21; 1 John 3:2).
The eternal life promised by God in the Old Testament (e.g., 2 Sam. 12:23; Pss. 16:8–10; 133:3; Dan. 12:2) and sought by the Jews of Jesus’ day (Luke 10:25; John 5:39) comes only to those who believe God’s testimony and place their faith in His Son. The gospel is exclusive; there are not many ways to God, but only one. In John 14:6 Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” “And there is salvation in no one else,” Peter added, “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; cf. John 6:68; 17:2; Rom. 6:23; 1 Tim. 1:16; Jude 21).
Illustration: Eternal Life
B. J. Honeycutt, a character on the T.V. series “M.A.S.H.,” gave this reason for why he didn’t give in to temptation in the midst of the Korean War: “I live in an insane world where nothing makes sense. Everyone around me lives for the now, because there may not be a tomorrow. But I have to live for tomorrow, because for me there is no now.” For B. J., his hope for the future was seeing his family again. That hope was sufficient to define how he would behave in an extremely difficult situation. How much more so should our future hope of the kingdom of God shape how we live? (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 121–122). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
3) The Response to God’s Testimony (1 John 5:10, 12)
1 John 5:10, 12 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. (11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.) 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (ESV)
What people do with God’s testimony to Jesus Christ shows their eternal destiny. There are only two possible responses: to believe God’s testimony, or to reject it. No one can remain neutral, for as Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matt. 12:30). Whoever/The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. If someone accepts the testimony of God, they have an internal assurance (in himself) that what they have believed is actually true. Reformers called this the testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum, or the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. It is given in addition to the historical evidence (Rom. 8:16). (Walls, D., & Anders, M. (1999). I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude (Vol. 11, p. 224). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
Whoever/the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar. To deny that Jesus Christ is who God said He is, to refuse to believe in the testimony that God has borne/given concerning His Son, renders God a liar—which is the severest of all blasphemies since God is perfect truth and cannot lie (cf. Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). Rejecting God’s witness concerning His Son is not a misfortune to be pitied, or overlooked in the name of tolerance. It is a heinous, damning sin and an affront to God’s holy nature. Those guilty of it must not be patronized, comforted, or reassured, but confronted and called to repentance. This is no trivial issue; the integrity of God is at stake. Saving faith in Jesus Christ results in a lifelong hold on eternal life (cf. 3:23; 4:2, 15; 5:1, 4–5). Since true faith perseveres, those who turn away from the gospel reveal that they were never saved in the first place (cf. 1 John 2:19). The testimony believers have in themselves is the true testimony concerning Jesus Christ which they heard from the eyewitnesses and have accepted and internalized (Kruse, C. G. (2000). The letters of John (p. 181). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.)
• John has a shocking assessment of those who refuse to believe the testimony of God: “You are, in essence, calling God a liar.” Such an image seems harsh. Few people would be so bold. Yet whenever someone questions what the Scriptures teach or sits in judgment of difficult theological truths, that is what he or she is doing—attacking the holy character of the Creator. What does your lifestyle say about God? Are you living in such a way that others can see that God is trustworthy and true? Or do others see your example and conclude that God’s words and ways are not to be believed? (Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1998). 1, 2 & 3 John (p. 112). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.)
John closes this section in verse 12, by setting out the eternal results of the only two possible responses to God’s witness to Jesus Christ: Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have the life. Here again the exclusivity of the gospel is evident. Only those who believe the Father’s witness to the Son and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior have eternal life; all who refuse to do so do not have the Son, and consequently do not have eternal life. By placing our faith in Jesus Christ we receive the gift of life. Because of our faith, Christ lives in us and we in him (3:24; 5:20). Therefore, at present we already possess eternal life and joyfully sing, in the words of Horatius Bonar: “Yes, in me, in me he dwelleth; I in him, and he in me! And my empty soul he filleth, Here and through eternity”. (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of James and the Epistles of John (Vol. 14, p. 358). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
Please turn to Hebrews 2 (p.1001)
The glorious promise to those who believe God’s testimony is that “as many as received [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). But there is a sobering warning to those who reject this testimony:
Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (ESV)
• Here we see the writer to the Hebrews showing how the message of Salvation was declared by the Lord himself, attested by human eyewitnesses, and authenticated by God’s power. God’s witness came through miracles performed alongside the gospel’s proclamation, confirming it.The danger with such a clear testimony from God for the recipients with a refusal to follow (Gk. parabasis) and a refusal to heed (Gk. parakoē) the law. Every act of disobedience merits retribution—all sin merits punishment. Since the Mosaic law came with retribution for failure to follow and obey it (v. 2), then surely the greater salvation announced by the Lord comes with more dangerous retribution for those who neglect it (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2363). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (2007). 1, 2, 3 John (pp. 187–198). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.)
