The Sinner vs. Eternal Life

Bertrand Russell lived from 1872–1970. He was a well-known atheistic philosopher who authored more than 100 books, wrote a three-volume autobiography, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. One of his best-known books is Why I Am Not a Christian (1927). In it he argued that all organized religions are the residue of the barbaric past, and they dwindle to mere hypocritical superstitions and have no basis in reality.

On one occasion Russell was asked what he would say to God if he found himself standing before Him. Russell’s answer: “I probably would ask, ‘Sir, why did you not give me better evidence?’ ” (Rosten, “Bertrand Russell and God,” 26).

The apostle John would disagree with Russell when it comes to the issue of evidence. As an eyewitness of the life, passion, and resurrection of Jesus, the last living apostle would testify that there is abundant and overwhelming evidence that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore God exists. The problem is not with the evidence. The problem is with the sinful and unbelieving heart.

In these verses a courtroom setting is easily imagined. Some form of the Greek word martus, translated “testify,” “testimony,” or “give testimony,” occurs no less than ten times.

John places on the docit four witnesses who will testify to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who gives the gift of eternal life to all who trust in Him. These four witnesses have different but complementary perspectives. And their witness is comprehensive, building a powerful case.

John makes his argument by drawing attention to the eveidence. the work of Jesus, from His baptism to His crucifixion (v.6).

He invites the other persons of the triune God to give their testimony.

Open-minded, free-thinking people should at least examine the evidence.

They may be surprised just how strong the case is, for the verdict that Jesus is God in the flesh who was sent to take away the sin of the world

John 1:14 KJV 1900

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:18 KJV 1900

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Court is in session. John please present your case.

The Evidence Presented

1 JOHN 5:6a

The Evidence of Submersion

The first batch of evidence that John presents befroe us is the evidence of Jesus’s baptism.

The word “water” occurs four times in verses 6–8.

Some see this as a reference to the water of physical birth,

the water that flowed from our Lord’s side when He was pierced on the cross (John 19:34–35),

or even the two sacraments or ordinances of baptism (water) and the Lord’s Supper (blood).

The baptism of Jesus is so important it is found in all four Gospels (Matt 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–23; John 1:29–34).

Here the triune God is revealed and Jesus is anointed for His public ministry.

Matthew 3:16–17 records it this way:

Matthew 3:16–17 KJV 1900

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water.

The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. And there came a voice from heaven: “This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him.”

The Father’s declaration combines words from Psalm 2:7, a messianic psalm, with Isaiah 42:1, the first of the Servant Songs. Jesus is indeed the anointed Son who will be a King. However, He will be a suffering King, a Servant King. This is the witness of His Father at His baptism.

Some have pointed out that, being sinless, Jesus had no need of being baptized.

He does not belong there. And that is true. He no more belongs at a baptism for repentance than He does on a cross for sinners.

In both events He identifies Himself with the sinners He came to save.

Our Lord’s baptism says, “Look at the Holy Spirit of God descending on Him and anointing Him.”

It says, “Listen to the voice of the Father and His announcement concerning Him.”

Jesus was not a mere man. He is the Son of God who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The Evidence of Sacrifice

The second batch of evidence that the apostle brings before us is the crucifixion of Christ.

This is represented by the word “blood,” which occurs three times in verses 6–8.

The work of our Savior was initiated at His baptism and it was finished by His bloody death on the cross.

Jesus, Himself, said from the cross in John 19:30, “It is finished!”

When Jesus Christ died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, His Father again provided significant witnesses concerning the event.

There was darkness across the land from noon until three o’clock (Matt 27:45), and “the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom” (Matt 27:51).

There was an earthquake (Matt 27:51).

A number of Old Testament saints were raised and appeared to many as the first fruits of resurrection life for all who trust in Jesus (Matt 27:52–53).

And these events led a hardened Roman centurion to exclaim, (Matt 27:54 Mark 15:39).

Matthew 27:54 KJV 1900

Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

Jesus was not God’s special agent who was adopted at His baptism but abandoned at the cross.

He was and is the eternal Son of God who entered this world in time and space and died as our propitiation (1 John 2:2; 4:10).

His death was not an accident.

It was not an act of martyrdom. It was a divine, saving substitution for sinners with redeeming value and worth.

Though modern persons might articulate their rejection of Christ and His atoning death on the cross differently than those in the first century, the bottom line is the same.

They say that Jesus Christ suffering a brutal bloody death has no redemptive value and bears no significance for my salvation.

Delores Williams represents this perspective when she says, “There is nothing divine in the blood of the cross” (Sisters in the Wilderness, 176).

Others will even charge that the biblical portrayal of our Lord’s death is better viewed as “cosmic child abuse” (Chalke and Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus, 182).

And still others believe we pursue a wiser course of theological discourse by offering to modern persons what David Powlison calls the “therapeutic gospel,” a gospel that gives people what they want and promotes their welfare and temporal happiness.

As Powlison says, “It does not want the King of Heaven to come down. It does not attempt to change people into lovers of God, given the truth of who Jesus is, what he is like, what he does” (“The Therapeutic Gospel,” 5).

But the cross says the King of Heaven has come down, and that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Cor 5:21). This is the true and biblical witness of our Lord’s crucifixion. Praise His name, He did come to die for us, and He did come to change us!

So we have seen the evidence presented. Now John proceeds to call his first witness.

The Testimony Given

You know before a lawyer brings witness testimony before a court, they would want to make sure that the testimony that will be given by all parties matches or at lest corroborates each other.

The Corroboration of Testimony

Heavenly Testimony

The father the word and Holy Ghost

all three witnesses from heaven agree on there testimony.

Earthly Testimony

The spirit the water and the blood

John is telling the court, I have shown you evidence of his submersion and his sacrifice but they are also a witness to who He is. and if you dont believe them the spirit backs up there claim.

the heavenly testimony and the earthly testimony corroborate each other.

Now that the lawyer knows that the testimony corroborates, he now has to choose the best witnesses for the case. Or the strongest witnesses.

The Choice of Witnesses

John calls his first witness

The Spirit

The first witness invited to testify to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God is the Holy Spirit of God.

He is referenced three times in verses 6–8.

In verse 6 the Bible says the Spirit provides a consistent and continuous witness that Jesus is the Messiah, and He does so because “the Spirit is the truth.”

Jesus said the exact same thing about the Holy Spirit in John 15:26

John 15:26 KJV 1900

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

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.

Peter said to those gathered in Cornelius’s house Acts 10:38

Acts 10:38 KJV 1900

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

cf. Matt. 12:28; Luke 4:14; John 3:34).

Acts 10:38 KJV 1900

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Pastor James Merritt addresses this ministry of the Holy Spirit as He testifies to the Son:

“The witness of the Spirit is God’s witness to us, in us, and through us. Just as the arrow of a compass always points towards the North, the Spirit of God always points to Jesus” (“Do You Know for Sure”).

The Sovereign

The “testimony” of the Father resounds again and again in verses 9–10 as the apostle employs what we call a “lesser to greater” argument.

In the everyday affairs of life in that day, the testimony of men was held in high regard.”

In the Jewish context,the testimony of two or three witnesses was necessary and sufficient to confirm something as true (Deut 17:6; 19:15).

If that is so, how much more should we believe God Himself, especially when He has just supplied His own threefold witness of the Spirit, water, and blood (v. 8)?

The testimony of God is indeed greater—superior in source, status, and significance—than the testimony of any human persons. It is more reliable and trustworthy because it comes from the God, who cannot lie (Heb 6:18).

The testimony given by God is a testimony “He has given about His Son” (v. 9).

I think John is saying that the abiding testimony of Jesus’ baptism, His crucifixion, and that of the Holy Spirit is God’s historical witness that Jesus is His Son.

Never did God give such a witness concerning anyone else in all of history.

The Father’s witness concerning His Son is singular and unique.

Therefore, it demands a response from each and every one of us.

Neutrality and indecision is not an option.

In fact, to not believe that Jesus is the Son of God is to not believe God and to make Him “a liar, because [you have] not believed in the testimony God has given about His Son” (v. 10).

John says that believing in Jesus as the Son of God is equivalent to accepting God the Father’s testimony about His Son.

To reject Jesus as God’s Son is equivalent to charging God with perjury.

It is that simple, and John is that straightforward.

The Savior

the witness of the Savior. “The Word” (1 John 5:7).

The “Word” speaks of Christ the Incarnate Word.

Christ witnessed of Himself.

However, He was careful to point out that His witness alone would not do (John 5:31

John 5:31 KJV 1900

If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

but that it required at least two witnesses (John 8:17

John 8:17 KJV 1900

It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

He said, “I am one that bear witness of myself” (John 8:18 but He was not the only one for the Father also bore witness of Christ (John 8:18

John 8:18 KJV 1900

I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

The Saint and Sinner

The Saints Conversion

“Believeth on the Son of God” translates a construction which denotes reliance upon, trust in, or commitment to the Son of God.

The manner in which the phrase is used here indicates that to “believe on” the Son is virtually synonymous with “receiving” the witness of God (verse 9).

As Law puts it, “By believing the testimony of God, we ‘believe in’ His Son” (p. 125). (Compare John 1:12, where “believing” and “receiving” are used interchangeably.)

“Hath the witness in himself” refers to the inward witness of the Spirit and means that the believer is given a profound certitude of the rightness of his decision to commit himself to Christ.

In addition, there is the thought that the inward witness is a subjective confirmation of the testimony set forth in the preceding verses.

Spurgeon affirms that this inward witness involves the “wondrous sense of change which comes over the believer,” the “wondrous power which goes with the word of God,” and the “deep feeling of peace which comes to us through believing in Jesus.”

The Sinners Rejection

In sharp contrast with the person who believes in the Son of God is he that believeth not God (verse 10b).

The manner in which the contrast is drawn shows that not to “believe in” the Son is equal to not “believing” God, that is, not accepting the witness which He has given to His Son.

This is an extremely grave situation, for he who rejects God’s witness hath made him a liar (cf. 1:10).

The reason is stated in verse 10c: because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son.

“Hath made” and “hath not believed” are both perfect tenses.

They reflect a past act and a continuing state or condition. “When the crisis of choice came he refused the message: he made God a liar: he did not believe on His testimony: and the result of that decision entered into him and clings to him” (Westcott, p. 187).

The Closing Argument

Review of the Testimony

God Gives Life Eternal

The connection between having the Son and having life is so essential that John will mention “the Son” seven times in verses 9–13 and “life” five times in verses 11–13.

Eternal life is a God-quality, God-kind of life. It has a particular character or essence as well as a never-ending duration. Having Jesus, the Son of God, equals having eternal life. This is God’s testimony. This is God’s gift (“God has given us eternal life”; 5:11). This life is in His Son, and again it is found in no one else (cf. John 14:6). In fact, to have the Son is to have life. To not have the Son of God means you do not have life. Having the Son of God equals life. Not having the Son of God equals spiritual death. To not have the Son means you are a walking, talking dead man. You are a spiritual corpse in a physical body. James Boice notes:

John’s reference to “eternal life” as the essence of salvation carries us back to the opening verses of the letter, in which he wrote that this life was revealed in Jesus, who is Himself the life. Eternal life is not merely unending life, therefore. It is the very life of God. What we are promised in Christ is a participation in the life of the One who bears this testimony. This life is not to be enjoyed by everyone, however. This life is in Christ. Consequently, it is as impossible to have life without having Christ as it is impossible to have Christ without at the same time possessing eternal life. (The Epistles of John, 166)

The Bible teaches that you do not have to hope you have eternal life or even think you have eternal life. It says you can know you have eternal life when you know you have the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as your Savior. This witness, this gift of eternal life, testifies to the eternal Son, for only He who is eternal can give you what is eternal.

Eternal Life is in Christ

Verdict Delivered

Life

He that hath the son hath life

Death

He that hath not the Son of God hath not life

John 3:16–18 KJV 1900

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

You choose

Conclusion

Let me, first of all, say a word or two about the way in which we are saved, the modus operandi of salvation, as we find it described in the Scriptures. Here it is in a nutshell.

We have all broken God’s Law and we are justly condemned on account of it.

God, in infinite mercy, desiring to save the sons of men, has given His Son, Jesus, to stand in the place of as many as believe in Him.

Jesus became the Substitute of His people and suffered in their stead, and for them the debt of punishment due to God was paid by Jesus Christ upon the Cross of Calvary.

All who believe in Him are, thereby, cleared before the bar of Divine Justice.

Now, the Lord, having given His Son, has revealed this great fact in His Word.

Here it is in this Inspired Book—the full statement of it—to this effect, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ has everlasting life.

This is God’s testimony!… [A]ll we have to do in order to realize the result of Christ’s passion is simply to believe the testimony of God concerning it and rest upon it!

The argument runs thus—

Christ saves those who trust Him. I trust Him and, therefore, I am saved.

Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of His people.

His people are known by their believing in Him.

I believe in Him and, therefore, He died for my sins, and my sins are blotted out.

This is the summary of the transaction.

God’s testimony concerning His Son is at first believed, simply because God says so and for no other reason.

So I ask, do you believe that God hath given to us eternal life through his Son?

Do you have this testimony in yourself?

“The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life.”