1 John 5:6-12
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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. 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.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
As we’re approach the end of our study of 1 John, we’ve seen some broad strokes in the text.
THE FIRST HALF (1:1-2:29):
God Is Light
The LIGHT of Fellowship with God and with the church
JOYFUL, VICTORIOUS LIFE
Basics of Fellowship
Abiding in God’s Light
THE SECOND HALF (3:1-4:21)
God is LOVE
The LOVE of Fellowship
(Chapter 5 has shown us the way to fellowship)
LIFE OF KNOWLEDGE (what we believe matters)
Behavior of Fellowship
Abiding in God’s Love
This epistle is building to its conclusion now.
I wondered if I could finish out Chapter 5 in one verse…but there is too much on prayer in the following verses to confidently do that.
TRANSITION
TRANSITION
These final verses have this tone of PROVING - BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT - that Jesus Christ is indeed, the perfect, spotless, Son of God who paid the price for our sins with His own blood - on mission from the Father to rescue humanity!
I saw it this way.
My “preacher/teacher” brain starting seeing it this way.
And all the way back to Spurgeon, and my go-to Gospel-Centered commentaries laid it out the same way. I knew it wasn’t terribly original to imagine this in a court-room setting…but I was encouraged that I wasn’t alone.
The word TESTIFY or TESTIMONY is here in this text 8 times.
So let’s go there! It’s not as clean of an outline for this text, but there are 3 HEADERS THAT GROUP THE DRAMA TOGETHER:
The Testimonies
The Verdict
The Final Judgment
LET’S START WITH THE LARGEST CHUNK OF OUR ATTENTION THIS EVENING:
1. THE TESTIMONIES
1. THE TESTIMONIES
1 John 5:6-10
John calls the first witness to take the stand in this courtroom drama. John calls,
- The WATER.
- The WATER.
Not just any water, but the water from the Jordan River.
Not just any part of the Jordan, but the very place where Jesus was baptized.
That’s what most scholars believe John is pointing to here. It’s a testimony that Jesus was in fact the Christ - the Son of God. Jesus’s Baptism is pivotal point in history related to baptisms.
Some believed that this water referred to the water that flowed from Jesus’s side.
Luther and Calvin believed it referred to the ordinance of baptism and (coupled with the blood mentioned) the Lord’s Supper.
I’m not one to publicly debate Luther and Calvin on this…but, what we know of context - the author’s intent - the original audience of John’s epistle seems to point more in favor to Jesus’s baptism.
John is refuting the false teaching at the time about the deity and humanity of Jesus being pushed by Cerinthus.
The truth is, the water from His side IS significant.
The command for baptism wrapped in the great commission IS significant.
BUT the baptism of Jesus was a turning point related to the inauguration of the Kingdom of God.
All four Gospels record the baptism of Jesus.
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
If John were to ask the water to testify…to tell us what it saw:
Jesus come into the water where John the Baptist was standing
John and Jesus discussed what was about to happen
John submerged Jesus (dipped him under the water)
Then the Heavens opened
The Father spoke!
I was there!
John calls his next witness
- The BLOOD.
- The BLOOD.
1 John 5:6 (ESV)
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood….
The blood that Jesus shed for me
way back on Calvary
The blood that gives me strength
from day to day
It will never lose its power
For it reaches to highest Heaven
and it flows to the lowest valley
The Blood that gives me strength
from day to day
It will never lose its power
John takes us to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ!
33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
John asks the Blood to testify…and we hear the words of the preacher in Hebrews
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
All of these witness can only tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The water of the ceremonial baptism of Jesus testifies to the NEW & LIVING WAY of the Kingdom!
He had no sin, so it wasn’t for cleansing he had come.
He stepped into the water CLEAN, just as we do in believer’s baptism.
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sin!
It’s hard to fathom how the blood of one Nazarene, slain on a cross on Calvary’s hill could be enough to cleanse the whole world of sin…but it IS ENOUGH for all who will come to Him in faith, believing.
John calls his third witness, to testify to these folks struggling to wrap their minds and hearts around WHO JESUS IS!
-The HOLY SPIRIT
-The HOLY SPIRIT
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.
The Holy Spirit is mentioned 3 times right here in these 3 verses.
Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are all in agreement with WHO JESUS IS and that HE IS WORTHY!
Jesus taught his disciples (and us) that the Holy Spirit would constantly affirm that He is who He says He is. WE BELIEVE JESUS because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
WE BELIEVE JESUS because of the Spirit!
WE HAVE LIFE BECAUSE of the work of the SPIRIT!
Why is this “testimony” so important.
(Stay with me): John is making the case that THERE IS AMPLE EVIDENCE TO “CONVICT” JESUS OF BEING EXACTLY WHO HE CLAIMED HE WAS.
6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
So, technically, John could rest His case here.
Jesus was baptized in water - sinless - signalling something new was HERE!
Jesus hung BLED and died on Calvary’s cross. Rose to life on the third day, just like He said He would.
The Holy Spirit was there at the Baptism, was present with the believers at Ephesus and beyond to whom John was writing, and is with us today in accordance with the very promise of God’s Word.
So, he’s got his 3 witnesses…ALL THREE are in agreement!
Then John calls:
- GOD, THE FATHER!
- GOD, THE FATHER!
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.
David Allen records this beautifully in the first-person…as though we’re in the courtroom. I’m not as comfortable as that, putting words in the Father’s mouth.
BUT, IF JOHN CALLED THE WITNESS TO THE STAND AND ASKED GOD, THE FATHER, IF JESUS WAS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE…
I imagine that all creation would have groaned as He said a resounding YES and AMEN!
He could have repeated, “He is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
If John persisted to ask if Jesus was the only way to salvation, the Father could have taken us back to the beginning.
From the very beginning, even before he created Adam and Eve and before they sinned causing all of humanity to be plunged into sin, He had a plan of salvation.
The Father’s plan was for Jesus, His Son, the only-begotten, to come to earth and pay the penalty of humanity’s sin through his death on the cross.
He foretold his coming through the prophets.
He sent John the Baptist as his forerunner.
He sent an angel to Mary to tell her that she was Heaven’s choice to be the human mother of His Son Jesus.
Though Jesus existed as one with Father throughout eternity as the third person of the Trinity, for the glory of God, Jesus became man.
The night of his birth the angels sang about it, shepherds witnessed it.
Later, wise men came to observe and honor Jesus.
As a man, Jesus entered his ministry and was baptized.
The heavens opened, and the Father told everyone that Jesus was His Son!
The night before Jesus’s crucifixion, he called out to his Father, ‘Father, if it can be your will let this cup pass.’
But it was not the Father’s will, in fact Isaiah tells us it was the Father’s will to bruise Him.
God, the Father turned over His only Son to evil men to be crucified on a criminal’s cross, outside the city - because there was no room for Him in Jerusalem.
But all of this was for a Holy purpose, and he did it willingly.
This Holy purpose was to PAY THE FULL PRICE make atonement for our sins….for your sins / my sins…for the sins of the whole world…so that all who would trust Him as Savior and Lord could have life!
God’s only Son Jesus was crucified and buried, but three days later God raised him from the dead.
Forty days later, Jesus ascended to Heaven where today he sits at the Father’s right hand.
And one day…soon and very soon - compared to eternity…The Father will determine the time has come, and the Son will come again to this earth.
God gives eternal life as a GIFT, and this eternal life is in the only begotten Son, Jesus.
What more can He say? What more needs to be said?
Who would follow that?
Who would you call after the water, the blood, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father?
John calls,
- Jesus’s Followers
- Jesus’s Followers
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.
It’s a long line of whoevers.
Whoever believes.
THOUGH YOU WERE born into sin, now they are born of God (1 John 5:1)
THOUGH YOU WERE shameful and guilty, NOW they will NOT BE PUT TO SHAME (Rom 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6)
THOUGH YOU WERE fulfilling the desires of their flesh, NOW they will do great works for Jesus (John 14)
THOUGH YOU WERE all alone, NOW you have been brought into a relatioship with the triune God (John 12)
THOUGH YOUR MORTAL BODY MAY die in the, yet shall YOU live (John 11:24)
NOW, out of your heart flows rivers of living water (John 7:37-39)
NOW, you have eternal life (John 6:46)
You shall never thirst again (John 6:35-40)
He could pick any whosoever…He could pick you - you - or me…we would all bear testimony and sing along with the great hymn:
Amazing Grace How Sweet The Sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see!
What chance does the accuser have against such a great cloud of witnesses paraded?
The water has spoken of His baptism.
The blood has spoken of His crucifixion.
The Spirit has spoken of Him as the way, truth, and life.
The Father has spoken of Him as His only Son and the only hope for mankind
The Redeemed of the LORD have said so!
That’s the bulk of the message tonight.
But let me hasten to mention the final two verses in this context.
The witnesses have spoken.
NOW COMES…
2. The Closing Argument
2. The Closing Argument
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
The testimony points to LIFE!
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
It’s cut and dry!
John was there when Jesus died for our sins on that cross.
He reminded us that he was a personal eyewitness,
He was the first to see the empty tomb.
He was there in the Upper Room a week after Jesus’ resurrection when he appeared to his twelve disciples.
He was there when Jesus ascended to Heaven.
From that day until the writing of this epistle, he’s been telling others about this Jesus.
He penned five books about it in your Bibles so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
It would be foolish to reject God and His Word!
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
Now the verdict is in…the Judgment is rendered:
3. THE VERDICT
3. THE VERDICT
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The Bible teaches that you do not have to hope you have eternal life or even think you have eternal life.
The Bible makes plain that you and I can know that we have eternal life when you know you have the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as your Savior.
The gift of eternal life, points to the eternal Son of God!
The verdict is in…Do you have this testimony within you?
C. S. Lewis put it quite plainly: your choices as to who Jesus is are limited.
In light of what Jesus has said about himself, in light of what God, the Father has said about him, in light of what the water and blood and the Holy Spirit have said about him, in light of what generations of whosoevers who have been transformed by the power of God say about him…
Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.
You have no other options.
If he is a liar, then dismiss him.
If he is a lunatic, then dismiss him.
But if he is Lord, repent of your sin, believe in him for salvation, and fall at his feet and worship him because he is worthy of the devotion of your life.
My friend, there are NO ifs about it.
HE. IS. LORD!