Water, Blood, and Spirit: Marks of True Christianity

Introduction

I have two main goals today. The first is that you would know that Jesus is God and there are three witnesses that testify to that fact. The second goal is that you would know what it looks like to be a faithful follower of Christ.

Today we are continuing our series on the book of 1st John called True Christianity where we are looking at this book and asking the question what does a True Christian look like. If you have your bibles, turn to 1 John 5, we will read verses 6-12. The words will be on the screen, notes are on the app and the back table.

Main Text

1 John 5:6–12 ESV

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. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 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. 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. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

As we begin to close out this series, the Apostle John is closing out his argument with the false teachers of his day. And in this passage he is dealing with one specific teacher whose teachings were spreading like wildfire. There was a teacher during this time named Cerinthus. His false teachings…

Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John We Have the Witness of His Baptism (1 John 5:6–8)

… said the Christ-spirit descended on the man Jesus at His baptism but abandoned Him on the cross…

In other words, Jesus wasn’t the Son of God, he only received the Spirit of God for a short time and did some amazing miracles. To counteract this false teaching, John calls forth three witnesses.

The Three Witnesses

The Apostle John says in verses 7 and 8 of our text today that there are three witnesses that testify that Jesus is the Son of God. The water, the blood and the spirit. We are told throughout Scripture that a thing is established on the testimony of two to three witnesses, so John isn’t picking these out without a purpose. The question is, what is that purpose?

Now, many commentators falls on different sides of what this means. Calvin and Luther both thought this referred to baptism and communion. Baptism symbolizing the water, Communion symbolizing the blood. Others believed this had to do with his birth and death.

But given the context of Cerinthus, I believe it’s actually a mixture of both of those ideas. I think the water represents baptism and I think the blood is represented by the crucifixion. The Baptism and The Crucifixion marked the beginning and the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and I believe they both testify that he was God. So let’s look at these witnesses individually.

We Have The Witness Of His Baptism

Jesus Came By Water - John starts out by saying that Jesus came by water, but not by water only. He makes a clear distinction here. The question is whether he is talking about his birth or his baptism. That’s the question. Here’s what we know though, the baptism of Jesus is mentioned in all four of the gospels.

His baptism was the place where he was anointed for public ministry. We see the Trinity on full display. The son being baptized, the Father speaking (this is my beloved son), and the Spirit descends on him like a dove. So all three members of the Trinity are present.

His baptism witnesses to the fact that He is God. At his baptism, Father God calls him his Son. This is the first witness. Contrary to what Cerinthus taught, He didn’t become his son at baptism, he was always his son. His baptism inaugurated his public ministry.

His Baptism Was For A Different Reason Than Ours - We read in the Bible that John baptized a baptism of repentance. In other words, when you repented of your sins, you would then get baptized as a symbol of that repentance. Jesus didn’t sin, so this was a symbol of any repentance. It was a model and a calling for what he expects us to do. He did it first, so that we would have a model to follow.

We Have The Witness Of His Crucifixion

The second witness is that of the Crucifixion. John calls this the blood. The second witness is the blood. Jesus’ earthly ministry started with his baptism and it ended with his bloody death on the cross.

If the first witness proclaims the divinity of Jesus..The Father calling him Son, the Spirit put its stamp of approval on him…This second witness proclaims the humanity of Jesus. It’s in his sacrificial death that we see that his humanity on full display.

Jesus wasn’t being punished by the Father. He willingly laid down his life for us. He died in our place. John thinks this is important. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He starts this letter with this idea. That Jesus was someone you could see and touch with your hands. He was flesh and blood.

His Crucifixion proclaims his humanity. That he became like us in his birth and like us in his death. He took on our sins and it is by his blood that we are set free from sin and shame.

We Have The Witness Of The Spirit

The Spirit is an internal witness. John says in v.10 that “whoever believes in the Son of god has the testimony in himself. In other words, in your soul, you know this to be true. So, not only does Jesus baptism testify to it, his crucifixion testify to it, but your spirit also testifies to it.

The Spirit Is The Anointing - If you remember back to the beginning of the letter, John says that anointing you received lives in you and it’s true. John also says that this Anointing/The Holy Spirit will teach you all things. It most certainly then witnesses to you or testifies to you that Jesus is who he proclaimed to be.

The Spirit Testifies To Our Eternity. Verses 11 and 12 tell us what the Spirit is telling us. He is telling us that we have eternal life. So its not just an eternity, it’s an eternity with Him, because HE IS LIFE!

With these three witnesses in mind, I know want to transition into what does this mean for us…If Jesus is marked as the Son of God by these three witnesses, what does that mean for us today? What do we do with this information? In the spirit of the name of this sermon series, I think this passage gives us…

Three Key Indicators Of A True Christian

Our series is called True Christianity, so I want to look at what a True Christian looks like. What are the key elements of a faithful Christian? What makes someone a Christian in the first place? That’s what we are looking at. Let’s look at the first key element…

Christians Are Covered By The Blood

A Christian’s sin is covered by the blood of Jesus. In order to be a Christian, you have to deal first with the sin problem. You have sinned. Everyone in this room has sinned. Sin seperates us from God.

Our sin has a penalty attached with it. When we see, we are sentenced to death. This is spiritual/eternal death. There’s no escape. You can’t outrun this sentence. There’s no appealing this sentence. Your sin must be paid for by death.

Christ’s death purchases our redemption. We are saved by the blood shed on the cross. When Jesus died, he paid the penalty of our sin. He died in our place on the cross. His death is called a substitutionary atonement. It means Jesus took our place on the cross in order to redeem us.

“As Israel is covered by the blood of the Passover lamb, so the new Israel is covered by the blood of the Messiah.

John D. Currid

There is no other way - In order to be a Christian, in order to be saved, you must be covered by the blood of Jesus. All roads do not lead to heaven. Every other road leads to hell, the only road that leads to Heaven is through Jesus.

Imagine you grew up in church but you’ve never actually made a public profession of faith. You have never put your total and complete trust in the blood of Jesus…If that’s you, I’m going to ask you today to repent and believe.

Christians Are Washed By The Water

Christians Are Those Who Are Baptized. One of the primary indicators of a Christian is that they have been baptized by water. We are simply following in Jesus’ footsteps.

Water baptism testifies to us today. The command to be baptized is for today. Throughout the New Testament we see people being baptized in water. In Acts, Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized.

Baptism identifies us with Christ in his baptism and his death. The old man is buried in the waters of baptism, the new man is raised to a new life in Christ.

Baptism represents a complete break with one’s past life. As the Flood wiped away the old sinful world, so baptism pictures one’s break from his old sinful life and his entrance into new life in Christ.

Roger M. Raymer

Baptism is the first step of obedience. After you have applied the blood of Jesus over your life, the second step is to be obedient to his command to be baptized.

Do you have to be baptized to be saved? No.

But, if you are here today and you have not been baptized, you are being disobedient to God. So while you may be saved, you are being disobedient. The command is to be baptized. This is the true first step of obedience in the life of a Christian.

What Keeps Someone From Getting Baptized? Many people will say fear. They fear the water. They don’t like going under water. They fear getting in front of people. They fear what others will think. But I think its not fear, but disobedience. We are being disobedient to God’s command.

Christians Are Marked By The Spirit

The Spirit of God indicates who is a true believer. The Spirit marks true believers as Christians Ephesians 1:13 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”

The Spirit Inside You Marks You As A Believer - If you have ever wondered if you are a believer or not, look for the Holy Spirit. John talks about this as an internal witness, not only to who Jesus is, but to who you are in Christ.

You Must Be Baptized By The Spirit - We see throughout the New Testament that Christians are to not only be baptized in water, we are also to be baptized in the Spirit or filled by the Spirit. This is subsequent action where the Spirit comes upon a believer and empowers him to do that which God has called him to do.

The Spirit Leads All True Believers. If you believe in Jesus, your life is not your own. You are owned by Jesus. He is your master, he is your king. The Spirit therefore is your guide. He will guide you in all areas of your life.

Romans 8:14 ESV

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The Marking Is The Revelation - Those who are Sons, those who are marked by His Spirit are revealed to others by their submission to the Spirit. What marks us also reveals us. Others see you living a life following the Spirit and that is what reveals your sonship or Christianity to others.

The Spirit Leads Those Who Follow. In order to be led by the Spirit, you have to submit to his leadership. Meaning, you have to be willing to follow where he will go.

In Paul’s vocabulary, to walk in the Spirit or be led by the Spirit means to go where the Spirit is going, to listen to his voice, to discern his will, to follow his guidance.

Timothy George

Sons Are Led By God - Imagine you have been in Church for a while now. Imagine that you confessed that you believe in Jesus and you were baptized. But that’s all you have done. You have not submitted your life to his leadership. You are missing a key marker of God in your life. And it should make you wonder if you are a Christian at all.

Jesus was marked by all three. And to be a Christian you should be marked by all three as well.

Decision

Today I want you to make some decisions. If you have never made a public profession of faith. Today is the day of salvation says the Lord. I’d like for you to come up and make that profession today. It’s you saying, I am trusting in Jesus for salvation. His blood covers all of my sins. I totally trust in Him.

If you have never been baptized. Today is the day for you to make that decision. Come up to me and let’s talk and pray together and we will put that on the calendar.

If you have never been filled by the Spirit, let’s pray for God to fill you with his mighty presence and empower you to do all that he has called you to do.

These three testify and they all agree - Jesus is the Son of God. What will you do with this information?