1 John 5:6 - 13

So today we pick in with a somewhat controversial passage as it is not in the older manuscripts. So we will discuss how to deal with this.

For context lets begin at 5:1 - 5.

6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

So let’s take a deeper look:

V6- This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

John begins with an interesting statement, but what does he mean by water and blood. First the Greek word for water is hydōr . We see this root in our hydrate or hydration. The word for blood we have seen before is haima. But what is John getting at?

We have to remember John is writing to counter the gnostic teaching that Jesus was not human.

i. Some believe that water speaks of our own baptism, and blood speaks of receiving communion, and that John writes of how Jesus comes to us in the two Christian sacraments of baptism and communion (Luther and Calvin had this idea). Yet, if this is the case, it doesn’t add up with the historical perspective John had when he wrote “came by water and blood.” He seems to write of something that happened in the past, not something that is ongoing.

ii. Others (such as Augustine) believe the water and blood describes the water and blood which flowed from Jesus’ side when He was stabbed with a spear on the cross: But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out (). This was an important event to the Apostle John because immediately after this description of water and blood, he added in his gospel: And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe (). Yet, if this was John’s meaning, it is a little unclear how it can be said that Jesus came by water and blood.

iii. Still others believe the water spoke of Jesus’ first birth, being born of the “waters of the womb,” and blood speaks of His death. If this is the case, John would be essentially writing, “Jesus was born like a man and died like a man. He was completely human, not some super-spiritual being who had no real contact with the material world.” The Gnostics in John’s day thought of Jesus as just such a super-spiritual being.

c. He who came by water and blood: Probably the best explanation (though there are good points to some of the other ideas) is the oldest recorded Christian understanding of this passage (first recorded by the ancient Christian Tertullian). Most likely, John means the water of Jesus’ baptism, and the blood of His crucifixion.

V6b - And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth - The HS is always bearing witness to who Jesus is.

John 15:26 NKJV

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

John 15:6 NKJV

6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

John 16:14 NKJV

14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

John 15:26

Now we get to the section that I mentioned and you should see a note in your margin.

V7 & 8 - NKJV 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

compare to NIV 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement

NASB 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

i. The words in question occur in no Greek manuscript until the fourteenth century, except for one eleventh century and one twelfth century manuscript in which they have been added to the margin by another hand.

ii. In the first few hundred years of Christianity, there were many theological debates regarding the exact nature and understanding of the Trinity. In all of those debates, no one ever once quoted these words in question from . If they were originally written by John, it seems very strange that no early Christian would have quoted them. In fact, though none of the ancient Christians quote from this verse, several of them do quote from and . Why skip verse seven, especially if it is such a great statement of the Trinity?

iii. In all ancient translations – Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopian, Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, Slavonian, and so forth, this disputed passage is not included. Only in the Latin Vulgate does it appear.

b. It is probably best to regard these words as the work of an over-zealous copyist who thought that the New Testament needed a little help with the doctrine of the Trinity, and he figured this was a good place to do it. Or perhaps the words just started as notes written in the margin of a manuscript, but the next person who copied the manuscript thought they must belong in the text itself.

d. Passages like this give us no reason to fear that our New Testaments are unreliable. In the entire New Testament, there are only 50 passages which have any sort of question regarding the reliability of the text, and none of those are the sole foundation for any Christian doctrine or belief. If 50 passages sound like a lot, see it this way: no more than one-one thousandth of the text is in question at all.

So the bottom line here is that none of these questionable verses are the basis of any Christian Doctrine by them selves and are true. They just weren't in the original.

Another issue is that those who don’t believe in the Doctrine of Trinity use this as proof that it is not true. But the Trinity is taught throughout the scriptures.

So why do we use the NKJV here at church? Because it is the version that we are the most familiar with but any of the modern translations are good.

We move on:

V9 & 10 - 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

This is a very strong statement to say the least. God has made His testimony of Jesus very clear. If won’t believe we are calling God a Liar.

Believe is the Greek word pisteuō .It is in the PAI meaning continuously.

V11 & 12 are the bottom here:

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

V12 - He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

has is again in the PAI meaning continuously has or not has.

You are in in or you are not!

V13 - is the capstone: memorize this one,

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

We here are all included in this statement, you who believe. This is the promise - assurance, that you may know. Know is eidō it means to perceive or discern. This is in what is called Final Subjunctive - and can be translated - “in order that.” It is also used of the believe; thus in order that you may continue to believe.

eidō