1 John 5

Translation

This is the one coming through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not in water only, but in water and in blood. And the Spirit is a witness, because the Spirit is truth, for three are witnesses, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and those three are one. If we receive the witness of mankind, the witness of God is greater. Because this is the witness of God that we have witnessed about his son. One who Believes in the son of God has the witness in him, one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the witness which God has witnessed about his son. And this is the witness: that God gave to us life of the age, and this life is in His son. The one who has the son has the life. The one who does not have the son of God does not have the life either.

I wrote this to you so that you might see that you have life of the age, to those believing in the name of the son of God. And this is the boldness which we have before him, that if we should ask something according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears from us that which we ask, we know that we have the requests which we asked from him.

If someone should see his brother sinning a sin which is not death-bound, he will ask and He will give life to him, to the one sinning not death-bound. There is sin that is death-bound. I do not say that you should ask about those. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin which is not death-bound.

We know that all who have been born from God do not sin, but the one born from God guards him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God and the whole world is set in the power of the evil one. Moreover, we know that the son of God has come and has given understanding to us, so that we might know the truth, and we are in the truth, in His son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and life of the age. Children, guard yourselves from idols.

Three Witnesses: Water, Blood, and Spirit

kjv looks different here:

King James Version Chapter 5

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

Why? Textual error

this reading only occurs in eight Greek mss, which are all medieval mss, which are just copying from an earlier Latin mss

Likely a “devotional” note on a mss that got mistaken for the actual text

Even so, the trinity is very present here! The Father and the Spirit are working throughout the passage to draw us toward the Son.

In a sense, this variant is correct even if it doesn’t really belong here.

So what are the “water”, “blood”, and “spirit” that testify here?

Water= birth or baptism?

Blood= death

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

Spirit breathed out after death on us, and on Jesus at baptism.

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus Appears to the Disciples

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

But they don’t just witness past tense, but continue to witness present tense. How?

By water we enter into both death and life of christ, water remains a witness

By the eucharist we drink the blood of Christ, commemorating his saving death. Blood remains a witness

By the spirit we live and worship. The Holy Spirit continues to witness to Christ

In the water, the blood, and the Spirit we have the sum of the Gospel

The Son of God became human and went to death for us, and has imparted his spirit on us now as we await his return.

But why emphasize the blood? “Not by water only, but also the blood?”

Docetism

The Epistles of John The True Faith Confirmed (5:5–12)

As soon as we reduce the death of Jesus to that of a mere man, so soon do we lose the cardinal point of the New Testament doctrine of the atonement, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself;

God’s Witness: New Life

What makes this testimony so important though? Why must we hear the witness of water, blood, and spirit?

This is a witness about the life given to us by God!

Spirit, water, and blood testify, but what is the testimony about?

“And this is the witness: that God gave to us life of the age, and this life is in His son. The one who has the son has the life. The one who does not have the son of God does not have the life either.”

“Eternal life” or “life of the age”?

την ζωην τον αιονιον

ζωην vs βιος

αιονιον means “age”, i.e. “long time”

So “eternal” or “of the age”? Both! But emphasis is not on how long the life is, but what kind of life it is!

This isn’t a future only life, however. Grk. God has given (perfect tense), now those who have the son have the life (present tense)

We aren’t just waiting to die

Re-emphasizes the new kind of life, not just longevity.

The good news of the resurrection isn’t just that we’ll keep on living, but that we’ll live in an entirely new way, in the way of God.

This new life is not just a future promise, but is available to us now through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ

John now turns to two important characteristics of this new life. Two fruits this new life bears in us

Prayer and Accountability in New Life

The first is prayer. New life is characterized by prayer to God

Not just prayer, but bold prayer, because we pray in the name of his son Jesus Christ

Prosperity gospel? Do I get anything I want with prayer? No!

Prayer “according to his will”

Prayer, then, is a way we are conformed to the will of God. Through prayer we learn to will as God wills, our hearts become as his heart.

But what is the will of God?

Is prayer a guessing game? Do I just have to pray and hope that whatever I ask is “in accordance with his will”? Again, No!

God’s will is not unpredictable, but is revealed to us by scripture and the Holy Spirit: his will is that all should be saved, and that the world should be redeemed and restored

But what if prayers are not answered?

“Not my will, but yours”

We do often think of this power of prayer in terms of healing, but John has another idea: Prayer for transformation

Praying for sinners

Sin “to death” ?

The Epistles of John Christian Certainties (5:13–21)

Sin that leads to death is deliberate refusal to believe in Jesus Christ, to follow God’s commands, and to love one’s brothers. It leads to death because it includes a deliberate refusal to believe in the One who alone can give life, Jesus Christ the Son of God. By contrast, sins that do not lead to death are those which are committed unwittingly and which do not involve rejection of God and his way of salvation. The sinner is overcome by temptation against his will; he still wants to love God and his neighbor, he still believes in Jesus Christ, he still longs to be freed from sin.

“Mortal sin” and “blasphemy against the Holy spirit”

Should we not pray for “mortal” sinners then?

The Epistles of John Christian Certainties (5:13–21)

The early church took much more seriously than we do the possibility that a person may sin beyond hope of redemption. It would seem that where a person himself refuses to seek salvation and forgiveness there is not much point in praying for him. Nevertheless, it must be carefully observed that sin which leads to death need not necessarily be sin that inevitably results in death, that John does not absolutely forbid intercession in such cases, and that elsewhere in the New Testament the application of strict discipline and even excommunication always had in mind the possibility of the ultimate repentance of the sinner.

John doesn’t really say either way, only that this isn’t what he’s talking about here. He focuses on prayer for transformation, and stays silent on prayers for conversion

We know, however, that there is still hope for those who deny Christ. Sin that leads to death does not necessarily result in death

Peter denied Christ and returned.

The New Revised Standard Version The Rich Man

“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

The focus is on prayer for spiritual transformation and accountability.

Prayer for non-believers is good and important, just as is prayer for healing.

But how often do we pray for transformation? Is that a part of your prayer life?

A Life of War

It had better be, because the Second thing John tells us characterizes the new life we have in Christ is war.

We fight against “the evil one”, and only God can protect us.

Our prayers for transformation bring us under God’s protection against sin and against Satan.

Paul/Ephesians

The world is in the “power of the evil one”

Thus, to fight against this evil, we must be in the power of the Holy One, the Good Shepherd

Keep yourself from idols

There are those in John’s church trying to give a false Jesus, and there are those today who do the same

Our victory comes through faith in the true Christ, who gives us a new kind of life