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.
Commentary
Vs. 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.”
Having just declared that Jesus is the Son of God, the Apostle John now reminds us that this same Jesus also came by water and blood, that is Jesus was also the Son of Man, who was baptized in water, and whose blood was shed at Calvary, for the redemption of all of our sins. Therefore, it is the Spirit, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit who bears witness to Christ’s Person, because the Spirit is truth, unlike the “spirit” of this world which only propagates lies and heresies, because it comes from the father of lies Satan.
Vs. 7 “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit bears witness here on earth (more on this in vs. 8) so does God bear witness in heaven. And so here we have the Trinity, the Eternal Godhead, clearly revealed and declared; God the Father, the Word (John 1:1), and the Holy Spirit and these three are One. For God is One and has always been One, and has never ceased from being One, even when the Lord Jesus Christ became a Man and died on the Cross, the eternal Godhead remained One. Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omnipowerful.
Vs. 8 “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
That is, “they all converge upon one truth”, (Word studies in the N.T.), that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man who has made eternal Salvation available for us all who believe in Him. First then is the Spirit, for it is He who testifies to the Lord Jesus Christ’s Person in all that Jesus did here on earth, through His miracles and mighty signs which were all done by the Holy Spirit’s Power to testify of Jesus Christ’s Person to one and to all on earth. That said the Holy Spirit continues to bear witness to the Crucified Resurrected and Ascended back to heaven Lord Jesus in that it is He who since then has brung, and continues to bring everyone who believes in Him to New and everlasting life! No one then can deny His regenerating anyone! The water, Jesus was not only born of water and blood as a Man, but Jesus as a Man was baptized in water where God the Father declared Him to be His Son, (gleaned from BBC). The blood, the Blood of Jesus Christ that was shed by His own Will in obedience to the Will of God at Calvary reveals that Jesus was fully the Son of man, but more to the point is that it is Christ’s Blood shed at Calvary that provides the only means of salvation, so that everyone who now believes in Him can now have remission of all their sins and everlasting life. Thus, Jesus’ blood which provides the Atonement for every sinner’s redemption since Calvary and all on through eternity, also bears an eternal witness to the Lord Jesus Christ’s Person and what He has done for us all who believe in Him. And so, these three like the Trinity also bear witness as one, that is they bear witness to One God and One Truth.
Vs. 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.”
If then we will receive the testimony of men, imperfect, partial, and not always truthful, indeed in case of those trying to undermine the Gospel utterly evil and deceitful. How then can we not receive the testimony of God which He has testified of His Son, which is exceedingly greater than mans. For He has even gone so far as to give us His Testimony of His Son in His own Word in our own languages, so that we can all believe in Him.
Vs. 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.”
It is then a simple fact that he who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself, thus we have God’s Word and God’s Spirit and thus God’s Person Jesus Christ inside ourselves. In contrast then are those who do not believe in the Son of God, who do not have either God nor His Word inside themselves, indeed in their rejecting His Testimony and Witness they now stand charged with making God a liar, a charge which they now stand condemned by, and will be condemned with, on the Day of Judgment (John 3:18).
Vs. 11-12 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.
This then is the Testimony, the only Testimony that one need to heed, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son (vs. 11). Thus, everlasting life, Spirit life, fullness of life is all found in the Person of God’s Son Jesus Christ, not Mary, not Moses, not Elijah, not John the Baptist, and certainly not any of those who deny the full Witness and Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. But eternal life is given us by God when we believe in His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, He who has the Son of God has everlasting life! But He does not have the Son of God does not have life, but is still dead in their own sins and transgressions. This then is another great passage for every believer to memorize and hold dear in their hearts.
Vs. 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.”
The Apostle John in writing these things to us was doing so to strengthen us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in our faith in Him. To know that we have eternal life through Jesus Christ the Son of God, and so we will continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Which is why I do these commentaries as well, to help people to believe, and believers to continue to believe in the Name above all Names, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Scripture Quotations
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