17

The Witness of God
(1 John 5:6-12)

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (5:6-12)

The apostle John has relentlessly hammered home throughout this epistle the truth that a correct view of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential to salvation. That was the apostle’s theme at the outset, and it is valuable to read the previous texts that support that emphasis:

In 2:22 he asked rhetorically, “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” “This is His commandment,” he wrote, “that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us” (3:23). In 4:1-2 John warned his readers against false teachers who deny the truth about Jesus Christ:

Verses 9 and 10 of that same chapter declare that

John began chapter 5 by reminding his readers that only the one who “believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (v. 1), while again we note that verse 13 is the key to the entire letter: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (v. 13). Finally, John wrote in verse 20, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Jesus Christ is the focal point of redemptive history, and the Father has repeatedly testified that He is the Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, and King. That testimony first came as a bright ray of hope in the bleak aftermath of Adam and Eve’s sin. In the context of God’s curse on mankind came the promise of a deliverer: “I will put enmity between you and the woman,” God told the serpent (Satan), “and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen. 3:15). Later in Genesis, God reiterated His promise to send His Son, who would rule as King: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [Messiah] comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (49:10; cf. Rev. 5:5). God sovereignly chose to reveal a messianic prophecy through the false prophet Balaam: “A star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel” (Num. 24:17). In Hannah’s inspired song, God again promised to send His messianic King (1 Sam. 2:10, 35; cf. 2 Sam. 22:51). Second Samuel 7:12-15 records God’s promise to David of a Son greater than Solomon, who would establish an eternal kingdom (v. 13). In Psalm 2 the psalmist reiterates the great hope of the coming messianic King (vv. 2, 6), who will rule the nations (vv. 8, 9), and is the Son of God (v. 12).

The Old Testament also predicted the precise details of Jesus’ life. Isaiah prophesied that He would be born of a virgin (7:14), Micah that He would be born in Bethlehem (5:2), Hosea that He would be called out of Egypt (11:1), Jeremiah the attempt to murder Him in the slaughter of the innocents by Herod at His birth (31:15; cf. Matt. 2:17-18), Malachi the forerunner (John the Baptist) who would prepare the way for Him (4:5-6), and Isaiah His ministry in Galilee (9:1-2; cf. Matt. 4:12-16). Psalm 41:9 predicts His betrayal by a close friend, Psalm 22 delineates the details of His crucifixion, Isaiah 53 explains the theological significance of His death, and Psalm 16 foresees His resurrection.

Since the Old Testament Scriptures point unambiguously and unmistakably to Jesus Christ and no other as the Messiah, there is no excuse for not recognizing Him as such. The Lord chided His followers for their obtuseness in the face of overwhelming evidence:

He also rebuked the hostile Jewish leaders for failing to heed the Old Testament’s witness to Him: “You search the Scriptures,” He told them, “because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39). The issue was not that the Old Testament’s testimony to Jesus was unclear, but rather that they were “unwilling to come to [Him] so that [they might] have life” (v. 40).

In Acts 13:26-29 Paul elaborated on that theme:

In this section of his epistle, John elaborates on the theme of his gospel, which was “written so that [people] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing [they] may have life in His name” (John 20:31). The gospel of John records that the Father witnessed to the deity of Christ from a variety of sources: Scripture (5:39-40), John the Baptist (1:6-8, 34), the disciples (15:27), Christ’s words (8:14, 18; 18:37), His works (5:36; 10:25, 38), the Holy Spirit (15:26), and the Father Himself (5:37; 8:18).

The key to this section is the word testify, which in its noun and verb forms appears nine times in verses 6-12. The root word from which both derive is martus, a common word that appears nearly 175 times in its various forms in the New Testament. It has the basic meaning of remembering something and testifying concerning it. That testimony could be in a legal setting (as in Mark 14:63; Acts 6:13; 7:58; Heb. 10:28), or in the general sense of recounting firsthand knowledge (as in Luke 11:48; 1 Tim. 6:12; Heb. 12:1; 1 Peter 5:1). Perhaps because so many people who testified to the true gospel paid with their lives, martus became the root of the English word martyr.

In the Old Testament, God called the people of Israel to be witnesses that He alone is God (Isa. 43:10-13; 44:6-8). The New Testament is supremely God’s witness to His Son. The Gospels record the story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection; the book of Acts describes the initial spread of the truth about Him into the world; the epistles unpack the rich theological meaning of His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and second coming; the book of Revelation reveals the consummation of God’s redemptive purpose in Him.

In keeping with the biblical injunction that “every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (2 Cor. 13:1; cf. Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28), John presents three aspects of God’s witness to Jesus Christ. Then, after delineating the particulars of the Father’s testimony to the Son, the apostle reveals the purpose of that testimony, and, finally, closes this section by illustrating its power.

THE PARTICULARS OF GOD’S TESTIMONY

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. (5:6-9)

In the preceding section (vv. 1-5), John described the joys and blessings of overcomers, those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But the apostle knew that many would ask why they should believe that Jesus is who John claimed Him to be. After all, Israel rejected Him; “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). The Jews contemptuously referred to Him as a lying deceiver (Matt. 27:63), guilty of leading the people astray (John 7:12, 47; Luke 23:2) and of fomenting insurrection against Rome (Luke 23:5; cf. John 11:47-48). They blasphemously accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard (Matt. 11:19), of being insane (John 10:20; cf. Mark 3:21), and, most heinous of all, of being demon-possessed (John 8:48; cf. v. 52; 7:20; Matt. 9:34; 10:25; 12:24; cf. vv. 31-32). Ultimately, their murderous hatred of Jesus led them to call for His crucifixion (Matt. 27:22-23). Why then, in light of Israel’s rejection, should anyone believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God Incarnate, the only Savior of sinners? Because of the infallible, unassailable, incontrovertible testimony of God Himself.

Houtos (the One) points ahead to Jesus Christ. Its emphatic position in the Greek text stresses Christ’s uniqueness. This One and no other is God the Son, who came into the world. Jesus Christ’s life did not begin when He was born; He had existed from all eternity (John 1:1-2). Hence the New Testament speaks of Jesus coming into this world, not of His coming into existence. In the incarnation the eternally existing “Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In John 16:28 Jesus declared, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father” (cf. 8:14; 13:3; 18:37). Earlier in this epistle John wrote, “The Son of God appeared [not “was created”] for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (3:8).

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the glorious central truth of redemptive history and the foundation of the Christian faith. It is to the coming of the Son and to His deity that the Father testifies in this passage. John gives three elements of that confirming testimony: the water, the blood, and the Spirit.

Some connect the phrase water and blood with Jesus’ death, when “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). But there is no reason to assume that John had that incident in mind. It is also difficult to see how the piercing of Jesus’ side was a divine witness to His deity; that act was not a divine statement of anything, but rather a very human affirmation that Jesus was dead (but Zech. 12:10 did prophesy it).

Others see in these terms a reference to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But again, there is no exegetical or contextual reason to associate John’s reference to water and blood with those ordinances. Further, baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the church’s witness to Christ, not the Father’s (cf. 1 Cor. 11:26).

It is best to see the water here as a reference to Christ’s baptism and the blood as a reference to His death. Those two notable events bracketed the Lord’s earthly ministry, and in both of them the Father testified concerning His Son.

The phrase not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood is not redundant, but addresses an important theological point. The Father did not, as the false teachers whom John was combating insisted, affirm Jesus at His baptism, but not at His death. Those heretics, purveyors of an incipient form of Gnosticism, taught that the “Christ spirit” descended on the man Jesus at His baptism, making Him the anointed One of God. According to this heresy, Jesus, under the control of the “Christ spirit,” gave valuable ethical teachings during His ministry. But the Christ spirit left Him before the crucifixion and, the false teachers further claimed, He died as a mere man, not the God-man whose sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who would ever be justified.

Like any teaching that denies the efficacy of Christ’s substitutionary atonement, that teaching was a satanic lie, since “Jesus Christ the righteous … is the propitiation for our sins” (2:1-2; cf. 4:10; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17). If He did not possess His divine nature on the cross, Jesus could not and did not conquer sin and death for believers. But the glorious truth is that “He … who knew no sin [became] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

At the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, the Father gave testimony to Him at the water when He was baptized. Matthew records that “Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him” (3:13). As the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist proclaimed a “baptism of repentance” (v. 11; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3; Acts 13:24; 19:4). He called on the people of Israel to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Messiah by confessing and repenting of their sin, and asking God to cleanse them. Their baptism was a public affirmation of repentance from sin, an external act symbolizing an internal reality. Since only Gentile proselytes were baptized, the Jews were acknowledging that they were no better than Gentiles and needed to become in reality the people of God (cf. Rom. 2:28-29).

But John the Baptist knew that as the spotless “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), Jesus had no sin to repent of and hence no need to be baptized. Therefore “John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’” (Matt. 3:14). John was shocked by the reversal of what he knew to be true. He was the sinner, Jesus the sinless one; he was the lesser, Jesus the greater (cf. John 1:27; 3:30).

Although He was without sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22; cf. John 8:46), it was still necessary for Jesus to be baptized. By doing so, He publicly identified with sinners. Therefore He told John, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). Jesus always performed what God required of His people; He claimed no exemption here, just as He claimed no exemption from paying the temple tax (17:24-27). His perfect obedience (cf. John 4:34; 8:29; 14:31; 15:10) made Him the sinless sacrifice whose death made atonement for sin.

After John baptized Him, “Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him” (Matt. 3:16). The physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence provided visible evidence of the Father’s testimony to the Son, especially to John the Baptist. As he later declared,

After the Father’s visual testimony by the Spirit to Jesus came His explicit declaration, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Those words, reminiscent of Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1, expressed the Father’s approval of the Son, and His attestation of Him as the Messiah.

John then introduces a second witness, the blood, representing Christ’s death. As He had at His baptism, the Father gave striking testimony to Jesus in the miraculous events surrounding His crucifixion. Matthew 27:45 records that “from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.” In the middle of the day came a supernatural darkness, symbolizing the Father’s forsaking of the Son as the sin-bearing sacrifice. Sensing that, “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’that is, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (v. 46; cf. Ps. 22:1).

At the moment of Jesus’ death there was another astonishing miracle as “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matt. 27:51 a). That curtain, separating the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place, was far too large and heavy for men to tear, especially from the top down. The Father’s act symbolized His acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice, through which the way into His presence was opened (cf. Heb. 10:19-20).

In yet another amazing miracle, “the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many” (Matt. 27:51 b– 53). Their appearance in bodily form testified to Christ’s resurrection as the “first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). So overwhelming was God’s miraculous testimony to Jesus that a battle-hardened Roman centurion who witnessed it cried out in terror, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54; cf. Mark 15:39).

The Father’s testimony to Jesus also appears in the Old Testament prophecies that His death fulfilled, most notably in Psalm 22:

and Isaiah 53:

The Father also testified to the Son through the ministry of the Spirit, who is the truth (cf. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth in that He is true and, therefore, the source and revealer of divine truth (1 Peter 1:12; cf. Acts 1:16; 28:25; Heb. 3:7; 10:15-17), particularly about Jesus Christ (John 15:26). The Spirit was involved at Jesus’ conception (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35), baptism (Matt. 3:16), temptation (Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1), and throughout His ministry. Peter said to those gathered in Cornelius’s house, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38; cf. Matt. 12:28; Luke 4:14; John 3:34). Because the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus for ministry, to attribute Christ’s miraculous works to Satan was to blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30). Jesus always did the will of the Father in the power of the Spirit.

The witness of the three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood is in perfect agreement and convincingly demonstrates that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. How foolish to receive the testimony of men about matters of far less significance while rejecting the infinitely greater … testimony of God … that He has testified concerning His Son.

Some English versions (e.g., the KJV and NKJV) add between vv. 7 and 8 the so-called comma Johanneum, which reads, “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth.” Though what it teaches is true, the added passage itself is spurious. Noted textual scholar Bruce M. Metzger summarizes the overwhelming evidence against its authenticity:

F. F. Bruce relates how this passage found its way into English Bibles:

From Erasmus’s Greek New Testament the passage found its way into the Textus Receptus, the Greek text used by the King James Version translators. That this passage is not part of the inspired text does not affect the biblical doctrine of the Trinity, which does not rest on this spurious insertion.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S TESTIMONY

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (5:11)

The purpose of God’s testimony through the water, the blood, and the Spirit is that sinners might receive eternal life. Eternal life involves far more than merely living forever in a chronological sense. The essence of eternal life is the believer’s participation in the blessed everlasting life of Christ (cf. John 1:4) through his or her union with Him (Rom. 5:21; 6:4, 11, 23; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3-4; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Jude 21). Jesus defined it in His High Priestly Prayer to the Father: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). It is the life of the age to come (Eph. 2:6-7), which believers will most fully experience in the perfect, unending glory, holiness, and joy of heaven (Rom. 8:19-23, 29; 1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2).

The eternal life promised by God in the Old Testament (e.g., 2 Sam. 12:23; Pss. 16:8-10; 133:3; Dan. 12:2) and sought by the Jews of Jesus’ day (Luke 10:25; John 5:39) comes only to those who believe God’s testimony and place their faith in His Son. The gospel is exclusive; there are not many ways to God, but only one. In John 14:6 Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” “And there is salvation in no one else,” Peter added, “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; cf. John 6:68; 17:2; Rom. 6:23; 1 Tim. 1:16; Jude 21).

THE RESPONSE TO GOD’S TESTIMONY

The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son…. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (5:10, 12)

What people do with God’s testimony to Jesus Christ determines their eternal destiny. There are only two possible responses: to believe God’s testimony, or to reject it. No one can remain neutral, for as Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matt. 12:30). The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Saving faith in Jesus Christ results in a lifelong hold on eternal life (cf. 3:23; 4:2, 15; 5:1, 4-5). Since true faith perseveres, those who turn away from the gospel reveal that they were never saved in the first place (see the exposition of 1 John 2:19 in chapter 9 of this volume).

On the other hand, the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar. To deny that Jesus Christ is who God said He is, to refuse to believe in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son, renders God a liar—which is the severest of all blasphemies since God is perfect truth and cannot lie (cf. Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). Rejecting God’s witness concerning His Son is not a misfortune to be pitied, or overlooked in the name of tolerance. It is a heinous, damning sin and an affront to God’s holy nature. Those guilty of it must not be patronized, comforted, or reassured, but confronted and called to repentance. This is no trivial issue; the integrity of God is at stake.

John closed this section by setting out the eternal results of the only two possible responses to God’s witness to Jesus Christ: He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. Here again the exclusivity of the gospel is evident. Only those who believe the Father’s witness to the Son and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior have eternal life; all who refuse to do so do not have the Son, and consequently do not have eternal life.

The glorious promise to those who believe God’s testimony is that “as many as received [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). But the sobering warning to those who reject it is, “How will [you] escape if [you] neglect so great a salvation?” (Heb. 2:3).