1 John 5:1-12
A police officer pulled over a driver and informed him that he was speeding. Just then, his wife, who was seated next to him, said, “I told you; you have to drive slowly until you get a license!” The policeman, surprised, exclaimed, “Were you driving without a license?”
His daughter, trying to defend her father, “Officer, please consider my dad. He gets excited when he’s drunk.” The policeman stunned, stammered, “You were driving without a license while intoxicated?”
His son in the back seat, shouted out, “I knew we wouldn’t get far in this stolen car!” The father had three unwanted witnesses. In today’s sermon we will learn about a true witness, a desired witness, a much to be heeded to witness—not a human witness, but God himself.
In 1st John chapter five, John continues to refute the Gnostic heresy that he has been countering since the beginning of his letter.
1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
* Believes – not mere intellectual assent but heart acceptance of the incarnation.
* Christ – Christos, “Messiah,” “the Anointed One.”
* Born – in the perfect tense (a past act having present results.)
John is referring to the person who has more than a belief in the facts concerning the incarnation. He believes and accepts in his heart that Jesus is God in the flesh and came to earth to die for our sins.
This person’s belief that Jesus is the Christ has the present result of making him one who is born of God.
1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
* Love – agape, a sacrificial love, a divine love. This is the love of God that is produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit.
* Observe/keep – tereo – “to attend to carefully;” “a jealous safe keeping of God’s commandments.”
* When – literally, “whenever”
John is saying in verse two that you can tell those who sacrificially, selflessly love the children of God—whenever they sacrificially and selflessly love God and carefully attend to keeping his commandments.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
When John writes of the “love of God” he is literally referring to one’s “love for God (NIV). “Love for God” is expressed when one keeps God’s commands. It is not what we “say” or “sing” about the love of God, it is what we do.
And for the person who truly loves God, His commandments, John says, are not burdensome or grievous. The word, burdensome or grievous means, “Heavy.” The word speaks of that which is severe, stern, violent, cruel, and unsparing.
If you are not saved do not even think about trying to keep God’s commands. Going to church, serving in a ministry, giving your tithes and offerings, living a morally pure life will be a “drag;” it will be a burden. The Christian life for you will be “cruel and unusual punishment.”
This is why so many people go AWOL (Absent Without Leave) after making a commitment to leave a life of sin and start coming to church. This is not what God is calling them to. God is calling all people, everywhere to turn away from their sins and come (not to church) but come to Jesus.
John’s point is that when you love God, the keeping of His commandments becomes a delight rather than a burden.
1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith.
The Christian is fighting an ongoing battle against the world, the flesh and the devil. We know this from John’s choice of the word nikao that is translated into our English word, overcome.
The forces of the devil, the flesh (our totally depraved nature) and the world (kosmos) system under the leadership of the devil surround the believer and incessantly wage war against him trying to ruin his Christian life and testimony.
John says in verse four that the Christian overcomes the world. The first occurrence of the word overcome is in the present tense in the Greek which tells us that the Christian is “constantly overcoming the world.” In other words, victory over the word is the norm for the Christian—defeat, though it sometimes happens, is the exception, not the rule.
The second occurrence of the word overcome in verse 4 is used in the aorist tense. The aorist tense is a snapshot of something has occurred in the past.
John is saying at the end of verse four that “this is the victory that overcame the world…our faith.” In other words, our faith in Christ has made the victory over the world, the flesh and the devil a done deal.
If there was such a thing as a “spiritual Polaroid camera” there would be a snapshot taken each and every time someone becomes a follower of Christ. Each time someone turns away from their sins and trusts Jesus as the Son of God, their victory is attained.
If you are a Christian you are an overcomer. And though you may lose a few skirmishes and conflicts here and there during your life here on earth, the battle was won for you at Calvary.
Verse four speaks of a fight that is in progress and a warfare that is constantly being waged but it also speaks of a triumph that is assured when one confesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God—thus John asks the question in verse five:
1 John 5:5 And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Verse five says that if you are a Christian, you overcome the world. This means that though the forces of the devil, the flesh and the world system surround you and incessantly wage war against you trying to ruin your Christian life and testimony, if you have a heart belief in the incarnation with all that it implies, you will be an individual who gains victory over the world (Wuest).
A greater testimony…
When I was a boy growing up in West Baltimore, there were more times than I can remember trying to convince my friends of things about me and my family. I can remember telling the story of how my family lived in Plattsburgh, New York on a military base. Every so often the Thunderbirds would fly their jets over our house to the amazement of all the kids and adults in our neighborhood.
I remember telling them about the Studebaker station wagon that we had with the sun roof. I was around 8 to 10 years old and would share my experiences in New York state with my new friends in Baltimore and they would say, “You lyin’…you lyin.’” So in order to make them believe my story I would say, “If you don’t believe me you can ask my mother.” You see, a kid’s parent’s testimony added credibility and validity to his or her story.
John has just presented his readers with a wonderful truth: Jesus is indeed the Christ of God. John made the claim at the beginning of his letter in chapter one.
1 John 1:1-2 “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life--and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—“
John was in essence saying, “We know that Jesus is the Christ; we know that He is God the Son—we heard Him, we saw with our own eyes, we intently gazed and examined Him; we even touched Him.”
But in chapter five of his letter John writes, “But if you don’t believe us, you can ask God Himself!”
In verses 6 to 12 John turns to the testimony of God Himself concerning His Son to refute the Gnostic heretics and convince the reader that Jesus is truly the Christ of God.
1 John 5:6 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.
Let’s define some words found in verse six:
Water – the word “water” refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ at the beginning of His earthly ministry.
Blood – the word “blood” refers to the bloody death of Jesus Christ on the Cross for the sin of the world (1 Pet 2:24).
John says, “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.”
John brings our attention to the water and the blood in order to refute the Gnostics who falsely taught that Jesus could not be “God in the flesh.” They taught that Jesus could not be God because matter was intrinsically evil and a holy God would not encase Himself in sinful, evil flesh.
In order to get around the teaching of the church and to support their belief, the Gnostics taught that when Jesus was baptized the “Christ-spirit” descended upon Him. They used Matthew 3:13-16 as a proof text.
Mat 3:13 Then Jesus arrived^ from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.
Mat 3:14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"
Mat 3:15 But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted^ Him.
Mat 3:16 And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him,
The Gnostics taught that when the dove descended on Jesus that is when He became the Christ and sometime before Jesus was nailed to the Cross, the Christ-spirit left Him. So John writes, “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.”
John was saying that Jesus wasn’t only the Christ when He was baptized, He came with the water and He came with the blood. Jesus was not only the Christ when He was baptized, He was the Christ when He suffered and died on the Cross for our sin.
Then John goes on to say in verse seven, “If you don’t believe us you can ask God…” for “it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.” In other words, He don’t lie.
The Spirit “is the truth.” You may have had a hard time believing John and the other disciples because they were mere men—they were fallible—they were capable of error—they were capable of deceit. But God is infallible and cannot lie.
Now here is where it gets confusing. Depending on the translation you are using you may read something different from what I have in verses 7 and 8.
(1 John 5:7 NASB) And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
1 John 5:8 For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
(1 John 5:7 NKJV) For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
1 John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
(1 John 5:7 KJV) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
(1 John 5:7 NIV) For there are three that testify:
1 John 5:8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
Why are there differences in the copies of the Scripture that are in our possession?
There are some basic facts about the Bible that will help us to understand the historical background of what is going on here. Much of what I’m about to share with you is taught in a course you can take in Bible college called, The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture.
1. The Old and New Testaments were not originally written in the English language. They were first written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
2. We do not have the originals of any of the books of the Bible; they are gone—most probably deteriorated from weather and wear. God probably allowed this to keep the originals, written by Moses, the other O.T. prophets and the N.T. apostles themselves, from being idolized.
3. God never promised the perfect preservation of the originals, but He did promise to preserve their content (Matthew 5:18). They are preserved within the body of existing manuscripts that are in the original languages the Bible was written in.
4. If you compare the original language manuscripts that have come down to us in both the Old Testament and the New—you will find differences. One example of this is found in 1 John 5.
5. These textual variations are almost always incidental and do not significantly affect the sense of what Scripture is saying. As a matter of fact, once the easily explained differences are removed, 99.9 percent of what is in our Bible can be confirmed without question.
6. It is usually easy to identify the cause behind a textual variant because the Greek New Testament has been preserved in far more existing manuscripts than any other piece of ancient literature. There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today for the New Testament. One scholar said that we are faced with, "an embarrassment of riches."
7. Many textual problems have already been resolved satisfactorily and are no longer in question.
8. No doctrine/teaching in Orthodox Christianity is dependent on the solution to any one textual variation.
When it comes to 1 John 5:7-8, there are those who claim that it was a part of the original manuscript and should, therefore, be included in any and all Bibles but most modern Bible translators have chosen to delete verse seven that explicitly supports the doctrine of the Trinity that says God is three persons in one essence.
1 John 5:7 says, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One."
But what about those who say that to delete verse seven is to deny the tri-unity of God? Many of those who believe this also believe that the King James Bible is inspired. They believe that God ordained the KJV to be the only authentic version of His Holy Word.
The problem is that most of these people are not familiar with the textual history of the particular manuscript that the King James Version of the Bible of 1611 is translated from.
Here is a brief summary. 1 John 5:7 is absent from every known Greek manuscript except four, and the four that have it appear to come from a late translation of the Latin Vulgate.
These four manuscripts are dated very, very late in church history. The passage is not quoted by any of the church leaders of the earlier centuries of the church, who, if they had known it, would certainly have used it against those who attacked the trinity doctrine during those days.
The passage is absent from the manuscripts of all ancient versions. It is quoted for the first time, not in a Bible text, but in a Latin essay about the Bible in the 4th Century A.D.
The King James Bible was published in 1611 from the Greek New Testament called the Textus Receptus.
The Textus Receptus (Latin: "received text") constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, for the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, and for most other Reformation-era New Testament translations throughout Western and Central Europe.
The text of 1 John 5:7 seems to have been included in the Textus Receptus by the pen of the Greek Scholar Erasmus.
Erasmus had a critic by the name of Stunica. Stunica was one of the editors of a translation of the New Testament from a Latin manuscript into Greek. The Latin manuscript included 1 John 5:7 so Stunica and the other editors also included it in their Greek translation. Stunica did this because he personally believed that Latin manuscripts were more reliable than Greek.
When confronted by Stunica to include 1 John 5:7 in his translation, Erasmus replied that he had not found any Greek manuscript containing these words, but that if a single Greek manuscript could be found that contained it, he would include it in a future edition.
So what did Stunica do? He gave Erasmus the Greek New Testament that had been translated from the Latin. Erasmus used this copy of the New Testament along with about five other manuscripts to create the Textus Receptus and since the Latin Vulgate had 1 John 5:7 in it, Erasmus inserted this verse in his translation of the Greek text. But he indicated in a lengthy footnote his own personal suspicions that the manuscript he received from Stunica had been prepared in order to refute him.
If you didn’t follow this explanation, let me say it to you another way. A scholar named Erasmus who translated the Bible from the Latin to the Greek, added 1 John 5:7 to his translation since it was found in the Latin version of the New Testament.
The translators who published the English language King James Version used the Erasmus text. Since 1611 there have been found many other Greek manuscripts that don’t include 1 John 5:7 so the English language Bibles that are translated from these texts do not include it either.
Most modern translations do not use Erasmus’ Textus Receptus and thus do not include 1 John 5:7.
Does this mean that the Bible doesn’t teach the doctrine of the trinity? God doesn’t rest a doctrine as important as the Trinity on just one verse.
For example, in chapter one of 1st John, the writer presents his readers with a wonderful truth: Jesus is indeed the Christ of God.
1 John 1:1-2 “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life--and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—“
John turns to the testimony of God Himself concerning His Son to refute the Gnostic heretics and convince the reader that Jesus is truly the Christ of God.
1 John 5:8 For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son.
Again, the word “water” refers to the baptism of Jesus Christ at the beginning of His earthly ministry and the word, “blood” refers to the bloody death of Jesus Christ on the Cross for the sin of the world.
John says there are “three that bear witness.” Why three? The Law of Moses taught that in order for a truth to be established there must be two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).
The three witnesses in verse 8 are the Spirit, where the end of verse six says “is the truth” and does lie.
The Holy Spirit was active at the baptism of Jesus, at the Cross, and in the miracles He produced in Christ's life. That's all one great witness.
The other two witnesses are the water and the blood—and these three are in agreement. In other words, this testimony is TRUE!
Now what are they testifying about? They are testifying that Jesus (verse 5) is the Son of God! They are testifying that He is the Messiah, the Anointed One, God who was incarnated—God who became flesh and tabernacled with men! They are testifying that Jesus is God!
In the Bible, Jesus is called Jehovah
If you have ever sparred with a well-trained Jehovah's Witness they may have told you that there is an important distinction between the word Adonai, which is translated "Lord" in most English Bibles, and the Word Jehovah (or Yahweh), also translated "Lord" in most English Bibles.
If you want to see the difference between the words in most translations, when the original is Adonai, the word "Lord" will appear in capital and lowercase letters; when the Hebrew word is Jehovah, the word "LORD" will appear in capital and small capital letters.
The Jehovah’s Witness and other Arians, who do not believe that Jesus is God, will tell you that when the Scripture refers to Jesus it uses the word Adonai and when it refers to God it uses the word Jehovah.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jehovah is the one true name of God, but the well-trained Christian knows that there are passages of Scripture that apply the term Jehovah to Christ.
Psalm 23:1, for example, says, "Jehovah is my shepherd." Jesus very clearly applied this passage to Himself in John 10:11, 14 when He said, "I am the good shepherd." The writer of Hebrews also applied this passage to Christ in Hebrews 13:20, when he wrote, "The God of peace . . . brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord"— Jesus our Jehovah.
In Isaiah 6:5, when Isaiah saw his vision of heaven, with the Lord high and lifted up, he said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord [Jehovah] of hosts." Yet the apostle John, referring to this same incident, writes that Isaiah saw Christ's glory, "and he spoke of Him" (Jn. 12:41).
In Isaiah 40:3, the Bible says, "A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for [Jehovah] in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God." In Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:3, John the Baptist is fulfilling this Scripture clearing the way for Jesus.
Here's a very familiar passage, Joel 2:32: "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of [Jehovah] Will be [saved]." Both Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 quote that passage, applying the title Jehovah to Christ.
When the Spirit and water and the blood testify that Jesus is the Son of God they are in agreement that Christ Himself is Jehovah who came to earth in human flesh. By the way, isn’t this what Christmas is all about?
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Now since we have unpacked verses 6-9, the rest of this passage through verse 12 should make more sense.
1 John 5:10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.
John writes in verse 10, “The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself…”
Not only did the Spirit testify externally at the baptism of Christ and the Cross of Christ, He testifies internally in the believer’s heart. If you are a true Christian, no one needs to convince you of this, you know because the Spirit of God confirms it in your heart.
We find this truth expressed in Romans 8:15-16: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
Another verse says, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba!." (Gal 4:6)
The testimony or witness of the Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we are children of God, and in return we call Him "Abba," which means "Papa," or "Daddy."
The Sin of Unbelief
There are those who believe the witness of God concerning His Son and then there are those who do not believe. The testimony has been given. It was a public testimony from God Himself.
It first occurred when God spoke to humanity through the prophets (Heb 1:1-2). God then testified concerning His Son at the baptism of Jesus. We could also add all the miracles that Jesus did which validated who He was. Finally God’s testimony concerning His Son was given at the crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross as He paid for our sins.
In 1 John 5:10 John says, “The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.”
To disbelieve that Jesus is God the Son, is to disbelieve the testimony that God has made concerning Him. To disbelieve God, who cannot lie, is to make God out to be a liar and that is practically the same as blasphemy.
Continued unbelief that Jesus is God incarnate will never be forgiven is because it denies the Word of the true God concerning His Son and calls Him a liar. It doesn’t matter how nice the person is who knocks on your door and how well dressed and articulate they are—if they reject the testimony of God concerning His Son, judgment is their fate because God is not a liar.
The witness is straight forward…
1 John 5:11 And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
Whoever takes the Son gets it all." - The Collector
Recently, I read a story of a very wealthy man who, with his devoted son, shared a passion for art collecting. They traveled around the world together, adding only the finest paintings to their collection. Included among them were works by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet.
The old man was a widower, but his son filled up the void in his life, and this was their common bond.
But war erupted, and the young man enlisted and was sent overseas. Day after day, the old father prayed, held his breath, and waited for news.
One autumn day near Thanksgiving the dreaded telegram came, bordered in black. The young man had died bravely in combat, trying to evacuate those caught under fire. Distraught and lonely, the old man faced the upcoming holidays with anguish and sorrow.
On Christmas morning, a knock sounded at the door. The father opened it to find a soldier there, carrying a small package. As they talked, the soldier said, "Your son and I became very close, and he told me all about your joint art collection. I myself am an artist, and I wanted to give you this."
The man took this package in his feeble hands, unwrapped it, and there was a portrait of his son in striking detail. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was the most precious work of art the old man had ever seen. As he gazed at it, he wept.
As the young soldier left, the lonely father pushed aside thousands of dollars worth of art to hang the portrait of his son in the prized spot over the fireplace.
As the months passed, the old man received letter after letter, from his son’s friend telling him of his son's bravery and selflessness, and of how many lives he had saved and how many more he had touched.
With each passing day the portrait over the fireplace became more precious, and he told his friends that it was the greatest gift he had ever received.
The following Spring, the old man grew ill and passed away. The art world was full of anticipation, wanting to get its hands on this man's fabulous collection.
A day was set to auction it all off, and according to the old man's instruction the first painting was one that was not on any museum's list—the painting of the man's son. When the auctioneer asked for an opening bid, the room was silent.
"Who will open the bidding at $100?" he asked. "The moments stretched on awkwardly, and finally someone in the back of the room said, "Let's go on to the next piece" "No," replied the auctioneer. "We have to sell this one first." Finally a neighbor of the man spoke. "Will you take fifty dollars for the painting? That's all I have, but I knew the boy and I liked him, so I'd like to have it."
"Fifty dollars, we have fifty dollars," shouted the auctioneer.
"Will anyone go higher?" No one did.
"Going once, going twice, gone." And the gavel fell.
Everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief, thankful that now they could proceed with the "real" auction and get their hands on the masterpieces. But imagine their shock when the auctioneer suddenly declared that the proceedings were over.
A loud clamor arose. Stunned disbelief. "What do you mean it's over?" the people shouted. "What about all the masterpieces?"
The auctioneer replied, "It's very simple. According to the will, whoever takes the son gets it all."
The Bible says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12)'
