1 John 5:6-12 Heavenly Testimony Before beginning, let me mention 2 things about our text this morning. First of all, there is a textual variant in

Transcription

1 1 1 John 5:6-12 Heavenly Testimony Before beginning, let me mention 2 things about our text this morning. First of all, there is a textual variant in vv The KJV and NKJV include the words: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. This addition is known as the Johannine Comma. Other English versions do not include this statement about the Trinity. The reason is that this inclusion is not found in any manuscript earlier than the 14 th century. And there are only four manuscripts that have these words, while hundreds of other older manuscripts do not. We ve seen this before, for example, with the longer ending of Mark, as well as John 7:53-8:11. And, there are other minor variants. But, with this in mind, there are NO ESSENTIAL changes in orthodox Christian theology with any of these differences between versions. And, in these very minor variants, there are no errors in doctrinal truth in either reading. So, in v. 7 it is TRUE that the Father, the Word (Son), and the Holy Ghost bear heavenly witness to eternal life in the Son. And in v. 8, it is TRUE that the Spirit, the water, and the blood bear witness on the earth to eternal life in the Son. Both of these truths are taught in the rest of the Scriptures. With this in mind, I will preach from the ESV which does not have this variant. The 2 nd thing I want to mention concerning this text is that it is one of the most difficult texts to interpret, especially concerning what John means when he refers to both the WATER and the BLOOD (vv. 6-8). So, I approach this text with great humility, realizing that I don t understand everything and I may be wrong (I don t think I am). BUT, even if I am wrong with my interpretation, I am not wrong in the truth I will preach today because what I preach is CLEARLY taught consistently through the Scriptures. With these things in mind, let s begin. A couple years ago I was playing disc golf, and as I often do, I threw my disc very badly. It was an uphill shot and I missed the fairway, hit a tree and ended up WAY to the left in the woods, and when I found my disc and looked up the hill (way up) all I could see was trees. I had no shot, except to throw back in the fairway. But I decided to throw it through the trees and see what happened. So I heaved the disc like a tomahawk and a few seconds later, I heard this loud clanging of chains. The IMPOSSIBLE shot! It went in the basket. There is NO WAY in a million years anyone would believe that I hit that shot. BUT, there was another guy playing with me, who saw the whole thing. He witnessed this shot. And if someone doesn t believe, they can ask him. He saw what happened. He could testify on my behalf that I am telling the truth. Today, our text speaks about a witness, a testimony to the truth of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Ten times from vv. 6-11, either as a noun, verb, or participle, we have the word witness, which is the Greek word martyr. And this witness, this testimony, is unlike any other. For, it is from heaven! Look at v. 9: If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. God s testimony is greater than any testimony of man because God is the all-powerful creator and source of all things. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork (Ps. 19:1). We can look around and know there is a God. And this creation declares how great He is! But, here, John is not speaking about creation and its testimony to the greatness of God. He is speaking about something much greater and special than his power in creation. He is

2 2 speaking to us about LIFE, eternal life. And this life is in the Son. And our text gives us 3 (at least) clear truths that testify, bear witness to eternal life in the Son. And this is a testimony from heaven. 1. The Testimony of Cleansing (water). I believe this water is the testimony of Jesus cleansing ministry. Jesus came to make us clean! Jesus came to purify sinners and present them to God clean, pure, without any spot. Do you remember in John 13 when Jesus began to wash his disciples dirty feet? And Peter said, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Then Peter said, Lord, wash all of me. And at the end of this foot washing, Jesus asked them, Do you understand what I have done to you? (v. 12). In that moment, Jesus was teaching them humility and service. But, he was also giving them a picture of why he came. He came to wash sinners and present them clean before God. Think about baptism with water. John the Baptist, the greatest witness to the coming of Christ, took an OT practice and baptized people with water. Why? What did this picture? As he put them under the water, John proclaimed, Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8). He was saying, Change the way you live. Be holy. Turn from you ways. Water was a picture of cleansing they would have understood. Let me give an example. In Lev. 14 we read about the cleansing of lepers. When an Israelite became infected with leprosy, he/she had to leave the camp and live apart from the congregation. For he was uclean. But, if the leper was healed from his disease, the priest would go to that person with two birds. He would kill one of the birds above a bowl of clean water. Then he would dip the living bird into the water mixed with blood. Then, he would do the same with the leper, sprinkling the water and the blood over him. Then the cleansed leper had to shave his hair, his beard, and his eyebrows, and wash in clean water. After this cleansing with water, he could re-enter the camp, clean, whole, and able to live freely with the people. With this in mind, John also said, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire... (Matt. 3:11). So, Jesus ministry, though he baptized no one with water, was a ministry of baptism, ie., real cleansing. Eph: 5:25-27: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... Why? 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Jesus ministry was a baptizing (cleansing) ministry. And this testifies. For who else can cleanse? ( Nothing but the blood of Jesus. ) 2. The Testimony of an Effective Sacrifice (blood). This 2 nd heavenly witness is the blood. Let s remember our context. The false teachers would have agreed with John about the meaning of the water. I believe they understood the baptizing, cleansing ministry of Jesus, that Jesus needed to wash them (make them clean); and probably, by the Spirit. But, they did not understand something else about what Jesus came to do. He came to die. Jesus laid down his life as a sacrifice. He shed his blood. And his sacrifice was effective. His sacrifice took away sins. In 1:7 John has already said, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. In some way the

3 3 false teachers denied the effectiveness of Jesus sacrifice. Remember, the false teachers were at least denying the humanity of Jesus. In 4:2-3 John says, By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And by denying his full humanity, they didn t understand the effect of his sacrifice. They knew they needed to be cleansed by the Spirit. But, they denied the reality and atoning significance of Jesus death. So what was it about Jesus death that was effective? Do you remember what John said in 2:1-2? My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Then again in 4:10: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Jesus is the PROPITIATION for our sins. This means that Jesus s sacrifice took away our sins. Why? Because (Brothers and Sisters) God placed our sins onto him. Is. 53:5-6, 10: But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed... and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all... Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. You see, if you are a Christian, God took your sins (all of them) and laid them on Christ. And the wages of sin is death. And God punished Christ and not us! His anger and his wrath fell upon Christ, not us! For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ didn t simply come to cleans us. He also came to die in order to effectively make it so. He didn t ONLY come by water. He ALSO came by blood. You and I need to be INWARDLY cleansed! But, this will only happen if OUTWARDLY, actively, Christ lays down his life as an acceptable, wrath appeasing, sacrifice to GOD. Let me give you a picture from John s gospel, to help you remember the water and the blood. ONLY John the Apostle records this picture. Think of the crucifixion. Later in the day, while Jesus and the two thieves were still hanging on the cross, a Roman soldier came to break their legs in order to quicken their death if it hadn t happened already. But John says when he came to Jesus he saw that he was already dead and he pierced Jesus side with his spear. Do you remember what happened? (John was an eyewitness to this event.) Blood and water flowed together from his side. Now, think back to the OT ceremonial laws. God required the people to WASH. There were so many ceremonial washings. AND, God required animal sacrifices. There was water and there was blood. So when you consider the cross of Christ, remember: WATER and BLOOD flowed down. This water and blood picture ALL that is necessary and effectual for our salvation! ALL the ceremonial washings from the OT were fulfilled in Christ! ALL the sacrifices of the OT were fulfilled in Christ! And so John says, He did not come only by water, but also by blood. And both of these testify to the truth of eternal life in Jesus Christ. This is a FULL ATONEMENT!

4 4 3. The Testimony of Applied Truth (Spirit). In v. 6 John says, And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is truth. Then in v. 7 he says, For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. The Spirit is the 3 rd heavenly testimony in this text. And I have called this the testimony of applied truth. Let me ask, What does the Spirit do that bears witness to the truth of eternal life in Jesus Christ? There is SO MUCH I could say here. For the Spirit testifies to EVERY truth about Christ, his pre-existence, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, etc. But, for now, let me read some verses from John 16 that will help us. In this chapter, Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit and what He will do when He comes. In v. 12 Jesus said to his disciples, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:12-15). It is the SPIRIT that applies heavenly truth to us; especially concerning the person and work of Christ. And this is God s applied testimony of truth for us. The Spirit is from Heaven. For He is in essence God. And God cannot lie, but only tell the truth. And by faith we believe what we hear, which is to have eternal life in the Son. And think about this. How are we effectually cleansed? It is by the Spirit. 1 Cor. 6:11: Paul says, But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. It is by the Spirit that the benefits of the sacrificial death of Jesus comes down to. Truth is applied to our hearts. WE have ETERNAL LIFE in the Son (v. 12). Water, Blood, Spirit: God s testimony from heaven. Applications: The Spirit testifies to the truth of Christ. This is what the Spirit does. He testifies to Christ (birth, life, death, resurrection, all truth about the Son that leads to eternal life.) Therefore, beware of those who claim religion, but not Christ! (like the false teachers of John s day) Application: Our belief in the Son is a testimony. Think about it. On the one hand (from the world s perspective) it is absurd to believe in such a man. But, on the other hand, belief in him brings eternal life. And can anyone give eternal life? And we aren t talking about the fountain of youth. We are talking about eternal life! Our faith, our belief, in Jesus Christ, testifies, gives witness to this truth! Application: How we live our lives is a testimony. In the end, WE testify. WE testify because WE have eternal life in the Son! We have life. This is the content of God s (heavenly) testimony. It is evident because of the testimony of a changed life. It is evident because the true sacrifice of God has been applied to our hearts. And this, by the Spirit! Verse 12 is one of the clearest verses in the Bible concerning REAL life! Those who have the Son have life. Those who do not have the Son, do not have REAL life! Implication: A changed life. Once, the leper was outside the

5 5 camp because of his impurity. Now, he is back inside the camp, changed, pure, clean, able to function within the community of God. Jesus came to make us clean. Unless I wash you. Implication: The Trinity (see esp. vv. 6-9) Application: Believe the testimony of God! If you do not, you make God out to be a liar. For his testimony to eternal life in the Son is from heaven (v. 10). Application: How do you know God s testimony is effective? See v You have eternal life. You believe God s testimony. This is Faith. (Faith that has overcome the world.)