“This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 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. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:6-12 ESV).

The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood

I confess that I have often avoided these verses here which talk of Jesus having come by water and blood, for I find it a difficult concept to understand. And even the great commentators of history cannot agree on what it means. But I feel fairly confident that “by water” has to do with his physical birth, that he was born as a baby to a human mother. It shows that he, who is God, did come to earth and that he was God incarnate, i.e. God made flesh who lived and walked among the people of the world.

Now, if you consider that context, and the statement that he came, not by water only, what does that tell you? His birth was not of human origin only. Because this is talking about him coming into the world, is it not? His coming into the world was not physical only, but it was spiritual in nature, too. So, could “the blood” be speaking of royalty? He was born, not just as a human baby, but as a king. For blood has to do with bloodline, and God the Father was Jesus’ birth Father, not Joseph, who was merely his adoptive father.

Now it says that the Spirit is the one who testifies, and he definitely did that at Jesus’ baptism, which is why some scholars believe the water symbolizes his baptism. But didn’t the Holy Spirit speak through the prophets of old when they prophesied as to the coming of the Christ, the Messiah? And didn’t the Spirit speak through Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and through Mary, the mother of Jesus, and through her cousin Elizabeth concerning Jesus and who he is while he was still in his mother’s womb?

And then it says that there are three that testify – the Spirit, and the water, and the blood – and these three agree. Well, again, the Spirit of God prophesied of the coming of Jesus Christ many years ago, and Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and Mary, and Elizabeth, as best as I recall, all gave testimony of Jesus and who he was and is, and John the Baptist, via the Holy Spirit, gave testimony that Jesus Christ was the Messiah who was to come, as promised – all as led by the Holy Spirit, under his power.

And Jesus’ physical birth (the water) testified to who he was, for Mary did not have relations with any man. She was a pure virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. And the fact that he was conceived of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit), and not of man, and that God the Father is his birth Father, speaks of his family lineage, his family bloodline (the blood). And they all testify as to who Jesus is and was. But the point is that in all of this, the Scriptures were fulfilled as had been prophesied, and Jesus was born as a human baby to a woman who was a virgin and with God the Father as his birth Father.

The Testimony of Man or of God?

Now, yes, some of this testimony did come through human beings but only as they were being moved by the Holy Spirit and not in their own flesh. And the writings of the words of God, as breathed into the minds and hearts of the human beings who wrote the Scriptures, were of God, of the Spirit of God, and not of the thinking and the reasoning of human beings. And the Scriptures themselves give testimony of Jesus Christ and of his miraculous birth and of who he was and is, and so it is the Scriptures that we trust.

And this brings me to a related subject which this speaks of and that is that the testimony of God, via the holy Scriptures, is greater than the testimony of human beings who are speaking from their flesh and not from the Scriptures. Too many people these days are putting their trust in the words of human beings over and in place of the Scriptures, in many cases, and sometimes they trust these people because of who they are, and because of their credentials, without even testing their words against the Scriptures.

In my life I have encountered many people who are relying on the testimony of human beings in place of the word of God. They are putting their trust in preachers/pastors, and in church denominations and in their theologies, and in commentators and theologians and in people with seminary degrees who have titles before their names, even if their words contradict the teachings of the Scriptures, and even if their words ignore the teachings of the Scriptures. So, we need to be students of the Scriptures.

And it is critical that we study the Scriptures in their context, for so many false teachings come from Scriptures removed from their context and made to say something they do not say, in context. And so we need to be those who test everyone and everything that we hear, read, or think we see, for there are many deceiving spirits out there, and many who are followers of men and not followers of God. And I don’t care what human being said what. We need to test them all, for none of us has perfect understanding.

But if we are in a discussion regarding what the Scriptures teach, and your response to me is that “so and so” said “such and such,” then I am going to tell you that human beings, no matter who they are, are not God. What is important is what the Scriptures teach, not what humans say unless they are quoting the Scriptures in the proper context and from a generally well recognized and true translation of the Scriptures, not from a paraphrased transliteration, especially one put together by one individual.

And the Holy Spirit does speak through some people who are godly people who are following the Lord with their lives, but we still need to test what they say against the teachings of Scripture in their appropriate context to make certain that what they are proclaiming is consistent with what the Scriptures teach and with how God has worked through human beings who were his instruments for his use all throughout biblical history. For God doesn’t use us all in all the same ways, does he?

So, when this says that “whoever believes in the Son of God,” we need to read all of 1 John to see how “belief” is described for us. And we should read all of what the New Testament teaches on that subject, for it is not giving lip service to the Lord only. It has to do with us denying self, dying daily to sin, and following our Lord in obedience to his commands. For the Scriptures teach faith as obedience, and disobedience as unbelief. And they teach that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience, we don’t have genuine faith.

So, whoever has the Son is not one who merely makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Whoever has the Son is one who is walking in obedience to the Lord in holy and righteous living, in practice, and who is no longer walking in deliberate and habitual sin. And these aren’t my words. This is what the Scriptures teach, which you can read for yourselves. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, and not righteousness, then we do not know God, and we will not have eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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