For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one (1 John 5:7).
So much of 1
John is dedicated to the horizontal aspects of the Christian life: Man’s
relationship to man; believer’s relationship to believer. All this is
epitomized in the call to love one another based on the New Commandment of
Christ (John 13:34-35; see 1 John 4:11).
This is not
to say, however, that John has not been concerned with the vertical. With man’s
relationship to God. He twice declares God is love (4:8, 16).
John is
especially interested in Christology, the doctrine of Christ. John is
Christ-centered and Christ-focused. As noted, he is battling those who denied
the full humanity of our Lord, that he had come in the flesh (4:2-3).
John piles
up various key titles for Christ.
He is an
Advocate with the Father (2:1);
He is Jesus
Christ the righteous (2:1);
He is the
propitiation for our sins (2:2; 4:10);
He is the
Saviour of the world (4:14).
He is the
Son of God (3:8b; 4:15; 5:5).
That was
where our passage last Sunday had concluded in v. 5 with the question: “Who is
he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God (cf. 3:23; Peter’s confession in John 6:69: “And we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God.”; and the Eunuch’s
confession in Acts 8:37: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”).
That
interest in theology and Christology is going to continue in our passage today.
We can think
of the background for John’s remarks here as being like a trial. The
declaration that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God is being tested,
tried, and examined.
John is
going to bring forward two sets of three witnesses.
There are
three heavenly witnesses (v. 7) and three earthly witnesses (v. 8), and they
all speak with one voice.
And we are
in the jury left to draw our own conclusion and render our own verdict as to
who this man Jesus really is.
I.
Exposition:
V. 6 begins,
“This is he that came by water and blood….” Matthew Poole’s commentary suggests
that water and blood represent Christ’s purity (water) and his suffering
(blood). Another source, suggests they represent his baptism (water) and his
passion (blood) (MacArthur’s Study Bible).
We might
also consider these as references to his birth as a true man, since this has
been disputed by false prophets and antichrists in the church to which John was
writing (see 1 John 4:2-3). John is here saying that Christ did not appear out
of thin air. He was conceived in the womb of the virgin in an extra-ordinary
manner, and he was born in an ordinary manner.
In his
conversation with Nicodemus Christ contrasted being born by water (natural
birth) and being born of the Spirit (supernatural birth (John 3:5). Likewise,
in John 1:12-13 the Evangelist distinguishes between those born merely “of
blood” and those born by the power of God to become “the sons of God.”
Coming by
water and blood are both signs of the real human birth and, thus, the true
humanity of Christ. It is estimated that 60% of the human body consists of
water, and that 7-8% of a human body’s weight is blood.
Christ was a flesh and blood man. When the Roman soldier thrust his spear into Christ’s lifeless side after his death on the cross what came out? Blood and water (John 19:34).
John
continues in v. 6, “not by water only, but by water and the blood.” Christ did
not have just one aspect of a human body but all. It was his shed blood, in
particular, that held atoning significance. See 1 John 1:7: “…and the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” He is “the propitiation for
our sins” (1 John 2:2; cf. 4:10). In the upper room at the Last Supper with his
disciples, Christ declared, “This cup is the new testament in my blood” (1
Corinthians 11:25). Paul, in Hebrews 9:22, affirmed, “without shedding of blood
there is no remission.”
If Christ
was not a real man with real blood, but only a phantom, a spirit, a Docetic
Christ, there is no true salvation.
The scene
again is like a courtroom. John speak of those that bear witness to Christ. In
the moral law, the ninth commandment forbids the bearing of false witness.
Furthermore, in Deuteronomy 19:15 it says, “at the mouth of two witnesses, or
at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established” (cf. Matthew
18:16 where Christ applied this standard to working out difficulties among
brethren in the church). John will in this passage bring forward multiples
witnesses to affirm that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
John begins
with the witness of the Holy Spirit: “And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth” (v. 6b). In John 15:26, Christ said, “But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto your from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.”
Along with
the testimony of the Spirit, John is going to add supporting witnesses. He
gives two sets of three witnesses: Three heavenly witnesses (v. 7) and three
earthly witnesses (v. 8). In each of these sets of three the Spirit is listed
as one of the witnesses.
We look
first at the three heavenly witnesses (v. 7). John says, “There are three that
bear record [the verb is martyro-ō] in heaven….”
Heaven or
the heavens, are, of course, the abode of God. It is his dwelling place. As
Psalm 115:3 says, “But our God is in the heavens; he has done whatsoever he has
pleased.” The three heavenly witnesses are the witness of God in heaven
Himself. Here are the three persons of the divine Godhead.
First, God
the Father bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 5:31 Christ said to
the unbelieving skeptics, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not
true.” He added that there was another witness, John the Baptist, whom he calls
“a burning and shining light” (vv. 32-35). He then states that he has a
“greater witness than that of John” (v. 36), adding, “And the Father himself,
which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me” (v. 37).
Second, God
the Word [Logos] bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of
interest that the word “Son” is not used here but “Word [Logos], in
keeping with an emphasis of John the Evangelist. His Gospel starts, “In the
beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with
God, and the Word [Logos] was God” (John 1:1). See also John 1:14, “And
the Word [Logos] was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.”
Third, God
the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit was there
descending upon him “in a bodily shape like a dove” upon him at his baptism
(Luke 3:21).
John
concludes v. 7 with the statement: “and these three are one.” This is a
declaration of the divine oneness. There are not three gods, but one true God.
The Muslims says, You Christians are tri-theists, worshipping Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. One plus one plus one equals three. We respond that one times one times one equals one. We worship
one God who is from all eternity Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. There is one God
in three persons, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.
1 John 5:7
has long been recognized as one of the great explicit proof texts for the
Trinity within the New Testament. There are three such explicit proofs in the
New Testament with one placed in each its three major divisions:
First, in
the Gospels and Acts: In Matthew’s Great Commission of Matthew 28:19: “Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Second, in
the Pauline letters: In Paul’s
benediction to his second letter to the church at Corinth: 2 Corinthians 13:14:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of
the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
Third, in
the General Letters and Revelation: 1 John 5:7: “For there are three that bare
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.”
It is also
no surprise to learn that the authenticity of this passage has been challenged
in the modern era. The great Reformed theologian Francis Turretin (1623-1687)
noted that “heretics” in his day were attacking the authenticity of this verse
(see Elenctic Theology 1:115).
John is
saying in this verse that the triune God Himself bears witness in heaven that
the Lord Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God, and that he came in the
flesh, by water and blood.
At the IRBS
Conference held in Texas on May 17, 2024, Richard Barcellos cited Thomas
Aquinas as saying of Christ’s incarnation: “He made himself small, not by
putting off greatness, but by taking on smallness.” Barcellos added, “We need a ‘womb to tomb’ righteousness, and in
our Lord alone, we get this.”
In perfect literary parallelism, we
have in v. 8 the three earthly witnesses (with the Spirit repeated as one of
the three). Notice the chiasm in vv. 7-8:
(a) Father, (b) Word, (c) Spirit;
(c’)
Spirit, (b’) water, (a’) blood.
These three earthly witnesses are:
First, the Spirit. How does the
Spirit bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? God’s Spirit is indeed here on
earth making present to us in this realm the reality of the one God in three
persons. Christ is now in heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand until he
comes again in power and glory to judge the living and the dead, but by the
Spirit he is now present with us. Christ had promised his disciples that he
would send them the “Comforter” to teach them all things and bear witness to
them (cf. John 14:26; 15:26-27). In 1 Corinthians 2:10 Paul told the believers
that God has revealed his wisdom to them “by his Spirit; for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
Second, the water. How does water
bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? We noted that it is a reminder of
Christ’s true humanity (v. 6), but perhaps this witness is to the water of
baptism. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because we see
that he continues to make disciples from among the nations, who confess their
faith in and submit unto him in baptism, as did the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts
8:37).
Third, the blood. How does blood
bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? This takes us to the cross. It brings
before us Christ’s five bleeding wounds. It recalls his propitiation (cf. again
the “blood language” of 1 John 1:7; 2:2; 4:10).
John ends by saying, “and these
three agree in one” (v. 8b). One will note that the wording here is similar to
v. 7b, but slightly and significantly different. While in v. 7b John says the
Father, Word, and Holy Spirit are one (the same in essence), here he
says the Spirit, water, and blood agree in one (a prepositional phrase).
The work of the Spirit, the testimony of baptism, and the preaching of the
blood-drenched cross act in harmony to compel sinners to confess that Jesus is
Lord!
John ends our passage in v. 9 first
by a comparison between the witness of men and the witness of God. We believe
or trust many things because of the witness of men. I’ve never been to Cuba but
I recently met a man from Cuba who was describing it to me. I trust his witness
and that of others to the existence of a place called Cuba, though I have never
been there and seen it with my own eyes. Life requires a lot of trusting in
men. I think of this every time I get on an airplane for a trip. I must trust the
engineers who designed the plane, the pilot who flies it, the air-traffic
controllers who direct it, and the stewards who serve it.
I also trust the witness of the
apostles in the Gospels to the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ,
even though, unlike Thomas, I have not yet seen our Lord with my eyes (cf. John
20:29).
Recall, however, that Christ said
there is a “greater witness” than that of men (like John the Baptist, John 5:36).
God’s witness to Christ is greater than that of men. I believe the Gospel
witness to Christ, not because they were written by reliable men, but because
they were breathed out or inspired by God Himself (2 Timothy 3:16).
They provide various and constant
witness to Christ:
God the Father bore witness to
Christ:
At this birth, God sent his holy
angel to proclaim, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
At his baptism, God’s voice from
heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew
3:17).
At his transfiguration that same
voice declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye
him” (Mathew 17:5).
God the Son bore witness to Christ:
As the incarnate Word, Christ
declared a series of “I am” sayings, echoing the divine self-revelation of the
LORD to Moses at the burning bush as the great “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
So, Christ said, “I am the bread of
life” (John 6:35); “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12); “I am the door”
(John 10:9); “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11); “I am the resurrection and
life” (John 11:25); and “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). He also declared,
“Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and when asked in his trial before the
high priest if he was the Son of the Blessed, he replied, “I am” (Mark 14:62).
God the Spirit bore witness to
Christ:
The Spirit descended upon him at his
baptism, and then was poured out on his disciples at Pentecost so that they
might boldly proclaim him (Acts 2).
John concludes this passage, “For
this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son” (v. 9b).
II.
Spiritual
Application:
We affirm today that there is one
God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This one God bears witness
in heaven that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Why do we believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Because the triune God says he is.
We are in the jury box. What verdict
will we reach in the face of this witness?
Jeffrey T. Riddle, Pastor, Christ RBC, Louisa, Virginia
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