Can I Get A Witness? 1 John 5:6-12, Theology Matters Series

Hello all:

I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the outlines and discussion questions from my lessons on the G.A.P. page on Facebook. A while back I started posting these notes on the blog too. So, here is the outline for our meeting on June 5, 2011. A while back we started a new series on 1 John entitled "Theology Matters." This lesson looks at 1 John 5:6-12 and discusses the idea that Christians should live in response to the testimony and evidence God offers in the Incarnation. In fact, if we take the Incarnation seriously, we will realize that God is calling us to a life of humble service to others just as Christ came among us. His life is not merely an example for us, it is a call for us to take God at His Word and live as he has called us. In this lesson, I put the audience in the jury box and ask them to consider several pieces of evidence and some testimony. Then I ask them to make a decision based on that evidence. The decision will reveal itself in our own testimony to what God has done. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!

Can I Get a Witness?
1 John 5:6-12
Theology Matters Series

Introduction
Jury duty
These words usually do not make people happy
When you receive a notice of jury duty, it doesn’t usually bless you
I served on juries before—two in Waco and a grand jury in Campbell County
We heard testimony, observed evidence, and rendered a verdict

Our passage today, 1 John 5:6-12, makes me think of a courtroom

Twelve times in 1 John our author uses the Greek word for witness, testify, or testimony
Ten of them show up in our passage today

I am going to ask you, ladies and gentlemen, to be a jury today

I am going to present to you some testimony and some evidence, and I will be asking you to render a verdict

Are you ready?

The Evidence
In chapter 4, John reminds his readers of the importance of faith in the Incarnation. Now he addresses the issue: How can we be assured that the Incarnation is a fact? In these verses John lays out the evidence for the Incarnation.

We live in an age where uncertainty and a lack of “dogmaticism” is enshrined as a valuable virtue.
We are told the no one can be certain and that truth is relative
We are often reminded that things are subjective and truth is a personal decision or opinion
I even saw a letter to the editor that declared that faith in the resurrection of Christ is based on “blind faith” and cannot be known by “fact” or historical data

That is the world WE live in

John would say that such a view of the world is foolish

I would agree with John

John gives us three pieces of evidence and a contrast to say to us, “You can be bulldogmatic on the topic of the incarnation”

In 1 John 5:6-9, he lists his three witnesses as follows: the Spirit, the water and the blood

Verse 6 tells us that Jesus Christ came by the water and the blood and not by water only

What in the world does John mean by this?
To what do the words “water” and “blood” refer?

Here are some options:
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
The Incarnation (Jesus’ birth) and the Crucifixion
Some connection to blood and water coming from Christ at the crucifixion (John 19:34)
But none of these are satisfactory given the context

Let’s remember a bit of our history here
John is dealing with opponents to his teaching
These opponents apparently were teaching a doctrine that said that God is Spirit only and cannot be “flesh” or “human”

In fact, some of them even claimed that Jesus only “seemed” human, he was really a spirit being (Docetism)

Some even went so far as to separate the man Jesus from the Messianic Divine Spirit called “Chirst” (Cerenthus). This teaching claimed that the spirit of Christ came on the man Jesus at his baptism, but left him at the cross. That is, Jesus the man was endued with power at his baptism, but this divine power left him at the cross. The Spirit of “Christ” couldn’t suffer or die in this view

For these individuals, redemption is not important but enlightenment is needed. They have a baptized Jesus but a “bloodless” Christ. They are happy to be initiated into a “mystery,” but they shy away from suffering as a means of redemption

These are the people resisting John’s teaching

John is writing not only to reassure his people but to also resist the false teachings of his opponents

The language in verse 6 indicates a past historical kind of witness
With that in mind, it seems likely that water and blood refer to the baptism of Jesus and the crucifixion of Jesus

John says that it is not by “water only” but by the blood as well
John refers here to God’s testimony in Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion
These two historical events testify to the truth of the Incarnation

As if these two were not enough, John reminds his readers that there is also the testimony of the Spirit of Truth (verse 7)

The word “Spirit” here refers to the Holy Spirit of God.

Just as God testified of Jesus as the Christ at his baptism and at his crucifixion, so also the Holy Spirit continues to testify about Christ and his work of salvation (John 15:26)
This witness is the truth (John 14:6)

These three: The Spirit, the water, and the blood all agree (verse 8)—they are united in testimony
They agree about the witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Incarnate Word of God
Their testimony is God’s evidence of Jesus

John closes this section with verse 9, in which he contrasts human testimony with God’s testimony

Simply stated, John reminds us that we often receive the testimony of humans
We usually accept the word of human agents without asking for more
How would you respond if every time you spoke to a friend he said, “I just don’t know if I can believe you. Is your testimony true?”
Most of us expect to be believed in most cases, and we tend to believe other human witnesses in general

Parent, Authorities, Pharmacists, Doctors, even the people on TV or in the newspaper
We often accept their testimony without hesitation
If we can accept the testimony of humans, then we ought to recognize that God’s testimony is greater than human words

God’s testimony is pretty straightforward: He has testified/borne witness to his Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17)

In other words, the evidence for the Incarnation is historical and supernatural
The historical events speak of Jesus as the Messiah and God’s witness supports these facts/events

God has spoken his witness in history and in his Scripture, what is the effect of it?

The Effects
1 John 5:10-12 outline the effects of the witnesses John offers above

The evidence John presents brings the reader or hearer to the place of a decision

Just like a judge or jury must make a decision and respond to the witnesses and the evidence presented in a court of law, so also the hearers/readers of John’s letter must now respond

There are two possible responses

1. The negative (5:10)
One possible response to the testimony/witness John provides is to say, “It isn’t true. I will not act on it in faith. God lies.”

John depicts unbelief not as a position to be pitied, but as a sin of which to repent

The person who looks at God’s evidence and God’s testimony and says, “It is not true” is calling God a liar.

Remember, “faith” as we defined it last week is an action—it is acting on what we know and placing our trust in something bigger than us—it is total reliance on Jesus and what God has accomplished in him

John’s opponents did not accept the full testimony of God
They belittled the truth of Christ by making him less than the Incarnate Word of God
They tried to avoid the blood of the crucifixion and to rely only on a mysterious enlightenment that led one to a mystical experience
Such actions/faith claim that God lied in his Word

This position does not accept the truth of God’s full testimony regarding Jesus

2. The Positive (5:10-12)
The person that responds to God’s testimony with faith (i.e., that trusts completely in God’s works in Christ for salvation) receives as a result an internal testimony
This is the testimony of the Spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15-17; Gal. 4:4-7)

All who place faith in God’s truthful witness will have an internal testimony of this Truth

The person that responds to God’s truthful testimony with faith also receives an eternal testimony and eternal life

This life is not just a heavenly reality in the future, it is a spiritual reality now—the believer in God’s truth lives a life full of God
His life is centered on God, directed by God, filled with God
That is abundant life—the certainty of that life is focused on Jesus as the perfect revelation of God (John 1:1-3; 14; Hebrews 1:1-3) and as the one who gives abundant life (John 1:11-12; 10:10)

John even says that eternal life is in Jesus, and those who have Jesus have that eternal life—those who deny the truth of Jesus do not have eternal life

Embracing Jesus equals life, while rejecting Jesus results in no life

So what is the verdict?
Will you reject the evidence and God’s testimony?
Will you accept the evidence and the witness and have life?

What does the Jury say?
We stand in a place of decision today. John has offered us testimony and evidence regarding the divine Messianic status of one Jesus of Nazareth

We must now make our decision, we must render our verdict

Is Jesus the Christ? Is he the perfect expression and reflection of God’s divine nature?
If so, what are the ramifications for us?
If not, what will happen?

The Verdict
If we reject the Word of God as presented today, we must acknowledge that we are labeling the testimony of the evidence and of God as false. We will call God a liar and we are spiritually dead

If we accept the testimony, then we must place our trust completely in Christ for the life that only God can bring. Our life will exhibit that quality of life that only Jesus offers

If we accept God’s testimony then, our lives will look like Jesus—we will be his witnesses, we will add to the evidence our own testimony

What is your decision?

Thanks for reading!