The Threefold Witness | 1 John 5:6-12 | Walking in the Light
This week's message continues the "Walking in the Light" series through 1 John, turning to 1 John 5:6-12. John builds a case for who Jesus is, grounded not in feeling or speculation but in real, historical evidence. Water and blood point to Jesus' baptism and his death on the cross, both concrete events that confirm he came in the flesh. Alongside these, the Spirit testifies to the same truth, working faith in the hearts of God's people. These three witnesses agree, and John reminds his readers that this kind of corroborating testimony was already understood to carry weight. The passage closes with the heart of the matter: whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son does not have life. This message offers both assurance to the believer and a clear call to anyone still holding back.
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Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, MN. Each week we dig into God's Word trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us.
One of the great things about our nation is the judicial system.
You are considered innocent until proven guilty.
And there are a lot of different protections built into our judicial system to protect the accused. Now, most of us are generally familiar with how this is supposed to work thanks to TV and movies. While it's possible to convict someone on shaky testimony from a single person, our judicial system is designed to protect against wrongful convictions. Along with the presumption of innocence, the prosecution carries the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If a single witness has a grudge against the accused or their story doesn't hold together, that will tend to surface in a fair trial. But if 3 separate witnesses, each seeing what happened from a different angle, all tell the same story, a conviction becomes highly likely. And as we arrive in our passage this morning, we find John making a case as well. And he isn't resting it on weak, insufficient evidence. Like any case that is strong, he is looking to multiple strong witnesses to establish the truth. So as we make our way this morning through the text, we're going to see that John points to the very real and historical reality of Jesus. And he then tells us that the testimony is airtight.
And then we find that John lets us know what we do with this evidence is how we know that we have life. And so as we come and settle into the text today, we find that it's important that we think about where we've been. It's important that we recall v. 5 from last week. We saw there that the ones who overcome the world are those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Now remember, words and phrases like Christ and Son of God are more than just inconsequential titles. Those words are messianic phrases and titles that remind us that Jesus is the fulfillment the fulfillment of the covenant promises of God. Those who overcome are not those who agree that Jesus was a good teacher or a wise sage.
Those who overcome are those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Messiah, the Son of God.
So as John continues, he doesn't just tell his audience what to believe and expect them to take his word for it. His evidence isn't flimsy. We see that it's threefold and it's concrete. So as he begins to establish his case, he says that Jesus came by water and blood. Now we're going to get into what John means by this statement. But before we do that, we need to remind ourselves that water and blood are physical, earthbound materials. In addition to saying that he saw, heard, and touched Jesus, John has been reminding us multiple times throughout this letter that anyone that denies that Jesus comes in the flesh is antichrist. They are against Christ. And so here, we have another statement against the issue that this letter is addressing in the early church. There were these early knowledge cults that would have been saying that Jesus didn't really come in the flesh. See, they believed that the flesh was bad, and so Jesus couldn't possibly have taken on this evil human flesh.
They would say that Jesus only appeared to be human.
But John's case that he's building here is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. In order for Jesus to be the Messiah, the Christ, that requires that Jesus be actually human. In order to fulfill the covenant promises of God, Jesus needs to be human. In order to actually win victory over sin and over physical death, Jesus needs to be human. So if Jesus came by water and blood, we are seeing that He is clearly a material being. Water and blood aren't spiritual abstractions. They're things you can see. Better yet, they're things you can touch. And other than signaling the physical nature of Jesus with this statement, why is John saying that Jesus came by these elements? How did Jesus come by water and blood? Well, in my study of this, I believe that the best interpretation of these words here is that John is pointing to two significant moments in the ministry of Jesus.
Now, we know Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but His earthly ministry truly started at His baptism. So, we're thinking this through.
If Jesus actually went into physical water and actually was baptized and walked out of it, Jesus is more than just some sort of spiritual apparition. In order to be baptized, he needs a body. Well, then the blood points to his sacrificial and atoning work at the cross where his blood was shed to bear the wrath of God for his people.
And these crucial parts of the ministry of Jesus emphasize his incarnation.
It points to the real historical events that happened. Not some spiritual event that could happen anytime or anywhere, but a baptism in the actual Jordan River and an actual Roman execution on a Friday, one afternoon, on a hill on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It's not just a myth.
It's not just a good story, but something that God the Son in human flesh did to fulfill the covenant promises of God and save His people from their sin.
Now, the third witness that John speaks to is the Spirit. And the Spirit testifies to this same truth. It does so not only in the work of the Holy Spirit that is done through the testimony of the apostles, but also through the inward work done in the heart of believers. The Spirit is the one who comes to the people of God. The Spirit is the one who comes and regenerates us, convicts us of our sin, and then gives us the gift of faith to believe that Jesus is the Christ.
Without the Spirit, It would just be a story about something that happened, and it wouldn't make any difference to us at all. But because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the message of Jesus having come through water and blood is heard and believed. The testimony is true, and the Spirit works that we put our faith and our trust in that testimony of who Jesus is.
Now, John doesn't leave the number of witnesses here to chance. In verses 7 and 8, we're going to see that he plainly tells us that these 3 witnesses agree. And in a Jewish courtroom, that number wouldn't have been arbitrary. So as we read this in our context, we look at this and we think that 3 testifying is a good number. It's better than 1. And if 2 is better than 1, 3's got to be better than 2. This is great.
Well, in the Old Testament, no one could be convicted on the word of a single witness.
Now we get why this is, right? It would be easy to bring the power of the state upon someone you don't like if you could just accuse someone of a crime and not require multiple witnesses. Well, Deuteronomy 19:15 required 2 and sometimes 3 witnesses in agreement before a charge against a person could stand. Jesus mentions this in John 8. And Paul also brings it up in 2 Corinthians 13. So, when John lines up water, blood, and Spirit and says these three agree, he's not just stacking up proof here.
He's matching the standard that his readers already knew. A real testimony requires more than one voice. And so here, he gives us three. And his big point is that they agree.
The water isn't a testimony of something over here, and the blood a testimony of this thing over here, and the testimony of the Spirit is about this here.
The three testify to the one story. The one story of what God in Christ has done to reconcile the world to Himself.
And so John helps us to apply the significance of this. So imagine that someone came to you and told you about something outstanding that happened. Now, you believe them, but at the same time, you're kind of like, "This is really unlikely. This is not something that happens every day." And the person who told you about it, well, they could just be really excited about it. They could be interpreting it wrong. They could not have all of the details. Well, then later you come into contact with another friend who tells you about what happened. They were there. They give you the exact same details about what happened from another perspective, and it matches the story of the first person. Well, that's good, but some doubt is likely going to stick around in your mind. But then a third person tells you the same story with the same details but from a third perspective.
At this point, doubt is basically erased.
Three witnesses, different perspectives on the story, but yet they all agree.
That's a strong enough testimony to erase doubt.
And what John says to us here is that if human testimony holds this much weight with us, How much more should the witness of the Word of God, how much more should the Holy Spirit testifying to this give us confidence in the truth of the gospel? This is the most important message you will ever hear. The gospel is the most important thing you could ever hear. It has bearing on more than just the passing things of this life. Its impact goes into eternity. And John makes the case for us regarding the truth of Jesus having come in the flesh to redeem us. And he builds a case here that holds weight so that we will have confidence in the truth of the Gospel and in the victory that we have through that Gospel.
In a courtroom, Evidence isn't presented just to get information out into the open, just to tell the world what happened.
The prosecution doesn't build their case and then the judge says, alright, jury, you can leave and go home. You've heard all about this. Have a good life.
The jury has to do something with the information that they're given.
And here, John presents his case and appeals to the testimony of the water, the blood, and the Spirit. And we need to take a look at this information. What are we gonna do with what we've heard? And that is what John calls us to as our passage closes up today.
He tells us that when we believe in the Son of God, we have the testimony in ourselves.
Again, I need to remind us that the phrase Son of God is not a random title.
This is so important.
This phrase is expressing the messianic nature of who Jesus is, that he came, he suffered and died, he fulfills the covenant promises of God.
This is essential. And if we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, then we believe the testimony of the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
But John doesn't stop here with just the positive.
He reminds us that unbelief has consequences. When the testimony is rejected, he says that you make God out to be a liar. The words given about Jesus is not just a story told by humans, and we have the option of picking it from a list of assorted religious options concocted by humans. So, it isn't just one option out there for us.
Denying the testimony of the water, the blood, and the Spirit isn't simply saying that John and the other disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were wrong or that they made up a wild story and you're not sure if you believe it or you don't believe it.
It's the testimony of God that this is what his Messiah has done. And so to reject that message is to say that God is a liar. This is a really heavy verse.
This is heavy. So it's one that we need to take to heart.
There is great gravity in unbelief. To reject this testimony isn't to shrug at one piece of evidence and say, "Uh, whatever," is to call the whole courtroom a fraud, including the judge. No one in a courtroom, not the defendant, not the jury, gets to walk out because they don't like where the evidence points.
No one gets to leave the courtroom because they'd rather not decide.
But here's what makes this different from any earthly courtroom.
The verdict isn't a fine or a sentence, it's life itself. And John spells this out for us in verses 11 and 12.
So the case that John's been building isn't about the evidence itself.
The testimony is that God gave us eternal life, and he did this through the work of Jesus. Sin is real. Death is real. And so it was imperative that we have a Savior who came in our flesh. Not because it was a fun plot twist. Not because it was a different way to be smart or insightful. He came to give us eternal life.
And this comes through the Son. Eternal life is in Jesus, the One who defeated death. When we have faith in Jesus as the Christ, we are united to Him and we have eternal life.
It isn't because we know a secret password. It isn't because we have some sort of special enlightenment or because we've got the right moral formula for pleasing a holy God is because Jesus did something for His people.
He turned aside the punishment that we deserve for our sin, and it satisfied God's wrath.
And we are declared righteous— declared righteous— because we have been united to the One who was righteous on our behalf.
We have life in him because the one we are united to has defeated death. And so this is why John can boldly declare that whoever has the Son has life. But once again, John doesn't only state the positive side of all this. He reminds us of the negative. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. John wants to make it clear that those who are against Christ, those who are anti-Christ and deny that Jesus came in the flesh, are more than just wrong about the details. They do not have life. To reject Jesus as the Messiah who came in the flesh has ramifications on more than an intellectual philosophical level. It has eternal consequences. John has presented the evidence. He's provided a threefold testimony, and he has now presented us with the verdict. Now, here's where our courtroom picture that I've been painting has to break down. In an earthly court, the jury weighs the evidence and decides what's true. But this isn't that kind of a courtroom. The evidence that John has given isn't waiting for you to give a verdict.
It won't become true if you decide it's true.
It's true whether you believe it or not. You're not the judge, and you're not the jury. You're the one standing in the evidence's path. And you have to decide what you'll do with the truth that doesn't need your permission to be true. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have anything to offer you. You're the one who benefits from the truth of the testimony. Hear and believe.
Receive the gift of eternal life in the Son.
As I began, I talked about how we trust the justice system when the evidence is strong and multiple witnesses have corroborating testimony.
And we have seen John present evidence stronger than we would see in a courtroom because it is evidence from God himself. And so the question before us today is not whether the case is strong enough, Because it is. The question is what you're going to do sitting in the gallery this morning now that the verdict has been read.
If you've believed in the Son and trusted in Jesus as the Messiah, this passage gives us confidence.
It assures us of salvation. You don't need to keep retrying the case in your mind.
I know so many of us carry a nagging doubt, wondering if our faith is strong enough, if we believe the right way, or if we really have what we claim to have.
It's important that you hear this: assurance of salvation isn't about you resting on how confident you feel about your faith.
It rests on the strength of what Jesus has done and what the Spirit has done in us. Water, blood, and Spirit have testified, and they agree. If you have faith in Christ, you have life in his name. The verdict doesn't change with how you feel in some passing moment. The gospel is always true. And so if you have the Son, you have life.
Period. John doesn't say, "If you have the Son, you might have life," or, "You probably have life if you perform well enough." That's not what he says.
You have life because the testimony is settled and you have been united to Christ by faith. But I can't close up today without returning to that last statement of verse 12. If you are here this morning and you have not received this testimony and you do not have the Son, I implore you today to flee to Christ. The testimony before you is true. This isn't a case that is still open for deliberation. The witnesses have spoken and they agree. To remain in unbelief is not a neutral act. It's not still thinking it over. John has been clear. It means that if you reject this testimony, you're calling God a liar and you do not have life. So if you've never put your trust in Christ, I again, I implore you today, hear and believe the gospel. The same testimony that convicts is the testimony that brings you life. Today is the day of salvation. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Amen. Let us pray. Great and merciful God, we thank you for the threefold witness that Jesus came in our flesh and was baptized He suffered and died for our sins and shed his blood as an atoning sacrifice.
And the Holy Spirit has done a good work in our hearts. We pray, O God, that we would trust this testimony, that we would put our confidence not in ourselves but in Jesus and who he is and what he has done and the great truth that he is the Messiah. We pray, O God, that your Spirit would continue a good work in us, bringing us closer to You, assuring us of our salvation, and helping us to grow in holiness that Christ might be glorified. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website EdgertonFRC.org.
“The Threefold Witness” is part of our ongoing series through 1 John, Walking in the Light. Explore the full series or browse our complete sermon archive to keep digging into God's Word.
