The Testimony of God

The letter says Jesus Christ came by water and blood, not by water alone. The Spirit testifies to this, and the Spirit is the truth. The wording addresses a claim that separated Jesus' spiritual significance from the reality of His flesh and death.

The writer names three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. They agree. Christians have often discussed the precise reference of water, but the central point is clear in the letter: God's testimony confirms the identity and saving work of His Son.

Human testimony is accepted in ordinary life, but God's testimony is greater. God has given testimony about His Son. The person who believes in the Son has this testimony within him; the person who refuses to believe makes God out to be a liar.

The testimony is stated plainly:

And this is that testimony: God has given 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.

John's Gospel records blood and water flowing from Jesus' side after His death and presents the Spirit's testimony about Jesus. It also says Jesus' works and the Father testify about Him. 1 John is not asking believers to build assurance on a private impression. It directs them to God's testimony concerning Jesus.

The warning about calling God a liar is severe, but it protects the importance of truth. If Jesus is the Son, then the life God gives cannot be separated from Him. Eternal life is not an impersonal substance people possess apart from relationship with Christ.

Families can talk about assurance without making it a contest of emotional certainty. Ask what God has testified about Jesus, what the gospel promises, and whether our lives are receiving the Son rather than inventing another source of life.