Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LXII) 02/07/23

^5:10 All who believe this know in their hearts that it is correct. If anyone doesn’t believe this, they say God is lying because they refuse to believe what He said about His Son.

On the other hand, those who reject God’s external and internal evidence insist that God is a liar. We must observe that John is not speaking of an absolute infidel who rejects Christianity altogether as a myth, but one who, accepting Christianity as a Divine revelation, refuses to receive the Anointed One as God’s Son. Now, as the miraculous facts of our Savior’s life, which they must accept if they receive anything, bear witness to the Divine nature of the Anointed One, they, by disbelieving that doctrine, make out that God, Who sent these signs and wonders, did so to deceive humanity, thereby labeling as truth that which is not valid. The witness God gave to the Divine nature of His Son is evident on the face of the Gospel, and, if it is not believed, it implies that God has given false testimony.^[1]

After checking the text closely, Richard H. Tuck (1817-1868) states that this witness in oneself is in two ways – having the permanently abiding Spirit and in a personal experience. Thus, failure to trust a person is really to declare them untrustworthy and, therefore, a liar.^[2]

After observing the Apostle John’s attention to detail, John Stock (1817-1884) responds to what the Apostle John says here: God’s Word has not returned to Him void[3] but prospered among those who received it. The human heart generates it – which the Lord opens – as in Lydia’s case.[4] Then a person’s pride is brought low; they take the subservient position and confessors of their sin and the blessed Savior. Finally, the atonement is received, and he rejoices in God⁴: peace and love, thanksgiving and the voice of Good News, something strange in the lonely heart – once like a dark and fruitless wilderness.[5]

God is adored, and believers are blessed⁵. Satan, the enchanter, darkener, usurper, liar, and murderer, is cast out; and they are awed by their escape and the grace of God in the Anointed One, Jesus. Our blessed Lord promised the Holy Spirit to them that came to Him, which should be in them as a well of water springing up unto eternal life.[6] The ever-blessed Spirit then becomes the inmate of the human soul and one with it in an inexplicable way. Those who joined to the Lord are of one spirit.[7] The Spirit of God who leads[8] dwells in each believer,[9] and bears witness with their spirit that they are God’s child;[10] and an heir of God, and a joint-heir with the Anointed One.^[11]

John reiterates that the Anointed One and His Church are united, and His Holy Spirit actuates every member of His body into eternity. The Holy Spirit is not inactive in the human heart: hence the new creatureship, the delight in devotion, the understanding of the things of the Spirit – which are foolishness to the natural man – the power over indwelling sin and outward temptation, and the perseverance in well-doing. Hence, unspeakable comforts and God’s consolations are not small to them that reverence Him and walk in the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. In all this, the internal witness to the existence and deity of the Anointed One is operating. It springs out of a vital faith in Him ‒ by which the simplest is made more potent than the shrewd opponent of our most holy faith, and has an internal perception that the Lord exists, is everywhere present, is gracious and mighty to save. So they can say with the youth, “I was once blind, but now I can see,”[12] and needs no one to convince them of the existence of the Son (Sun) of Righteousness – whose rays gladden their heart and forever heals their soul⁵.^[13]

With an inquiring spiritual mind, Johannes H. A. Ebrard (1819-1893) points out that this testimony, as given in the past, does not altogether end the matter. Those who believe in God’s Son have God’s testimony, externally in the evangelical narrative or something belonging to the past and internally as an active and influential power. The like and selfsame testimony once uttered by God, “This is My beloved Son,” approves itself as established in believers. At the same time, it mightily demonstrates its power within us, as we see in verse eleven. On the other hand, those who do not believe the historical and sure testimony God offered to His Son are not excused but remain guilty. Those who reject God’s witness are treating Him like a liar.[14] Those who do not distinguish the Perfect tense in verse nine from the Present tense in verses seven and eight are not in a position to interpret the Apostle John’s thoughts in verse ten.^[15]

After contemplating John’s train of thought, William Kelly (1822-1888) declares that whatever the state of Christendom is, God’s Word remains forever faithful and applicable to the Christian, “He that believes … has the witness in himself.” Were the believer in a land where he could enjoy no fellowship with saints, where he had no opportunity to hear a Christian teacher, where he knew of not a single brother in the Lord, the Son of God on whom he believes remains just the same; and he has the witness in himself as assuredly as if surrounded with every Christian privilege possible on earth. He is not dependent on anyone under the sun; he has the Son.

How profoundly wise and gracious is this witness on God’s part! For in such a case, how many might cry out? What audacious presumption! But “he that believes has the witness in himself,” says God. The audacity is in the infidelity which rejects it: “He that does not believe God has called Him a liar because he has not believed God’s witness concerning His Son.” What could be worse than that? It is bad enough to lie about oneself, like a full-blown Brahmin[16] saying that he had not sinned, though it gives the lie to the word. It is worse, not negatively only but positively, to make God a liar, which everyone who rejects God’s witness to His Son, the Anointed One.^[17]

Familiar with John’s writing style, William B. Pope (1822-1903) advises that the testimony in verse ten has become subjective: the “three agree in one” within the believer’s consciousness. In other words, the believer has – for we must anticipate – eternal life within them. It came from the Spirit received by the Anointed One for us at His baptism, the release from the condemnation of death through His blood, and the Holy Spirit effecting and assuring both. Faith is followed by full assurance, but the security is here the possession of life itself.

But the person who attempts to make God a liar is not only without the internal testimony but also rejects the external testimony given to everyone who hears the Gospel record. Therefore, they are without excuse. Once before, John spoke of making God a liar. However, the one who denies that they have sinned is a liar and contradicts God’s testimony. Similarly, those who do not believe God’s witness concerning His Son reject the utmost possible evidence that God could give them, knowing mankind’s necessity. They have evidence before them, spoken or written evidence. Further, he deliberately rejects the testimony, knowing it to be Divine.

Nothing is more vital, scarcely anything more substantial, concerning the moral wilfulness of unbelief in all the Scriptures. John says that those who refuse to accept the testimony to the divinity and incarnation of God’s Son forfeit eternal life by blinding their minds in calling Him a liar. What they deny is not this or that miraculous demonstration but the whole strain of proof brought by the Christian revelation that both light and life have come into the world as the heritage of everyone who does not willfully reject both.^[18]

With holiness doctrine expertise, Daniel Steele (1824-1914) draws our attention to the phrase “Witness in him” (KJV) here in verse ten. Some Greek scholars prefer “in himself” (Young’s Literal Translation YLT). The external witness accepted as valid becomes internal certitude when the will bows in accordance with the truth believed. Absolute and irreversible self-surrender to Him who is the Truth brings a direct consciousness of His Divine nature and work. The witness of the Spirit, the water, and the blood leads successively to an inner conviction and realization of pardon, newness of life, and sanctified cleansing. Thus, the Apostle John’s doctrine of assurance agrees with the Apostle Paul’s views on the subject.[19]

This blessed effect does not follow a mere speculative assent to a fact, but builds on trust and sole reliance in the person of the Anointed One. This statement supplements the conditions of the new birth partly stated in the first verse of this chapter. Speculative or historical faith is not decisive of salvation, but it is the first step toward a saving trust. “He that does not believe God” is a direct antithesis to “believing in the Son.” It implies the Godhead or supreme Divinity of Jesus the Anointed One. It also means that a person cannot be a true believer in God while refusing to rely on His Son for salvation.

But John has some harsh words for those who deny the Divinity of Jesus. It applies “Has made Him a liar” applies to two classes: First, to those who say that they have no sins[20] which need a Divine Savior; and, secondly, to those who deny that such a Savior is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus. The Gnostics belong to these classes whose teachings impeach God’s testimony that “all have sinned” and that there is salvation in no other name than that of Jesus the Anointed One. The two errors are twins. To lie is a dreadful sin, but to be a liar is much worse. The first, is an immoral act; the second, is an evil character. Hence the atrocity of failing to believe God’s word, to say nothing about an avowed distrust and disobedience. “Has not believed.” The perfect tense indicates a permanent state in the past continuing to the present hour.^[21]

After sufficient examination of the Greek text, Brooke F. Westcott (1825-1901) states that the witness is not of external testimony only, but internal also. Absolute self-surrender to the Son of God brings the believer a direct consciousness of His Divine Nature and work. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. That which for others is external is for the believer internal. The witness of Spirit and water and blood becomes an inner conviction of life and cleansing and redemption. The title of divine dignity (the Son of God) points to the assurance of this effect. Moreover, it is to be noted that here the condition laid down is belief in the Person of the Anointed One.

The direct antithesis to “believing in the Son” is “not believing God.” This follows that “believing in the Son” comes from “believing God,” welcoming His testimony. The phrase “not believing” (as distinguished from “has believed”[22] made God a liar. The word “liar” marks the general character and the falsity of the accused.[23] The form of expression suggests the idea of an inward conflict. A voice has been heard, and it has been deliberately rejected. When the crisis of choice came, they refused the message, thus making God a liar.

Furthermore, not believing God’s testimony resulted in a decision that influenced their feelings for Him.[24] The negative expresses the direct fact – “has not believed on the witness,” not simply “believed the witness,” makes the phrase unique. Belief in the truth of the witness is carried on to personal faith in the witness’ object, that is, the Incarnate Son Himself. It might have seemed more straightforward to say, “the witness of God,” but St John repeats at length what he has shown that the witness involved was a witness concerning His Son.^[25]

Like a spiritual farmer planting the seed of God’s Word, Henry A. Sawtelle (1832-1913) paraphrases the opening of verse ten by saying, “He that believes on (literally, into; is the faith reaching into and lodging in a personal object, the Son of God) has the witness in himself.” The testimony of God concerning His Son that He is God’s legitimate Son and the Giver of life. By believing in the Anointed One, this divine testimony becomes a part of oneself, a self-evidencing experience. The believer has a joyful, firm conviction, from which nothing can move them, that the Anointed One is a living reality, the very Fountain of Life. Those who believe have the testimony inside them; others refuse the testimony outside them.

Bible scholars regard verse ten as parallel with Romans 8:16. The two passages are alike in that they speak of an inward witness of the Spirit through experience. But they differ in this, that in the one case, the Spirit testifies and assures our kinship with God,[26] while the other guarantees the Anointed One’s Sonship.[27] Both passages are, at their root, related to Psalm 25:14. It is the experimental knowledge of spiritual facts possessed by the regenerate. Those who do not believe God (His word or testimony) make the great Creator a liar. Those who do not receive God’s testimony by the water, blood, and Spirit treat God as a liar.

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[1] Jelf, William E., Commentary on the First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., pp. 74-75

[2] Tuck, Richard H., The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, op. cit., 329

[3] Isaian 55:11

[4] Acts of the Apostles 16:14

[5] Romans 5:11

[6] Isa 5:11

[7] 1 Corinthians 6:17

[8] Romans 8:14

[9] Ibid. 8:9

[10] Ibid. 8:16

[11] Stock, John: An Exposition of the First Epistle General of St. John, op. cit., pp. 426-427

[12] John 9:25

[13] Stock, John: An Exposition of the First Epistle General of St. John, op. cit., p. 427

[14] Cf. 1 John 1:10

[15] Ebrard, Johannes H. A., Biblical Commentary on the Epistles of St. John, op. cit., p. 333

[16] The traditional occupation of Brahmins is that of priesthood at Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and rite of passage rituals such as solemnizing a wedding with hymns and prayers.

[17] Kelly, William: An Exposition of the Epistles of John the Apostle, op. cit., p. 374

[18] Pope, William B., The International Illustrated Commentary on the N.T., Vol. IV, op. cit., p. 39

[19] See Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6

[20] 1 John 1:10

[21] Steele, Daniel: Half-Hours with St. John’s Epistles, op. cit., pp. 137-139

[22] See John 5:24; 6:29ff.; 8:30ff; cf. 1 John 3:23; 5:1, 5, 10

[23] Cf. John 8:44; 1 John 2:4, 22; 4:20

[24] Cf. John 3:18; 6:69 (1 John.4:16); 11:27; 16:27; 20:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 3:8

[25] Westcott, Brooke F., The Epistles of St. John: Greek Text with Notes, op. cit., pp. 186-187

[26] Romans 8:16

[27] 1 John 5:10

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LXI) 02/06/23

^5:10 All who believe this know in their hearts that it is correct. If anyone doesn’t believe this, they say God is lying because they refuse to believe what He said about His Son.

After spiritually analyzing John’s conclusions, Gottfried C. F. Lücke (1791-1855) says that we have the first antithesis in verse ten: “Whoever does not believe God’s testimony concerning His Son, make Him a liar.” The perfect tense “believed not”  is here to be taken not entirely in a present sense since it denotes the isolated act of not believing or not having believed in times past. According to John, one who does not believe rejects God’s testimony when heard and remains an unbeliever.^[1]

With systematic theological intellect, Charles Hodge (1797-1878) explains that saving faith does not rest on the testimony of the Church nor the outward evidence of miracles and prophecy. Instead, they base it on their inward testimony of the Spirit with and by the truth in our hearts. Those who have this inward testimony need no other. They do not need to be told by others what truth is; this same anointing convinces them what truth is and that truth contains no lies.

So, Christians were not to believe every spirit. They were to try the spirits whether they were of God. And the test or criterion or trial was the external, authenticated revelation of God, as spiritually discerned and demonstrated by the inward operations of the Spirit. So now, when atheists tell people there is no God, no sin, no retribution, no need of a Savior, or expiation, or faith, that Jesus of Nazareth is not God’s Son manifest in the flesh, they need not listen. Faithful Christians do not need to be told that these are what the Apostle calls lies. They have an inward witness to the truth of God’s record of His Son.^[2]

Any claim to infallibility on the part of the Apostles was duly authenticated, not only by the nature of the truths they communicated but also by the power which those truths exerted over the minds and hearts of people and by the inward witness of the Spirit. Miraculous gifts also confirmed it. As soon as the Apostles were endowed with power from on high, they spake in “other tongues;” they healed the sick and restored the lame and the blind. “God also,” as the Apostle says, “bearing them witness, both with signs, and wonders, and with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His will.”[3] The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that the signs of an Apostle had been carried out among them “in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”[4] The mere working of miracles was not evidence of a divine commission as a teacher.^[5]

Without using complicated language, Albert Barnes (1798-1870) states that the witness the Apostle John shares here cannot refer to any distinct and immediate revelation that Jesus is the Anointed One. To an individual’s soul, it is not independent of the external evidence of that truth or superseding the necessity of that evidence. The “witness” here referred to is the fruit of all the evidence, external and internal, on the heart, producing this result; that is, a profound conviction of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. There is also evidence derived from the fact that the soul has found peace by believing in Him. It comes from the fact that the troubles and anxieties of the mind on account of sin have been removed by faith in the Anointed One. It spawned new views of God and heaven which results from faith in the Lord Jesus. The effect of this is disarming death of its terrors, plus the whole influence of the Gospel on the intellect and the affections of the believer’s heart and the life.

These things constitute a mass of evidence for the truth of the Christian religion, whose motivation the believer cannot resist making them ready to sacrifice anything rather than their faith. They are prepared to go to the stake rather than renounce their Savior.[6] They have no interest in making God a liar.[7] The idea is that in various ways – through His baptism, death, and miracles – God became a witness that He sent the Lord Jesus as a Savior. To doubt or deny this exhibits the same character as doubting or denying any other testimony. It was practically charging those who claimed to be witnesses with spreading falsehood.[8] ^[9]

With impressive theological vision, Richard Rothe (1799-1867) notes that the first clause of verse nine should have been included here to make it clear that God’s witness is an actual testimony and not merely something inferred from a series of reflections. The Apostle John expressly adds that those who believe what God said should realize that God spoke of Himself. John offers it as a reality of which he has experimental knowledge. Therefore, John cannot doubt. But, of course, the unbeliever cannot have such an experience as this witness. John implies that the Spirit he received from God is essential to God’s testimony. It concerns the Anointed One and authenticates the evidence by water and blood. By the Spirit with the believer’s spirit, the witness of God is the object of an experimental certainty.^[10]

According to Robert Jamieson (1802-1880), Andrew Fausset (1821-1910), and David Brown’s (1803-1897) way of thinking, the Apostle John’s acclamation that everyone who believes that Jesus is God’s Son and accepts it as accurate is safe. But those fools who refuse to believe that Jesus is God’s Son make God out to be a liar by rejecting what God said about His Son. This is the highest form of faith; because the object has the highest credibility.[11]

With noticeable spiritual comprehension, Henry Cowles (1802-1881) says there is a form of testimony unknown to the ungodly, peculiar to what the Christian has in themselves for every believing soul. They know there is joy and peace in believing, which no delusion could ever give; they know that through Jesus, they have communion with God; they know that for Jesus’ sake, God hears their prayers. They are deeply conscious of the Holy Spirit’s power in connection with certain truths of God’s Word. In this self-conscious, witnessing testimony, they are strangers to God’s intermediation. It lies wholly outside their conscious experience. They will know what it is only when they honestly believe in God’s Son. The last clause of verse ten looks toward external testimonies only. Those who do not believe make God a liar. God’s record as to His Son is clear, explicit, and unmistakable significance. Therefore, those who will not believe this record accuse the witness of speaking falsehoods.^[12]

With his lifework well-illustrating, the biblical and reformation ideal of a pastor-theologian Robert S. Candlish (1807-1873) says that all of what the Apostle John says in verse ten is still a question about the faith that overcomes the world.[13] That is a particular function ascribed to trust: the light in which believers regard their beliefs. Doubtless, Gospel faith is the same; no matter what light and process they contemplate, it always has the same object. But the manner of its exercise may not be the same. And therefore, it is to be noted that it is not justifying faith, nor as generally working by love, but faith that arrests worldly living. This faith rests on testimony, as all faith must do.

And the testimony on which it rests is sufficient to sustain it, for it is divine.[14] Human testimony is a trustworthy ground of faith; we rely on it daily and act accordingly, assumed to be confirmed as admitted. But we have what is far better and more convincing than human testimony; we have “the testimony of God.” Humans are fallible and frail; the Psalmist “said in his haste, ‘All men are liars.’”[15] Still, we receive their testimony, and we cannot help it; we must come to a standstill if we do not. How much more confidently may we receive God’s testimony who can neither deceive nor be deceived; who knows all things for He is truth itself. To reject His testimony and refuse to proceed on its faith while we receive and act upon the testimony of mankind is inconsistent and utter folly.

So, will you still refuse to give God credit? Will you still dare to question His sincerity, His being in earnest, when He pleads with you? Will you not believe that He means what He says when He tells you that He is waiting to be gracious in His Son coming by water and blood? You do Him a great injustice by treating Him in a way you would not venture to treat an honorable person. You receive the testimony of others. Is not the testimony of God more remarkable? Is He not entitled to be believed in His simple word, much more in His solemn oath? Is He not one you can trust without constantly testing His faithfulness?

Let there be an end to doubt, hesitancy, halting, and delay. It is insulting to God, making Him a liar. Do not commit so great a sin; do not shut your eyes to its greatness. Consider well how it is not with mere facts of history or the dead letter of books of evidence that you are dealing with the true and living God. Alleged facts you might question, books of evidence you might criticize, without offense to the recorders of the facts or the writers of the books. But here is God, the God of truth, commending to you His Son from heaven and summoning you to believe in His Son on the assurance of His truth. Your refusal to do so is a personal affront; it cannot but be construed as “making Him a liar.”^[16]

With an inquiring mind, Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) states that since the Spirit gives force and life to the water and blood, by which they become witnesses, He becomes indwelling with three-fold testifying power in the believer’s soul. And as that Spirit is God and truth, we have an inward surety of demonstration far above what other witnesses, or narratives, can impart. The testimony, witness, and record are within us as a divine intuition, possessing the highest possible certainty. The Apostle John gives the unbeliever no chance of saying it is not God who testifies. It is not only a sure testimony, but it is just as sure that the testifier is God. Therefore, if we deny the truth of the testimony, the divine authenticity is impeached. It is a personal issue between God and us. The record and witness are the same Greek noun martyria signifying testimony in all these versesand should have been translated uniformly.^[17]

In line with Apostle John’s point, Henry Alford (1810-1871) says that John’s use of the perfect tense “which He has testified” (KJV), “which He has given” (NIV) in verse nine. It shows that God’s witness is not merely historical[18] but is abiding and present. And these verses explain to us what that statement is. “Those who believe in God’s Son have that evidence in them.” The two readings do not differ in meaning. The object of the divine declaration is to produce faith in the Anointed One. John points to those who unceasingly believe in God’s Son is a person who possesses the testimony ‒ which John does not say until verse eleven.

But we can synthetically put together and conjecture what testimony of which John is speaking: the Spirit by whom we are born again to eternal spiritual and eternal Life, the water of baptism by which the new birth brought to pass in us by the power of the Holy Spirit,[19] the blood of Jesus by which we have reconciliation with God, and purification from our sins,[20] and eternal life.[21] These three contribute to and make up our faith in the Anointed One, composing that testimony, which the Apostle designates here in verse eleven.

Not only that, it is the resting trust of faith: this is the mere first step of giving credit to a witness. Thus, it is assumed that one who does not believe in the Son of God gives no credit to God and makes Him a liar. That’s because the state of disrepute implies a definite rejection continuing. Hence, the expression “because he has not believed in”[22] is a shameful rejection of God’s word and a refusal to rely on God’s testimony concerning His Son.^[23]

As a faithful and zealous scholar, William Graham (1810-1883) asks what the Apostle John means by, “He that believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself?”[24] It may mean, says Graham, “The believer has the witness-bearer in himself.” In this sense, it is parallel with “For the Spirit, itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”[25] By the very act of believing, he has the evidence of the presence of the witness-bearer. Nevertheless, it seems to be different from the testimony given by the Fruit of the Spirit and the good deeds of a righteous life, for the Spirit bears witness through our spirit, but with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”^[26] With the zeal of a scriptural text examiner, William E. Jelf (1811-1875) claims that believers have an impression of the truth that arises from and adds to their faith besides the external evidence. Faith over and above its foundation is a witness to itself. The interpreters of one of the extreme schools take these words to mean – “those who believe in the Anointed One has in themselves, in their experience, evidence of the Anointed One’s work on and in them.” But there is no mention of this work here, but that to which testimonies of various kinds are directed ‒ the Anointed One’s Divinity.

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[1] Lücke, Gottfried C. F., A Commentary on the Epistles of St. John, op. cit., p. 275

[2] Hodge, Charles: Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, op. cit., Mysticism has no Foundation in the Scriptures, p.99

[3] Hebrews 2:4

[4] 2 Corinthians 2:12

[5] Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, op. cit., The Testimony of Paul, pp. 162-163

[6] See 1 Peter 3:15

[7] 1 John 1:10; 5:10

[8] Romans 8:16

[9] Barnes, Albert: New Testament Notes, op. cit., 1 John 5, pp 4884-4885

[10] Rothe, Richard: Exposition of the First Epistle of St. John, op. cit., The Expository Times, May 1895, p. 374

[11] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Testament Volume, op. cit., p. 730

[12] Cowles, Henry: The Gospel and Epistles of John, op. cit., pp. 356-357

[13] 1 John 5:4-5

[14] Ibid. 5:9

[15] Psalm 116:11

[16] Candlish, Robert S., The First Epistle of John Expounded in a Series of Lectures, op. cit., Lecture XXXIX, p. 475-486

[17] Whedon, Daniel D., Commentary on the New Testament, op. cit., p. 279

[18] Matthew 3:17

[19] John 3:5; Titus 3:5

[20] 1 John 1:7; 2:2

[21] John 6:53

[22] See 1 John 1:10

[23] Alford, Henry: The Greek Testament, op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 506-507

[24] 1 John 5:10

[25] Romans 8:16

[26] Graham, William: The Spirit of Love, op. cit., pp. 326-327

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LX) 02/03/23

^5:10 All who believe this know in their hearts that it is correct. If anyone doesn’t believe this, they say God is lying because they refuse to believe what He said about His Son.

After skillfully scrutinizing the Apostle John’s theme, John Brown of Haddington (1722-1787) announces with the Apostle John that whoever trusts this divine evidence believes in this incarnate Son of God as their only and all-sufficient Savior. Not only do they receive God’s witness in their heart, but has in their soul an experimental and satisfying testimony of the excellency of the Anointed One; and of His ability, willingness, and authority to deliver them from all sin and misery and bring them all spiritual and eternal happiness. But, whoever rejects the testimony God gave concerning His Son in the Gospel as altogether sufficient for salvation, flatly contradicts and gives the lie to the highest, holiest, and most faithful God. ^[1]

For example, a man with a heartfelt friendship with hymn writer^[2] John Newton (1726-1807), Thomas Scott (1747-1821) makes the point that during the Apostle John’s era, the testimony of two or three credible individuals was, by the law, deemed sufficient to prove any matter of fact. It applied to almost all human affairs, even when people’s lives, or the interests of whole nations, lie at stake, are conducted and determined by “receiving the testimony.” Although it is known that all are liable to be deceived or mistaken and prone to being deceived. Yet, would refuse to act following human testimony, and should require another kind of demonstration, in all the various concerns of life, must soon, not only give up conducting any business by refusing a most needful resource.

If then, “an individual’s testimony” must be received, how absurd is it to reject that of God! It must be “greater,” or more indisputably certain,[3] as He knows all “things,” cannot mistakenly be imposed to deceive His creatures, is essential Truth, and “cannot lie.”[4] Therefore, “God’s testimony” is the highest kind of witness: and we only need to inquire about the evidence that He has spoken.  And as to the meaning of His words, in which the honest, humble, and diligent seeker will not be left mistaken; we obtain the utmost conceivable certainty in things of the highest possible importance.[5] Thus faith appropriates the information in “God’s testimony” in a most compact form, leaving a person “wise to salvation.”

The principal truth, “God has testified” in His holy Word, relates to His Son and the way of salvation through Him. Therefore, those who trust “the witness of God” will believe in His Son and rely on Him for that which He came into the world to procure for sinners by His righteousness and redemption. Consequently, for this faith, the Christian receives another, more satisfactory testimony to the truth of the Gospel, which also seals their interest in the Anointed One’s salvation.

This testimony proves that the scripture is God’s Word. Therefore, it helps to understand its most essential parts and become partakers of the blessing announced by Him.[6] On the other hand, those who do not believe in God or respect His testimony to His Son can never receive “the witness in themselves.” They can only expect God’s heavy displeasure seeing “they make God a liar” by treating His word as a lie, utterly unworthy of credit or confidence. It is the case of everyone who does not believe the testimony “God gave of His Son,” confirmed in all the ways mentioned in earlier verses. As all revelation centers in this fundamental doctrine, it is in vain for any person to claim they believe while they reject God’s testimony.^[7]

At age fifteen, a potential young theologian who preached and held cottage and prayer meetings, Joseph Benson (1749-1821), notes that the Apostle John taught that those who believe in God’s Son could use the same faith to receive the Spirit’s testimony in themselves. In other words, they can experience that God’s testimony concerning His Son and salvation is genuine. They know they are saved from the guilt, power, and punishment of sin and transformed into the image of God and a state of communion with Him. They know by experience that Jesus is the Son of God in such a sense as to be an all-sufficient Savior and that He came by cleansing water and atoning blood, receiving justification and sanctification.^[8]

Straightforward preacher Charles Simeon (1759-1876) remains convinced that the truth of our holy faith is confirmed by every kind of evidence that the heart can desire. Not only was it established by an appeal to prophecy, but by miracles without number. But there’s more. Moses had different rites appointed to commemorate the main events which marked that dispensation. First, they observed the Passover feast to remember the destruction of the Egyptian firstborn and the preservation of Israel. Then the feast of Pentecost, to celebrate the giving of the law. Also, the feast of Tabernacles memorializes their living in tents in the wilderness. So, likewise, Christianity has been attested by the Holy “Spirit” given to the Apostles, and “the water” of baptism, administered on that day, and “the blood” of the cross commemorated by the cup which is drunk by all in the supper of the Lord. But, convincing as these testimonies are, the true believer has one peculiar thing troubling their heart, arising from their experience. It is the witness of the Anointed One and His salvation, its significance, suitableness, and sufficiency.^[9] 

Considering everything the Apostle John has said so far, Adam Clarke (1774-1849) states that God’s truthful witness is the most important and essential to mankind. God testifies that those who believe in his Son will be saved and have everlasting life. Furthermore, they will have the witness in themselves as God’s Spirit bears witness with their spirit that they are a child of God. Therefore, knowing, feeling sins forgiven, and having assurance in the heart from the Holy Spirit is the privilege of every true believer in the Anointed One.^[10]

James Harrington Evans (1785-1849) an Anglican priest whose legacy was being a strong nonconformist. He was known for not “conforming” to Church and State governing asks, “witness”of what?” Are we to understand it to be the same as what we read in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans?[11] I think “the witness” here is to the truth connected with verse nine. The declaration of the text, then, amounts to this: that those that truly believe in God’s Son of God have internal proof that God’s Word is true. They read in the Bible declarations concerning mankind as a guilty, lost, ruined, weak, and helpless creature. Sinners know that they are sinners.[12] But this witness primarily refers to the Lord Jesus as the significant sum and substance of the Gospel. The believer in Him has an internal witness “that Jesus is the Anointed One.”

So, “How is it that a believer has such an internal witness? First, it is a spiritual phenomenon, the work of the Holy Spirit. If you ask by what it is it supplied, the answer is, by faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”[13] A person does not know the truth until they believe it; an individual does not really know the Anointed One until they believe in Him. It is faith that gives substance to factual evidence; it is faith that reveals the Anointed One to mankind’s soul. But if you ask, what is it that confirms it? A person sees what effects it produces and observes the consequences. They have been working hard to live right, and they have the Anointed One’s revelation and righteousness to pacify their conscience. And if you ask in what school it is that the Lord the Spirit teaches believers and instructs them, I answer, in the school of experience.

So, “What qualifies this inward witness?” First, it is a Scriptural witness. The Spirit uses God’s Word as the great medium of all reconciliation and sanctification. Not that we limit the Spirit. After all, who knows what direct communication He may have with us? But it must be tested by the Word of God. Bring it to the Word of truth; if it is of God, it will stand the test of truth; for all truth is to be tried, and whatever comes from God must be that which leads to the Anointed One.^[14]

In his captivating teaching style, Jewish convert Augustus Neander (1789-1850) observes that the Apostle John shows that it depends on the person themselves to receive or reject God’s witness. It is necessarily converted from an outward to an inward witness when obtained. For those who, through that external witness of the Spirit, were led to believe in God’s Son, it is no longer mere visible testimony. It has become a part of their inner life. What God first testified is from without is now by means of faith testify inwardly to their living consciousness. They bear the divine witness in themselves. It is the Spirit’s testimony in their heart. Consequently, through their inward experience of their spiritual life, it is perpetually established for them that Jesus is God’s Son.

But those who do not believe God’s testimony of His Son are making God a liar. If through the operations of His Spirit God testifies of His Son, yet not received as God’s Son; what is this but saying, that God contradicts Himself, while thus by these divine facts accrediting him as his Son who is not so? Unbelief cannot recognize God in his workings, as him that is true. It stamps the divine as the undivine. It can see in the ways of God nothing but contradiction. From these words of John, we may deduce a truth most important for our age. That Jesus is the Son of God is attested by what God has wrought through the Gospel. Having no susceptibility in themselves for receiving it, do not yield themselves with a humble and receptive heart to the witness of the Spirit, that it may thereby become to them an inward witness. It is the individual character and disposition that must here make the decision. It belongs to one’s personal will to decide whether they will yield themselves to that witness of the Spirit. Otherwise, they are accusing God’s plan of salvation as that of liar.^[15]

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[1] Brown of Haddington, John: Self-Interpreting Bible, N. T. Vol. IV, p. 506

[2] Newton, John: Composer of “Amazing Grace”

[3] 1 John 3:20

[4] Numbers 23:19

[5] See Hebrews 11:1-2; 1 Peter 3:13-16

[6] John 14:15 24; 2 Corinthaisn 1:21, 22; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 2:17

[7] Scott, Thomas: Commentary on the Holy Bible, pp. 408-409

[8] Benson, Joseph: Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, op. cit., 1 John 5

[9] Simeon, Charles: Horæ Homileticæ, op. cit., Vol. XX, Discourse 2466, p. 537

[10] Clarke, Adam: Wesleyan Heritage Commentary, op. cit., Hebrews-Revelation, p. 397

[11] Romans 8:16

[12] Luke 18:13

[13] Hebrews 11:1

[14] Evans, James H., The Biblical Illustrator, Vol. 22, First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 434

[15] Neander, Augustus: The First Epistle of John, Practically Explained, op. cit., pp. 293-295

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LIX) 02/02/23

^5:10 All who believe this know in their hearts that it is correct. If anyone doesn’t believe this, they say God is lying because they refuse to believe what He said about His Son.

To apply this, we must recognize God’s witness about the Anointed One always involves accepting Jesus as His Son. We accept proof from teachers, accident eyewitnesses, and Delta airlines’ commitment to its planes’ airworthiness. This is the standard, everyday practice of people. Companies will lose credibility or business if they deceive us, so we generally do not doubt their witnessess’ accuracy. It is normal to trust what people say. How much greater is God’s credibility and witness to Jesus the Anointed One? We could have no more excellent source for our amazement of the Lord Jesus than the Father. The most important reason we should believe in the person and work of the Anointed One is that God the Father is the witness to Him.[1]

COMMENTARY AND HOMILETICS

This verse has comments, interpretations, and insights of the Early Church Fathers, Medieval Thinkers, Reformation Theologians, Revivalist Teachers, Reformed Scholars, and Modern Commentators.

With a studious monk’s spiritual insight, Bede the Venerable (672-735 AD), concludes that this means whoever believes in God’s Son and does what the Son commands have God’s witness in them and is counted among God’s children. Jews and heretics are wasting their time when they claim to believe in God, because they reject the Anointed One and refuse to believe in Him. Whoever refuses to honor the Son does not glorify the Father who sent him.[2]

In the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), we find the question: “Why do you say that you are righteous by faith alone?” The answer is not that I am acceptable to God, on account of the worthiness of my faith^[3] but by the righteousness and holiness of the Anointed One before God;^[4] and that I cannot receive and apply the same to myself any other way than by faith alone.^{[5] [6]}

As a firm spiritual disciplinarian, John Owen (1616-1683) states that the whole nature of justifying faith does not consist merely in the approval of the mind, be it ever so firm and steadfast, nor whatever effects of obedience it may produce. Its duty and office in justification have that particular value we are attempting to explain in that it does not equal all divine revelation. Still, it has a peculiar object proposed in Scripture. And whereas both of these will be in our description of the proper object and nature of faith, I will present a few things I find wrong in their description, sufficient to manifest how alien it is from the truth:

• Some say this consent is an act of understanding only – an act of the mind with respect to its truth, no matter its intent.

• All divine truth is equally the object of this consent. It does not respect its unique nature or use of any single fact, whatever kind it is, more than another; nor can it do so, since it regards only divine revelation.

• This consent to all divine revelation may be genuine and sincere, with no previous work of the law or any conviction of sin.

• It is not a way of seeking relief for a convicted sinner because they stand guilty before God. Such sinners are capable subjects of justification and do or can seek it in any manner.

• It is no more than what the devils themselves may have, as the Apostle James affirms.[7] That instance of their believing God proves that they also believe this God, who is the first essential truth, reveals it to be true. And it may consist with all manner of wickedness, and without any obedience, and endeavor to make God a liar.[8] And it is no wonder if people deny us to be justified by faith, who know no other faith but this.^[9]

Yet some may ask, “How can I commune with the Father in love? I don’t know whether He loves me, but I must believe He does. What if He does not accept me? I’d rather not perish for my presumption but find sweetness in His heart. God seems to be a consuming fire and everlasting punishment, so I’m afraid to look up unto Him.” The answer would be: “I don’t understand what knowing the love of God means. Although detected in a spiritual sense and experience, it is received purely by believing. Knowing it is accepting it as revealed.”[10] You can have this assurance at the beginning of your walk with God. He who is truth said it, and whatever your heart says or Satan says, unless you accept it on this basis, you are calling Him a liar!^[11]

In addition, that saving faith is our “believing the record that God has given us of His Son,” and what God gives, we can be sure of what it communicates. So grace was promised and given to the elect in Jesus the Anointed One before the world began.[12] It was to be transmitted to them, in and by the mediation of His Son Jesus the Anointed One, as the only way God will give eternal life to anyone. Therefore, it was wholly in Him and obtained from Him. Our acceptance of this testimony provided the only way for sinners to receive saving grace. Any refusal of it threatens our eternal security, and ruin is possible. And it is reasonable that it should be so; for, in our receiving this testimony of God, we “stamp our seal that God is true.”

Consequently, we ascribe to Him the glory of His truth and all the other holy virtues of His divine nature – the most eminent duty we are capable of in this world; by refusing to do so, we make Him out to be a liar. And the gravity wherewith this testimony is stated in verse seven is very remarkable, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” Therefore, the holy trinity act distinctly in the unity of their divine nature, to give this testimony: and they do so by those different operations, and work of God saving sinners by Jesus the Anointed One as declared in the Gospel.^[13] Obviously, Owen is not disposed to address the controversy prevalent in his day concerning that verse seven is not authentic and was inserted into the text.

In his fiery manner, John Flavel (1627-1691) suggests that we look at the guilt, misery, and unbelief of those who reject the Gospel message. It is a sin that reflects great dishonor toward God. Rejection makes a person guilty of the vilest contempt of the Anointed One and the whole design of redemption by Him. All of God’s attributes were manifested in the work of redemption by the Anointed One. Therefore, the apostle calls Him “the wisdom of God and the power of God.”[14] And the neglect and rejection of the Anointed One imply the weakness and folly of His redemption.

Distrust includes in it the most painful spiritual judgment inflicted on mankind’s soul, even spiritual blindness and the fatal darkening of the understanding by Satan.[15] Atheism also positions a person to endure the curse and threat written in God’s book, among which is: “They who do not believe are damned,”[16] showing that nothing can be more evident than that condemnation follows spurning the Spirit’s call to salvation. This sin and that punishment are fastened together with chains of stubbornness.^[17]

With all the Apostle John’s themes in mind, John Wesley (1703-1791) points to the Scriptures to accentuate the person and work of the Holy Spirit. (1) “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, given to us.”[18] “And because we are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba (Aramaic), Pater (Greek)!”[19] And the witness in ourselves continually increased that parental love of God,”[20] and God’s pardoning love to us by “See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!”[21] This is because God is the desire of our eyes and the joy of our hearts, our portion in time and eternity.^[22]

With scholarly meditation, James Macknight (1721-1800) also speaks about having God’s witness in us through the Holy Spirit. So here, as in the next verse, the testimony is used for the thing being witnessed. The thing being witnessed is that God has given us eternal life through His Son. Therefore, those who believe in the Son may have eternal life. In themselves by faith in the Son, the thing witnessed is that they have the characteristics of God’s children in them. Thus, the new life that began in them is both a pledge and proof that God in due time will ultimately bestow on them eternal life through His Son. However, those who do not believe in God, that is, don’t think that the witness God gave is invalid concerning Jesus at His baptism, claiming Him as His Son with a voice from heaven. Also, when after His death, God demonstrated Jesus to be His Son, by raising Him from the dead. By refusing to believe these testimonies, John uses the Greek verb poieō (“making”) to make God a liar or false witness.^[23]

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[1] See Matthew 3:17; 17:5; Acts of the Apostles 1:8

[2] Bede the Venerable, Ancient Christian Commentary, Bray, G. (Ed.), op. cit., Vol. XI, p. 224

[3] Ephesians 2:8-9

[4] 1 Corinthians 1:30

[5] 1 John 5:10

[6] Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 23, Question 61

[7] James 2:19

[8] 1 John 5:10

[9] Owen, John: The Doctrine of Justification by Faith, op. cit., pp. 132-133

[10] 1 John 4:16

[11] Owen, John: Of Communion with God, op. cit., pp. 48-49

[12] 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2

[13] Owen, John: The Doctrine of the Trinity and the Person and Satisfaction of Christ, op. cit., p. 9

[14] 1 Corinthians 1:24

[15] 2 Corinthians 4:4

[16] Mark 16:16

[17] Flavel, John: The Method of Grace: How the Spirit Works, op. cit., Ch. 32, p. 448

[18] Romans 5:5

[19] Galatians 4:6

[20] 1 John 5:10

[21] Ibid. 3:1

[22] Wesley, John, The Works of: Vol. 4, First Series of Sermons, Sermon 4, p.99

[23] Macknight, James: Apostolic Epistles with Commentary, Vol. VI, pp. 114-115

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LVIII) 02/01/23

^5:9 We believe people who witness in our courts, and so unquestionably, we can believe whatever God declares. And God says that Jesus is His Son.

But the trouble is, as I have told you before, you haven’t accepted this even though you have seen me. But those who do come to me, I will never, never reject. Let me clarify that everything my heavenly Father has entrusted me with will not be lost in the process, not one. I promise to raise those in the grave to have eternal life when this is all over. My Father wants this: anyone who sees the Son and trusts who He is and what He does and is in union with Him will have life forever. My part is to put them on their feet, alive and whole, when the time for salvation on earth is complete.^[1]

Amazingly, the Psalmist David recognized this factor of friendship is built on fellowship. He says friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence Him. With them alone, He shares the secrets of His promises.^[2] Apparently, David passed on this same idea to his son Solomon, who wrote: Don’t walk around spoiling for a needless fight. Don’t try to be like those who keep pushing people around on their way through life. “Don’t be a copycat. The LORD detests such low-minded people but gladly offers His friendship to the godly.”^[3]

The Apostle Paul says that God does not leave everything up to our instincts or intuition. That’s why God gave us His Spirit, who speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are to live like God’s children.^[4] Not only that, but because we are His children, God had the Spirit of His Son live in our hearts, so now we can rightly call God our dear Father.^[5] Therefore, since we can see and prove that what the prophets said came true, we would do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult. But when you consider the wonderful truth of the prophets’ words, then the light will dawn in your souls, and the Anointed One, the Morning Star, will shine in our hearts.^[6]

The articulate writer of the Letter to the Hebrews makes this clear: “In the past, God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways. And now, God has spoken to us again in these last days through His Son. He made the whole world through His Son. And He has chosen his Son to have all things. The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature and holds everything together by His powerful command. First, the Son made people clean of their sins. Then He sat down at the right side of God, the Great One in heaven. The Son was superior to angels and given a divine name more magnificent than their names.”^[7]

John was fully aware that there were false prophets and various interpreters of Jesus’ reason for being in the world, so he wanted to say it as often as possible that Jesus was the man sent from God with a message for all the world to hear.  Not only that, but Jesus was not the only witness to this truth; the Father in heaven had several occasions spoken of His affirmation that Jesus was the Son of man.  So, to accept Jesus as the Anointed One is tantamount to receiving God’s testimony is true about His Son.

While living in Switzerland, I heard this story of a young girl while climbing around on the rocks looking for edelweiss fell into an alpine crevice and could not extract herself.  So the men in the village were called to help.  But all of them were too big to slide through the small crevice to reach the girl.  So they got a small lad who was very good at climbing and wanted to lower him on a rope into the cavern and bring the young girl up. But the boy refused to take the risk unless his father, who was not as big as the other men holding the rope, was called to participate. When they pointed out to the boy that they were much more robust than his father, the boy replied that this didn’t matter; he wanted his father’s hands on the rope. When asked why? The lad replied, “Because I know my father won’t let go.”

A similar concept is valid for every believer.  There is a knot of faith at the end of their rope of belief.  When all else fails and ridicule has stripped them of all external evidence, this is one thing the world can never take away, that they have put their trust in God’s Son, the Son of God.  Critics cannot pollute our minds to reject it; neither can they delete it or exclude it from the faith we have in our hearts.  When a believer’s strength to fight has waned, and their grip is weakening, they will find an anchor called faith at the rope’s end.  But the miracle is that not only will they hold on to faith, but faith will hold on to them.  Their own experience with Jesus the Anointed One is all the proof they need. 

Now John has a word of caution for those who have trouble believing God’s anointing on Jesus and claiming that He was God’s Son. It was already a prevalent problem in the apostle Paul’s day and increased in John’s last years here on earth.  Many of the Jews already were saying that Jesus was a pretender, that the Anointed One would be much holier than He was.  It came from their inability to believe that God could dwell on earth in human form.

This belief continued to grow until it was introduced after John’s death on a large scale by Julius Cassianus and called Docetism. Although the seeds for this movement started earlier, he is considered the founder of this belief system. Docetism teaches that Jesus’ physical body was only an aberration or an illusion. This idea is borrowed from Gnostic philosophy, which teaches that all matter is evil. Therefore, Jesus could not be God incarnate because the physical body is full of sinful tendencies. Docetism taught that a spiritual entity entered into the human body of Jesus at his baptism and left Him after He was crucified. They believed that Jesus’ main objective was to deliver us from the dominion of matter (which is evil). This divine entity could not come Himself in the form of physical matter since this substance was what He came to conquer. This heresy also denies the resurrection because Jesus’ physical body would still count for something.

There are some similar variations to this belief. The Gnostic “Gospel of Peter” teaches Docetism. Two of the more popular teachers of this heresy were Cerinthus[8] and Ebionites.[9]  People who believe this, says John, are calling God a liar.  When Balaam[10] was challenged because his message to the Israelites was not what King Balak wanted to hear, he told him, “God is not a man; He will not lie. God is not a human being; His decisions will not change. If He says He will do something, then He will do it. If He makes a promise, then He will do what He promised.”^[11]

John the Baptizer was thoroughly convinced of this when he said this of Jesus, “Whoever accepts what He says has proof that God speaks the truth.”^[12] But when asked about John the Baptizer’s statement, Jesus had this to say, “I have proof about Myself that is greater than anything John the Baptizer said. The things I do are My proof. These are what My Father gave Me to do. They show that the Father sent Me. And the Father who sent Me has given proof about me. But you have never heard His voice. You have never seen what He looks like. The Father’s teaching does not live in you because you don’t believe in the one the Father sent.”^[13] So these doubters and skeptics need not come right out and verbally call God a liar.

I once heard two people arguing, and one was becoming exasperated because the other one didn’t believe what they were saying.  So, the one said, “Are you calling me a liar?” The other one answered, “No, I just don’t believe you.” So, the first one said, “If you don’t believe me, then you’re saying I’m lying.” The other one said, “No, I’m not saying you’re lying; I just don’t believe you.” And on and on it went. I don’t think they ever settled it. British poet William Shenstone (1714-1763)[14] observed: “A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.”^[15] But John is less interested in what men say than what God says. Therefore, we can do no better than our Master. So, the ultimate starting point of testimony about Jesus as the Son of God is from God. The words “has testified” mean that God testified in the past with the result that that testimony stands. God testified about Jesus at His baptism and through His death on the cross. “Of His Son” is literally “concerning His Son.” God’s focus is the person and work of the Anointed One. God puts His focus on the centrality of the Anointed One called “Christocentricity.” Thus, the principle involved is that God verifies that His message centered on His Son is true.

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[1] Ibid. 6:30-40, cf. 6:47; 10:28; 17:2-3

[2] Psalm 25:14

[3] Proverbs 3:30-32

[4] Romans 8:16

[5] Galatians 4:6

[6] 2 Peter 1:19

[7] Hebrews 1:1-4

[8] Cerinthus was probably born a Jew in Egypt. Little is known of his life save that he was a teacher and founded a short-lived sect of Jewish Christians with Gnostic tendencies. He apparently taught that the world was created by angels, from one of whom the Jews received their imperfect Law. The only New Testament writing that Cerinthus accepted was the Gospel of Matthew. Cerinthus taught that Jesus, the offspring of Joseph and Mary, received Anointed One’s Spirit at his baptism as a divine power revealing the unknown Father. This messianic spirit left Jesus before the Passion and the Resurrection. Cerinthus admitted circumcision and the Sabbath.

[9] The Ebionites (from Hebrew, Ebyonim, “the poor ones”) were an early sect of Jewish followers of Jesus that flourished from the first to the fifth century C.E. in and around the Land of Israel. In contrast to the dominant Christian sects that viewed Jesus as the incarnation of God, the Ebionites saw Jesus as a mortal human being, who by being a holy man, was chosen by God to be the prophet of the “Kingdom of Heaven.” The Ebionites insisted on following Jewish dietary and religious laws and rejected the writings of Paul of Tarsus. Thus, Ebionites were in theological conflict with the emerging dominant streams of Christianity that opened up to the Gentiles.

[10] Balaam was a wicked prophet in the Bible and is noteworthy because, although he was a wicked prophet, he was not a false prophet. That is, Balaam did hear from God, and God did give him some true prophecies to speak. However, Balaam’s heart was not right with God, and eventually, he showed his true colors by betraying Israel and leading them astray. See Numbers 22-24

[11] Numbers 23:19

[12] John 3:33

[13] Ibid. 5:36-38

[14] Shenstone was one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate.

[15] Essays on Men and Manners by William Shenstone, Printed by William W. Morse, Philadelphia, 1804, LXXXII, p. 151

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LVII) 01/31/23

^5:9 We believe people who witness in our courts, and so unquestionably, we can believe whatever God declares. And God says that Jesus is His Son.

It is impossible, therefore, that a contrary understanding of the significance of the death of Jesus could be the product of the testimony of the Spirit, for the witness of the beloved disciple to the water and blood upon Jesus’ death is confirmed by the Spirit’s ongoing witness to the community. And while John speaks of three witnesses – the Spirit, the water, and the blood – in reality, he envisions one threefold witness to the fact and significance of Jesus’ crucifixion. Together, Spirit, water, and are one testimony, but the Spirit does not testify without or apart from the blood. The statement that the Spirit, the water, and the blood agree to shows that the Spirit’s saving work is not independent of or effective apart from what Jesus accomplished through His death.^[1]

As a lover of God’s Word, Peter Pett (1966) states that if we are willing to receive the witness of men, the witness of God is superior, for the witness of God is that He is an eyewitness concerning His Son. Here John establishes what he has been saying about Jesus, God’s Son. Jesus the Anointed One did not just come by water (through His natural birth or, more probably, through His baptism). His baptism was one way He presented Himself, but equally, He offered Himself through His physical death. It was a theory of various false teachers that the Anointed One’s Spirit came on Jesus’ body as divine inspiration at His baptism but left before His death.

No, says John, He was the Anointed One in His death and life. Indeed this is confirmed by the Spirit, for He is the Spirit of truth. He came on Jesus with power at Jesus’ baptism, proclaiming Jesus to be the only Son and the Servant who was pleasing to God, and He came to Him powerfully after His death when He raised Him from the dead.[2] So, all three agree that Jesus is the Anointed One – the Spirit, the water, and the blood. All concur and are united in revealing Him as God’s Son. In both His life and His death, he was the Anointed One. The Spirit bears witness to Him through God’s witnesses, first the Apostles, then those whom the Apostles appointed, and then through the leaders of the true churches.

But God Himself is also the witness to His Son. He bore witness, for it was he who sent the Holy Spirit on Him at His baptism, and made His declaration of who He was as His Son, and how pleasing He was as His Servant, and it was He who powerfully raised Him from the dead through His Holy Spirit at His resurrection. And His witness is superior to any witness of mankind. So if we accept the witness of men, the witness of those who knew Jesus and knew Him in His life and who saw these remarkable events, we must, even more, accept the witness of God who not only gave Him His Holy Spirit, who was both with Him in His baptism and in His death and resurrection but also has from that time given Him the power to give life to whom He will. God’s witness is that He has borne witness to His Son by this.^[3]

In his unorthodox Unitarian way, Duncan Heaster (1967) says that the Apostle John’s mention of the outflow of water and blood from the Lord, an account testified by the Spirit, backed up the disciples’ testimony.[4] Although those told of John’s Gospel record received that witness, the greater witness was God, the witness of the Spirit within the believers. God’s testimony concerning His Son was not just in the words of those who had visibly, personally witnessed the Lord’s death and the outflow of water and blood, which symbolized the gift of the Spirit within the believer who also testified within them. It was the essential witness to which God testified of His Son. The Comforter would make that witness, confirming the faith exhibited in the crucifixion record.[5] This experience of an acceptive mutuality between God and man is undoubtedly at the very core of our spirituality; it should be part of an inner spiritual shell that nothing, nothing can shake: not aggression from our brethren, disillusion with other Christians, persecution from the world, or painful personal relationships.^[6]

Bright seminarian Karen H. Jobes (1968) observes that the Apostle John is the one “who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.”[7] Testimony is a central theme of John’s Gospel, God’s testimony about Jesus. John’s testimony is “what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have perceived, and our hands have touched.”[8] Perhaps verse nine is an invitation to read John’s Gospel as a speech on God’s deposition concerning the identity of Jesus.

John assumes that his testimony about the truth stands in unbroken lineage back to God’s testimony about Jesus. He is zealous in protecting it from all other errant claims to truth, such as those offered by him by the antichrists. The witness of the Spirit, the water, and the blood is integral to God’s testimony. Therefore, verse nine is making not just a general claim that God’s testimony is more remarkable than human testimony but specifically that the content of God’s testimony is about Jesus, nothing or anyone else.^[9]

Consistent with the Apostle John’s advice, Heinrich A. W. Meyer (1800-1882) believes that the Apostle John’s purpose for writing verse nine is to demonstrate the value of the Divine testimony and, consequently, to insist on the credit given to it. The conditional clause refers to the fact that human testimony is received as satisfactory and sufficient evidence, according to the common custom of society. If this is so, urges John, we ought to obtain with more conviction, and a more immovable belief, the testimony of God; for it is more significant, that is, greater in its authority and value. There can be no doubt that this verse has a specific connection with what immediately precedes; and that thus the force of the evidence mentioned as divinely-given evidence is called to the readers’ attention.

This is to be affirmed, whatever may be the direct and special reference of it being God’s witness. With regard to this question, the following suggestion is offered as best satisfying the conditions of the passage: namely, that John passes, in the progress of the verses here, from the objective side of the evidence for the Divine Sonship of Jesus to the subjective side. The objective side is presented in verse ten, the Spirit and the water and the blood. The personal side is brought forward in verse eleven, the eternal life given to the soul and possessed by it. But these are, really, not two different things, but two different sides or aspects of the same thing. Jesus the Anointed One, who was seen, heard, handled, is eternal life. The experience of what He is within the soul is the other side – the corresponding internal manifestation of what is testified to by the facts of His earthly career and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and afterward.^[10]

^5:10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has accepted the truth that God told us. But people who do not believe what God said, and do not trust what He told us about His Son, are saying God is lying.

EXPOSITION

John the Baptizer certainly experienced this. After testifying what happened at Jesus’ baptism, admitting that he would not have known the Anointed One from any other man standing around him, God told him what to look for: “When you see the My Spirit descending and resting upon one person – He is the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I saw it all happen, says John the Baptizer to this one man. So, based on what I was told and saw with my eyes, I unashamedly testify that He is God’s Son.^[11]

Also, one of the soldiers at the crucifixion testified that when Jesus’ side was pierced with a spear, blood and water flowed out. I saw all this myself, said the soldier, and have given an accurate report so that you also can believe. The Apostle John states that when the soldiers did this it was to fulfill the Scripture that says, “Not one of His bones will be broken,”^[12]and, “They will look on Him whom they pierced.”^[13]

Jesus ran into this kind of doubt about who He was and His mission here on earth; they wanted more evidence. So, our Lord told them no one has ever visited God in heaven except the One who came down from His presence, the Son of Man. Just like when Moses lifted the serpent in the desert on a cross so people could have something to see and then believe, the Son of Man must be raised on a cross – and everyone who looks up at Him with trust and hope will be rewarded with eternal life. That’s why the Apostle John added that all those who trust in Him – God’s Son – to save them would receive eternal life. Any person who avoids and distrusts the Son remains in the dark and never experiences eternal life. All they will experience is God’s ultimate judgment.^[14]

On another occasion, after our Lord fed thousands of people, some were not satisfied with that miracle to fully believe in Him as the Anointed One. So, they searched for Him and, after finding Him, told our Master, you must show us more miracles if you want us to believe you are the Anointed One. Moses gave our fathers bread from heaven and granted us complimentary bread every day. Jesus responded that the real significance of the occasion is not that Moses gave them bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. Don’t you understand! I am that Bread of Life, and no one who comes to Me will ever be hungry again, and those believing in me will never thirst.

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[1] Thompson, Marianne M., The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, 1-3 John, op. cit., pp. 135-136

[2] Romans 1:4

[3] Pett, Peter, Commentary on the Bible, 1 John, op. cit., loc. cit.

[4] Heaster refers to the blood and water that spilled from Jesus’ body when stabbed by the soldier’s spear. However, most Bible scholars find this to be an erroneous reference since the blood came out first, then the water.

[5] Ibid. 15:26-27

[6] Heaster, Duncan. New European Christadelphian Commentary: op. cit., The Letters of John, pp. 72-73

[7] John 21:24

[8] Ibid. 1:1

[9] Jobes, Karen H., 1, 2, and 3 John (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on The New Testament Series Book 18), op. cit., p. 224

[10] Meyer, Heinrich A. W., Critical Exegetical Handbook News Testament, op. cit., Vol. 10, p. 814-815

[11] John 1:33-34

[12] Cf. Psalm 34:21; Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12

[13] John 19:34-36

[14] Ibid. 3:13-15, 36

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LVI) 01/30/23

^5:9 We believe people who witness in our courts, and so unquestionably, we can believe whatever God declares. And God says that Jesus is His Son.

A man who loves sharing God’s Word, Robert W. Yarbrough (1948) feels that the Apostle John is arguing from a commonsense conviction concerning our acceptance of a human’s testimony which is less convincing than God’s testimony of His Son being the Anointed One. The word “we” probably refers to people in general in verse nine, although John may have John the Baptizer and First Covenant prophets in mind. They were all humans testifying to divine truths and believed their testimony carried God’s authority.

“Witness” is an everyday phenomenon. Christians accept the human testimony of prophets; why would they hesitate to heed God’s confirmation? The importance of the Greek martyria (“witness”) becomes very evident in John’s Gospel, where the noun appears over a dozen times and the cognate verb nearly three dozen times.

As John views life, particularly Jesus’ ministry, he now argues from the lesser to the greater. If (lesser) human testimony is generally accepted as significant – and the Greek clause beginning with (if) implies that John is assuming here it is – then God’s (superior) testimony is all the more inescapable. Therefore, rejecting it is a fateful error, and to oppose it is a futile effort.^[1]

Skilled in Dead Sea Scroll interpretation and New Testament writings, Colin G. Kruse (1950) notes that the New International Version (NIV) renders the last half of verse nine as follows: “We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which He has given about His Son.” However, the NIV obscures the original text’s meaning, which opens with an incomplete conditional sentence. A literal rendering of the verse would read: “If we accept the testimony of men, then we should accept the testimony of God.”

The first part of the verse is an argument from the lesser to the superior: if we accept human testimony, we should without question accept God’s testimony. What is the human testimony that John alludes to here? It can hardly reference the threefold testimony of Spirit, water, and blood. Is it an allusion to the witness of John the Baptizer?

In John’s Gospel, Jesus refers to the Baptizer’s testimony as “human testimony” and indicates that it is much less important than God’s testimony.[2] Does it refer to the testimony of the eyewitnesses to the Word of life,[3] which, though trustworthy, is not of the same order as God’s testimony? Or is it merely a general statement indicating that God’s testimony is always more important than a human witness? Probably the last is the best alternative, for the first two suggestions create new problems. There are no other allusions to the Baptizer’s ministry in John’s epistle. He would not want to downplay the testimony of the eyewitnesses because he believes that to be an accurate report of the truth of God.^[4]

Believing that Christians can fall away from the faith, Ben Witherington III (1951) also points out that the Apostle John uses a “from the lesser to the greater” form of argument to say that if one believes John the Baptizer’s testimony about Jesus[5] or by the Apostle John, how much more remarkable is God’s testimony about His Son?[6] Therefore, the three-fold fold witness of the Spirit, the water, and the blood, is a threefold divine testimony to Jesus.^[7]

With her crafted spiritual insight, Judith Lieu (1951) says that the argument that anyone who trusts in human testimony has no reason not to trust in God’s witness is a style of logic that moves from a lesser to a more excellent case. If God is greater and presumably more reliable than humans, so must God’s testimony. In that sense, the reliability of human testimony is a general truth, and “we accept” need not refer specifically to this author and audience. Within this logic, the objection that humankind and the evidence they supply are more tangible and susceptible to testing, are more readily accepted than God, and His testimony would carry little weight.

However, it is more probable that, as elsewhere, John is referring specifically to his audience, who, he knows, do accept human testimony. It would still allow the latter to be a general truth, in which case the “greater testimony” that God gives is to be identified with, or at least includes, the testimony of spirit, water, and blood just mentioned. Alternatively, this threefold testifying may in some sense be “human testimony,” so God’s witnessing is something additional to these. In the former case, “this is the testimony” in the middle of verse nine refers back to the preceding verses; in the latter case, the clause refers forward so that the following two verses elaborate the distinctive form of the testimony that God bears.^[8]

Emphasizing the Apostle John’s call to Christian fellowship, Bruce B. Barton (1954) states that since we believe in human testimony, we can trust God’s more worthy testimony. And God has testified about His Son. According to Jewish law, the testimony of one person is not a valid witness. Truth or validity has to be established by two or three witnesses.[9] Since people believe human testimony when validated by two or three witnesses, John explained that they could consider the more remarkable testimony from God. The Gospels twice record God’s explicit declaration that Jesus is His Son – at Jesus’ baptism[10] and His transfiguration.[11] John said that if they believe testimony from people, they can surely rely on the threefold witness of God. The three witnesses described in verse eight are united because God is behind them. All three form a single “testimony from God” that Jesus is the Anointed One.^[12]

A scholar who truly inspires Christian missionaries, Daniel L. Akin (1957) notes that the Apostle John continues his parade of witnesses, calling to the stand at this point the most decisive witness of all: God the Father. The Father’s “testimony” repeatedly resounds in verses nine and ten as the apostle employs a “lesser to greater” argument. In everyday life, “we accept people’s testimony.” In the Jewish context, the testimony of two or three witnesses was necessary and sufficient to confirm something as accurate.[13] If so, how much more should we believe God, mainly when He has just supplied His threefold witness of the Spirit, water, and blood in verse eight? The testimony of God is preferred – superior in source, status, and significance – then the testimony of any person. It is more reliable and trustworthy because it comes from God, who cannot lie.[14]

Akin thinks that John is saying that the abiding testimony of Jesus’ baptism, crucifixion, and that of the Holy Spirit is God’s historical witness that Jesus is His Son. Never did God give such a witness concerning anyone else in all of history. The Father’s witness concerning His Son is singular and unique. Therefore, it demands a response from each one of us. Neutrality and indecision are not an option. In fact, to not believe that Jesus is God’s Son is not to believe God and to make Him out to be “a liar,” because [you have] not believed in the testimony God has given about His Son.[15] John says that believing in Jesus as the Son of God is equivalent to accepting God the Father’s testimony about His Son. To reject Jesus as God’s Son is equal to charging God with perjury. It is that simple, and John is that straightforward.^[16]

With a classical thinking approach to understanding the scriptures, Bruce G. Schuchard (1958) points out that three consecutive references to testimony continue to emphasize both its foundational significance and the necessity of the faithful to abide by “the testimony of God that He has testified concerning his Son,” if we receive the testimony of men. The passage continues to feature nicely its pointed, concluding interest in the essential place of fitting testimony. Elsewhere in the Epistle, to “receive” is “to acquire or to take” in the sense of accepting it as a valid matter.[17] In verse one, its subject, “us,” has inclusive force here, as does “we” here in verse nine.

To begin, John envisions human testimony compared to God’s Word. John’s thinking moves “from the lesser to the greater.” If, for any reason, ours is the practice of regularly accepting the testimony of our fellowman, how is one to regard the testimony of our God? Is not the testimony of the one whose devotion to us all was so great that he gave into death on the cross His one and only Son – is not this one’s testimony “greater?”[18] Is not this one’s testimony the testimony of the three witnesses, the most credible, reliable, and essential of all? If in any sense, the testimony of men is worthy of our taking it to heart, the testimony of God “surpasses that of all and any other testimonies.”^[19]

An expert in highlighting the crucial part of a biblical message, Marianne Meye Thompson (1964) makes note that now the Apostle John’s attention is on the origin of the confession that He came by water and blood. It was not a figment of human imagination; rather, the Spirit testifies. Although in evoking the Spirit’s testimony, John stresses the ultimate source of this confession. He may well be with an eye on the dissidents, whom no doubt claimed their views to be equally inspired,[20] even if they defied the interpretations that John and his community held “from the beginning.”[21]

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[1] Yarbrough, Robert W.. 1-3 John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., p. 285

[2] John 5:33-36

[3] Ibid. 1:1

[4] Kruse, Colin G., The Letters of John (The Pillar New Testament Commentary), op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition

[5] John 5:33-35

[6] Cf. Ibid. 5:36

[7] Witherington, Ben III, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John, op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition

[8] Lieu, Judith: A New Testament Library, I, II, & III John, op. cit., pp. 216-217

[9] Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15

[10] Matthew 3:16-17

[11] Ibid. 17:5

[12] Burton, Bruce B., 1, 2, & 3 John (Life Application Bible Commentary), op. cit., p. 111

[13] Deut 17:6; 19:15

[14] Hebrews 6:18

[15] 1 John 5:10

[16] Akin, Dr. Daniel L., Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary), op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition

[17] See 1 John 2:27; 3:22; cf. John 3:11, 22, 32, 33; 5:34

[18] See John 5:33-36

[19] Schuchard, Bruce G., Concordia Commentary, 1-3 John, op. cit., op. cit., p. 539

[20] 1 John 4:1-6

[21] Ibid. 1:1-4; 2:20-25

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LV) 01/27/23

^5:9 We believe people who witness in our courts, and so unquestionably, we can believe whatever God declares. And God says that Jesus is His Son.

As a capable scripture analyst, Ian Howard Marshall (1934-2015) asks, what is this testimony given by God? Scholars have suggested three possibilities, and it is not easy to decide between them. First, it is natural to assume that John is referring in another way to the threefold testimony which he has just been describing.[1] However, it is difficult for this view that the tense in verses six through eight is present, whereas here, in verse nine, it is perfect. Nevertheless, this is not an insurmountable obstacle. In verse six, we have seen that the historical acts were a witness to Jesus as the Son of God during His earthly ministry.  Through these, it could be said, God was bearing witness to his Son.[2] There is, however, a further problem. Jesus refers to various testimonies concerning himself:[3] His testimony, His works, John the Baptizer, and the Scriptures. The testimony of God appears to be distinct from these others, although God stands behind the other witnesses.

So, it can be argued a divine witness other than the threefold witness of the Spirit, water, and blood is meant here. Since, however, it is the Spirit who is the essential witness, testifying through the water and the blood, and since the Spirit is God’s instrument of revelation, it seems perfectly possible that John is simply speaking of the Spirit’s testimony in a different way. Commentators who do not accept this point must suggest a second interpretation of God’s testimony. They argue that John has not told us what this testimony is; he is content to record the fact of it.

The best that can be suggested is that it relates to the stories and sayings of Jesus recorded in John’s Gospel.[4] Unfortunately, this is not very helpful. Still less valuable is the suggestion that God’s testimony is nothing but the event of faith itself.[5] A third possibility is that John speaks of the “inner witness” of the Spirit. He dwells in the heart of the believer as a witness to the truth of what is being heard in the proclamation of the Word. But this understanding is exposed to the difficulty that John is here speaking of a past act of God; furthermore, John does not elsewhere use the term “testimony” to refer to an inward witness by the Spirit.[6] It seems best, therefore, to accept the first interpretation.^[7]

As a seasoned essayist on the Apostle John’s writings, John Painter (1935) states that a piece of proverbial wisdom now carries the Apostle John’s argument. So pronounced is the conclusion that it is not mentioned. Instead, John simply says: “The witness of God is greater.” We have already learned that God is more significant than our hearts,[8] that the Spirit “who is in you” is greater than the Spirit in the world.[9] That the witness of God is greater than the witness of human beings is reminiscent of where Jesus appeals to the witness of His Father,[10] the witness more excellent than the human witness of John the Baptizer. When John says that God’s witness is greater than the witness of human beings, it is not likely he has in mind the three witnesses here in verses six to eight. The contrast in John’s Gospel[11] makes the witness of the Baptizer a possibility.

Indeed, John the Baptizer is portrayed as a witness,[12] and Jesus says He has a witness more worthy than the Baptizer,[13] namely “the works that the Father has given me to complete … and the Father who sent me has borne witness concerning me.”[14] This would make good sense if the opponents appealed to the witness of John to the Spirit’s descent on Jesus the Messiah His baptism. But the problem is that the reference is to the “witness of human beings.” Thus, it seems that here John is making a more general statement true to the proverbial form.^[15]

Ministry & Missions Overseer Muncia Walls (1937) notes that the Jewish law said that the testimony of two or three witnesses would prove a matter to be true or false. People were accustomed to hearing witnesses testify at a trial. John is here saying that if we accept what others have to say about any given subject, how much more should we be willing to take what God has to say about an issue, for His witness is far greater than ours. The witnesses that John has just been speaking about in the preceding verses were witnesses made manifest by God Himself.

Because Jesus the Messiah lived and walked among us, His hands manifested many miracles. By the fact that though He died on the cross, He rose victorious over the grave and death, all these facts should be witness enough that He indeed is the Messiah. During Jesus’ ministry, from His baptism, God audibly declared that Jesus the Messiah was indeed His Son. Jesus, on more than one occasion, declared that He was God manifest in the flesh. These witnesses should be evidence enough for those who were honest and sincere that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.^[16]

Expositor and systematic theologist Michael Eaton (1942-2017) says we should notice that the “witness” was to the historical events. The Apostle John says that if we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is more remarkable, for this is the testimony of God which He gave concerned His Son. The Gospel involves human testimony. The apostles insisted on some historical events which they witnessed. A generation of apostles made emphatic claims about the circumstances in which they were involved. Luke wrote his gospel while keeping in touch with “eyewitnesses.”[17] John’s Gospel was written by one who claimed to be “bearing witness to these things.”[18] Paul claimed special authority because he met with Jesus personally: “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” he would ask.[19] Peter could insist that he had seen the glory of the Messiah when he went with Jesus at the time of His transfiguration: “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty… we heard His voice… we were with Him.”[20] ^[21]

After scrutinizing the Apostle John’s subject theme, William Loader (1944) hears the Apostle John alluding to the common practice of accepting human evidence. Here is another example of John using a general truth about the human community. John mentions a similar fact about parents’ love for their children to illustrate God’s love for His children.[22] It is preferable to see this as accepting human testimony rather than an allusion to specific human testimony about Jesus than figures of speech. By that, says Loader, the traditions that record Jesus’ birth and death (water and blood) or the testimony of John the Baptizer (water baptism), which has not even received mention thus far. The Gospel of John indeed tells of Jesus describing John the Baptizer’s testimony as human testimony[23] and, in doing so, exhibits a similar play with the imagery of court procedures to what we find here, but the issues are different.^[24]

Great Commission practitioner David Jackman (1945) notes that the Apostle John reminds us that if we accept the testimony of others, God’s testimony is indeed preferable. We realize that God is infinitely superior to finite, mortal humans. Because of its content, John wants to convey the greater trustworthiness of God’s testimony and its significant importance and value. It is the testimony of God, which He has given about his Son. Probably the focus of that testimony to which John wants to direct our attention is the baptism of Jesus. There the Father’s voice and the Spirit’s descent unite the Trinity in powerful witness that Jesus is the Son of God. That is the content of the Christian gospel. It is stated and authenticated by God and confirmed by his three witnesses. How can we refuse to accept the divine if we would accept human testimony under such circumstances (and we most certainly would)? ^[25]

After studying the context surrounding this verse, John W. (Jack) Carter (1947) points out that the term that the Apostle John uses for “witness” refers to those who are called upon to give binding testimony in a court of law. The Mosaic Law requires two or three witnesses,[26] and Jewish tradition prefers three. John has drawn his defense team from two sets of three witnesses, three witnesses from men, and three witnesses from God. By calling upon the importance of God’s witness of the Son, John works to destroy the false doctrines of the heretics who deny the truth of Jesus’ nature and purpose.  His use of the three earthly witnesses certainly holds more authority than the heretics since the former witnesses are giving first-hand testimony.  However, John does not stop there. He also notes that what God revealed to us through the Trinity is also a witness to the true nature and purpose of Jesus, and testimony from God certainly has greater authority than both the heretics and the first-hand human witnesses.^[27]

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[1] Ignatius, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2

[2] Schnackenburg, 22; cf. Ignatius, Letter to the Magnesians 9f

[3] John 5:31-40

[4] For the same point of view, see Marinus de Jonge (1925-2016), pp. 122–124; Balz, p. 151f. Bruce, 17 and n. 11, notes that we cannot be sure that the views of Cerinthus are exclusively in John’s mind and refers to R. M. Grant’s view that possibly Menander of Antioch is in mind (A Historical Introduction to the New Testament, New York/London, 1963, p. 233). The account of Menander’s teaching in Irenæus, AH 1:23:5, however, shows no clear contact with the heresy opposed by John. Wengst, p. 37, argues that John’s opponents were not Docetists since they did not deny that Jesus was a real man; rather they attached no theological importance to Jesus and laid all the weight on the heavenly being, Christ. This produced the same theological effect as Docetism, but the manner of expression was different.

[5] Weiss, Konrad, “Orthodoxie und Heterodoxie im I. Johannesbrief,” ZNW 58, 1967, 247–255. 36. K. Weiss, “Die ‘Gnosis’ im Hintergrund und im Spiegel der Johannesbriefe,” in K.-W. Tröger (Editor), Gnosis und Neues Testament, Gütersloh, 1973, 341–356.

[6] Weiss, Konrad, “Die ‘Gnosis’ im Hintergrund und im Spiegel der Johannesbriefe,” in K.-W. Tröger (Editor.), Gnosis und Neues Testament, Gütersloh, 1973, 341-356

[7] Marshall, Ian Howard: The Epistles of John (The New International Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., pp. 239-240, 256

[8] 1 John 3:20

[9] Ibid. 4:4

[10] Ibid. 3:31-33

[11] Ibid. 5:33-38

[12] Ibid. 1:7, 15, 19, 32

[13] Ibid. 5:36

[14] Ibid. 5:37

[15] Painter, John. Sacra Pagina: 1, 2, and 3 John: Volume 18, op. cit., loc. cit., Kindle Edition

[16] Walls, Muncia: Epistles of John and Jude, op. cit., p. 87

[17] Luke 1:2

[18] John 21:24

[19] 1 Corinthians 9:1

[20] 2 Peter 1:18

[21] Eaton, Michael; Focus on the Bible, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., p. 184.

[22] 1 John 5:1

[23] John 5:31-33

[24] Loader, William: Epworth Commentary, The First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 69-70

[25] Jackman, David: The Message of John’s Letters, op. cit., pp. 151-152

[26] Deuteronomy 19:15

[27] Carter, Dr. John W. (Jack). 1,2,3, John & Jude: (The Disciple’s Bible Commentary Book 48), op. cit., pp. 124-125

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson LIV) 01/26/23

^5:9 We believe people who witness in our courts, and so unquestionably, we can believe whatever God declares. And God says that Jesus is His Son.

God insists, says Findlay, upon our believing this witness; it is that in which He is supremely concerned, which He asserts and commends to men above all else. Concerning this, God the Father spoke audibly from heaven, saying at the anointing and again at Jesus’ transfiguration.[1] John listened to those mysterious voices, and they taught him the infinite importance of true faith in the Sonship of Jesus. His resurrection was a crowning vindication of Jesus by the Eternal Father, who thus declared by act and deed that despite – no, because of – His death, He was more than ever the Son of God’s good pleasure.[2] And finally, the descent of the Holy Spirit, bestowed at the request of the exalted Jesus,[3] was a glorious and demonstrative witness of God’s mind concerning His Son Jesus, as the Apostle Peter argued on the day of Pentecost.[4] ^[5]

With his stately speaking style, William Macdonald Sinclair (1850-1917) declares that any human testimony provided is logically required on our understandings to establish common facts or to prove opinions.[6] Any message that comes from God is to be accepted by us with a readiness infinitely more significant than in the case of mere human testimony. The Apostle John considers God’s threefold witness of His Son to convey a certainty which no human evidence could claim. If any doubted whether the carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, was God in reality, the Apostle John would refer them to the righteousness and predictions of the Law and the prophets fulfilled in the life and death of the Messiah which spoke for themselves and to manifest inauguration of the reign of the Spirit. Under these three heads would come all possible evidence for Christian truth.^[7]

Beyond any doubt, remarks Alonzo R. Cocke (1858-1901), all human testimony is liable to err, yet we accept it and act upon it. If we receive anything upon the testimony of mortals, how can we refuse to receive the infallible witness of God? But we are responsible, seeing that God’s witness is greater. Indeed, God’s witness concerns His Son, Jesus the Messiah. God has uttered his testimony. What will men do with it? The Apostle John now points out the blessed results of receiving this testimony and also the dreadful consequences of rejecting it.^[8]

Esteemed ministry veteran James B. Morgan (1859-1942) notes that the sentiment of these verses is similar to that in verse six. And it is that the witness of the Spirit is the truth. In both, there is mention of the threefold testimony of the water, the blood, and the Spirit. Morgan feels that the importance of the subject would justify this repetition, but there also seems to be a difference between the two passages. In the first, the testimony given is of the Messiah personally. So, He is proven the Messiah, the promised Savior, by His baptism and its events. So also, by His death and its accordance with ancient prophecy and the great ends to be accomplished by it, and by the Spirit poured out in remarkable gifts and graces on those who received and proclaimed Him.

Here in verse nine, the testimony is not merely to the Messiah personally, but to the truth of which He was the subject and substance. Verse six was fitted to the time and served the present purpose, but verse nine remains to this hour. It is the standing, unchanging testimony to the Gospel of the grace of God, to Jesus the Messiah as “the power and wisdom of God for salvation.” So, understanding it, we consider the threefold testimony in the order of the text – the Spirit, the water, and the blood, designed to enforce the reception of this clear, satisfactory, and divine testimony. God grant that we may both understand it and obey it.^[9]

With characteristic fundamental thinking, Alan England Brooke (1863-1939) agrees that if we accept the testimony of men when it satisfies the conditions of evidence required by the law,[10] how much more are we bound to acknowledge the witness which we possess in this case, for it is God’s witness.[11] Neither here nor in 1 John 4:11 does “if” indicate any doubt. It is known to everyone that we do accept such testimony. Consequently, Divine witness is more significant and, therefore, more worthy of our acceptance because it deals with a subject on which God, and God alone, is fully competent to speak. It concerns His Son. God has borne witness concerning His Son. In this case, the Divine witness alone is “truth” in the complete sense of the term, though other kinds of witnessing may be proper.

However, if the reading of the Textus Receptus[12] is adopted, “this”[13] in verse nine must refer to the witnesses already described, namely, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Or, it might mean the witness of Spirit, who interprets the evidence of the historical facts.

A word witness meant to endorse the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. If “this” (KJV) is accepted, it can be understood three ways: (1) Causal. In this case, “this” must refer to what has preceded the witness already described. Such is the witness. Divine and legally valid, for God bore witness to His Son. By laying the stress on the Greek verb, martyreō (“he had witnessed”), it is perhaps possible to make sense of the passage in this way. But such an interpretation is very harsh and does not conform to John’s style. (2) The witness, namely, maintained His testimony concerning His Son. This use of “that” is not unquestionably established in the Johannine writings, though perhaps we should compare what Jesus said in John’s Gospel.[14] In the present context, it would be intolerably harsh. (3) It is far more natural and in harmony with the author’s style[15] as declarative. There can be no more trustworthy witness than what a father bears to his son, so far as competence to speak is concerned. The essence of the witness is that it is the testimony of God to His Son. In the Gospel, “to witness about oneself” ιs very frequent,[16] elsewhere very rare.^[17]

With an eye for detail, David Smith (1866-1932) notes that God’s threefold testimony was valid.[18] He testified concerning His Son through His miracles and especially His Resurrection.[19] The variant “which” is a marginal gloss indicating the relative “whatever,” not the conjunction “that.”  The latter is incapable of a satisfactory explanation. The alternatives are:

            (1) “Because the testimony of God is this the fact that He has testified,” which is meaningless and involves an abrupt variation in the use of “that.” 

            (2) “Because this is the testimony of God, because, I say, He has testified,” which is intolerable.

The Apostle John appeals to his readers to be as reasonable with God as with their fellow men. Our attitude to the Threefold Testimony. If we are willing to trust the testimony of ordinary people, the testimony of God is more credible because this is the testimony, He gave testified concerning His Son. Those that believe in the Son of God have a witness in themselves. Those that do not think so make Him out to be a liar. And this is the testimony that God gave us life eternal, and this life is in His Son. Those who have the Son have eternal life; those who do not have the Son of God have no future life.”^[20]

As a spiritual mentor, Ronald A. Ward (1920-1986) points out that everyone knows that we accept the testimony of our fellow citizens, especially in courtroom trials.[21] With that being true, how much more should we respect and accept any testimony inspired by God’s Spirit, who is Truth. So, can anyone reject God’s testimony about Jesus being His Son?[22] [23]

With academic precision, Stephen S. Smalley (1931-2018) says that the Apostle John concludes his description of the character of the witness to Jesus, as God’s Son and Messiah, by making clear its ultimate origin. So far from this being an interruption of the writer’s thought and added by a redactor, it caps the teaching of verses six to eight by showing that behind the “divine testimony” of “the Spirit and the water and the blood” lies the sovereign being of God. God’s authority is the imprimatur on the truth of the Christian Gospel. So, if we accept human testimony, divine testimony is superior. It is a fact that the faithful witness of others is accepted. The threefold witness of which John has spoken satisfies the conditions of human testimony. More than implied “the threefold divine witness satisfies all legal criteria.”^[24] Inspired by Jesus’ words, “go into all the world,”

Edward J. Malatesta (1932-1998) sees the thought advanced by emphatically joining it to the third mention of Jesus that He is the one who came both by water and blood.  The central part of this sub-division introduces the theme of witness: the Spirit who witnesses and is Truth, and the water and blood witness. The witness is God’s witness concerning His Son. The sub-division thus concludes with a mention of the Son, as did the preceding one. John praises God’s witness concerning His Son as more significant than any human witness.^[25]

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[1] Matthew 3:17

[2] Acts of the Apostles 13:32-35; Romans 1:4

[3] John 14:16; Luke 24:49

[4] Acts 2:32-36

[5] Findlay, George G: Fellowship in the Life Eternal: An Exposition of the Epistles of St. John, op. cit., p. 388

[6] Cf. Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 31:1; Hebrews 10:28-29

[7] Sinclair, William M., New Testament Commentary for English Readers, Charles J. Ellicott (Ec.), op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 491-492

[8] Cocke, Alonzo R: Studies in the Epistles of John; or, The Manifested Life, op. cit., pp 127-128

[9] Morgan, James B., An Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., Lecture XLIV, pp. 436-437

[10] John 5:36

[11] Ibid. 8:18

[12] Textus Receptus (Latin: “received text”) refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus’ Novum Instrumentum omne from (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most used translation for Protestant Bibles.

[13] New American Standard Bible

[14] John 8:25 (KJV)

[15] Cf. Ibid. 3:19

[16] Ibid. 1:7, 8, 15, 2:25, 5:31, 32

[17] Brooke, Alan E., Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Johannine Epistles, op. cit., pp. 137-138

[18] Deuteronomy 19:15; cf. Matthew 18:16; John 8:17-18; 1 John 3:20

[19] Romans 1:4

[20] Smith, David: Expositor’s Greek Testament, 1 John, op. cit., p. 196

[21] See John 8;17; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15

[22] John 5:37

[23] Ward, Ronald A., The Epistles on John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 56

[24] Smalley, Stephen S., Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 51, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., p. 283

[25] Malatesta, Edward J., Interiority and Covenant, op. cit., p. 310