1 John 5: 6-12
6This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7For there are three that testify:
8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
9If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.
10The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
11And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
John’s explanation here of Baptism in water, blood, and Spirit is to dispel another popular teaching at the time that stated Christ left earth before His crucifixion. John breaks it down for us by explaining that the whole purpose of Christ was to be crucified and those that truly believe have that message on their heart, through the Spirit and anyone who gives testament otherwise, is a false teacher.
This was a natural occurrence at this time. Many of the letters in the new testament explain the true gospel of Christ in contrary to what the world was trying to do to it. Some rejected it entirely, but many tried to make the gospel fit what they wanted, by mixing with other religions and twisting the story around. Sounds like human nature, doesn’t it? We always have to put ourselves in the story to create our own sovereignty.
Verse 12 is very matter-of-fact. This is where John draws the line, for those who question what the line is: Christ and Him crucified. There’s no other way to put it that also works. If you don’t believe it, then you are misled and ultimately damned for eternity. I was once asked how a loving God could condemn us like that. 1) We condemned ourselves, we can thank Adam and Eve for that. 2) Satan’s lies and fuel for our own contempt for God makes us ignore the fact that God loves us SO MUCH he sacrificed His son for us.
Do you know a God that can love more than that?
