[This message is part of a series through the book of 1 John, entitled "Salvific Assurance Through Testimony," preached by Pastor Senter].
"He took part of the same flesh and blood. In this is the ultimate statement of empathy. He experienced the physical pains of living as a carpenter..."
Last week we opened our discussion with the topic of obedience to God and loving His children, and that in this love we then have assurance that we know Him. This assurance (that when we can love the children of God we have His love in us) comes purely from our salvation and the testimony of God through us. We also learned, therefore, that in this very thing is obedience. Further, it is through obedience that we can show love. We looked at obedience to God and very briefly at the various forms of “one another” commands. We also discussed the great victory we can have over this world in our faith and in our fellowship with other believers that is brought to us through our Savior. Ultimately, this results in a belief, a faith, a trust, and love for God as He is, in all His glory – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This gives us victory over the world. Today we return to discuss the Son primarily; however, the three-in-one (triune) God we serve is certainly represented here as well.
Please look at 1 John 5:6-9. One of the first things we have to discuss when we open to this portion of scripture is a question concerning the inclusion of certain words. This issue, known as the “Johannine Comma”, is important to understand; however, we must realize that it in no way adds or detracts from the overall validity or accuracy of scripture.
Well, preachers are supposed to open cans of worms at times in order to get things done. This is one of those cases. In this instance where we read in our King James Version of the scriptures in verses 7-8 the words, “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth,” these two phrases are questionable as true original manuscript text. There are a couple of issues we should consider to be associated with this understanding, and an ultimate conclusion that is paramount in the understanding of the content of the words.
A little history: Erasmus developed a composite Greek text with the most dependable manuscripts available, and by 1519 had done a second edition. Luther developed a German translation of the New Testament in about 1522, and by 1533 had translated the Pentateuch. William Tyndale used these texts in his English translations. Just before he was to be burned to death on October 6 1536, he stated “Lord! Open the king of England’s eyes!” This prayer was answered, partly, in the first efforts to translate the scriptures into English that were commissioned within two years of Tyndale’s death. Coverdale used Tyndale’s Bible and others to develop a text in 1535. In 1539, The Great Bible was developed which was a composite of Tyndale’s, Coverdale’s, and Thomas Matthew’s work, resulting in the Polyglot – a text with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin texts in parallel columns. Then, in 1560, the Geneva Bible was developed from the Great Bible, other extant Hebrew texts, the Erasmus Greek Text, several Latin versions, as well as French and Italian works. The Bishop’s Bible came about in 1568. It was developed from the Great Bible, the Hebrew text, and the Greek Erasmus text. We finally derived the King James Version from all those before, and as a fresh translation using them for comparison. The section we will focus on today is what we have already referred to as the “Johannine Comma”, in verses 7 and 8.
These extra words are generally absent from most manuscripts; and they do not appear in any of the best-conditioned Greek manuscripts. In fact, they only appear in the text of four late medieval manuscripts, of the 5800+ whole and partial manuscripts available. These added words seem to have originated as a marginal note added to certain Latin manuscripts during the Middle Ages, which was eventually incorporated into the text of most of the later Vulgate manuscripts. The earliest appearance of their inclusion as a part of the actual text of the Epistle is in a fourth century Latin manuscript, attributed to the Spanish heretic Priscillian (died about 385). The 10th century manuscript it was copied from does not contain the verbiage. Erasmus in his Greek composite manuscript only included it after the first two revisions, and then only to avoid being himself slandered.
Now – knowing, when we look at this small section of scripture here in verses 7 and 8, that we may have some extra words that were not in 95% or more of the Greek manuscripts used to develop our King James Bible– should we think we do not have the actual Word of God in our hands? The answer is no.
First, the comments themselves do not change any of our theology. In fact, they reinforce it. The section was probably a marginal commentary note that clarified the trinity, originally. It was added as part of the actual text at a later point for unknown reasons. This note in the Latin manuscripts was probably later added to the text as though it were a scribal error.
Second, over the past 1000 years we have seen a growth in the cumulative word count of the Word of God, not a decrease. I saw figures at one time that ran from 125,000 to 135,000 words in the Greek New Testament text. On my computer in my office, my search produced 138,167 words. The text in its entirety has grown slightly with no change in overall theology. Therefore, we can be confident that, within those 138,000 words, we have the whole Word of God in the New Testament.
Third, even though there are a total of 20 or so words added, that results in an error of .01% or one one-hundredth of one percent of the words in scripture that still do not change any theology.
Now, since we have looked closely, at a somewhat controversial though indisputable issue, we should look at the text and understand our instruction for today. Today we will discuss: “God is one as a whole, but three persons who testify of the Son for your salvation.” We’ll also consider that: “Though many scriptures present this truth, we still have doubts that God is three in one, and that, in our salvation, the Son is the focus of the other two persons.”
We turn then to consider that the Spirit testifies in Scripture of how Jesus lived His entire life from childhood through adulthood, and into His ministerial years. The Spirit’s testimony begins in Scripture, but it continues in the hearts and minds of people.
I. Testimony of the Spirit (verse 6)
When we consider the multiple passages that teach of the three individuals who are one God, it is a vast array of scriptures. We recently cataloged this in our Sunday School class in Doctrines. In that class alone, we covered 49 verses in 12 or 13 books to document that God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son exist and that they exist as One. In any theology book you find that discusses these people and their deity fully, you could easily find hundreds of passages that testify either the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit are each God, and are each a person, each having individual functions, and that they are one. In some cases, such as Exodus 20, we find blocks of passages teaching these truths. The testimony of scripture, therefore, is one depicting three persons operating as one God. However, we really do not find this truth taught in one singular place. There is no one single pregnant sentence in scripture that tells us, for instance, “The singular God of the universe exists in three distinct persons known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, triune in nature and person, yet One in being.”
However, today we are privileged to find in scripture about as close a representation of this as one can find in scripture. Though there are places, such as 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Ephesians 4:4-6, where we find the three persons mentioned together; here in our passages today we find them being represented individually, but focused for a purpose on one. In our first verse, verse six, we find just such a circumstance.
Admittedly, the verse beginning with a pronoun “this” naturally leads us to ask who is “this” or we could say what is the antecedent of “this.” Some time ago I mentioned that John has transition areas that are instructive for considering both what is before, and what comes after. Verse five, which we studied last week is one such occasion. The “this” we find here directly ties to “The Son of God” in verse five. Therefore, “the Son of God is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.”
We find here then that water baptism rather equals obedience. Here is shown Christ’s submission to the requirements of priestly ministry, and also to the Father’s will in all things.
Looking closely then at this verse, we find a division naturally at the first semicolon, after the first sentence.
A. Baptism of Christ (6a)
Following on the heels of a discussion focused upon overcoming the things, the temptations, and especially the death of the world system, we have a statement that tells us how this is done. There is a purpose, therefore, in why He “came.” The verb here translated “came” is a participle, and indicates that He arrived and that the effects of His arrival carry through to today. Although we can identify how His arrival may affect our ability to overcome the world, how is this fact modified or affected by water and blood? What do these things therefore have to do with the arrival of this Messiah, and His ability to overcome the world?
First, we look at the root of the discussion – priestly ministry. In Hebrews 2, which we are studying on Wednesday night, we just finished looking at verses 14-18 where we talked extensively about the Godman Priesthood of Jesus Christ our Savior. We found most recently that He not only experienced all the temptations that were here on earth to experience as a priest, but that He experienced them in overabundance. We considered that not only would He, as the perfect priest, have a true, pure compassion and love for the people He ministered to; but that He would equally feel the restraints He submitted to in the limitations of His being a man. We talked about His seeing the specific needs of a family–needs that He could affect with merely a word from His mouth; but because He came to save and not to judge (Lk 18:9 and Jn 12:47) He therefore, would not punish the abusive husband or mother, He could not provide for every child’s nutritional needs, His purpose in coming was a spiritual salvation–not the judgment of the world. In this spiritual salvation we find in the Messiah; we therefore can overcome the world.
In this, we see again a similarity with this baptism. Just as the other priests were required to be baptized into the priesthood, Jesus was also; however, He himself also provided a priestly baptism that gave spiritual freedom to overcome all the worldly obstacles. Although, just as He was human and submitted to this world as such, He therefore submitted to the biblical Levitical requirements to be baptized in order to be a minister to Israel (Matt 3:15). Then in ministry, His function would not only be to provide baptismal services with water before worship, but also be the baptizer in the washing of sins through His blood.
Jesus came by water, and He has the pure blood of God in His veins. The differentiation of baptism brought forth in this verse changes the Levitical requirement, and requirement for all Jews to be purified before Passover worship. In addition, His baptism has little to do with our current immersion and baptism of today. Our baptism today is done as identification with His death, burial, and resurrection to a new life – which therefore can overcome the world. The baptism Jesus provided was through the liquid in His own veins – His blood. The blood flowing through His body is called “precious” in 1 Peter 1:19. This precious blood was shed and poured over all our sins at His crucifixion. Our sins were then baptized – immersed in His blood – for all who believe.
The shedding of His blood for the sins of the world, the baptism or immersion of these sins to cleanse them with His blood was in accordance with all that the Jewish prophets had written about Him. This blood shed for our salvation as the perfect sacrifice as demanded by God the Father, gives us fellowship with and access to the Father through Christ Jesus. His perfect obedience through His self-sacrifice provides us perfect atonement unto salvation.
Applying this to our lives, we are required to submit ourselves to baptism just as Jesus did – through immersion. We do this first, to identify with Christ and His death with our dying to the world. We are submerged as an indication of His burial in the tomb, and we come out of the water to newness of life just as His resurrection was to a resurrected body and new life therein. We then awake to newness of life from this baptism after salvation (Romans 6:4). Second, upon this baptism, we are in the priesthood of saints saved in Christ. We then take part in the priesthood of the saints by being in obedience to His requirement for Baptism into this priesthood.
Upon the baptism in the water that Jesus submitted to, He came to be a priest and was lauded by the Father and the Holy Spirit. We wonder though, if this section is directly related to the baptismal efforts and effects of the Savior, why is the Holy Spirit so involved?
B. Testimony of Christ (6b)
His Blood is how He gave His life for us. John here again is arguing for Christ’s humanity against the Gnostic. The Blood was not of Joseph, but of God. A “precious blood” was let the day Christ died (1 Pet 1:18-19). God not only bled here and died for us, therefore washing our sins with this blood– He took this blood to heaven with Him (Heb 9:19-26).
When we then look at this baptism and how it affects us, we have to ask how and why is there no mention of the Holy Spirit in this next section. If we remember, the Holy Spirit came upon Christ as He came up out of the water of baptism. In this fashion, the Holy Spirit testified of the truth, purity, and veracity of Christ’s ministry. As Adam Clark notes,
“As, therefore, the Spirit of God witnessed his being the Son of God at his baptism, and as the same Spirit in the prophets had witnessed that he should die a cruel, yet a sacrificial, death; he is said here to bear witness, because he is the Spirit of truth.”
The Holy Spirit’s involvement therefore is one directed at testifying of the Son. We see in Genesis that as the Spirit was over the face of the deep (we looked into this in our Leadership study) that this indicated an intimate review or inspection of this work God had done. God Himself inspected His own work and pronounced it good. Here too, the Holy Spirit again inspects the Son of God and pronounces Him the Son of God in whom the Father is well pleased. Who else besides God Himself can inspect perfect work and pronounce perfection? The Holy Spirit of God therefore, testifies of this perfect baptism and the baptism yet to come through the blood in the veins of Jesus. Ultimately what does this scripture say – that this is the spirit of truth, that the Son is the one to baptize first in His blood unto salvation, then in water for those who believe, such that they identify with His messianic position and material provision for salvation through His own death, burial, and resurrection.
The priests of the world, any minister, even me, can only baptize in water. The water has no effect upon the life of an individual. People get into water over their heads all the time, swimming. If you think a priest saying specific words over this event changes the outcome, you believe in some magical other-worldly power that is in the individual doing the speaking. Just as John has said before, He says again now. It is not what is said, but Who is believed, what is done through this belief, and whom people in their hearts depend upon that is efficacious. The Spirit simply testifies of this truth, whether Christ Jesus is in you or not.
Those of you here, who may not have taken the step to baptism, consider this your lesson. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, but you have been reluctant to be baptized, you are not fully in obedience to Him. The first step is to know Him as Savior. Next, we should know about Him. Finally, we should obey Him.
The Spirit is not the only one who testifies of these things. These scriptures go further.
II. Testimony of the three (verses 7-8)
Technically, verse seven, even in the shortened form, may not be part of the original text. However, we will look at the fact that three testify because it plainly states this in verse eight, even the shortened version, which plainly states that the Spirit, the water, and the blood agree. The Spirit who testifies the truth agrees that the Son came and was baptized in water into the Levitical priesthood. We see this in His coming down upon Christ like a dove (Is 42:1; Matt 3:16; Jn 1:32; Acts 10:38). Then we have the water, God’s specific requirement for Levitical cleansing in baptism being fulfilled and approved of in the Father’s statement that He is well pleased (Matt 3:17; 2 Pet 1:17).
How, though, are these three in agreement? What is the scripture that tells of this specific agreement? What agreement was there in which they were to come together? They all simply agree that Jesus Christ is the Christ, is the Messiah, and was to give Himself as an atoning sacrifice. We have God the Father saying Jesus is the Son. We have the Holy Spirit inspecting, and descending upon, and covering Jesus to anoint Him and His priesthood on earth, as foretold in Isaiah. Then we have the Son Himself at the Last Supper saying, first with the bread that “this is my body,” next with the cup saying, “my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24). When we therefore partake of these elements, we recognize this last supper and His command to perform this, “in remembrance” of Him (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24). Therefore this “sacrament” is in remembrance of Jesus Christ, His blood atonement, His tortured body for our punishment, His Perfect Priestly intervention on our behalf, His submission to this task here on earth–and much much more. We are to do this “in remembrance” of Him.
Folks, when you remember Him at the Supper and when we do things, such as baptism, in the likeness of Him and His ministry–we very much tend to be simplistic concerning these things. This trivializes these events greatly. When we do not fully study and comprehend the totality of Christ’s sacrifice, His submission as God to man, then we have no appreciation for the effort undertaken in this event. God who could speak and in a word destroy all the sin He saw, put up with it for the sake of saving your soul. For at least 33 years Jesus lived among us, bound by His own word not to judge each person He came across.
When we consider this truth and the testimony of it, we have to understand that God the Father and the Holy Spirit recognize they are not subjecting themselves to this, and that the Son is. They both know the horror He faced in this love they all have for us. Have you ever contemplated the perfect knowledge that the Father and the Spirit have of the Son’s total sacrifice? That alone tells you why they testify of Jesus.
Regardless of all this that I have to say, or what any other preacher says in the pulpit, or what anyone else who claims to be an authority might say– none of that matters. What does matter is what God says.
III. Testimony of God (verse 9)
We see here again a direct attack against the Gnostics who did not believe Jesus was the Son of God. They did not believe Jesus could be God. They did not believe Jesus was the Christ. This scripture then says plainly that no matter what man says; believe what God says about Jesus of Nazareth.
First basic premise – God cannot lie (Tit 1:2) because God is truth (Deut 32:4; Ps 31:5; Is. 65:16), then God’s testimony is pure and carries truth without any deception.
Second basic premise – men can lie and are liars at heart. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the heart of man is desperately wicked, and asks the question, “who can know it?” Scripture tells us that sin began with a lie when the Serpent told Eve that if she ate of the tree, she would not die. Man then first believed a lie, then practiced deception when he said, “the woman gave it to me,” as if it were her fault. From this point forward, man has had a propensity to lie.
Third basic premise – Jesus never lied, He never sinned (2 Cor 5:21). In His life, He existed in truth and righteousness (Jer 4:2).
Fourth basic premise – I am a mere man. You are merely ladies and gentlemen. We are incapable of completely comprehending all that God is, all that He was here on this earth, anything that eternity might be, or anything that God feels in His complete provision for our eternity. Man created evolution, Mormonism, Catholic traditions, and the Arian race’s supposed superiority in Hitler’s world.
One could say “Put yourself in His shoes.” Unfortunately, we cannot even contemplate the size of these shoes.
Though this is a very small list, and therefore incomplete, these few truths will give us some idea of the testimony of God.
A. A True Testimony
God is incapable of lying because He is perfectly true. Therefore, when He states from the heavens, so that all can hear, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased,” there are at least two things we learn. First, the Person to whom God is referring, He labels as His Son. Jesus of Nazareth, a factual person, a person documented in the Annals of Rome (a pagan historical record) as having been crucified by Pontius Pilate in the first century–this person was identified as the Son of God. No other person has been given this name. Hebrews 1 makes this clear that not even the angels, who themselves must be holy to be in heaven, have been called “the son of God” (Heb 1:5). This is in fact a quote from Psalm 2:7 where the Messiah is called out in the Old Testament prophesies.
As the Son of God therefore received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit Himself (Who is God–Num 27:8) equally confirms this in His approval–just as He moved over the face of the deep, so He descended upon Christ and approved of His ministry (Lk 3:22).
Regardless of what man says, God approved of His Son, the Godman, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Not only does God Himself testify of His Son; but God Himself (the Holy Spirit) also testifies before the Father concerning you and He knows your every temptation, anxiety and frustration.
B. An Uncomprehendable Testimony
Folks, many of you have not been able to attend Wednesday nights for whatever reason. I have mentioned before that we are exploring Hebrews together. Consider the veracity of the verses in Hebrews 2:14-18. Many people would say that we had better watch how we bring God down to our level. Folks, scripture tells us that in many ways it is His existence on earth for those short years that gives Him the ability to relate to us. Being God in heaven, He knows all, very true. However, we know the difference between actual knowledge and actual experience. When we read this passage in Hebrews, we must contemplate, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” We should attempt to see what this says.
This is saying, in other words, that Jesus Christ Himself chose and determined purposefully and specifically. He took part of the same flesh and blood. In this is the ultimate statement of empathy. He experienced the physical pains of living as a carpenter, where He might suffer a hammer blow to the thumb occasionally, or gouge out a chunk of skin. To the unparalleled burden of knowing the intricate and excruciating pain He would have to endure in scourging and crucifixion, Jesus understood us. I am sure many people in this time feared crucifixion. Jesus feared it as well; but knew He would undergo it. Many people in this time, I am sure, contemplated what scourging had to feel like as a person’s skin is peeled away with the whip. Jesus had the same thoughts and fears, and knew He was to suffer it.
How many truly compassionate priests really felt the pains of their people, of these families broken by drunkenness, of these poor children’s lives torn by inattentive mothers? These priests knew the only answer was faith in our great God and His salvation; but they could do nothing to make these people stop hurting one another. Here Jesus was God, and could do nothing for them. He came to save, not judge; therefore He could only say “believe in me and be free.” How many of these priests likewise knew if they could only convert the Romans to know the one true God of Heaven, and their national leaders – to convict them of the same–that this would free Israel to live in the love of a great God? Yet, they could not get an audience to listen. Think about our Savior now. He has these same thoughts, He has an overabundance of love–more so than even the most compassionate Levite–and He had the ability to just speak and make all that come true. Yet, He subjected Himself to the limitations of man, for all the pain and suffering man could conjure up in cooperation with Satan (Phil 2:6-8). Look at Isaiah 53 and read verses three through five. There is our great God. Can you imagine just for a moment that if our great God has love unparalleled, He too has this grief, this sorrow, and this affliction in these passages beyond anything we can fathom? He, being able to speak to make things as perfect as they ever could be, had to keep His tongue and only tell the woman at the well to drink of Him, that He is the living water.
Folks – this is not bringing God down to your level, this is putting you in His position, or at least presenting to a minute degree what He must have felt, understood, and contemplated. Satan’s temptations were nothing compared to these temptations to make things right for all those He loves. I submit to you that neither you nor any other man or woman on earth has the slightest concept of the great depths of temptation and frustration the Savior lived with concerning those He loved and could not help. If you contemplate any singular issue of today from adultery that tears families apart to pedophilia that destroys young children’s lives–God stood by in excruciating, self-imposed passivity, while He was inundated every day, witnessing all of the suffering in a vivid, psychedelic display of overwhelming pain and anguish, both mentally and physically. The difference between us and our Savior is that He literally could have spoken a word and cured it all, judged it all, and rectified it all. However, then there would be no atonement, we would have no Savior, and He would have not been obedient to man unto death.
With these revelations today, can you even remotely consider the scope of Christ’s suffering for your sins? You had better begin now, or you may never have an appreciation for what He went through to save your wretched soul. As M’Cheyne wrote, “When I see Thee as Thou art, love Thee with unsinning heart…then, Lord, shall I fully know, not ’til then how much I owe.”
Contemplate God and His testimony of the Son.
We opened today on somewhat of a droll note concerning a scriptural consideration. However, the message of this day is a testimony of the entire Godhead for the Son Himself. This focus is justified in that, although the Father and the Spirit knew of the terrible pain and suffering the Son would have to endure, they equally knew that He would in fact be enduring it, and not them. For this reason, as well as their Godly purity, they will never intrude on that sole-given duty, nor try to diminish its significance in their own demand for more worship. We looked at the testimony of the Spirit at Christ’s baptism and the testimony of Christ Himself at the Last Supper. We considered the testimony of all three persons, the Father, the Spirit, and the Son. In this, we considered the testimony God has through us and to us by His sacrifice and suffering in our lives. The Son is brought forth as the Savior, the Father testifies of this at the baptism, and the Holy Spirit’s inspection and approval elicited a comment infinitely more powerful than simply stating, “it is good.”
We have a great and awesome God, who knows our sorrows, knows our grief’s, and has suffered frustration beyond anything we can comprehend. When you look at Christ, you have to consider He is God, and He is Salvation. Seek Him, take Him, and obey Him.
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