The section takes a new turn; the test of the Christian life furnished by the witness of the life itself. This witness is that of the Spirit ( 1 John 5:6 ), identical with that of God ( 1 John 5:9 ), and possessed by every believer ( 1 John 5:10 ). Few passages of Scripture have produced such a mass of widely divergent interpretation. read more
This is he - This Son of God referred to in the previous verse. The object of the apostle in this verse, in connection with 1 John 5:8, is to state the nature of the evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. He refers to three well-known things on which he probably had insisted much in his preaching - the water, and the blood, and the Spirit. These, he says, furnished evidence on the very point which he was illustrating, by showing that that Jesus on whom they believed was the Son of God. “This,”... read more
1 John 5:6. This is he that came by water and blood Here the apostle evidently alludes to the testimony borne by him in his gospel, that when the soldier pierced Christ’s side, forthwith there came out blood and water; a fact which the apostle represents as of great importance; adding, He that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. It was important, not only, 1st, As being a full proof, in opposition to the doctrine of the... read more
5:6-21 ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL LIFEThe basis of assurance (5:6-12)Those who taught Gnostic-type theories did not believe that the person who died on the cross was Jesus Christ the Son of God. They claimed that ‘the Christ’ (i.e. God) descended on Jesus (the man) in the form of a dove after his baptism and empowered him to do miracles, but departed before his crucifixion. According to them, the Jesus who suffered and died was merely a man. He was not ‘the Christ’. In other words, ‘the Christ’ came... read more
by . App-104 . 1 John 5:1 . water . Referring to His baptism, when witness was given to Him by the voice from heaven and the descent of the Spirit. Jesus Christ . App-98 . blood . The texts read "in (Greek. en) the blood". Spirit . App-101 . beareth witness . See 1 John 1:2 . truth . See 1 John 1:6 . read more
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood.From the times of Tertullian, the more discerning scholars have referred these words to the baptism of Christ in water (as the Greek reads here), and to his crucifixion (aptly described as his coming "in the blood"). Some have seen a reference here to John 19:34; and, as Bruce stated it, "I should not care to deny this."[11] It undoubtedly refers to all of these events;... read more
1 John 5:6. This is he that came by water and blood— St. John, 1Jn 5:5 as well as often elsewhere, intimated that Jesus was the Christ, and that the belief of that article was of the highest moment. Here he is proceeding to the grand evidences of that important truth. The Spirit alone is here said to bear witness, because he was the principal witness; but, 1Jn 5:8 the water and the blood are represented as witnesses, together with the Spirit. In Joh 19:34 the water and blood which came out of... read more
6. This—the Person mentioned in 1 John 5:5. This Jesus. he that came by water and blood—"by water," when His ministry was inaugurated by baptism in the Jordan, and He received the Father's testimony to His Messiahship and divine Sonship. Compare 1 John 5:5- :, "believeth that Jesus is the Son of God," with John 1:33; John 1:34, "The Spirit . . . remaining on Him . . . I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God"; and John 1:34- :, below, "there are three that bear witness in earth, the... read more
B. The Empowerment of Brotherly Love 5:3b-15If love for our brethren really boils down to keeping God’s commandments, how can we do that? It sounds difficult, even impossible. John proceeded to respond to this concern. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 5:6-11
The fourfold witness to the Divine Sonship of Jesus. "This is he that came by water and blood," etc. We omit the interpolated clauses, and take the text as it is given in the Revised Version. St. John here states the basis of that faith by means of which the Christian overcomes the world. We have the most convincing testimony that the confidence which is reposed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is well founded. That testimony is manifold. We have— I. THE TESTIMONY OF HIS ... read more