In 1 John 5:7-8, John writes that “there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three are in agreement” – as to what they testify to as well, that “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (11), the goal being that “we know we have eternal life” (13).
So what part does “the water” play in that? There’s a clue in John the Baptist “baptizing people with water for repentance,” Matthew 3:11. Repentance is what happened too; people came pouring in from the countryside and towns to grab the chance John was offering to bury their sloppy attitude to God in the waters of the River Jordan and get serious about obeying God instead.
Which got them firmly on the road to eternal life, because in Matthew 19:17, Jesus said, “If you want to enter life (eternal life, verse 16), obey the commandments.” The “water,” therefore, tells us how God gets us started toward knowing we have eternal life: it’s in our obvious change of attitude to him, in very much wanting to obey him.
But what about “the blood”? God clues us in again through John the Baptist, by having him “preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” Mark 1:4. It resulted in people openly “confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6), which also put them firmly on the road to eternal life, because “In Jesus,” Ephesians 1:7, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” The “blood,” therefore, tells us how God takes us to the next stage of knowing we have eternal life: it’s in finding ourselves seeking forgiveness – and totally knowing we’ve got it in Jesus’ sacrifice.
And “the Spirit”? Again, God clues us in through John, who spoke in Mark 1:7-8 of one who would come after him who would “baptize with the Holy Spirit.” The purpose of which John himself experienced, because in John 1:32, he “saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and rest on Jesus.” And John’s reaction in verse 34 was: “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
The part “the Spirit” plays, therefore, in helping us know we have eternal life, is in our recognition of who Jesus is too. That he’s God’s Son, sent by God to make what John the Baptist preached come to life in millions of us since. But come to life in what way? According to another John, it’s in “A new relationship with God”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 