Sermon Outline: 1 John 5:5-12

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1 John 5:6-12
When God Bears Witness
Pastor Jason Stewart

I.     Introduction:
a.   When John began this letter, he started off by sharing his own testimony of how he had met and experienced a relationship with Jesus Christ. He then with authority teaches the believers of Asia Minor who Jesus is, and what a relationship with Jesus looks like. From his own eyewitness testimony, to his God-inspired teaching, John will now move on to the most authoritative testimony in all creation, and that testimony is from God Himself.

II.   Revelation/Application: When God Bears Witness
a.   The Witness of God the Spirit (5:6)
                                              i.     God sent Jesus to minister and die, and the Spirit of God bears witness of that (5:6)
1.   The Greek verb “to witness” martyreo, and the noun “witness” martyria, are found a total of 113 times in the NT. Of these, 47 are found in the Fourth Gospel and 17 in the Letters of John. This means that more than half of the NT occurrences of these two words are found in the Gospel and Letters of John.
2.   The verb that is used in this verse is in the present tense. Which means that the Holy Spirit is always at every moment presently bearing witness of who Jesus Christ is. This word is used 9 times in this passage of scripture, and the basic meaning is “someone who has personal and immediate knowledge of something.”
3.   The Holy Spirit bore witness of Jesus at:
a.   His Conception (Luke 1:35)
b.   His Dedication (Luke 2:25-27)
c.    His Baptism (Luke 3:22)
d.   His Ministry (Luke 4:18-19)
4.   We were not present at the baptism of Christ or at His death, but the Holy Spirit was present. The Holy Spirit is the only Person active on earth today who was present when Christ was ministering here. The witness of the Father is past history, but the witness of the Spirit is present experience. The first is external witness from the Father, the second is an internal witness from the Spirit – and both agree.
5.   The Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13) and therefore we can believe His testimony about Jesus.

b.   The Witness of God the Son (5:7-8)
                                              i.     Jesus is the One who bore witness of Himself through water and blood, by being baptized and crucified.
1.   Most scholars agree that 1 John 5:7 does not belong in the letter.
2.   The facts are as follows. First, it does not occur in any Greek manuscript earlier than the 14th century. The great manuscripts belong to the 3rd and 4th centuries, and it occurs in none of them. None of the great early fathers of the Church knew it. Jerome’s original version of the Vulgate does not include it.
3.   And so, this is the ONLY verse that doesn’t belong in the NT. Evidence of it existing in the early manuscripts is non-existent.
4.   There is one early church father who makes reference to it, but we have no support as to what his source of reference was from. And so it is generally conceded by many that it is not in the original. However, even if we omit it, it does not affect the teaching of the Trinity at all.
a.   1 John 5:6-9
b.   Matthew 28:18-20
c.    And there are many others as well.
5.   So when we read this passage from (vv.7-8), it should read; “For there are three that bear witness... the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
                                             ii.     The Holy Spirit, the Baptism of Jesus, and the crucifixion of Jesus, all bear witness on earth of Jesus’ identity and mission (5:8)

c.    The Witness of God the Father (5:9-12)
                                              i.     The Witness of God is Greater than the witness of man (5:9)
1.   God’s witness is greater, and “the witness of God which He has testified of His Son” is that Jesus is the Son of God, and whoever “has the Son has life” (5:12).
2.   God the Father witnessed to Jesus’ entire ministry.
a.   The Father testified of the Son at the baptism (Mt. 3:17)
b.   The Father testified of the Son at the Mt. of Transfiguration (Mt. 17:5)
c.    The Father testified of the Son during the Passion Week (John 12:28)
d.   Jesus said that the Father bears witness of Him (Jn. 5:32, 37; 8:18)
                                             ii.     The wrong witness (5:9a)
1.   The first part of this verse reminds us that John is still refuting the early-gnostics, and their claim of receiving an “inner-light” witness of God.
2.   The witness of man is definitely the wrong witness we want to cling onto in life.
3.   John reminds his readers that the witness of God is greater than any witness of man! And it is God’s witness of who Jesus Christ is that matters most in this life, and in the life to come.
4.   This issue of man’s errant “witness” to knowing God, over God’s witness about Himself, as has been revealed to us in Scripture is still an issue today, some 2000 years later.
5.   The witness of man says that all roads lead to God. The witness of man will tell you that it is the sincerity within a persons’ heart that is the most important thing. The witness of man says that as long as your intentions are good, God will receive you in heaven.
6.   I don’t know about you but I would much rather believe and hold onto the witness of God over the witness of man. And God says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life!” (v.12)

III. Application/Conclusion: How can we apply this
a.   Christians today cannot be eyewitnesses to Jesus, but we can be faith witnesses. Not just belief in Jesus, but faith because of Jesus. What He has done in our lives is what God wants to use as our testimony to this world.
b.    The result of believing God’s witness about Jesus Christ, is that we too will then have a witness for ourselves. 

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