First John 5:5-8 / Overview: Epilogue

Epilogue
Revelation of the Eternal Life – Divine Witness

^5:5 Who then is the one who overcomes the world? None other than the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ^5:6 This is the One who came through water and blood – Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood. And the Spirit is the one who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. ^5:7 There are in fact three witnesses – ^5:8 the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement.

^5:9 If we accept human testimony, then we should accept God’s testimony which is greater. For this is the testimony of God, that He has testified about His Son. ^5:10 The one who believes in the son of God has the testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified about His Son.

^5:11 And this is the testimony: God gave eternal life to us and this life is in His Son. ^5:12 The one who has the Son has this life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have this life. ^5:13 I wrote these things to you, the ones who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have life, eternal life.

^5:14 And this is the confidence we have in ˹God’s˺ presence, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ^5:15 And if we know that He hears us regarding whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

^5:16 If anyone sees his fellow believer committing sin that does not lead to death, he should ask, and ˹God˺ will give him life – to those committing sin not leading to death. There is sin that leads to death. That is not the sin I am saying he should pray about. ^5:17 All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not leading to death.

Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.

Review of First John

In the Prologue of his letter (verses 1:1 and 1:4), the Apostle John established that he was a eyewitness to the revelation of the Eternal Life that was incarnated in the historical person of Jesus Christ. God’s message was revealed to mankind in such a way that it could be audibly heard, visually seen, and even physically touched. It took on a personal form in Jesus Christ. This Eternal Life is now available to those who believe in Jesus Christ.

John continued his letter by proclaiming what he has seen, heard and touched so that the readers could experience fellowship, and to counter the teachings of disruptors who threatened fellowship. His presentation was organized around three “proclamation” sections that focused on the nature of God and the implications for fellowship with God and fellowship with fellow believers. The three proclamation sections are:

– God is Light: Fellowship Depends on Walking in the Light
– God is Righteous: Fellowship Depends on Practicing Righteousness
– God is Love: Fellowship Depends on Expressing Mature Love

John now begins to bring his letter to a close in the Epilogue.

Structure and Content of the Epilogue

In the Prologue, John began his letter with two themes:

The human (apostolic) witnesses to the revelation of the Eternal Life.
Assuring mutual fellowship.

In the Epilogue, John closes with two themes that mirror those of the Prologue:

The divine witness to the revelation of the Eternal Life.
Maintaining fellowship by prayer.

The two major units of content in the Epilogue are as follows:

A. Revelation of the Eternal Life – Divine Witness (5:5-13)

In Unit A, John explains the divine witness of the revelation of the Eternal Life who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus came by “water and blood”, which is corroborated by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reveals their significance and convinces the believer of the truth of the consecrated life and death of Jesus. So there are three witnesses that provide a true understanding of Jesus and are in agreement – the Holy Spirit, the water, and the blood.

This testimony finds a place in his heart of the person who believes in Jesus and issues in the experience of eternal life. But anybody who disbelieves this divine testimony is making God out to be a liar and cutting himself off from eternal life. [MARSHALL p. 230]

B. Fellowship is Maintained by Praying for Fellow Believers (5:14-17)

In Unit B, John returns to the topic of a believer’s confidence in God’s presence in relation to prayer, which was previously discussed in verses 3:21-22. The believer is assured that God hears and answers requests that are made according to His will. This confidence and assurance empowers a believer to fulfill the responsibility of interceding for a fellow believer who is committing sin not leading to death.

Click here for a full outline of First John.

Verse 5:5

My outline of John’s letter has this verse beginning the Epilogue (5:5-17). However, it could also be seen as the last verse in the previous unit, closing out the section on God is Love. If so, it would form an inclusio with verse 5:1, since both verses speak about the one who believes in Jesus. Verse 5:5 is another example of John’s use of Janus verses to transition from one section to another.

A Janus verse is a literary device that is named after the two-faced Roman god Janus, whose faces looked forward and backward. Thus a Janus verse looks forward and backward – it acts as both the conclusion of one section and the beginning of a new section. In several other places, John uses Janus verses to tie different sections tightly together.

Who then is the one who overcomes the world?

John asks a rhetorical question for which he immediately provides the answer in the next sentence.

None other than the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus overcame the world (see John 16:33) and He shares His triumph with those who believe that He is the Son of God. As Karen Jobes notes in her commentary: “Without faith in Christ, no one is able to face down the evil, the hopelessness, and the self-defeat that this world presses against us day by day. There may be many self-help gurus who write and speak about how to live a better life, and some of what they say may be helpful and worthwhile. But what is of the world cannot give us victory over the world. Without trust in Christ, who came into the world from God, even the most successful life is swallowed up in the defeat of death.” [JOBES p. 217]

The immediate readers of John’s letter were under attack from the false teaching of the disruptors who denied that Jesus was the Son of God. John considered the disruptors part of the world.

To believe that Jesus is the Son of God includes believing that He is the Christ (5:1), including the redeeming significance of His life, death, and resurrection, and that He came in the flesh (4:2).

In First John, the title “Christ” is virtually synonymous with the title “Son of God”. Compare verse 2:22 with 2:23, and verses 5:1 with 5:5. Note the flow of thought in verses 5:1 to 5:5 from Christ to Son of God:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God (5:1).
Everyone born of God overcomes the world (5:4).
The one who overcomes the world is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (5:5).

The title “Christ” focuses on Jesus’ role as savior of the world through his life, death, and resurrection. The title “Son of God” focuses on Jesus’ relationship with God the Father and His divine identity. Its use in this verse is more appropriate because “John is thinking of the power of God revealed in his Son, Jesus; only the person who recognizes that Jesus is the Son of God can believe that Jesus supplies divine power to overcome the world”. [MARSHALL p. 231]

Verse 5:6

This is the One who came through water and blood – Jesus Christ.

John goes on to tell us more about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John meant for this statement to clarify certain facts about the incarnation of the historical person of Jesus Christ. But for most modern readers its meaning is obscure. Perhaps that is because the Church today does a poor job of teaching believers theology – the fundamental truths about the Christian faith. But in fact, this difficult statement has given rise to many interpretations throughout Church history.

The use of the full title “Jesus Christ” refers to both the fully human person of Jesus, as well as the divine Christ sent by God as the savior of the world.

Greek Note: came

The verb “came” is in the aorist tense in Greek (it is an aorist active participle). The aorist is used here by John to indicate that he is referring to the entire action of Jesus coming into the world. He is viewing it as a single, historical event. Thus, based on what John has written so far in his letter, the following points are implied:

Jesus coming does not refer simply to his birth, but to His entire act of coming into the world.
He came from somewhere, and the origin was heavenly, from God (see verse 1:2).
His coming had redeeming or salvific significance (see verses 3:5, 3:8, and 4:9).

Greek Note: through / by

In my translation for this verse, note that the first reference to water and blood is rendered as “through water and blood” and the second reference as “by the water and by the blood“. Why the difference in English prepositions? It simply reflects the change in the Greek wording. In the first instance John uses the Greek preposition διά / dia which means “through”, and in the second instance switches to the proposition ἐν / en which means “by”. The change is probably just stylistic variation which John likes to do. However, Martin Culy suggests in his handbook that “διά focuses on the actual vehicle or instrument by which the event was carried out, while ἐν focuses more on the circumstances in which the event took place”. [CULY p.126]

Not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood.

John emphasizes that Jesus Christ came “by the water and by the blood”. Whatever these terms mean, it appears that certain people accepted the fact that He came by the water (if a reference to Jesus’ baptism; see below), but did not accept that he also came by the blood. Perhaps this was the view that the disruptors held and were teaching, and John is correcting this view. But this wording “could simply be John’s way of stressing the importance of Jesus’ death”. [KRUSE p. 283] Jesus was not just a great teacher and religious leader, but also the Savior of the world.

Below is a very brief summary of the major interpretations of the terms “water” and “blood”.

	Water	Blood
1	Together represent a hendiadys for Jesus’ death
2	Sacrament of Water Baptism	Sacrament of Holy Communion
3	Jesus’ Baptism	Jesus’ Death
4	Jesus’ Birth	Jesus’ Death

1. A Hendiadys for Jesus’ Death

In this interpretation, “water and blood” is an expression for the singular idea of Jesus’ death (a hendiadys), based on the statement of John that blood and water flowed from Jesus’ side when He was pierced by the spear at His crucifixion (see John 19:34). Thus, the statement refers to the reality of Jesus death and its cleansing and life-giving effects. Contra this interpretation:

The order of words in John 19:34 is different, “blood and water” rather than “water and blood”, suggesting this verse in First John is not based on John 19:34.
John’s wording in the second reference (“by the water and by the blood“) clearly distinguishes water and blood as referring to two separate things.
Verse 5:8 says that there are three witnesses. But if water and blood refer to the same thing, then there are only two witnesses.

2. Sacraments of Water Baptism and Holy Communion

This interpretation goes back to some of the early church fathers. Water represents the sacrament of water baptism and blood represents the sacrament of Holy Communion. These are two ways by which Christ comes into a believer’s life. Contra this interpretation:

Blood is not used anywhere else in the New Testament to refer to Holy Communion.
If blood referred to Holy Communion, the verb “came” would more likely be present tense (i.e., “this is the One who comes through water and blood“) rather than aorist tense (see Greek Note above) to indicate an ongoing activity in which Christ comes into the believer’s life through repeated acts of Holy Communion.

3. Jesus’ Baptism and Jesus’ Death

In this interpretation, water and blood refer to two events. Water refers to Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist which inaugurated His public ministry, where He received the affirmation of the Father (Mark 1:11; Matthew 3:17; Luke 3:22), and received the Holy Spirit. Thus in broader terms, the water refers to His consecrated life. Blood refers to His sacrificial, atoning death. Thus water (baptism) marked the beginning of His earthy ministry and blood (death) marked its end. This is the view of a majority of commentators. Contra this interpretation:

In First John, the use of the word “coming” in reference to Jesus refers to the incarnation (see 4:2 and 5:20, and also 2 John 1:7). In fact, a major point of John is that the disruptors do not believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (4:2).
Baptism is not a theme addressed anywhere else in First John.

4. Jesus’ Birth (Incarnation) and Jesus’ Death

In this interpretation, water and blood refer to two events. Water refers to Jesus’ birth, the point of His incarnation. Water is a figure of speech that refers to natural birth based on the breaking of the water at childbirth. Thus, Jesus was born as a human in the incarnation. Blood refers to His sacrificial, atoning death. Contra this interpretation:

If John is arguing against the views of the disruptors, this interpretation is ineffective because they did not believe in the incarnation. John’s emphasis that Jesus Christ came “not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood” appears to imply certain people did accept the fact that Jesus Christ came by the water. This would not be the disruptors, who would however, accept the idea of water symbolizing Jesus baptism (interpretation #3), in the sense that the heavenly Christ descended on Jesus at His baptism (but withdrew from Him before his death).

What may provide background to better understand this verse is the heretical teachings of the gnostic Cerinthus who lived in the first century (c. 50-100 AD). Early Christian tradition describes Cerinthus as a contemporary to and opponent of John. Some scholars speculate that John wrote the Gospel of John to refute his gnostic teachings. Gnostic teachings like those of Cerinthus were beginning to blossom at the end of the first century when John wrote First John.

David Smith provides a good summary of Cerinthus’ teachings in his commentary: “Cerinthus distinguished between Jesus and the Christ. The divine Christ descended upon the human Jesus at the Baptism, i.e., He ‘came through water,’ and left him at the Crucifixion, i.e., He did not ‘come through blood’. Thus, redemption was excluded; all that was needed [to know God] was spiritual illumination. In opposition to this St. John declares that the Eternal God was incarnate in Jesus and was manifested in the entire course of His human life, not only at His Baptism, which was His consecration to His ministry of redemption, but at His Death, which was the consummation of His infinite Sacrifice”. [SMITH p. 195]

So, verse 5:6 that emphasizes both the baptism (water) and death (blood) of Jesus was probably written to counter the disruptors who accepted that the Christ came by water but not by blood – that it was the earthly Jesus who died on the Cross and not the divine Christ. John’s point is that the historical Jesus was already the Christ because of the incarnation when he was baptized, and thus His death was for our salvation.

And the Spirit is the one who bears witness,

See John 15:26.

The authenticity of what John is writing is attested by the Holy Spirit, namely, that Jesus lived and died as the Christ. It is the very testimony of God, “not human tradition or speculation or imagination”. [YARBROUGH p. 283]

John does not explain here how the Holy Spirit does this. But since it is an ongoing activity (see Greek Note below), it must be through a believer hearing, reading and studying God’s Word so that the Holy Spirit convinces the believer of the truth in his heart.

Greek Note: bears witness

The Greek word translated as “bears witness” (μαρτυροῦν / marturoun) is in the present tense indicating that this witness of the Spirit is an ongoing activity.

because the Spirit is the truth.

The testimony of the Holy Spirit is genuine and trustworthy.

Verse 5:7 & 5:8

There are in fact three witnesses –

In the Old and New Testament, the validity of testimony was always based on two or three witnesses. Here John claims that there are three witnesses, and their testimonies agree.

Verse 5:8

the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement.

As noted above, through God’s Word the Holy Spirit convinces the believer of the truth of the incarnate life of the Son of God. Alongside the Spirit stands the historical facts of the baptism/consecrated life of Jesus (water) and the crucifixion (blood).

In his commentary, David Smith notes that the testimonies of the water and the blood are insufficient: “A third testimony, that of the Spirit, is needed to reveal their significance to us and bring it home to our hearts. Without His enlightenment the wonder and glory of that amazing manifestation will be hidden from us.” [SMITH p. 195] Although the baptism and crucifixion are past historical events, there testimony is still ongoing because of the Holy Spirit.

I. Howard Marshall notes that “the Spirit takes the first place in the list of the three witnesses, since it is he who witnesses through the water and the blood”. [MARSHALL p. 237]

Note: Johannine Comma

Translations such as the King James Version (KJV) and New King James Version (NKJV) have additional words between verses 5:7 and 5:8 which are not included in most modern translations, except perhaps in a footnote. I did not include them in my translation, but if I did, the verses would read as follows (the additional words are in bold):

^5:7 For there are three testifying in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. ^5:8 And there are three testifying on earth: the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three agree as one.

These additional words in bold are known as the Johannine Comma. Comma is from Latin and refers to a short phrase or clause.

Why is there a difference in translations? The KJV and NKJV translations are based on a Greek text known as the Textus Receptus which includes these additional words. Most modern translations are based on a Greek text known as the Critical Text which does not include these additional words. This difference in these two Greek texts is called a variant. The additional words do not appear in any Greek manuscripts of the New Testament earlier than the fourteenth century. They have been studied extensively by Greek scholars known as textual critics.

Although there is debate among scholars about their authenticity, the consensus of scholars is that the additional words are a late addition to the text, that they came into the Greek text by being copied from the Latin Vulgate, and they are not what John originally wrote.

For an extensive and scholarly discussion of the Comma, see BROWN pp. 775-787, Appendix IV.
For a short summary, see MARSHALL p. 236, footnote19.

If you do not have access to the commentaries listed above, see these short online explanations:

What is the Comma Johanneum? at Got Questions.
The Comma Johanneum – What is it? at Compelling Truth.

Go back to verses 5:1-4
Go forward to verses 5:9-13

Your Personal Study

Read First John 5:9-13 below and answer the questions.

1. Why should a person accept God’s testimony about Jesus Christ?

2. In what sense does the person who believes God’s testimony now have “the testimony within himself“?

3. Why does not believing God make Him a liar?

4. Where is eternal life found?

5. How does someone obtain eternal life?

6. What do you think it means to “believe in the name”?

First John Translation.

First John Translation with Outline and Notes.

Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.

Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.

How you can have eternal life.

Koine Foundations

First John 5:5-8 / Overview: Epilogue

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First John 5:5-8 / Overview: Epilogue

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