A study on 1 John 5:6–8

1 John 5:6–8 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. (7) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (8) And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

Often when speaking of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we emphasize his redemptive work. This is very needful, not only because the work of Christ is an essential element of the Gospel of grace, but also because it is consistently attacked on all sides by various groups in our modern day. Nevertheless, one cannot properly understand and truly believe God’s only Gospel if one lacks knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ. The Gospel encompasses both. It is the declaration not only of what Christ has done to save His people from their sins, but also of who this victorious and gracious savior is. One may not over-emphasize one to the exclusion of the other. Nor may a preacher over-emphasize one while watering down or minimizing the importance of the other. Both are equally vital elements of the same good news which is to be proclaimed to lost sinners (and to saved sinners, for that matter). The Gospel minister is not being faithful to his calling if he is slacking in teaching on the identity of the Son of God.

In reading through the book of 1 John, which is one of this writer’s favorite books of the New Testament, I am struck by just how powerfully today’s passage clearly teaches this great truth. John’s first epistle covers several bases. The main theme of this epistle is stated in 1 John 1:5. John is writing to his audience so that they might grow in fellowship with God. Additionally, John is also concerned with defending the Gospel from antichrists who had infiltrated the Church at this time. Whereas Paul had to deal with Judaizers who perverted the Gospel of grace by mixing it with works of the Law (as per the book of Galatians), John had to deal with those who perverted the Gospel by attacking the identity and nature of Christ.

To be sure, John covers both aspects of the Gospel in a most practical and pastoral way. He begins his epistle by declaring Jesus Christ as the eternal Word who was made flesh and manifested to the disciples (1 John 1:1–5). The rest of the epistle largerly deals with practical Gospel application to the Christian life, with John consistently reminding the children of God that Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for them on the basis of his finished work, whenever they may fall into diverse sins and weaknesses of the flesh (1 John 1:8–2:2). John is particularly concerned about protecting the flock from those who deny “that Jesus is the Christ” (1 John 2:22–23) and that Jesus had “come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2–3). John makes mention of this same issue again even in his second epistle (2 John 1:7). In all three of these instances he makes clear that such who deny the person of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God who has come in the flesh, are antichrist. John could not be more clear as to the severity and seriousness with which he is treating this subject. To pervert the Gospel of God, and the testimony which God the Father has born concerning His son, is the very spirit of Antichrist. It is in that context that we meet with our present passage.

Something that especially strikes me is just how weak and watered down this entire section of Scripture appears in the modern versions. I’ve written in defense of 1 John 5:7–8 before and I won’t bother turning this into an article on the passage’s authenticity. Nevertheless, in commenting on this section I hope to show just how powerful it truly is in declaring not only the truth of the Holy Trinity, but also in declaring the person and two natures of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If one peruses various commentaries on 1 John 5:6 & 8, they will discover that there are practically a multitude of interpretations given to these verses regarding the “water” and the “blood”. Some see in these verses a reference to the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper. Others think that John is speaking symbolically about justification and sanctification, while the “Spirit” in verses 6 and 8 refers to the Gospel, or the gracious operations of the Spirit.

The fact of the matter is, these different interpretations are overcomplicating what is otherwise rather simple. Let’s begin with verse 6. John is setting out to disprove the heretics who deny that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. He proves this by pointing out that Jesus came both by water and blood. John himself bore witness to this fact in his gospel account:

John 19:33–35 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: (34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. (35) And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

If Jesus didn’t have an actual flesh and blood body, then he wouldn’t have been pierced, let alone would blood and water have flowed out of his side. This is the simplest, and frankly most obvious interpretive option. John is clearly referring back to his own testimony given, that Jesus Christ had truly come in the flesh. But there is a still greater witness to be invoked. The Spirit also bears witness in the hearts of every believer to the truth of the incarnation, because the Spirit is truth. He can only speak and witness truth. He will never deceive or lead a child of God astray. The Spirit brings comfort, joy and assurance of the truths of the Gospel, resulting in assurance of ones own salvation in Christ. After all, His job is to bear record of the Son (John 15:26; 16:13–15). Those who deny that Jesus is the Christ, whether they deny who He truly is, or whether they deny what He has done for His elect people (which are simply two sides of the same coin), are of another spirit — the spirit of error, the very spirit of antichrist.

John was a Jew. He was a minister to the circumcision (Galatians 2:9). He knows that in order for any matter to truly be established, there must be at least two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15; 2 Corinthians 13:1). John does even better here. He deduces six witnesses to the truth of the incarnation. Three in heaven, and three in earth. The three that bear record in heaven are none other than the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, which three are one. Being that they are one true and eternal God, co-inhering in the divine essence, they cannot contradict each other. We saw a picture of this joint-testimony at our Lord’s baptism in Matthew 3:16–17:

Matthew 3:16–17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

John the baptizer himself recognized this:

John 1:32–34 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (33) And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. (34) And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Thus the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost all testify to the truth of who Jesus is. He is the eternal Son of God who came in the flesh. The Triune God has testified. Any man who dares to question this testimony makes God a liar.

But John doesn’t stop there, he deduces three additional witnesses, two of which were already mentioned in verse 6: the spirit, the water, and the blood. Now, at this point it may be appropriate to point something out as a side-note. The reader may or may not be aware that different editions of your King James Bible differ slightly in their rendering of this text. The difference is between “spirit” and “Spirit” in verse 8.

A very, very brief history lesson might be in order. From 1638 when the KJB began to be standardized under the supervision of two of its surviving translators, up until the 1900s when Cambridge began to alter its own text out of ignorance, this verse said “spirit”, not “Spirit”. One of the few exceptions was F.H.A Scrivener’s Cambridge Paragraph Bible which changed it to “Spirit”. However, Scrivener did this because he denied the authenticity of verse 7. He placed it in italics and capitalized the “s” in verse 8. Now to some this might not be that big of a deal. However, if one reads this verse in a Pure Cambridge bible then the difference would likely stick out rather obviously. It certainly would probably raise questions as to how the verse is to be interpreted. As was already pointed out, commentators have expressed multiple different opinions on how it ought to be understood, regardless of whether they had a capital or lower-case “s” in their bible. I would submit that this is primarily due to not paying sufficient regard to the surrounding context, which inevitably leads to faulty exegesis.

Once again, however, all we must do is compare scripture with scripture. Having established the identity of the “water and blood”, it is not hard to figure out what the “spirit” is in verse 8. This cannot be a reference to the person of the Holy Ghost, since He has already been brought forth as a witness in verse 7. Once again let’s go back to John 19:

John 19:30–34 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (31) The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (32) Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. (33) But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: (34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Luke’s account also adds:

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Now, consider what John had seen and testified to. He saw our Lord give up his spirit, and witnessed blood and water pour forth out of his side. What more evidence does one need that Jesus had truly come in the flesh? He had a human spirit and a physical body made up of blood and water. Indeed, he still possesses the exact same body that he suffered and died in, yet being glorified and incorruptible. Those are the three earthly witnesses, contained in the earthen vessel which the Lord of glory took upon Himself for the salvation of His people.

Let’s take a step back and just appreciate how detailed of an account this is, and what profound truths are contained therein. In verse 5 John had said “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” and immediately follows it up with “This is he that came by water and blood…”. This is an incredible testimony. The eternal Son of God came in the flesh. This is such an incredible truth that it can only be trusted and rested upon by God-given faith (1 John 5:4). In order to prove this testimony John points to the heavenly Trinity and then to the spirit which was given up by Christ on the cross, alongside the water and blood that flowed from his side. Abundant witnesses to the truth of our Lord’s incarnation. John felt this truth so important that he decided to deduce six witnesses to prove it! And if we count John’s own testimony in John 19:35, that makes seven.

One can easily see what a massive difference this makes in comparison to reading this text in a modern version. We not only have in our King James Bible a clear verse on the Trinity, but a beautiful testimony to the incarnation and the hypostatic union.

1 John 5:9–11 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. (10) He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. (11) And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Here we see why the truth of the incarnation is so important to maintain, and why its denial is so dangerous and downright satanic. The Lord Jesus Christ could not give us eternal life by virtue of his finished work if he did not come in the flesh. Christ had to take upon Himself the same humanity in which we all fell in Adam, in order to satisfy the demands of God’s law and justice, not only by keeping the Law, but by suffering the wrath of God in the stead of His people. He did it all in the earthen vessel that he inhabited while here on earth. He could do it no other way. It was ordained and decreed by the Triune God from eternity. It is because of this great truth of the incarnation — which truth God Himself has born record of, which testimony is present in the heart of every true believer — that we may confidently and unhesitatingly affirm that God has given us eternal life, which life resides only and always in His son Jesus Christ. It is because of this great truth that we may have confidence that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7) and that He is truly a propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2).

May God’s people be as zealous as John was in defending and proclaiming the truth of who Jesus is, in addition to declaring His finished work. If one is missing or being distorted, then there is no more Gospel being proclaimed.