“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Assurance that Overcomes the World

I can’t remember where I read it – I feel like it was C.S. Lewis, maybe in “Mere Christianity,” but I’m not sure. The idea presented revolved around what it means to deny self and live for Christ. There’s this supposition that when we express ourselves, or display our individuality, we are being who we truly are. The problem is that without Christ, we’re slaves – we have no freedom to express ourselves because we’re oppressed. Jesus teaches this in John 8:34–36, saying,

“… Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Sin is deceptive by its very nature – we imagine that in our sin is freedom, and that in the structure and order of God, who is culturally painted as an authoritarian dictator, we would be confined. In reality, it’s the reverse that’s true. Sin is oppressive, addicting, it is smothering, distorting, and it crushes who we were made to be, who we could be without it, and conforms us to its image. We imagine that there’s great variety in sin, and while you may approach it from many angles, it’s actually very one note – sin hates God. It hates the One who is Love, and Light, the One who delivers justice and freedom. If you despise freedom, what path could you take but to delve deeper into the darkness of your slavery? Conversely, sacrificing the desires of your flesh, what you may think of as your “personal” desires, and making the desires of God your own is entering a state of liberation. Surrender to God is not a submission into slavery, but into freedom. This was the point made in the book I read, whose author I can’t recall – You are never more yourself than after your flesh has been crucified, and it’s not you who live, but Christ who lives within you. This may seem hard to understand – in fact, in the flesh it’s impossible to understand because we’re talking about a direct relationship with and indwelling of the Truth that the flesh rejects. As we’ve gone through the letter of 1 John we see as John addresses and readdresses these core themes of Love, Truth, and Light, the relationship between the Father and the Son, then between God and His children, and finally how all of this develops in the nature of the relationships between believers. Our religion is not one of uncertainty, our salvation is not something that is left to question. While confidence may be drawn from all of Scripture, what we’ve read in 1 John, and how things continue to develop in today’s passage help us to further understand who we are as the body and bride of Christ – not left in doubt, but thriving in the freedom that only comes from certainty in our Father.

1. Assured in Faith

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”

This is yet another emphasis on what John has been reiterating again and again. In 1 John 3:16–17 we read,

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

Christians love other Christians – we love everyone, we show love to a world that hates us, but we love our brothers and sisters in Christ differently. What’s more, our love for our fellow children of God verifies that we are who we say we are, that we are children of God. If we believe in Jesus as the Son of God then we have been reborn, new creatures in Christ. If we’re His children, then we love our Father, and if we love our Father, how could we possibly hate what He loves? To do so would betray us as imposters, as imitators, as those who have not surrendered, but merely pretend at honoring God.

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”

Again, John gives a qualifier, he reiterates what he’s already written. He said in 1 John 2:3–6,

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

He said in 1 John 3:16,

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

And in 1 John 3:24,

“Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

He wrote in 1 John 4:6,

“We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

And in 1 John 4:13,

“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

Each is valuable on its own, but seeing how they tie together and affirm one another helps us see what John is driving at. Don’t doubt, don’t guess, don’t suppose – know. Know where you stand in your salvation, know where you are in relation to your creator, and know where you stand with those who are children of God.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”

In Matthew 21:28–31 we see Jesus again engaged in dialog with the religious elite,

“‘What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” And he answered, “I will not,” but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, “I will, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.’”

We serve God, not just in word, but in deed. If we say we love our Father, then we love the things that He loves, we abide in the path He has set before us. Jesus says to the disciples in John 15:13–15,

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

This isn’t some mundane, childish, “do what I say or you’re not my friend,” type of relationship. Jesus has called us friend, has revealed the workings of the Father, has died for us – and in accepting the truth of who He is, in the reality of His death and resurrection, we give God the glory He is due, we actually listen to what He’s told us, we follow His commandments.

“And his commandments are not burdensome.”

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28–30,

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

God is vast, infinitely glorious, and beyond our comprehension, and yet His Love for us can be so simple, and in the prompting of His Spirit, the commandments he has set before us are light, and joyful to carry.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.”

In John 16:33, Jesus speaks His final words to the disciples, before praying the High Priestly Prayer, and departing for the garden of Gethsemane, saying,

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus triumphed first, but in His victory He opened the door for others to follow the Way to the Father.

“And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

Romans 5:1–2 tells us,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Because of Christ we’ve been made right with God. God. Holy, perfect, all-knowing, all creating, mighty, loving God. A request – take a few minutes and read Job 38-41, when God answers Job. Read how God describes His complete understanding and control of His creation, think on, and fail to fully understand (as we all do), the height of His majesty and perfection, and try to comprehend that by the blood of Christ, we’re made right with Him. Not in a barely passable sort of way, not skating by – we’re able to enter His presence, to come before His throne with confidence, called His children. Of course we’ve overcome the world – what is the world in its petty triviality compared to the might and majesty of the Living God, to whom we’ve been reconciled?

“Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

But without Christ… The world will kick in your teeth and kill you without thinking twice, without effort or strain. When David offers to fight the Philistine Goliath on behalf of the army of Israel he’s told no at first. Saul, the first king of Israel tells him that he’s too young and inexperienced to face the giant. In 1 Samuel 17:34–37 David counters, saying,

“… ‘Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.’ And David said, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’”

David’s faith was not in the strength of his own arm, but in the saving power of the God he loved and served. The young shepherd acknowledged that he struck down bears and lions, not by his own strength, but through God’s deliverance, and that he would kill the blaspheming Philistine by the same might. We do not prevail against the world by our own strength any more than David killed lions, or bears, or giants by his. Without Christ we are swept away and destroyed in a tide of sin – but in Him we know a victory beyond our greatest hopes, overcoming the world.

2. Assured in Testimony

“This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”

This may seem like a sudden tone shift. We were talking about God, His children, His commandments, and the victory of overcoming the world through our faith in the person of Jesus Christ, now we’re talking about water and blood. But this ties in perfectly, as John is again giving us insight and understanding around the validity of the work of Christ, the One in whom we place our faith, the hope that does not put us to shame. This is the One by whom we’ve overcome the world. Jesus says in John 14:6,

“… I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Here John helps us understand the perfect, singular path that Jesus offers, through the two mediums of water, and blood. Water speaks to Jesus’ baptism, an event that marked Him as the Christ and seemed to be the initial point of building momentum for His earthly ministry. Matthew 3:16–17 says,

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

The water was significant, and in all those baptized through the ministry of John the Baptist, only Jesus is marked in this manner, and claimed by God, and attested to by the Holy Spirit. But the water alone would not have been sufficient, Jesus coming and living as fully Man and fully God would not in and of itself offer salvation to mankind. But Jesus didn’t just live, He also poured out His blood on the cross. After His time of suffering, knowing that His work was complete, John 19:30 records Jesus saying,

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

We can mark the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry through the noted descending of the Spirit, and we can mark its completion through His declaration that His work was finished and His giving up of the Spirit and mortal life for His time in the grave. Both the water of His baptism and the blood of His suffering are affirmed and testified to by the Spirit. It’s also relevant that both water and blood were key elements of the Law. In Exodus 19, before Moses goes up Mount Sinai, the people are commanded to wash their clothes before approaching the mountain of God. There are multiple examples given where if a person is contaminated in some way, they’re told to wash with water and remain outside the camp of the people of Israel for a given time. Blood purified in that it was the key component of the sacrificial system – blood is what the priest offered before God in atonement for sins. We could also take into consideration that both water and blood deliver life. Water is fairly obvious in this way, as we’re mostly comprised of water, and the presence of water helps sustain life (both plant and animal). The idea of blood as giving life on the other hand is sometimes twisted in western culture where blood is associated with death. It makes sense, since blood loss leads to death, but blood itself is a substance of life. God tells His people in Leviticus 17:11–12,

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.”

This understanding of blood matters to us now as well, and is why when the Jerusalem council handed down their rules for converting gentiles, Acts 15:28–29 states,

“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

Because blood equated life, the idea of consuming the blood of something carries this idea of consuming its lifeforce. This also gives us proper context for Jesus pouring out His life on the cross, and for the act of us symbolically taking in the blood of Christ when observing communion. Beyond water and blood, we can see the Spirit as a third life giver, beyond the physical.

“For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.”

There are a couple things that can be taken from this – one is simply that the word and testimony of God is obviously superior to the word and testimony of man. The other thing is that God affirms Himself within the Law that He has given. Jesus says to the ruling Jews in John 8:17–18,

“In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

What Jesus is referencing is Deuteronomy 17:6,

“On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.”

While the example in Deuteronomy is murder, this practice of needing at least two witnesses was relevant for any serious legal claim. Man stands as his own, singular witness, bearing testimony to what we know and perceive in flesh. Christ, who is the foundation of our faith stands with not one, not two, but three witnesses – the water of His baptism, the blood of His crucifixion, and the Spirit of the Truth that lives in the hearts of every child of God.

3. Assured in Life

“Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.”

Again, John gives a simple, black and white division. If we are children of God, then the Truth of Christ, the testimony of His triumph lives within us. Whoever rejects Christ has rejected Truth and instead embraced lies. We have overcome the world in the victory of Jesus, and God has laid evidence for the reality of what He’s done into the fabric of creation itself. If we deny God, if we call our Creator a liar, then we have forsaken the One who is Life Himself.

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Standing on the testimony of God, residing in the saving power of Christ – to be spiritually washed by the water and cleansed by the blood is to have true Life. Jesus said in John 6:54–57,

“Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.”

If we believe in the testimony that God has given us – which means we love our Father, we love our brothers and sisters, we obey His commandments, we abide in Him and He in us – then we are saved. Saved from death, saved from judgement, saved from hell and fire and darkness and separation from the One who is Love and Truth and Light. 1 John 3:14 tells us,

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.”

In the testimony of God we have passed from death into life, in Christ we are new creations – we do not think or feel or reason or see as those who remain in darkness, because we have been liberated, we’ve been made victorious, and we are assured of the Life that endures to eternity.

Pastor Landon’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaf1jDcqzIo