6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. 7 And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for the witness of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son. 11 And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.

Having declared that victory over the world is secured by faith in Jesus as the divine Son of God, John proceeds to show the grounds on which such a belief is based. Among these he includes (a) historic facts, (b) divine testimony, (c) Christian experience.

a. The first proof, then, that Jesus is the Son of God is found in the gospel narrative. The works and words of Christ, together with the interpretation which he placed upon his person and mission, warrant such a belief. These facts are all summed up and symbolized in two significant events of his career, in his baptism and his crucifixion: "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ." It will be remembered that while the body of Jesus was still hanging on the cross, after his Spirit had departed, "one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water." Whatever mystery may have been involved, the fact seems to have impressed John most deeply; he alone of the Gospel writers narrates the event and he does so in terms which indicate his view of its signal importance. To him it was, for whatever reason, a proof of the divine nature of his Lord, and he records it that this readers "may believe." So here, in his epistle, he refers to "the water" and "the blood" as summarizing and symbolizing the whole gospel narrative. In the water of baptism and in the blood of his cross, Christ was manifested as the Saviour of the world; he appeared as the One who could meet the world's need of cleansing and of pardon, of new spiritual life and of atonement for sin. Then, also, at his baptism he heard the voice of the Father saying: "This is my beloved Son"; and at the crucifixion, when the spear was thrust into his side, John saw the fulfillment of the prophecy which concerned the divine Christ: "They shall look on him whom they pierced." Thus the baptism and the crucifixion, with all that they included and indicated, were proofs that "Jesus is the Son of God."

John specially emphasizes the crucifixion : "Not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood." He was probably seeking to rebuke the heretics of his day, who were attempting to separate between the human Jesus and the heavenly "Christ." They held that the divine Being, "Christ," came upon Jesus at the baptism but left him just before his crucifixion. John affirms that the Being who was baptized was identical with the Being who was crucified; he was the Son of God, both in his life and in his death. A similar error needs to be met to-day, as it appears in a double aspect: first, in those who deny the divine person of our Lord, as they attempt to distinguish between "Jesus" and "the Christ"; and, second, in those who deny the atoning work of our Lord, as they praise his power to purify and ennoble life, but refuse to regard his death as a sacrifice for sin. We need to-day this message of John : "Not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood." First of all, then, Christian faith is founded on historic facts.

b. The second ground of belief is found in the witness of the Holy Spirit: "And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth." Here we may seem to be entering the realm of mystery; but the teaching of Scripture is clear. Christian belief is described as an inspiration of the divine Spirit. His office is to testify to that which is true, and particularly concerning Jesus Christ: "The Spirit is the truth." No one may have direct consciousness of his presence or testimony; on the other hand no one can really believe in the divine Christ without the aid and the illumination of the Spirit of God. Christian belief is not due merely to mental deductions drawn from the facts of the gospel. Our faith is never the ground of boasting. When one confesses his faith, he is reminded that "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." However, the two are commonly inseparable, and they unite to establish the one fact; the gospel narrative and the divine Spirit combine in producing belief. The Spirit agrees with the water and the blood in testifying to this one great truth, that "Jesus is the Son of God"; "For there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one." The Spirit employs the word of Christ, but also the sacraments of the Church, to inspire and sustain our faith. It is not strange that believers, through all the centuries, have found references to baptism and the Lord's Supper in the words "the water" and "the blood." These ordinances the Spirit employs to set forth the cleansing and atoning work of Christ and the new life he imparts; they are his witnesses to the divine person and work of the Son of God.

c. This testimony of the inspired gospel and of the divine Spirit are designated by John "the witness of God", and if, in human courts, concurrent testimony of accredited witnesses is accepted, much more should we be convinced by such divine attestation of the sonship of Christ: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater." However John adds a third ground of belief, namely. Christian experience: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him." Faith may be regarded by some as a great venture: but one who casts himself wholly upon Christ, one who not only believes statements about him, but who believes "on" him, comes to possess a direct and deepening consciousness that the object of his trust is none other than a divine Saviour. He has a sense of cleansing and pardon, of acceptance with God, of peace and power and victory, and this experimental knowledge of Christ confirms the belief that he is indeed "the Son of God."

With the trust, which becomes a deepening conviction, in the deity of Christ, John contrasts the unbelief which rejects the testimony to his divine sonship. Such unbelief makes God a liar. To reject the inspired gospel, to resist the Spirit of truth, is to accuse God of falsehood, to suspect him of deceit: "He that believeth not God hath hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son."

This, then, is the very sum and essence of the divine testimony, namely, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and it is, therefore, the full and perfect manifestation of eternal life, so that, in giving us his Son, God really imparted to us this life: "And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is a proof that one possesses this life, it is the sign that he has experienced a new birth, it is a witness that he is a child of God: "He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life."