Convincing Spirit

1 John 5:5-12

If you find some of this a bit confusing or obscure, you are not alone. How do water, blood and the Spirit testify together (verses 7-8)? Some clarification may come in remembering who John is addressing: people who challenged the belief that the earthly Jesus and the Son of God were one. Verse 6 emphasizes the down-to-earthness of Jesus’ life and experience, and the Spirit of truth testifies to the believer of the oneness of Jesus of Nazareth with the Father and the Spirit. Without the fullness of that belief, the world has not been overcome through His sacrifice. On the contrary, the same Spirit who testifies to the truth of Jesus works in us to make us strong in faith in the midst of the world. He states it strongly in the negative by saying that not accepting God’s own testimony concerning himself, and what he has done and now is in Jesus, is to make God out to be a liar.

The faith that is certain of victory over the world (1 John 5:4) is not some spirit of optimism or that things have a way of working out, but rather is the faith, specifically, “that Jesus is the Son of God” (verse 5).

Prayer:
Some of us long for certainty, Lord. May your Holy Spirit work in us powerfully to believe, overcome all doubt, and overwhelm any negativity that can poison the joy in believing we are meant to have together. In Christ. Amen.