Here John set out his fifth and final condition for living as children of God (cf. 2:18-29).
"We canbelieve, and therefore we shouldmaintain the faith."162
In the previous section (4:7-5:4) John wove together the themes of faith and obedient love. In this one he stressed faith and the witness which supports faith. Corollary ideas are victory and life.
5:5 Continuing to overcome is not automatic for the Christian. Not all Christians continue to overcome the world (cf. 2 Tim. 4:10). Only those who continue to live by faith (i.e., trust and obey God) do. Furthermore no one can overcome the world unless he or she believes that Jesus is the Son of God. That trust is the key to any and all overcoming. Obviously every believer will overcome the world ultimately when we go to heaven, but that thought is foreign to the context here.
5:6-7 This "water"probably refers to John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus in water. The "blood"probably refers to His death by crucifixion.
"The true identity of Jesus, the writer appears to be saying, is only to be discovered by looking at the whole of his life, including its end."163
Some false teachers in the early church taught that the divine Christ descended on the human Jesus at His baptism but left him before His crucifixion.164John repeated this teaching in this verse. He considered this teaching untrue because it did not come from the Holy Spirit (v. 7) who is truth (cf. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13).
5:8 Really there are three witnesses to the truth. These witnesses are the Holy Spirit teaching through the apostles and prophets, the water of Jesus' baptism, and the blood of His crucifixion. John personified the latter two in this verse. The testimony of eyewitnesses and prophets as well as that of the historical events affirmed the divine and human character of Jesus Christ.
5:9 God gave His witness concerning His Son through the prophets, at Jesus' baptism (Matt. 3:7; John 1:32-33, 34), and at His crucifixion (John 19:35-37). All three witnesses came from God ultimately.
5:10 Having spoken of the characterof the divine witness to Jesus (vv. 6-9) John moved to discuss the resultsof that witness (vv. 10-12). The witness is the truth about Jesus Christ that the indwelling Holy Spirit bears. This may be the objective witness of Scripture, or it may be a subjective witness in the believer's heart. Probably the Spirit witnesses in both ways. If someone does not believe this testimony, he is saying that God has lied (cf. 1:10). John clarified the implications of rejecting the gospel in stark terms.
"The writer, then, cannot allow that one can profess belief in God, as did his opponents, and yet reject God's testimony to his own Son. Such rejection cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance. The evidence is too clear and too weighty. Rather, it is deliberate unbelief, the character of which in the end impugns the very being and character of God. If Jesus is not God's own Son in the flesh, then God is no longer the truth. He is the liar."165
5:11-12 This is the content of God's testimony. Eternal life is inseparable from the person of Jesus Christ.
"Eternal' life is qualitative, not quantitive; it is the highest kindof spiritual and moral life, irrespective of time, which God enables the believer to share in relationship with Jesus."166
Some of the false teachers seem to have tried to separate them (cf. 2:25-26). Jesus Christ and eternal life are one gift from God.
5:13 The phrase "these things"evidently refers to what John had just written about God's witness (vv. 9-12) rather than to his whole epistle. The "these things"in 2:1 likewise refer to what immediately precedes in 1:5-10, and the "these things"in 2:26 refer to what immediately precedes in 2:18-25.167John stated the purpose of the whole epistle in 1:3-4.168
"This assertion [i.e., v. 13] is very frequently, and wrongly, taken as a statement of purpose for the entire epistle . . . . But this is contrary to the writer's usage."169
Our assurance of salvation rests on the testimony of God, His promise (v. 12). It does not rest on the presence of spiritual fruit (cf. John 15:12). It rests on God's Word, not on man's works.
John MacArthur claimed to believe that the Christian's assurance of salvation rests on both God's objective promises in Scripture and on the subjective evidence of the believer's works.170However the following quotation from him seems to ground our assurance only on subjective evidence.
"Those who cling to the promiseof eternal life but care nothing for Christ's holiness have nothing to be assured of. Such people do not really believe. Either their professed faith' in Christ is an utter sham, or they are simply deluded. If they did truly have their hope fixed on Christ, they would purify themselves, just as He is prue (3:3)."171
