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1 John 5:6
“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.”
Having established that confession of the incarnation is essential for overcoming the world, John moves to defend the incarnation in one of the more perplexing passages in the New Testament. That we might better understand what the Apostle is saying here, we will consider two different interpretations of 1 John 5:6–8. Before we do, it’s important to remember when we come across a difficult passage of Scripture that “the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly” (Westminster Confession of Faith 1.9).
Today’s verse teaches us that Jesus came by water and blood and that the Spirit testifies with them concerning the person of Jesus. Most modern commentators believe that John’s reference to the water and the blood points to the historical facts of Jesus’ baptism and death. On this understanding, John is refuting the heretic Cerinthus, who said that the “spirit of Christ” descended on Jesus at His baptism and left just before His death. By asserting that Jesus came by water and blood (v. 6), John would thus be saying that Jesus remained the God-man even in His death and so had a true incarnation.
A second interpretation says that the blood and water refer to the wound in Jesus’ side that confirmed the reality of His death and resurrection (John 19:34; 20:25, 27). This understanding has the advantage of referring to events described in John’s gospel. By stating that the Spirit testifies with this wound, John demonstrates that believers must confess the death of a truly incarnate Savior.
Whichever interpretation is adopted, it is clear in these verses that John defends the incarnation. Docetic teaching that embraced the “spirit of Christ” without the incarnation cannot lay claim to orthodoxy, because the Spirit testifies to the incarnation (1 John 5:6).
The identity of the One who died determines the worth of His death. If the divine Son was not present at Calvary, then the cross secured nothing for us, and the comfort that we draw from it has no foundation. Because the Son of God came by water and by blood, however, we know that our salvation was accomplished by God Himself. Today, those who claim to be Christian while denying that Jesus is truly God and truly man likewise deny the Savior.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
As the early church grappled with heretics of various sorts, the orthodox were united on the absolute necessity of the true deity and true humanity of Jesus Christ. Let us take some time today to consider the person of our Savior (see John 1:1–18; Rom. 5:12–21) and thank the Lord for becoming incarnate for our sake.
For further study
- Matthew 3:13–17
- Hebrews 9:11–14
The bible in a year
- Ezekiel 7–9
- Hebrews 11:17–40
- Ezekiel 10–14
- Hebrews 12–13