1 John 5:9-13 9-We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10-Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Our verse this morning is verse 12; however, it would be difficult to fully grasp and comprehend the whole meaning of that verse without looking at verses 9-13. Verse 9 clarifies the contrast between the testimony of humans and the testimony of God. A day does not go by that we do not receive some form of testimony from someone; however, the testimony of any person can be flawed, whereas God’s testimony is far more significant and without doubt or un-surety.
Verse 10 covers an aspect of the writing of the New Testament that we are very familiar with, that of false teachers. The simple fact is that these false teachers and legalists were trying to say that salvation was through the works of humans (The Law) instead of the mercy and grace of God, through the shed blood of Christ Jesus. When they do this, they, in essence, say that the testimony of God is flawed, and that God is a liar. There is still legalist out there today that say that salvation is dependent on some work we do and that we can lose our salvation if we do not continue in this particular work. Whether the legalist (the false teachers) lived during the first century AD or the 21st century AD, they are still trying to make God out to be a liar.
Verse 11 sheds much light on this because first, it connects eternal life and our salvation to our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Secondly, it is saying that both aspects, salvation and eternal life, are one and that we receive this magnificent gift from God when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, put our faith and trust in Him, and not in anything we might do.
Verse 12 drives home the point of this issue; if we put our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, we can have the gift of salvation, of which eternal life is the same. However, on the other hand, if we try to add something to salvation, some work we might do, then we do not have the salvation of which eternal life is connected.
The last verse (Verse 13) is a great encouragement to all that have this wonderful gift, and that is that we can know that we have this without any doubt. Sleep every night comes much easier when we know that nothing can tear us apart from the bonds we have with Christ Jesus, not even the jaws of physical Death.
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