CHRISTIANITY NEEDS JESUS
Opening Prayer
As I read the Word today, Jesus, use it not only to assure me of your love; use it to convict me about where I need to walk more closely with you.
Read 1 JOHN 5:1–12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Faith in the Incarnate Son of God
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 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.
Footnotes
- 1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Could you live a ‘Christian life’ without Christ? Do you sometimes behave as though that were possible?Some things just make sense for Christians (vv. 1–5). Belief in Jesus is, of course, how we become Christians. Following on, it makes sense to love God and God’s other children too. Because we love God, it makes sense to obey his commands. In fact, because of that love, God’s commands do not feel like a burden. It is this inner transformation in a believer that ultimately brings victory over the antagonism of the world (v. 4).
The false teachers behind the group leaving the church did not believe that Christ was genuinely human. Their belief system denied the reality of the incarnation. So, John called on three witnesses to Jesus being human. The water probably referred to his baptism, the blood referred to the crucifixion, and the Spirit witnessed his entire mission on earth. God himself affirmed that the incarnation was true (vv. 6–8; see also Matthew 3:17).
The bottom line, for John, was evident (vv. 9–12). Either you accept the Father’s testimony to the Son or you do not. You cannot have God the Father while dismissing the reality of the Son coming into this world to give us life.
Apply
Are there aspects of living the Christian life that you find tiring? Could you be trying to live obediently in your own strength? How can you find strength from drawing closer to God the Trinity?
Closing prayer
Lord God, I confess there are times when my zeal for you is lacking. Forgive me and help me to follow you with a constancy that is a testimony to everyone around me.
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