What did John mean in 1 John 5:6-8, There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water and the blood, these three agree in one. It is clear Who the three that bear record in heaven are, but what about the three that bear witness in earth? What is the meaning of the Spirit, the water, and the blood that bear witness in earth?
The Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost
This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these Three are One. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one (1 John 5:6-8)
God is One and exists of God the Father, God the Son; the Word, and God the Holy Ghost. Throughout the Bible, we see the cooperation between the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. Although the Old Covenant has been replaced by the New Covenant and the spiritual position and state of humanity have changed, God has not changed and the cooperation is still the same.
In the three dispensations; the dispensation of God, the dispensation of Jesus Christ, the Son, and the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, in which we live, we see the cooperation and the testimony (Read also: What are the three dispensations in the Bible?).
The Father has witnessed of His Son and His Holy Spirit, the Son has witnessed of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit bears record (in man) of the Son and the Father (Genesis-Revelation).
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost bear record in heaven. But what about the three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood?
The three that bear witnesses on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood
There is one connection between the Three that bear record in heaven and the three that bear witness in earth and that is the Spirit. The Holy Spirit bears witness both in heaven and in earth.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and bears witness of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came by water and blood and was fully Human and a Witness of God on earth and finished the perfect redemptive work of God for fallen humanity.
Jesus came by the Spirit and was born of the virgin Maria (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 1:35).
Jesus was the Firstborn of the new creation, who was born of God but fully Human. Not only the Spirit bears witness but also the water and the blood (John 19:34 Read also: Was Jesus fully Human?).
Before Jesus began His ministry, Jesus was baptized in water and received the Holy Spirit. And before Jesus left the earth, Jesus gave His life, His blood, as a sin offering and atone offering for fallen man and He reconciled man to God.
And so Jesus came by the Spirit, the water, and the blood. The Spirit, the water, and the blood bear witness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of man.
The Father gave His Son, the Firstborn of the new creation. So that in Jesus Christ, many other sons (this applies to both males and females) would be born. Sons, born of the Spirit, by the Spirit, the water and the blood.
The new creation is born of God by the Spirit, the water, and the blood and is a witness of God on earth.
The Holy Spirit, Who dwells in the new man connects the new man with the Son and the Father and bears witness of Them. And as God exists of the Father, the Word, and the Spirit and They are One, the new creation exists of the Holy Spirit, the water, and the blood and they agree in one.
The witness of the blood
For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11)
Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourns among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity (Leviticus 17:12-16)
The soul of the flesh (the life of the flesh) is in the blood. After the flood and when God gave the laws to Moses, God commanded the people to not eat the blood of flesh, because the soul (life) of all flesh is the blood. God prohibited the people to defile themselves.
The blood could only be used upon the altar to make an atonement for the souls of God’s people because the blood makes atonement for the soul.
In the first dispensation of God, it was all about the blood. The blood of animals was being shed richly through all the sacrifices man made to God for the atonement of the sins and iniquities of fallen man, who belonged to the house of Israel (God’s people) and sanctified the soul.
Although the blood of animals was pure, the blood of animals couldn’t do anything about the sinful nature that reigns in the flesh of fallen man, because the flesh and the blood of animals are different from the flesh and blood of people. Therefore animals could never take the place of man and become a substitute for fallen man and deal with the sinful nature of fallen humanity. However, the blood of animals could make a temporary atonement for the souls of people and atone their sins. God’s people needed many sacrifices to atone for their rebellion and trespasses. All these sacrifices were written in the Law of Moses which belongs to the Old Covenant.
But for the atonement between fallen man and God, whereby once and for all atonement would be made for the sins and iniquities of fallen humanity and man be reconciled with God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to the earth.
Jesus came in the flesh and became equal to man (flesh and blood), so that Jesus could become the Substitute for fallen man (Read also: The Author of eternal salvation)
If Jesus would not have been fully Human, Jesus couldn’t become the Sin-offering and the offering of Atonement for fallen man and God could not lay the sins and iniquities of fallen man upon Him and God could not have accepted the sacrifice of His Son and His blood
But Jesus was fully Human and was sacrificed as a Lamb and carried all the sins and iniquities of man and made atonement for once and for all for those, who accept His sacrifice and His blood and become a partaker of His flesh and blood (a.o. Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18, Ephesians 2:16, Colossians 1:20, Hebrews 2:14; 9:24-28).
Without the blood of Jesus, there is no forgiveness and no atonement for the soul
For it pleased the Father. That in Him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Colossians 1:19-1-20)
And almost all things are by the law purged (cleansed) with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22))
Every person is born as a sinner in a (spiritual) fallen state and needs forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation. Therefore every person needs the sacrifice and the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and the sanctification, redemption, and atonement of the soul (Read also: Someone has to pay the price).
Jesus was the new creation and came by the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
The person, who believes in Jesus Christ starts where Jesus ended, namely with the blood.
Without the blood of Jesus, there is no forgiveness of sin.
Without the blood of Jesus, there is no atonement with God and man stays dead to God and separated from God through sin.
Therefore repentance begins with faith in Jesus Christ and the acceptance of His sacrifice and His precious blood, that was shed in the garden of Gethsemane, at the whipping post and the cross.
The blood of Jesus cleanses man from all his sins and iniquities and justifies man.
As long as a person walks in the light in communion with God through the Holy Spirit, the blood of Jesus cleanses the new man and testifies of the new man (1 Johannes 1:6-7).
Repentance and the regeneration of man begins with the blood of Jesus that forgives the sins of man, cleanses man from sins, redeems man from his sinful nature, and reconciles man with God and justifies man.
After the blood for the atonement of the soul comes the water for the body.
The witness of the water
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6:1-4)
The baptism is a witness of the decision that people make for Jesus and following Him. The waterbaptism in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is a conscious decision that someone makes, after the person has been cleansed of sin by the blood of Jesus and the justification of the soul, to be separated from the world and devoted unto Christ and to live for Him.
For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power: In Whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Colossians 2:9-13)
The waterbaptism is the circumcision in Christ. It’s meant for the body, not to cleanse the body of the flesh, but to lay down the body of the flesh (Read also: What does the circumcision in Christ mean?)
The old man, who is dead to God, but alive to the world and the devil, sin and death and serves them, dies in Christ His death and is buried. Then the person becomes alive to God and righteousness but dead to the world and sin, and is raised in newness of life as the son of God (this applies to both males and females. But the person is not complete yet.
The witness of the Holy Spirit
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:3-7)
When someone has repented, by faith in Christ and has cleansed his soul with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And when someone has been baptized in Christ, into His death and resurrection, and laid down his flesh (in which the sinful nature reigns) and raised in newness of life, the person receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost).
The person needs the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Because without the Holy Spirit man is not complete and can’t walk as a son of God on earth.
A baby, who is born in the flesh by water and blood, but doesn’t breathe, is not alive but dead. The crying of the baby is a natural sign and proves that the baby is alive. This also applies to the Holy Spirit.
If you accepted the blood of Jesus Christ and are baptized, but have not received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, although you have been raised in the newness of life, you have not come spiritually alive yet.
Not until God breathes His breath into you, and you are being baptized with the Holy Spirit, you become alive. As a sign of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, you shall not cry like at the birth of a baby, although this can happen. But you shall speak in other tongues. That shall be a sign of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost (a.o. Mark 16:17, Acts 2:4, 10:45-46; 19:6).
The Holy Spirit bears witness in the new man of Jesus and the Father and the sonship of God
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Romans 8:12-17).
The Holy Ghost connects the new man with Jesus Christ and the Father. Everything the Father speaks to the Son, the Son speaks to the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in the new man.
The Holy Spirit bears witness in the new man of Jesus the Christ and the Father and bears witness of the sonship of God.
When you are born of God and the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you, you know that you belong to God and that God is your Father.
The Word says, that anyone who doubts whether he or she is a child of God, does not have the Holy Spirit abiding in him or her.
Because the Holy Ghost not only witnesses of Jesus Christ and the Father, but the Holy Spirit also witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God (sons of God) and therefore are born of God and belong to Him and His Spirit abides in us.
“My Spirit shall not always strive with man”
God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man. These words of the Father were being fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, when God poured His Spirit upon man and made His abode in the redeemed, justified, cleansed, and holy new man.
The new man is cleansed and justified by the blood of Jesus and is born of water and Spirit.
Through the Spirit man is connected with God and the Father and the Son live in the new man and they are one (a.o. John 14:15-23; 15:9-10)
God bears record in heaven and the sons of God bear witness on earth
And so there are Three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and They are one (God). And there are three that bear witness on earth, The Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one (the new man; son of God).
The Spirit, the water, and the blood not only bear witness of Jesus Christ, Who is the Firstborn of the new creation (the new Man), but the Spirit also bears witness of the other new creations, who are born in Him by the blood, the water and the Spirit.
Jesus, the Son of God, became fully Human and became the Son of man, so that we could become in Him sons of God.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
