1 John 5:5-10: ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  ⁶This 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. ⁷For there are three that testify: ⁸the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.”

What is all this about water and blood?  Even after reading commentaries, the best answer I could come up with was that possibly John here is thinking about what he wrote in John 19:34-35, when he is the only Gospel writer to record that Jesus bled water and blood, seeing that as an important detail and fulfilling Scripture: “³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesusʼ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” ³⁷and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

This is important because it shows that Jesus really died as a human, but how else does it tie in with what John is saying here in particular and his overall theme of the book?  It is all about Jesus! He is the Son of God, the Word who became flesh! The reference to water several times in this 1 John 5 passage does not just refer to the fact that Jesus really died (and was not just unconsciousness), but it also testifies that He was born human. The blood testifies that He died human, the Spirit also testifies to the fact that He is fully human, that He came in the flesh, and ultimately that He is the Son of God.

This is basic to what John is saying because a heresy being taught to the believers at that time was that mystical knowledge is the way to true spirituality, and that all things material, especially flesh is bad (Gnosticism).  So if Jesus is/was God, He would have had nothing to do with the flesh, with being human. They even concluded that the true God did not create the world since He would have had nothing to do with the material, only the spiritual, so a demi-god must have created the world, which created grave problems since John says God created the world through Jesus.

These unbiblical ideas meant that the false teachers proclaimed that Jesus did not come in the flesh, was not the Son of God in any physical way. John starts out this epistle with 1:1 proclaiming that the fact that he personally saw Him and touched Him testifies to this! He was/is human, He had a body, real flesh!  John keeps debunking the lies of the false teachers regarding Jesus and also how to live, since if the flesh is of no consequence, you can live like you like, including not having love for others. So at its very core, it is a very selfish “all about me” teaching. I myself want to experience this mystical knowledge, understanding and heightened “spirituality”, and what “sins” I do with my body, how I treat others, is of no consequence. That teaching is, of course, the opposite to what God and Jesus has revealed to us.

Inside the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where it is thought Jesus was born

Another related false teaching at that time was that God/Christ came upon Jesus at baptism and left right before He was crucified. John debunks all these false teachings, proclaiming that in all aspects, Jesus had a human body from birth on. For if He was only God or the Christ from baptism until right before His death, then He was not Emanuel, God with us, at birth, He was not God’s Son a birth, the Word become flesh at birth. Birth is where the idea of “water” comes in and testifies to Him being God in the flesh. Plus if this false teaching were true, then He was not Emanuel, God’s Son, the Word as flesh when He bled and died, for the blood testified that He was God in the flesh, human, when He died. These false teachers rejected the mind-blowing concept of God dying on the cross!

These false teachings had their roots in not understanding who Jesus really is and thus denying his humanness. John’s argument against that lie came to a climax in chapter 4. 4:2-3 says: “²This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

Here again we see the testimony of the Holy Spirit involved in verifying the truth that Jesus did truly come in the flesh. Those who have the Spirit of God believe this and proclaim it. Those who do not believe it are of the antichrist, are not from God and do not have the Spirit of God. Harsh, but true words. John is very concerned that the believers do not fall for this lie.

One of the principle evidences John uses to show that Jesus is human is that He was born human, of a woman. And the image he uses for that is water. The 1 John 5 passage is not the only place John uses “water” when referring to birth and seeing it as a testimony that Jesus is both man and God, and accompanying that by emphasizing that the Spirit also gives this testimony. John 3:5-6: “⁵Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

The water Jesus is referring to here is birth, the “natural” person, being born like everyone else, being human. And by contrast, to be born again, we also need to be born “of the Spirit.” There is absolutely no context here to think He is talking about baptism as many have posited. John is using a contrast here. He uses contrasts continually to get his point across. Just in chapter 3 there are these pairs of contrasts:

Vs. 5 Born of water (naturally) vs. born of the Spirit (supernaturally)

Vs. 6 flesh (natural) vs. Spirit (supernatural)

Vs. 8 wind vs. Spirit

Vs. 12 earthly things vs. heavenly things

Vs. 16 perish vs. eternal life

Vs. 17 condemn vs. save

Vs. 19 light vs. darkness

Vs. 31 above vs. below/earth

Vs. 36 believe vs. reject, eternal life vs. wrath

It should be noted for fans of the King James Bible that parts of vs. 7 and 8 are missing in the verses at the beginning of this discussion. 7-8 says in the KJV: “⁷For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. ⁸And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

The part in bold is not in most translations (most put it in a footnote) because it is not in a single Greek manuscript that has ever been found. It is only found written in Latin in the margins in copies of some more recent manuscripts. Erasmus, who in 1517 complied the first official Greek New Testament based on the best manuscripts they had at the time did not include it in the first and second editions. But because of pressure from the church and the Emperor (and who knows what other threats), he finally added it to his third edition. Actually its addition strays from John’s point of trying to show that Jesus is fully human, that He came in the flesh and had a human body. The Trinity in heaven has little to do with the fact that Jesus was born and died a human, and that the testimony of the Spirit confirms this truth.

In regards to the testimony of the Spirit, other testimonies of the Spirit include Him declaring Jesus as God’s Son when Jesus was baptized. Mark 1:10-11: ¹⁰As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Also at the transfiguration it is declared that He is God’s Son. Mark 9:7: ⁷Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Later on, the writer of the Hebrews started out his book, and spends the whole first chapter talking about Jesus’ Sonship. Hebrews 1:1-3: “¹In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. ³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Of course all the Gospels, Paul and Peter also proclaim that Jesus is God’s son. It is also a major theme of John too (1:3, 1:7, 2:22, 2:23, 2:24, 3:8, 3:23, 4:9, 4:10, 4:14, 4:15 and in chapter 5:9,10,11,12,13, 20).

Jesus is 100% God. He is 100% human. John starts out his Gospel in 1:1-3 proclaiming that very fact: “¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Among many other verses, 14:9 is a clear one: “⁹Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” All the other writers of the New Testament make this clear as well, with maybe the most clear explanation given by Paul in Philippians 2:6-7: “⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

To combat the lies of Gnosticism and other similar false teachings, John focuses in on the humanity of Jesus in his teaching in 1 John. Jesus was not a ghost. Luke 24:36-43 deals with this issue during a resurrection appearance: ³⁶While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” ⁴⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate it in their presence.

John was also there and gives similar testimony, especially, as mentioned in the very first couple verses where he saw and touched Jesus. Jesus is/was flesh, had a human body. He was born naturally of a woman (water) and He died as a human (blood, even water and blood flowing out of Him showed he was really dead, not just unconscious.)  The Spirit bears witness of His birth and His death (as well, of course, of His bodily resurrection.) His birth, His death and resurrection, plus the Spirit all give testimony that He is God’s Son, fully human and thus able to die for our sins. Besides that, those who are born of God, who abide in Him, despite being human and weak, can, by the fact that they are “born of Him”, obey His commands, not conform to the world, and love one another. Click here for a short video presentation of this article.

The following is a chart from the book of 1 John. Right at 50% of all verses in 1 John have the idea of if/then, as can be seen from this chart, and that solidifies the idea that in his short epistle, John is confronting a lot of false teaching and wrong belief in his letter, and gives guidance and how to know if something is from God or not.

1 Jn.	If (105-50)	But	Then	Other benefits/problems
1:6	we claim to have fellowship with Him	walk in the darkness	we lie	and do not live by the truth
1:7	we walk in the light as He is in the light,		we have fellowship with one another	and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
1:8	we claim to be without sin,	–	we deceive ourselves	and the truth is not in us.
1:9	we confess our sins,	–	He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins	and purify us from all unrighteousness
1:10	we claim we have not sinned,		we make Him out to be a liar	and His word has no place in our lives.
2:3	if we obey His commands.		*We know that we have come to know Him
2:4	The man who says, “I know him,”	but does not do what He commands	is a liar	and the truth is not in him.
2:5	But if anyone obeys His word,		Godʼs love is truly made complete in him
2:6	Whoever claims to live in Him		must walk as Jesus did.
2:9	Anyone who claims to be in the light	but hates his brother	is still in the darkness.
2:10	Whoever loves his brother		lives in the light,	and there is nothing in him to make him stumble
2:11	But whoever hates his brother		is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness;	he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
2:15b	If anyone loves the world,		the love of the Father is not in him.
2:19	For if they had belonged to us,		they would have remained with us;	but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
2:22	If someone denies that Jesus is the Christ		he is a liar and antichrist	for he denies the Father and the Son.
2:23	If you deny the Son		you do not have the Father
2:23	If you acknowledge the Son		you have the Father
2:24	If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you		you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

Other verses we could add to the chart: 3:6, 3:7-10 3:14-16, 3:17, 3:19-21, 3:24, 4:2-3, 4:6, 4:7-8, 4:11-12, 4:13, 4:15-16: 4:20-21, 5:1-5, 5:9-10, 5:12, 5:14-16a, 5:18

I had never thought too much about how Cain killed his brother Abel in Genesis 4. Some movies and images depict him picking up a rock or a large bone and hitting him over the head. But I learned something recently that makes it a bit more graphic and gives more insight into what Cain was thinking.

Verses 3 to 6 tell how Cain was mad because God did not accept his sacrifice of “some” of what he had harvested, while accepting the sacrifice that his brother Abel made of his “best” lambs. So Cain invited Abel to go out to the field with him soon after this.

4:8 says “And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” He probably took the sharp object used to sacrifice animals, slashed Abel’s throat (jugular), just like Abel did to sacrifice his lambs, and spilled all his blood out on the ground. Jealousy and revenge, possibly thinking, “Now there is a better sacrifice!”

4:10 talks about how much blood was on the ground: “The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”  The word used for “murder” in 1 John 3:12 recounting what happened is a word signifying killing a lamb for the slaughter.

Another reason to think this may be true: At that time, Adam’s family never killed anything other than the lambs for the sacrifice. Many years later, after the flood, Genesis 9: 2-3 says: “The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

Many people think, that for the most part, people only ate what grew wild or what they had planted up until the flood, as implied by these verses. So it is very possible that the only “killing” they had experienced were sacrificing the lambs on the altar, slashing the throat. So could it be that Cain killed Abel in the same way? With no experience in killing, would he think to grab a rock or something like that to kill him? It makes more sense, especially based on the way he was thinking, that he killed him in a way he knew would be effective.

After Cain was mad after God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not his, (“but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”) God warns Cain to “guard his heart” saying: “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (4:6-7)

Cain did not “master” sin. He killed his brother, sacrificed him, upset that God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not his, and in his warped thinking blamed Abel. John uses this as an extreme example of how not to love your brother! But Jesus said if we start and keep resentment and bitterness in our hearts against others, it can lead to us acting in some pretty bad ways.