1 John 5:1-12 | The Blessings of Believing

1 John 5:1-12 | The Blessings of Believing

1 John 5:1-12
The Blessings of Believing

I. Introduction

  1. John writes in a cyclical style, revisiting many of the same themes throughout this Epistle.
    1. Love, obedience, salvation, Christology, faith, and victorious living are among these themes.
  2. Docetism and Cerinthianism share similarities with nuanced differences.[i]
    1. Cerinthus believed Jesus was a regular man who had the Spirit of Christ come upon Him.
    2. Docetism was not monolithic and had variations in its errors concerning Christ.
    3. Cerinthus taught that Jesus was a regular man who had the Spirit come upon Him at baptism.
    4. Docetism denied the incarnation but affirmed that Jesus was fully God.
    5. Thus, they denied that Jesus had a regular body and sought to explain it as a phantom or only having the illusion that Jesus had a body.
    6. Docetism taught that Jesus did not have a body but an irregular body, like a phantom.

      “Docetism is an early Christian heresy that claimed Jesus only appeared to be human, teaching that he was not truly human but merely seemed to be so[1][2][3]. This teaching emphasized Jesus’ deity while downplaying the importance of his earthly life[1]. The heresy was rooted in a Gnostic worldview that saw an irreconcilable conflict between spiritual (good) and material (evil) principles, making it inconceivable that the Son of God could assume human form[4]. Docetists believed that the divine Christ withdrew during Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection.[4] The early church ultimately condemned Docetism as heretical[1], with John particularly challenging this view in his Gospel, emphasizing that “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us”[4].[1]

    7. Cerinthus modified this view in part and believed that Jesus had a regular body, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism.

      “Importantly, docetism wasn’t monolithic. Cerinthus, a later contemporary of the Apostle John at Ephesus, separated the man from the spiritual Christ—he regarded Jesus as a mere man, the son of Joseph and Mary; he taught that the divine Christ came upon the man Jesus at his baptism, empowered his ministry, but left him before his crucifixion. This represents a different error from strict docetism.”[2]

II. v. 1 Belief brings new life.

  1. v. 1a Belief in Jesus gives new life

    1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.[3]
    1. John continues hammering home the incarnation of Christ, the Son of God, in Jesus of Nazareth.
      1. The false teachers who preached another Jesus, a Jesus who was not the God-Man.
    2. Belief is a point emphasized throughout the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament.
      1. However, it isn’t any belief in the truth, but rather a belief in who the Scriptures declare Him to be. It is also a belief in what He accomplished at Calvary and in His rising from the dead.
    3. Belief is not the object of faith, but rather the biblical Jesus Christ is.
      1. In other words, it is not just any belief but a specific Scripture-fed belief.
    4. Belief in Jesus results in a second birth.

      John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

      2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
      1. God created man in the garden to enjoy spiritual life with Him, but warned that if they ate of the forbidden fruit, spiritual life would be forfeited, and they would surely die.
      2. What Jesus is offering is the opportunity to have that which was lost in the garden restored, so it is the spiritual, not physical, rebirth that is being offered.
      3. The opportunity to walk in the new life of fellowship and love with God.
    5. Even as there is a real process of giving physical birth, so there is a real process of receiving spiritual birth.
      1. Jesus bore the sin and guilt of mankind at the cross.
      2. Jesus defeated the penalty of sin by rising from the dead.
    6. The Holy Spirit gives this new life to those who call upon the Lord as Savior.
      1. If you have not been born again, then you have no hope of eternal life.
      2. We will give you an opportunity to confess Jesus as Lord at the close of our service.
  2. v. 1b Belief in Jesus will result in love.

    1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
    1. Being born again is not some private experience that has no outward manifestation.
      1. It will be seen in your love for those who have been born again.
    2. This is the point John has made repeatedly within this short epistle.
      1. If we are born again and love God, we will love that which He loves.
      2. This most certainly includes others who have been born again.

III. vv. 2-3 Love for God is manifested in obedience.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

  1. v. 2 If we love God, we will keep His commandments.
    1. A person who has been born of God will have a hunger and thirst for righteousness.

      John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.

    2. A wicked person will

      Psalm 36:1-4 There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates. 3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; He has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4 He devises wickedness on his bed; He sets himself in a way that is not good; He does not abhor evil.

    3. The claim to love God and to continue in sin is empty.
    4. If your life is not marked by obedience to the commands of the Lord, then the love of God does not abide in you.

      James 4:4 (NLT) You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God.

      1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
  2. v. 3 They are not burdensome.
    1. Walking in obedience (i.e., doing those things that please the Lord) is not an unpleasant experience.
    2. Psalm 119 declares this love of obedience to the Word of God.
      1. Ps 119:16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
      2. Ps 119:33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end.
      3. Ps 119:48 My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes.
      4. Ps 119:54 Your statutes have been my songs In the house of my pilgrimage.
      5. Ps 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.
      6. Ps 119:112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end.
      7. Ps 119:171 My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes.
    3. Jesus also said in Matthew 11:30 that His yoke was easy, and His burden is light.
      1. A Sunday School class was asked what the yoke of Jesus was, and one little girl replied, “It is the arms of Jesus.”
      2. This is a beautiful way to view walking in the will of the Lord.
      3. For some, the commands of the Lord are viewed more like stocks and chains than the loving arms of their Savior.
  3. When confronted with temptation, love for the Lord, not obligatory adherence, will make the difference.
    1. Love is willing to sacrifice, whereas code conforming isn’t.
    2. Break those ungodly ties you have fostered and allow your love for God to flourish again.
    3. You must draw near to Him, and that can’t be done while holding pursuits that offend Him.

IV. vv. 4-5 Believers overcome the world through faith.

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

  1. What is the world?
    1. The world is a system that does not acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
    2. The world lives for pleasure, position, and possessions (cf. 1 John 2:16).
  2. Victory for the believer is found in our faith in Jesus.
    1. Victory means we fight against the voices that say, “deny Christ and indulge self.”
    2. Victory is not allowing the world to gain your allegiance through obedience to its call to disobey God.
    3. John tells us that this victory is going to come through our trust in God.
      1. When I am walking in faith, the lures and temptations of sin are overcome because I know what God has to offer me is of greater worth and benefit.

        James 1:16-17 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

      2. When I am walking in faith, I will not hesitate to obey the call of God on my life because I am confident that His plan will lead to a land of blessing and plenty.
    4. Unbelief was the great sin of Israel after leaving Egypt.
      1. They did not believe they would have victory over the giants of the land.
    5. John again reiterates the necessity of accurate belief, not just any belief.

V. vv. 6-9 God has given witness that Jesus is His Son.

6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.

  1. vv. 6, 7b The threefold witness.
    1. The water is a reference to the baptism of Jesus.
      1. A physical body would be needed to go under the water.
    2. The blood is a reference to the crucifixion.
      1. A physical body would be needed to be beaten, bleed, and nailed to the cross.
      2. Both are historical events that bookend the ministry of Jesus.
      3. John is asserting that because Jesus came by water and blood, it exposes the error to divide the divine from the human in Jesus.
      4. “It was to refute this fundamental error that John, knowing that Jesus was the Christ before and during the baptism and during and after the cross, described him as ‘the one who came through water and blood.”[4]
    3. The third witness is the Spirit.
      1. While the first two witnesses (water and blood) are expressed with a verb called the historical aorist, here the witness of the Spirit is expressed with a present active participle.



      3. “The significance becomes clear in context. The verb functions to ‘affirm’ and ‘assert as valid’ that Jesus truly came by water and blood—that these historical events actually happened.[1] By selecting the present participle, John emphasizes that the water and blood, while referring to the earthly life of Jesus, continue to witness to God’s love and offer of redemption throughout all time, with the blood unambiguously continuing to ‘witness’ throughout time.[2]”[5]

      4. The false teaching espoused by the Docetists is being refuted by the Spirit in a present ongoing witness.
        1. “Rather than a static historical claim, John presents the Spirit as perpetually testifying to the truth about Jesus, making the incarnation and atonement living realities for the church across time.”[6]
        2. “Many commentators think that this was emphasized to refute the heretics who taught that the heavenly Christ came down on the man Jesus at his baptism but left him before he died on the cross.”[7]
        3. Cerinthus claimed that the Spirit left Jesus at the crucifixion, but John said the Spirit is still at work through the events of Jesus’ life and will continue to be at work.
  2. v. 7b Heavenly witness missing in the early manuscripts.

    7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
    1. This verse is believed to have been added in the Latin mss, and cannot be found in any Greek manuscript prior to the 14th century, nor is it found in any of the writings of the Greek Fathers.
      1. “The words occur in no Greek ms before the fourteenth century (except one eleventh-century and one twelfth-century ms, in which they have been added in the margin by a much later hand); in no quotation by the early Greek fathers, who, if they had known the text, would surely have quoted it in their trinitarian debates; and in none of the ancient versions (translations), even the early editions of the Vulgate. They first appeared in a fourth-century Latin treatise, after which some Latin fathers began to quote them. They found their way into the av because Erasmus reluctantly included them in the third edition of his text.”[8]
    2. Should we be worried about the integrity of our Bibles?
      1. No doctrine is affected by acknowledging the truthfulness of its absence in the original.
      2. Actually, the willingness to let textual criticism inform us of its absence shows the integrity with which our Bible has been presented to us and should comfort all of our hearts.
      3. “The manuscript evidence is clear. The passage appears in only four Greek manuscripts, none earlier than the 14th century, and it’s absent from all pre-14th century manuscripts in other ancient versions (Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopian, Armenian, Arabic, and Slavic), and in the Latin tradition it doesn’t appear until after A.D. 600, nor in the Vulgate until after A.D. 750. Notably, the Greek Church Fathers—who would have eagerly cited this verse in their trinitarian debates—never mention it. The absence of this verse does not change the flow or meaning of the passage at hand.”[9]

VI. vv. 10-12 Believers are promised eternal life.

10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

  1. Have you believed in Jesus Christ and received the promise of eternal life?
    1. If so, the witness of the Holy Spirit is in you.

      Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

      Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

    2. The Holy Spirit is an important means of having assurance that we are in the true faith.
  2. The witness that the Spirit is speaking to us is that we belong, and we have eternal life.
  3. Do you have eternal life?
  4. We will either live forever with Him or forever apart from Him.

VII. Conclusion

  1. Belief in Jesus will result in new life.
  2. Belief in Jesus will result in love.
  3. Our Love for God is manifested in obedience to Him.
  4. Faith overcomes this world.
  5. The Father testifies to the nature of Christ.

[1] This is Logos AI-generated research from [1] Douglas Mangum, The Lexham Glossary of Theology (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2014). [2] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 354.

[2] This is Logos AI-generated research from Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester; Grand Rapids: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 1240, and Allen C. Myers, “DOCETISM,” in The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 289.

[3] All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

[4] John Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 19, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 178.

[5] This is Logos AI-generated research from [1] C. Haas, Marinus de Jonge, and J. L. Swellengrebel, A Handbook on the Letters of John (New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 138–139. [2] Karen Jobes, “1, 2, & 3 John,” ed. Clinton E. Arnold, in Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 222.

[6] Logos AI generated from John Anderson, An Exegetical Summary of 1, 2, and 3 John (Dallas: SIL International, 2008), 176.

[7] John Anderson, An Exegetical Summary of 1, 2, and 3 John, (Dallas: SIL International, 2008), 174.

[8] John Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 19, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 180.

[9] Logos AI research from Carroll D. Osburn, “Johannine Comma,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 3:882.

I.     [i] Cerinthianism, Docetism, and Gnosticism

  1. Similarities and Differences in Early Christological Errors
  2. Core Theological Positions
    1. Docetism taught that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body. In reality, He was purely spiritual and therefore did not truly suffer or die on the cross.
    2. Cerinthianism taught that Jesus was a fully human man upon whom the Christ-spirit descended at His baptism, empowering His ministry, and then departed prior to the crucifixion.
    3. Gnosticism was a broader theological movement grounded in cosmological dualism, holding that matter is inherently evil and only the spiritual realm is good.
  3. Shared Foundation
    1. All three systems operated from a dualistic worldview:
      1. Spirit is good; matter is evil.
      2. The Supreme God, being purely spiritual, could not directly interact with the material world.
    2. Because of this shared assumption, all three denied Christ’s genuine incarnation and true suffering, though they did so in different ways.
  4. Comparison Table
CategoryDocetismCerinthianismGnosticism
Core premiseMatter is evilMatter problematicMatter is evil
Jesus’ humanityDenied (only appeared human)Fully humanOften denied or minimized
Jesus’ divinityFully divine spiritChrist-spirit distinct from JesusDivine revealer
Jesus–Christ relationshipIdentical, but illusoryChrist descends at baptism, leaves before crossOften symbolic or separated
IncarnationIllusoryTemporaryGenerally denied
CrucifixionOnly appeared to happenJesus died; Christ did notOften symbolic or unnecessary
SufferingDeniedDenied of ChristDenied or reinterpreted
ResurrectionNot bodilyNot bodilySpiritualized
SalvationNot clearly definedMoral teaching + empowermentSecret knowledge (gnōsis)
Historical scopeLate 1st century (proto-Gnostic)Late 1st century2nd century and beyond
  1. Key Differences Explained
    1. Docetism vs. Cerinthianism: Both deny Christ’s real suffering, but Docetism denies that Jesus had a real body at all, while Cerinthianism separates the human Jesus from the divine Christ.
    2. Gnosticism is the broader, more developed movement from which these Christological errors emerge, especially in the second century.
    3. Proto-Gnosticism, including Docetism, arose within or near the church in the late first century and later developed into full Gnostic systems.
  2. Overlap and Historical Confusion
    1. Some scholars identify elements of Gnosticism, Docetism, and Cerinthianism in the opponents addressed in 1 John, which explains the epistle’s strong emphasis on:
      1. The incarnation (Jesus Christ coming in the flesh)
      2. The reality of Christ’s suffering
      3. Apostolic eyewitness testimony
  3. Polemic Map: 1 John and Its Opponents
    1. The First Epistle of John directly addresses theological errors consistent with Docetism, Cerinthianism, and Proto-Gnosticism. Below is a mapping of key passages to the errors they confront.
Passage in 1 JohnPolemical EmphasisError Addressed
1 John 1:1–3Apostolic eyewitness: heard, seen, touchedDocetism (denial of real body)
1 John 1:7The blood of Jesus truly cleansesDocetism (denial of real suffering)
1 John 2:2Christ as propitiation for sinsGnosticism (salvation by knowledge)
1 John 2:18–22Denial that Jesus is the ChristCerinthianism (separating Jesus and Christ)
1 John 3:5Christ appeared to take away sinsGnosticism / Docetism (denial of incarnational purpose)
1 John 4:2–3Jesus Christ has come in the fleshDocetism & Cerinthianism
1 John 4:9–10God sent His Son into the worldDualism denying divine interaction with matter
1 John 5:6Came by water and bloodCerinthianism (Christ leaving before the cross)
1 John 5:11–12Life found in the SonGnosticism (life through gnōsis)
  1. Why This Matters
    1. Historic Christianity confesses:
      1. Jesus Christ is one Person, fully God and fully man, who truly became flesh, truly suffered, truly died, and rose bodily from the dead for our salvation.
      2. The Epistle of 1 John makes clear that denying the incarnation or the cross is not a minor doctrinal variation—it is a denial of the gospel itself.
  2. Key Sources (for reference)
    1. Gary Derickson, First, Second, and Third John, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2012), 55.
    2. James Sweeney, “John, First Letter of,” in Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry and Lazarus Wentz (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2012).
    3. Barry Joslin, “Getting Up to Speed: An Essential Introduction to 1 John,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 10, no. 3 (Fall 2006): 8–9.
    4. Research was primarily in Logos. Logos AI was used in the research, and the table and formatting were done using ChatGPT.
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