Two possible responses to testimony...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 John. Yesterday, we looked on as John explained that, unlike the false teachers who had left the church at Ephesus and were trying to influence others to leave the church at Ephesus, there were three witnesses that confirmed and affirmed the message and mission of Jesus to provide humanity the opportunity to enter into a new covenant, or agreement between God and humanity that provided true community and connection between God and humanity. 

John pointed out that it was the message of Jesus and the baptizing of those who identified with His message as being the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Messiah;  it was Jesus death on the cross, in our place, for our rebellion, to be raised from the dead never to die again; and it was the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who is true and proclaims the truth about the truth of the message and mission of Jesus, that provided the evidence of the truth the message and mission of Jesus to provide humanity the opportunity to enter into a new covenant, or agreement between God and humanity that provided true community and connection between God and humanity.

And as John pointed out, the testimony of these three were in agreement. In other words, there was no space, there was no gap in the testimony. The testimony of Jesus message and mission that resulted in the baptism of those who identified with Jesus, the testimony of Jesus death on the cross, in our place, for our rebellion, and the testimony of the Spirit of God consistently pointed to the truth of the testimony of God.

Today, as John continued to write this letter to early followers of Jesus at the church at Ephesus, we see John continue to contrast the message of the false teachers who had left the church at Ephesus and were trying to influence others to leave the church at Ephesus, with the message that he and other leaders in God’s new movement in history that we know today as the church were proclaiming in 1 John 5:9-10. Let’s look at it together:

 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. ¹⁰ The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.

Here we see John make what is referred to as a lesser to greater argument. In a lesser to greater argument, the person making the argument sets up two possibilities, one of which is less probable than the other. The point of the argument is that whatever can be affirmed about the less probable possibility can be affirmed with even greater force about the more probable possibility.

John makes this argument in verse 9 to basically say to the readers of this letter “if you believe and accept as true the testimony of men, then you should believe and accept as true the testimony of God because God’s testimony is always greater. And we are giving you the testimony of God because we were eyewitnesses of Jesus message and how people responded to His message. We are giving you the testimony of God because we were eyewitnesses of His death on a cross, in our place, for our rebellion, and His resurrection.”

John then unpacked and contrasted the implications that occur as a result of how one chose to respond to testimony of God that he and other leaders of God’s new movement in history called the church were proclaiming. John explained that for the person who responded to the testimony of God by trusting the message as being true, has the testimony in himself. In other words, the true testimony of God had seeped into the core of their being in a way that had resulted in a life that was becoming increasingly more like Jesus in both character and conduct. 

However, John explained that the person who responded to the testimony of God by refusing and rejecting the message as being true made God a liar. Think of it this way: if a person refuses and rejects the testimony of another as being truthful and trustworthy, what are they saying about the person who is testifying?

To refuse and reject the testimony of someone is to say that they are not being truthful or accurate in what they are saying, right?  To refuse and reject the testimony of another as being truthful and trustworthy is to call someone a liar. And because John and other leaders of God’s new movement in history called the church were providing the testimony of God that they had received from God and had been eyewitnesses of in the life of Jesus, to reject their testimony as being false was to reject the testimony of God that they had been given to proclaim.

Friday, we will see John conclude this section of his letter by providing the testimony of God that they had been given to proclaim…