1Jn 5:9-12 “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
The testimony (witness) of God is greater than the testimony of men. For those that believe, this would seem to be an obvious statement. No matter how much we may grasp this statement academically, we do not always apply this truth. Consider that when the twelve spies went in to examine the land God had promised they all came back with a similar report: it is a wonderful land of plenty (Num 13:25-33). The land was also already inhabited by a great people who dwelled in walled cities, and there were giants in the land.
All twelve men testified to the same report of the land. Two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, further testified that the inhabitants of the land were ready to be devoured by God’s covenant people because God was with them. The giants of the land would surely fall because of the presence of God and His people should have no fear.
On the other hand, ten of the men urged the people to turn back because they were not looking to God. They told the people that they were insignificant (as grasshoppers) in their own eyes. These men were not looking to God but at their own power, and they knew they were not sufficient to the task. They completely lost sight of the fact that the witness of God is greater than the witness of men. Men are still making that mistake today.
The testimony of God concerning His Son is that we have no other Savior and we need no other Savior. The word of God tells us that no man can come to the Father except by the Son and no man comes to the Son unless they are drawn by the Father. We do not need to look far to find an affirmation of this truth. When God grants us faith to commit our spiritual well-being to Jesus Christ we have the witness of the Holy Ghost within us. We are content in Him, and all the seduction of this world’s ideas will not persuade us to trust in men more than God.
There are many today who will tell you that God is a liar just like those ten spies did. Men get so caught up in themselves that they do this at times without even stopping to realize that is what has happened. Every time we present Christ in such a manner as to make Him incompetent or unable to do the whole will of the Father we are calling God a liar. We do not believe the testimony of God that Christ is sufficient for the salvation of His people.
The witness of God is that eternal life is His gift to us. This eternal life is in His Son, Jesus Christ. Eternal life is not in our obedience, our belief, or our practice; eternal life is in God’s Son. He is the only source of eternal life and without Him we don’t have it and can’t get it. This is the witness of God; it is greater than the witness of men.
May we have grace to believe the witness of God concerning His Son, Jesus, and rejoice that we have this witness in us!
