[The text we now study holds within it what many a scholar has referred to as the litmus test of the New Birth.  It is found in verses 11-13 and reads, 

[1 John 5:11-13 ¹¹ And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. ¹³ These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.]

[The whole epistle of first John stresses those things that should be evidenced in each and every born again Christian.  At the very least, if one wishes to measure their personal spiritual maturity then they merely need to study 1^st John and gauge how they measure up to those things that ought mark them as Christians.] 

[So far in 1 John we have discovered that there is:] 

• [A Communion To Cherish – Our common ground in Christ.]
• [A Covenant To Proclaim – The glory of the gospel]
• [A Cleansing To Receive – The forgiveness of sins]
• [A Commandment To Keep – Obey God’s Word and will]
• [A Compassion To Show – The Fact of God’s love, the Characteristics of God’s love, The Presence In God’s Love]
• [A Caution To Heed – Love not the world and its things]
• [A Character To Develop – Be conformed to His image]
• [A Confidence To Hold – Defeating Doubt]
• [A Confusion To Face – Spiritual Warfare]

[However, the passage now before us is particularly profound.  Especially the litmus test of the New Birth.  To suggest the personal and real presence of the Lord Jesus Christ within each and every believer is not only mystic in its context but it is utter foolishness to the unredeemed.  I will never forget one of my teen age sons, during a bout with doubt, asking me how he can know when Jesus is within him.  The thought instantly entered my mind that of all the tests of the new birth contained within the Bible that this is the one I have stressed and quoted more than any other.  I quote it because I am convinced that salvation is much more than mere intellectual knowledge, it is personal, real, and vibrant.  Salvation brings us into a real living relationship with God.] 

[Yet, it also struck me that, most Christians, of which I am no exception, will go through what has often been termed a spiritual wilderness experience.  It is at those times that they will feel particularly far from God.  They will often account that they just do not feel the presence of God at those times.  Hence, is salvation a feeling, or is it much more than that.  It is important for every born again Christian to know that their salvation is not based on their emotions nor their feelings, it is based on the Word of God or the Promises of God and their individual response to them.] 

[Hence, I am saved because I responded to what God has revealed through the gospel and His written Word about my Lord Jesus Christ.  As I responded appropriately to God’s revealed Word and will then the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God came to dwell within me and I now have the Presence of God within me.  I can often sense or feel God’s presence in me and the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment gives me comfort and counsel.  But my salvation is not based on what I feel in relation to God.  No, instead, my salvation is based upon the finished work of my Lord Jesus Christ and my acceptance of the gift of eternal life through His precious sacrifice and resurrection.] 

[The Apostle John makes this undeniably clear here in this passage and throughout this epistle.  He is telling us throughout this book of the Bible what ought to mark every Christian’s new life in Christ and now he tells us why.] 

A.  A Noticeable Performance (vs 1-5; Matt 22.36-40; Rom 13.10) [– Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. – Clearly love is a powerful key to our new birth.  It seems that everything John has listed throughout his epistle is somehow linked to loving God.  Throughout the Old Testament it seemed that salvation and sanctification were somehow linked to the law of God and mankind’s lawful deeds. But the law or legislation is not a powerful motivator, people kept coming up short of God will and way in life.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, provided the key to fulfilling the law.] 

[Matthew 22:36-40 ³⁶ Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.]

[The Apostle Paul, who called himself the Pharisee of Pharisees said it this way,]

[Romans 13:10 ¹⁰ Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.]

[Hence the Apostle John notes,] 

[This brings new light to what Jesus meant when He said,] 

[John 13:34-35 ³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.]

[Our love one for another ought lead us to be agents of accountability toward one another.  We ought to be challenging one another to step up upon higher ground with our Lord through faithful obedience to God’s Word and will.  Our love for our Christian brothers and sisters, and our love for the lost all around us should cause us to standfast in our obedience toward our Lord.]

[The law drives people toward duty, love drives people through desire.  What people felt like they had to do to please God through the law, God transforms into a longing desire through love.  Born Again Christian’s do not have to obey God, they want to obey God, because they love Him.  Being obedient to God is not troublesome or grievous to those who truly love Him. Their have to has been changed in a want to.] 

3.      Our Lasting Obedience (vs 4-5) [- ⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?- Overcomers are victors.  I saw a sign the other day that said, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”  If one will find victory in life then they will have to be an overcomer.  In this text the Apostle reveals that if we would be victorious in this life, then must believe that Jesus is the Son of God and as the context of the passage has already stated, If we believe this then we will love God which will lead us to obey God, which will in turn leads us to overcome and be victorious in our Christian walk.] 

 [Consider what John is linking a Christian’s love and obedience to.  Without question our affections and loyalties toward God are linked to our acknowledgment of the deityship of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Notice what John writes,] 

[1 John 5:1 ¹ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: . . .]  

[1 John 5:6-8 ⁶ 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 beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. ⁷ For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. ⁸ And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.]

[The Apostle John is leading each of us to consider, not what we think we believe about the Lord Jesus Christ, but what you know that you know about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Herein lies the difference between a religious person and a born again Christian.] 

[Deep Down Inside - There are many in our world who will acknowledge what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ.  They know the Bible stories.  They know that the Bible says and the preacher states that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Jesus suffered and died on the cross, that Jesus was buried, and that Jesus rose from the grave.  But deep down inside they don’t really believe that any of this is all that remarkable.  As a matter of fact they probably really feel that Jesus was an extraordinary man, but they just are not all that convinced that the miraculous stuff really, actually happened.] 

[Notice the words of our text carefully.  Notice verse one, it is very specific, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: . . .] 

[Notice the emphasis in verses 6-8.  The water is repeated, the blood is repeated, and the spirit is repeated.  What are these verses really saying?  John, in speaking of our Lord’s birth, notes,] 

1.      Our Lord’s Humanity – The Water [– The water speaks of our Lord’s natural birth.  Clearly Jesus really was a living being.  Mary really was His mother.  She really did give birth to Jesus.  Even secular historians admit that Jesus was a real living person nearly 2000 years ago.  I would guess that there are few people who would actually try to deny Jesus’ natural birth and existence.  Hence, John is saying if you believe that Jesus is then you must know that He was born.  That’s the easy one.  The next two are far harder for many to grapple with.] 

2.      Our Lord’s Heritage – The Blood (1 Pet 1.17-21; Rom 5.12-19) [– The blood refers to the uniqueness of Jesus linage and heritage.  If you would be born again and receive the gift of eternal life then you must acknowledge the uniqueness of Jesus blood.  The bible states,] 

[1 Peter 1:17-21 ¹⁷ And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: ¹⁸ Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: ²⁰ Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, ²¹ Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.]

[When one closely examines James text and compares it to what John writes here one will discover that James and John are essentially stating the same thing.  The uniqueness of Jesus blood is tied undeniably to His supernatural conception, which distinguished the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus was born to a virgin.  This is the scriptural testimony.  Hence, Jesus did not have a natural mortal father.  Jesus was distinct for every other human being because His father was Almighty God, while we all had our natural fathers and trace our linage back to Adam and Eve.] 

[Hence, John says if you will believe that Jesus was born, then you must go on to believe, to know that you know, that Jesus was distinctly and supernaturally conceived as indicate through His blood and blood line. Paul stated this truth when he wrote,] 

[Romans 5:12-21 ¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. ¹⁵ But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶ And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. ¹⁷ For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) ¹⁸ Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ²⁰ Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: ²¹ That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.]

[Hence, John is saying, to be born again you must know that Jesus was born, but you must also know that Jesus was born of God.  It is easy to know Jesus was born, it is quite another thing to know that Jesus was uniquely the Only Begotten of the Father, that He was supernaturally conceived.  But John does not stop there.] 

3.      Our Lord’s Honor – The Spirit [– 1 John 5:6 ⁶ 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 beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. – The second phenomenal truth that must be known is again super natural; this is the witness of the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps this required element enlightens us to the struggle many face when seeking salvation and the new birth.  Without the undeniable work of the Holy Spirit within a seeker there can be no real conversion or transformation.  It is the undeniable and unconceivable presence of the Holy Spirit within born gain Christian’s that gives them their certainty.] 

[No human being, no matter how hard they try can fabricate or conjure up the Holy Spirit.  Secondly, no human being can convince the Holy Spirit that they really believe God’s Testimony concerning the natural birth and supernatural conception of Christ if they just really don’t believe it.  The Holy Spirit is God and He looks upon the heart.  A person can say he believes all day long, but only God know s the true content of their heart.] 

[So there we have it, if you would receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then you must not only understand the scriptural stories of the Lord Jesus Christ, you must also believe they are true, you must know that you know that they are true.] 

C.     A New Persuasion (vs 9-13) [– So the Apostle John clearly identifies the difference between those who have received the new birth and those who merely know of the birth.  John then goes on to reveal,] 

1.      The Witnesses Of God (vs 9-10) [- 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. ¹⁰ 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. – Someone might ask, “How am I supposed to really believe something as unbelievable as the supernatural conception of Jesus Christ?”]   

[The truth is, if you’re really honest about the Bible and your ability to believe it you will discover that  if you cannot believe the biblical record concerning the conception of Christ then you cannot believe the biblical record concerning the supernatural resurrection of Christ either.  It is likely that you know all the miraculous stories of the Bible but you do not really believe them.  This is exactly why you find it hard to obey God and live sacrificially for Him.] 

[So how can you come to really believe and be born again?  You must recognize the witness and testimony of God as given in the Bible.  When you know that the Bible is God’s witness to you, then you will finally find yourself able to read the Bible with a believing heart and mind.] 

2.      A Walk With God (vs 11-13) [- ¹¹ And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. ¹³ These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. – Those of us who have already found God’s Word in the Bible, have heard His witness and testimony, and have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ; his birth, his conception, and his substantiation through the Holy Spirit.  We all walk in the presence of God.  So can you.] 

CrossRoads Baptist, Sunday Evening, September 7, 2008