Before leaving the Epistle of St. John we will briefly notice the teaching of the three witnesses in chapter 5. " 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. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one." John has his eye on the cross. It was from the pierced side of Jesus that the blood and the water flowed forth; and that to which they bear witness is that God has given us eternal life through the death of His beloved Son. "It is the judgment of death pronounced and executed (compare Rom. 8:33For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3)) on the flesh, on all that is of the old man, on the first Adam. Not that the sin of the first Adam was in the flesh of Christ, but that Jesus died in it as a sacrifice for that sin!" In that he died, he died unto sin once! Here we have the blood that atones, the water that purifies, and the Spirit that dwelleth in us, bearing witness to their efficacy. We belong to the new creation of God; we possess life in resurrection. The blood of propitiation cleanseth us from all sin, the water of purification maintains us as spotless as the blood has made us, and the Holy Spirit is the power in applying these through faith in the word, giving us the joy of both, and bearing witness because He is truth.
That to which the three bear witness is made plain and interesting by the following quotation from one of the Brethren's books; the same line of truth will he found in all their writings.
" He came by water-a powerful testimony, as flowing from the side of a dead Christ, that life is not to be sought for in the first Adam; for Christ, as associated with him, taking up his cause, the Christ come in the flesh, had to die: else He had remained alone in His own purity. Life is to be sought for in the Son of God risen from among the dead.
" But it was not by water only that He came; it was also by blood. The expiation of our sins was as necessary as the moral purification of our souls. We possess it in the blood of a slain Christ. Death alone could expiate them, blot them out. And Jesus died for us. The guilt of the believer no longer exists before God; Christ has put Himself in his place. The life is on high, and we are raised up together with Him, God having forgiven us all our trespasses.
"The third witness is the Spirit-put first in the order of their testimony on earth; last in their historic order. In effect, it is the testimony of the Spirit, His presence in us, which enables us to appreciate the value of the water and the blood.
"We should never have understood the practical bearing of the death of Christ, if the Holy Ghost were not a revealing power to the new man, of its import and efficacy. Now, the Holy Ghost came down from a risen and ascended Christ, and thus we know that eternal life is given us in the Son of God.
"The testimony of those three witnesses meet together in this same truth, namely, that grace, that God Himself, has given us eternal life; and that this life is in His Son. Man had nothing to do in it-except by his sins. It is the gift of God. And the life that He gives us is in His Son. The testimony is the testimony of God. How blessed to have such a testimony, and that from God Himself, and in perfect grace!"