THE WATER, THE SPIRIT, THE BLOOD.

Monday 25 November

And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. 1 John 5:8 (NKJV)

how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14 (NKJV)

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

When we look at 1 John 5:8 it seems that there are three different things mentioned that look seperate from each other. Water, spirit and blood. But what if I told you that it is not like that in the original text.?This verse has been a mystery to many people so let’s go deeper shall we?

The verse should actually read: the water which is the spirit, which is the blood. Let me explain.

Water has been interpreted as water baptism or natural birth but both of these ideas are not accurate. How do we know this? Jesus Himself told us what the water represented in John 7:37-39

‘Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living WATER.’” But this He spoke of the SPIRIT, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’

If you study this passage carefully, you will see that out of Jesus’ spirit (not yours) would flow rivers of living WATER in salvation and the water represented the SPIRIT that believers would receive after Jesus resurrection. Christians now have the Spirit which is why there is no more need for water baptism. Jesus has been glorified!

So how is this water, which is spirit, also blood? Because Jesus offered His blood through the Eternal Spirit. Two important things help to answer this. Firstly, Jesus blood was spilled on the cross and not shed. Why?

Only the High priest could shed blood on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies which symbolised the heart of a believer that would be forever purified by Jesus blood. Secondly, it was a physical liquid that had to be converted into a spiritual substance which is why Christ’s blood would need to be offered as spirit through the Spirit.

Romans 5:5 says ‘the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit’. The manifestation of that love was shed abroad by our Great High Priest in our spirits. This made us holy for God to come and dwell in us. The only way for all of us to have an opportunity to have the blood applied to our hearts was for Jesus to do it in the Spirit.

Think about this. It would be absolutely impossible for everyone to have received the blood of Jesus in the last 2,000 years since the crucifixion let alone backdated approximately 4,000 years to the time of the fall of Man, had it not been converted into a spiritual substance that transcended time, space and matter.

In John 5:7 it tells us ‘there are three that testify. The Father, the Word and the Spirit.’It then tells us that these three are one. This gives us an indication of the oneness in agreement of these three inseparable personalities of the Godhead.

In the same way it is inseparable in regard to these three things that bear witness in earth Christ the water IS the Spirit and the Spirit IS the blood and ‘these three agree as one.’

APPLICATION

Comprehend the reality that when Christ shed his blood on the mercy seat that is your heart, you were washed on the inside and forever made righteous and holy.