1 John 5:8 Display Chapter and Footnotes   8 And there are three that bear witness in earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; these three agree as one.3 [The three witnesses are : First, the spirit that bears witness in the earth, which mortifies them, which circumcises them, which leads them into all truth; Secondly, They come to know the water which is a witness in the earth; by which they are washed, their minds, their souls, their spirits, and in their bodies, with this pure water. The third witness is his blood, with which the hearts of people are sprinkled, and their consciences are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, by which blood they are sanctified, they are cleansed from all their dead works, to serve the living God. (Dead works are decided to be done by the carnal mind and will of man. Works of obedient faith to God's orders are not dead works.) From the Word of the Lord within: "The three witnesses: these three clearly must be manifest; eyes have to germinate. When you are purged from dead works, you are freed from serving iniquity to serving God. Every man must experience being a slave to God. You must submit continually. He must do all things. Happy are they who serve God in His kingdom."] |
3 The Spirit, the water, and the blood bear witness on the earth. These are the events that you must see, feel, and experience for you to be a true believer in the Son of God. From George Fox's Letter 265.
"So Christ the light teaches his people to believe in the light which manifests all things; and they that believe in the light have the witness in themselves of Christ, in whom they believe. They have the witness in themselves, that he is their redeemer, and savior, and their way, their truth, and their life; for with the light they see him, they believing in the light that makes manifest; and after they believe in the light, become children of the light; they witness themselves, that they are sealed, for their belief in the light stands in Christ the light, who has bought and purchased them; and after they are sealed by the spirit of promise, having God's mark or stamp set upon them, they can set to their seal, that God is true in all his promises, in all his prophets concerning Christ Jesus; who taught them to believe in the light. With the light they see, and come to know the "three that bear record in heaven," and the "three that bear record on earth, the spirit the water, and the blood."
- First, the spirit that bears witness in the earth, which mortifies them, which circumcises them, which leads them into all truth; in which spirit is their fellowship, and a bond peace, that keeps down that which troubles them; by which spirit the believers are baptized into one body; brought out of the many bodies; and so by the spirit they are brought to the one head, who is Christ Jesus, (though there are many heads in the world), by which spirit they are sanctified, by which spirit they are instructed, by which spirit they worship God, by which spirit they are covered, by which spirit they pray, and by which spirit they sing praises to God who is a spirit, by which spirit they have an understanding, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge, which is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, which is eternal life.
- Secondly, They come to know the water which is a witness in the earth; by which they are washed, their minds, their souls, their spirits, and in their bodies, with this pure water. And this is a witness in the earth with the light; to those who believe in it, it manifests these two witnesses in the earth, and with the light they see the pope's counterfeit holy water, which he has set up since the apostles' days, who with the light bear witness against it, not to be God's witness, nor of God's setting up. And so the children of the light, who believe in the light, their bodies, their souls, their spirits, and their minds are washed clean in this pure, clean, holy water; that comes from above, from the pure holy God, which is one of these witnesses in the earth.
- The third witness is his blood, with which the hearts of people are sprinkled, and their consciences are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. As Moses sprinkled the outside of the posts, etc. with the blood of bulls and goats; which blood of bulls and goats, Christ's blood ends, which sprinkles the heart and conscience of people. So this blood of Jesus Christ, the heavenly man, is felt in the hearts and consciences of people; by which blood they are sanctified, they are cleansed from all their dead works, to serve the living God, and to serve their dead works no longer. So by this blood they are cleansed from all sin. Those who walk in the light, and believe in the light, they are children of the light, and children of the day; and the blood of Jesus Christ, the son of God, cleanses them from all sin; and their garments are made white in the blood of the Lamb; by which they come to testify of Jesus; they overcome the beast, the whore, the false church.
And so every true believer, believes as Christ has taught them, to believe in the light, that so they may become children of the light. They have these three witnesses that bear witness in the earth, to bear witness in themselves; and they can set to their seal, that God is true in all his works, in prophets and apostles, and his son; and they shall come to know, and do come to know, the three that bear record in heaven, and the three that bear record in the earth."
I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service and worship. Rom 12:1. At the conclusion of the death of our selfish, sinful nature, we are washed on the inside with holy water, we are burned with the Holy Spirit's baptism of fire, the blood of Jesus is sprinkled in our consciences, (the door to our heart), and we offer the incense of prayerful praise, joy, and thanksgiving for being freed from the darkness of this world to enter the kingdom.
From the Word of the Lord within: "The three witnesses: these three clearly must be manifest; eyes have to germinate." You must clearly see the three witnesses with the eyes of your heart, and the eyes of your heart must first be developed, which comes with persistent and patient waiting on God in humble silence to hear and see His revelations from the Word and light within your heart.
_______________________________________