Jesus Gives Eternal Life

1 John 5:9–11 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁹If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son. ¹⁰The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

If human testimony is accepted on the basis of three witnesses, how much more should God’s testimony be accepted. Two points are made before specifying God’s testimony in verses 11–12. First, divine testimony should be accepted because it is greater than human testimony, which everyone accepts. Second, willful unbelief is sin. If we trust people to be true to their word, why would we not trust God, who is more trustworthy than humans?

If a person accepts the testimony of God, he has an internal (in his heart) assurance that what he has believed is actually true. Reformers called this the testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum, or the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. It is given in addition to the historical evidence (Rom. 8:16). Anyone who rejects God’s testimony has made him out to be a liar. There is no middle ground. You are either with God or against him.

By David Walls and Max Anders