The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood

“Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” 1 John 5:5-8.

To overcome the world—Who would not want that? And yet this is what has been promised to us through faith in God’s Son. It takes place through the Spirit, the water, and the blood, since it is these three that testify of the Son of God. If the Son of God—the Overcomer—is to be revealed in us, then we must allow His testimony to have free rein in our lives, because without that, victory is out of the question.

1. The Spirit: Without it, we are orphans—without insight and without power, and as such we absolutely cannot overcome. But when we have been baptized by God’s Holy Spirit, we will possess this Spirit, which will guide us into all truth. It will search out even the deep things of God. It will intercede for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, even when we do not know what we should pray for.

He is the person in the Godhead who does not speak of Himself. He shares only what He hears, because He takes of those things that belong to Christ and declares them to us. He will tell us things to come. John 16:13-15. He does not speak of Himself, but He takes the things that belong to Christ and declares them to us. But what did Jesus come with? With water and blood.

2. The Water: Not only with water. Water is used for outward cleansing, for washing, and for forgiveness of sins, because every sin that a person commits is outside the body. 1 Cor. 6:18. But the one who commits sexual immorality sins against their own body. Water washes sins away. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Heb. 10:22. Most people are content with just the water, but Christ did not come only with water. He came with water and with blood.

3. The Blood: While it is true that when a person receives Christ, they share in the Spirit, the water, and the blood unto salvation, not everyone is able to distinguish between these witnesses in their own life.

We know that the blood came forth in Christ and that He offered Himself in the power of an eternal Spirit, but the question is whether that same eternal Spirit has been able to lead us to sacrifice unto bloodshed. It is true that God dealt severely with His own beloved Son, but He did not do that so that we ourselves could avoid such treatment, as people falsely teach. The Spirit of God cannot be united with man’s old leaven, old doctrines, imaginations about the return of Christ, the millennium, and many other things that only satisfy carnal senses and human curiosity. It can only be united with the water (the forgiveness of sins or the purification of the body) and the blood (the death of the old Adam). God’s Spirit will never be united with the old Adam’s “doctrines” about this and that. It has seen more than enough of him. This is why such people also speak out from their old leaven in their own spirit.

God’s Spirit only unites with water and with blood; in other words, the death of Christ. It shuns everything else. We cannot fully avail ourselves of the blood of Christ all at once, but we can avail ourselves of it by constantly being delivered into death. In this way, the blood comes forth from us, and that is what is required, because it is only in the power of this blood that God can raise us from the dead. “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Heb. 13:20-21.

We see here that it was through the power of the blood of an everlasting covenant that God was able to raise Christ from the dead. Now He will also raise us up through the power of that same blood—to the degree that we are delivered into death. We are already receiving the power of the resurrection here. Phil. 3:10. But the resurrection—the resurrection of our bodies—will not take place until the resurrection morning. At that time, one person will shine like the sun and another like the moon, and one star will surpass another in glory. God’s righteousness will then be revealed in us, and we will see the things that now are hidden—that is, the difference between one who is righteous and one who is unrighteous. That is why if we are to have an abundant entrance into the eternal dwelling places, we must exercise ourselves now in receiving the testimony of Jesus: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Of course, there will be sufferings according to the flesh when God’s will leads us by the Spirit toward the water and the blood, but all of this works together to manifest divine nature in us and to give us a more abundant and more glorious resurrection from the dead.

There are people who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit in recent years, but they have dragged all of their old theories, old leaven, and false love into their new state, and they have put a lot of effort into trying to unite the Spirit with all of this folly. They work tirelessly in direct opposition to God’s word, using analogies and other illustrations to get their fellow men to agree with their folly, which is destined for destruction. The Spirit only unites with water and blood.

How quickly people could grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ if only they would let go of these things. God loves people and longs to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, but He is unable to because they drag along their huge burden of theories, which they think will help them to find nourishment and recognition according to the flesh. But God will not relent. His Spirit will only be united with water and blood, and only those who allow this testimony to be sufficient for them, both in life and in death, will overcome the world.