1 John : Day 9 : Testimony

Day Nine: Testimony

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.  For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.  If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.  Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:1-12 (ESV)

In chapter five, John starts to conclude this epistle.  He begins this with a theme of testimony.  Most of us have seen enough Law & Order to know that a testimony is an account, by a witness, as to what happened during an event.  What does that look like in a Christian context?

There are at least two aspects of the Christian testimony.  The first is obedience, which we have discussed before.  We may look like everyone else, but we don’t act like everyone else.  We are truly different.  Remember all those stickers that have the initials NOTW?  You probably know that it stands for Not Of This World.  

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:14-17 ESV)

Through sanctification, we look less like the world around us.  We resemble something that is alien to the culture around us.  We don’t talk the same, our goals aren’t the same, our motivation is definitely not the same.  This doesn’t mean we will not fail at times, it means that we are on the same team of the One who conquered sin and death.  That is worth celebrating.  It gives us confidence to go out into the world and live differently than those around us.

The second part is in speech.  We cannot expect people to just know the Gospel, or just understand what it is.  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 ESV).  Not everyone is going to be a preacher.  Not everyone is going to lead crusades like a Billy Graham or a Greg Laurie.  But we must be faithful with the message we have been given.  Each of us has been radically transformed by Jesus, even if our story is boring.  We should also remember, we are not telling our story.  We didn’t save ourselves, we are not heroes of our salvation story.  When we give a testimony, it is not our testimony; it’s actually God’s.  He is the One who did the work in us, and therefore we are His mouthpieces.  I cannot tell you how to present the Message, or to present it to, but it is a story worth telling.