1 John 5:6-13

v6-8: “We are defiled inwardly by the power and pollution of sin in our nature,” and need “to be cleansed” by “spiritual water, which can reach the soul and its powers,” and “we are defiled outwardly by the guilt and condemning power of sin in our lives” and need to “be purged from this by atoning blood.” When Jesus died, “his side was pierced by a soldier’s spear,” and “water and blood flowed immediately out of the wound.” This water and blood showed that Christ’s death achieved everything that was necessary for our salvation. “By water, our souls are washed and purified for heaven,” and “by the blood we are justified, reconciled, and presented righteous to God.” The water and the blood “include all things that are needed for our salvation.”

v9-10: If you believe in Jesus Christ, you can affirm from within, in your heart, what Christ has done for you. You have seen your “sin, guilt, misery, and abundant need of… a Saviour.” You have seen “the excellence, beauty, and office of the Son of God, and the incomparable suitableness of such a Saviour for all [your] spiritual needs and sad circumstances.” You have seen and wondered “at the wisdom and love of God in preparing and sending such a Saviour to rescue [you] from sin and hell and to raise [you] up to pardon, peace, and fellowship with God,” and you have “found and felt the power of the word and message of Christ, wounding, humbling, healing, giving life to, and comforting [your] soul.”

v11-12: To refuse to trust in Christ, is to refuse the Son, “who is life itself,” the One “who gains both life and the way to it.” But those who trust in Christ “are united to the Son” and “are united to life” and “have the privilege of eternal life.”

v13: The Scriptures have been written for our “encouragement and salvation.” We must keep on believing what they say because “to withdraw from believing in the name of the Son of God is to renounce eternal life and draw back to destruction.”