1 John 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood… The design of Christ's death was to procure both the justification and sanctification of the Church. I. THE FIRST PART OF THIS DESIGN is declared by St. John, in this epistle (1 John 1:7). Cleansing is a term which supposes defilement; and sin is, in Scripture, represented as horribly defiling, rendering the soul impure, odious, and abominable in the sight of God, who is perfectly pure and holy. If we are duly sensible of our sinful defilement, we shall certainly be anxious for cleansing. And how can this be obtained? The tears of repentance will not wash away our sins. Nor is mere reformation and moral improvement sufficient. But, behold the Divine provision! Behold the precious blood issuing from the wounded side of the Son of God! The blood of which we speak, procures the justification of all who believe. We are said to be "justified through faith in His (Christ's) blood"; elsewhere, to be "brought nigh by His blood"; and again, to be "redeemed by His blood"; and to be "washed from our sins in His blood." But it is "through faith" that we are thus justified; Jesus Christ is "the propitiation for our sins": but it is "through faith in His blood"; it must be received by every man, for himself, in particular. The perfect efficacy of this blood is frequently expressed in Scripture in very strong terms: "I have blotted out," saith God, "thy sins, as a thick cloud." "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Yea, saith the penitent psalmist, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow"; and again, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." "This is He that came by blood." II. THIS IS HE THAT CAME BY WATER. This signifies a second blessed effect of the death of Christ, the sanctification of believers, in virtue of that death. 1. It is by the mediation of Christ, meritoriously. We owe to Jesus Christ the renovation of our nature in the image of God; for He died to "bring us to God"; to "redeem us to God" (Ephesians 5:25, 27). 2. It is through faith in Christ, instrumentally. 3. But it is efficiently, by the Holy Spirit, that believers are sanctified. 4. The sanctification of believers is promoted by the means of grace, as religious ordinances of Divine appointment are properly called. 5. To these we may add, the various afflictions with which God, in His holy providence, visits His people.Conclusion: 1. Let us reflect, with becoming humility, on our natural defilement. 2. If we are by nature thus defiled, how necessary is it that we should be cleansed? 3. Let believers in Christ, already sanctified in part, still look to Jesus for further supplies of grace. (G. Burder.) Parallel Verses KJV: This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. |
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