The Greater Witness
we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son.” 1 John 5:9
If I tell you that God loves you, and you believe me, that’s a good thing. But if God Himself tells you that He loves you, and you believe Him, that’s even better, because God’s witness will always be greater than mine. You see, if I tell you that God loves you, and you believe me, I can place conditions on God’s love for you. I can tell you things like: “God loves you, if you stop doing that, and start doing this”. If I tell you that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died, was buried, and arose from the dead on the third day for our sins according to the Scriptures, and you believe me, that’s a good thing. But if you believe God when He testifies of His Son, that is much greater, because God will never lie to you. God’s witness of His Son will always be completely perfect, but mine will be flawed. I can tell you that Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice for our sins on the cross was completely sufficient. However, you may have a hard time believing my witness. But when the Holy Spirit tells you that God will never again remember your sins because of Jesus’ all-sufficient sacrifice, you will have no problem believing, because His witness is greater than mine. Does God use flawed people to witness of His Son? Absolutely. But if God doesn’t have the final word in our witness, no one will ever be able to believe on Jesus. If the Holy Spirit has not been witnessing to you about Jesus, you will have a hard time believing my witness of Him. But if you do receive my witness, you already know that the witness which God has testified of His Son will always be greater.