Paul C. Jong’s Spiritual Growth Series 4 - The First Epistle of John (II)

If you are a true Christian, you should know God's love more than just abstractly. Those who know and believe Jesus as their Savior must know God's love concretely in their remission of sins that was accomplished through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. We have to become true believers of this true gospel in order to know God's love in depth. In this true gospel, the love of God manifests itself concretely and in detail. If we are to know God as love, our knowledge has to come from God's concrete love for us that is revealed in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Only then can we lead others to the true love of God. The Apostle John testifies that Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, is the Savior and God Himself. The essence of his testimony is the Truth of the remission of sin, which belongs to the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. As it is written in the Word of God, the water signifies Jesus' baptism that He received from John the Baptist, and the blood signifies the judgment He received for all our sins. Again, the evidence of our salvation lies in the Holy Spirit, the water, and the blood (1 John 5:8). The ministries of the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit are those of God through which He has delivered sinners from all their sins.