18. Thus we have the first part of our sermon on the new birth and
faith. For the second part, John shows whence and by what means comes
the faith productive of victory; he says: "This is he that came by
water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with
the water and with the blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three who bear
witness [in earth], the Spirit, and the water, and the blood," etc.
19. John speaks of Christ's kingdom, and of the office the Holy Spirit
bears outwardly and visibly in the Christian Church, represented in
the ministerial office and the sacraments. He says: "There are three
who bear witness [in earth]." John, as usual, employs the word
"witness" in connection with the thought of preaching; it is a word he
frequently uses. For instance, in the beginning of his gospel, where
he speaks of John the Baptist, he says (ch. 1, 7): "The same came for
a witness, that he might bear witness of the light." So, in his use of
the phrase "witness" or "bearing witness," we are to understand simply
the public preaching of God's Word. Again, Christ says (John 16,
9-14), that the Holy Spirit shall bear witness of him; that is, he
shall publicly fill the ministerial office. This is God's own witness
to his Son. And here John tells us we have the victory over the devil
and the world, through faith, for the sake of Christ the Son of God.
20. This witness Christ himself ordains shall ever go forth, and
remain, in the Church. To this end Christ sent the Holy Spirit; to
this end Christ himself called and gave the Holy Spirit to the
apostles and their successors, ministers, preachers and teachers, as
Paul tells us (Eph 4, 11-13), who are to exercise the Word, that the
Word may resound always and everywhere in the world, reaching to
children's children, and on down to future generations. Were the
witness not in the Church, the pulpit--in fact, the entire outward
administration of the Church--would be useless, for every man could
read the Scriptures for himself. But for the sake of the uninstructed
masses and the constantly rising young who, as yet in ignorance of the
Word, need admonition--for the sake of these, the Spirit must bear
public witness or administer the preaching office that they, too, may
learn to know the grace of God manifest and given to us through
Christ, and that God's wondrous works may be publicly recognized and
extolled by us in opposition to the devil and the world.
21. Wherever such witness is borne, there certainly will be some
fruit. The witness never fails of effect. Some surely will be reached;
some will accept and believe it. Since it is the witness of the Holy
Spirit, and the apostle says here, the Spirit beareth witness, he will
be effective, producing in us that to which John refers when he says
we are children of God, and have the victory and eternal life. So the
Word--or the Gospel message accompanied by the witness of the
Spirit--and faith are vitally related. In the last analysis they are
inseparable. Without faith, preaching will be fruitless; and faith has
origin in the Word alone. Therefore, we should gladly hear and handle
the Word. Where it is, there is also the Holy Spirit; and where the
Spirit is, there must be at least some believers. Even if you have
already heard the Word and obtained faith, it will always continue to
strengthen you as you hear it. One knows not at what hour God may
touch and illumine his or another's heart. It may be in a time when we
least look for it, or in the individual of whom we have least
expectation. For the Spirit, as Christ says, breathes where he will,
and touches hearts when and where he knows them to be receptive.
22. It is relative to the power and energy wrought by the Holy Spirit
that John speaks, indicating the source and means of the power of this
witness, when he says of Christ, "This is he that came by water and
blood," etc. In this sentence is included all we possess in the
kingdom of Christ, and here is extolled the efficacy of our beloved
baptism and the blood or sufferings of Christ. Here John unites all
the elements in one bundle, so to speak, making a triune witness. They
bear joint witness to our faith and confirm it--these three: the
water, the blood and the Spirit.