“Jesus I Know. Paul I Know. Who are you?” – Part 4

II – EVALUATING THE TEXTS INFERRING THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT.

I am arguing that the revelatory premise in the New Testament is that fallible vessels are the conduit for the infallible work of the Spirit and out of necessity must rely on an infallible source to validate their claims.  Stated otherwise, no wise Christian should respond to any impression, thought or feeling, believing it is from the Lord without testing it with an infallible source.  Opponents offer various New Testament references that seem to refute my claim, therefore I am examining each text to see if in fact it does.  

In this Blog I look at 1 John 5:6,10 .   You can read the previous Blogs by clicking here:  Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

I have examined Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:18 and an important text in John 16:12-14.  None support the notion of direct, authoritative revelation given to the Believer.  But what about 1 John 5:6,10?

4. 1 John 5:6, 10 (ESV), ⁶ This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth . . . ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

The context here is that John is providing witness to the deity of Christ. He speaks of “water and blood” and now adds a third witness: the indwelling Spirit. Thus, according to John’s count here, there are three that bear record of who Christ is. John’s three witnesses then are: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and the three agree in one.

By trusting Christ as Savior, we as Christians mystically live in Christ, and Christ lives in us. So the believer also has the Spirit who is once more that third witness that John wrote about.  So it seems obviously that the indwelling Spirit of God gives witness to the Lordship of Christ – His Deity.  Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 12:3 (ESV),

³ Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

This passage is assurance to us that the Spirit of God will bear testimony, subjectively, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.   This is the experience of Peter who affirmed this truth.  What did Jesus say to him?  He said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17, ESV)

This cannot be regarded as a proof text for direct and unequivocal revelations from God to a certain individual. But 1 John 2:27 might be another story, so we look at that next.