1 John 5:9
If 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. If 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.
If human testimony is accepted as true, God's testimony is far greater, and that greater testimony is what He has given concerning His Son. To receive such a witness is to believe what is declared, giving God credit for what He says and taking Him at His word. His witness is greater because He cannot lie or deceive, and His word carries power to accomplish what He declares. His testimony concerning His Son is that He gives eternal life, and this life is in His Son, so that whoever has the Son has life and whoever does not have the Son does not have life, which means eternal life is not possessed by nature by all but is found only in Christ. Believing this testimony gives inward knowledge of Christ and sure assurance of eternal life, while refusing to believe it makes God a liar though He remains true.
Greater Witness of God
If human testimony is received as true, God's testimony is greater, and that greater testimony is what He has testified concerning His Son. To receive a witness, whether of men or of God, is to believe what is testified, for receiving and believing are the same act. Faith is giving God credit for what He says, receiving His testimony as true and taking Him at His word. This is part of a simple and unmistakable explanation of faith that shows how and whom to believe, what and when to believe, the sin of not believing, and what is gained by believing.
God's witness is greater because God cannot lie but remains faithful and cannot deceive. His spoken word has power to bring about what He declares. His witness to the Son came through an audible voice and through the works done by Him. That witness is delivered through God's Word and through the gospel, where God speaks and calls for the same prompt trust given to the word of an honorable man.
The verse follows the agreement of the Spirit, the water, and the blood as witnesses who agree together. The argument remains complete in connection and sense without the disputed words about witnesses in heaven inserted in verses 7-8, which are not needed for its connection or sense. God's witness in His Word is surer and more reliable than human witness such as a house title deed. If human writings are trusted to give confidence of ownership, God's own record should be trusted far more, for it carries the highest and final authority for relationship with God. That testimony confirms that the covenant with Abraham was based on obedience to His commandments.
Eternal Life in Son
God's testimony concerning His Son is that He gives eternal life, and this life is in His Son, so whoever has the Son has life and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. This was written so that those who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life, and believers can trust this testimony delivered through His word as the warrant of their hope. The one who believes on the Son of God has that witness in himself, while the one who does not believe God makes Him a liar by not believing the witness God gave concerning His Son.
Eternal life is therefore not an immortal possession all people already have by nature, but is found only in Christ, belonging to those who have the Son while those without the Son do not have it. The Son has life in Himself because the Father gave it to Him, and those who have the Son have life while those who do not have the Son do not have life. This eternal life is God's gift through Christ, to be received by His people at Christ's coming and the resurrection.
The testimony shows that Christ's substitutionary suffering and death deliver people from sin and death and make it possible for them to share His righteousness and eternal life. Believing what God says about His Son is the basis for trusting the Son Himself. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, with a unique sonship distinct from that shared by believers.
The Father's testimony concerns the Son's death and resurrection, and believing it connects people on earth with Christ in heaven and gives them life. Physical distance does not hinder faith in God's testimony, for contact with Christ's death brings newness of life, just as touching Him during His earthly life brought healing. That testimony also confirms that the covenant with Abraham was based on obedience to His commandments. Because God's testimony about His Son carries the highest authority, greater than human testimony, it affirms the claim that God made heaven and earth and all they contain in six days.
Believing God's Witness
Believing God's testimony about His Son supplies knowledge of the Son and gives the believer an inward witness and personal knowledge of Christ in himself. People may first come to know God through the human witness of Christians whose lives reveal Christ, but human witness is not the highest or final witness. Believers must receive God's greater witness inwardly and know God for themselves rather than settle for comparison with others or secondhand faith.
Receiving this testimony leaves no need for another witness because nothing can be added to it. The person who has it has truth and is secure, with faith anchoring firmly. Human arguments against the truth cannot undo that knowledge. God's record is to be trusted far more to give assurance of eternal life to everyone who believes on and accepts the Son as Saviour and Lord, and believers can trust it as the warrant of their hope.
When people do not believe what God declares concerning His Son, they make Him a liar and disbelieve God, though God remains true. Accepting God's provision in Christ is evidenced by confessing and forsaking sin and conforming the life to God's standard. What is believed on human testimony should be believed still more on God's testimony, in the same direct and prompt way a message from an employer or an honorable man is believed. Applied to Christ's call to the laboring and heavy-laden to come for rest and to coming to Christ as the sinner's only refuge, simply believing that promise sets the anxious soul at liberty that very night, giving peace through His blood, joy in God as Saviour, a life pointing others to Calvary, and a walk in the narrow way.
Believing the Father's testimony about His Son's death and resurrection connects people on earth with Christ in heaven and gives them life, and physical distance does not hinder faith. Contact with Christ's death brings newness of life, just as touching Him during His earthly life brought healing.