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If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
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This is the Epistle reading selection for the seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will follow a mandatory reading from the Acts of the Apostles (this week from chapter 1), where it states: “Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart.”’ Prior to this reading, Psalm 1 will be read aloud, which sings: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.” This reading will precede the selection from John’s Gospel, where Jesus prayed: “While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me.”
This reading selection begins with the translation that says, “If we receive human testimony.” In that, the first word in Greek is a capitalized “Ei,” where “If” or “Forasmuch as” is divinely elevated to the level of ‘free will’ and a soul’s allowance to follow the influences it chooses. For anyone reading John’s first epistle, the chances are good that one is seeking to know Yahweh. Reading Scripture is good, in the sense that it is the Word of God. However, the ‘big IF’ proposed here says “testimony” [“martyrian”] comes first from “humans” [“anthrōpōn,” which says “man”]. In the translation above, one must recognize that John did not write his first epistle in English; so, “If we receive human testimony” says one accepts an English translation as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth – when it is not.
All translations of Holy Scripture are "human testimony," whether or not those translations accurately restate what was stated by a prophet of Yahweh.
What John then followed with says, “the testimony of God is greater.” This is what I have been promoting for quite a long time … without many believing what I offer is of any value.
When John referred to “testimony,” the word used implies Scripture – from all Biblical books – is direct “witnessing, evidence, and the reputation” of prophets of Yahweh. We are not writing personal opinions when we read the Holy Bible. The words written – including these written by John in his letter – is “the testimony of Yahweh” [“Theou”], not the one whose name who the document is attributed to have been written by. Thus, the actual text written is written at the direction of Yahweh, making it Holy, so the written text is “greater” than the paraphrases that come from English translations.
Even to those Greeks, who are fluent in reading Greek text, what they see with human eyes and process with human brains is less than what will come to them through the “testimony of Yahweh” speaking to them as insight.
This means, when John then wrote: “for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son,” he was saying, “This letter under the name of John is the testimony of God, being testified to His Son.” That says John is a Son of God; and, that says John has been reborn as Jesus.
The truth that is contained in these written words demands one also be reborn as Jesus, so one is also a Son of God, so one can see that is what God testified through His Son named John. This is greater than thinking this segment of words mean John is writing a letter to praise Jesus as the only Son of God. To make God not be able to have His Son reborn into the souls of many, many people is to take this Word of God and reduce it to fit one’s brain and one’s preconceptions.
That is why verse 10 then says, “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.” This leads many readers to the preconception that “belief” is a heartfelt emotion, like a “love” of God that makes one feel special. In reality, John did not write the word “heart.”
The word John wrote that has been reduced to simple “belief” has “greater” meaning when read as “faith.” What John literally wrote is this: “this having faith in is the result him Son that of God holds this testimony in his soul.” There, the word “hautō” was written, but then changed to say “heart.” The word means “-self” [as himself, herself, yourself, or myself, etc.], where a “self” must be seen as a “soul.” It can only be from that understanding that “heart” can replace “self,” as the soul is the center of one’s being. By that recognition, John was saying a soul married to Yahweh then has oneself led by Yahweh, as His Son reborn, coming with testimony that is divine.
The second half of verse 10 has John then adding: “Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.” Here, again, the word that has greater meaning as “faith” has been reduced to “belief.” The truth of what John wrote is this: “this” [in the singular – not “those”] not having faith thereupon God , deceiver has caused self , because not he has faith in purpose this testimony which has testified this God concerning of who Son self.”
Notice how this is broken into three segments of words, first addressing “this not having faith as God within.” That does not make one “a liar,” but one has been misled by the “deceiver,” who is Satan. Because of paraphrases and nobody explaining the truth, Satan has overrun the churches of Christianity, so few have faith that he or she can write and/or understand Scripture, because God is within one’s soul, operating as His Son. John is then translated and taught to mean "believing John saying Jesus is the only Son of God," when John did not intend that meaning. The "lie" is not explaining the truth or exposing the truth for others to see.
With that realized, verse 11 then says [NRSV]: “And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” The capitalized “And” does not bring fourth the great importance that knowing a “Kai” represents, as it is a marker, not a simple conjunction. The great importance is John once again stating, “here [his writing in “this” letter] exists this testimony”. There is no colon punctuation, as that segment of words leads to a comma mark, separating it from that which follows. The truth John wrote is clear: All Scripture is the testimony of Yahweh.
Following the comma mark, John then wrote, “because spiritual existence eternal has offered”. The words “zōēn aiōnion” have been translated by me as “spiritual existence eternal,” but they can equally state “life eternal.” One has to grasp that a soul is eternal, but when it is born into a body of flesh it is condemned to die, making an unsaved soul be hopping from body to body [reincarnation] for an eternity, unless it is condemned to suffer the outer darkness and have no ability to return to the material plane. Thus, the “gift of life eternal” is an “offering” by God, to a soul, which means Salvation; and, that means marriage of one’s soul to Yahweh, which in turn brings about the resurrection of the Jesus soul in one’s body, when the Christ Mind brings forth the knowledge of faith.
It is from this statement that John [known to use mathematical symbols that cannot translate into text] wrote the following, in Greek: “« ho Theos » ⇔ hemin ,” where double left brackets and double right brackets enclose the words that state, “this God.”
That says the “offer” of “life eternal” can only come from Yahweh, as “this God” means “life eternal.” The double left bracket makes an important statement that the “offer” is to humans, which means souls trapped in the death of the physical realm. When one’s soul has married Yahweh, then one becomes “this God,” when one’s soul submits totally to His Will. That then leads to a double right bracket, which projects Salvation of a soul.
The left right arrow is a mathematical symbol that states: If that prior is true, then that next is also true. Conversely, if that prior is false, so too will be false that which follows. The symbol says: If “this God” is true, then “us,” “we,” or “ours” is also true, meaning God possesses one’s soul. Conversely, if “this God” is not true [false], then “we” retain our souls, without Salvation.
Relative to the assumption that John wrote the truth, that is then followed by a comma mark that separates that statement from the next; and, he began the next with the marker word “kai,” which denotes importance that must be realized. That is stated by the NRSV as “this life is in his Son,” but the importance returns one to what John was writing, as “here [this document written] this spiritual existence [“zōē”] in thereupon Son self existence.” There, “zōē” is “life,” which is a “soul.” The Greek word “estin” means “is,” but must be seen as a statement that one’s “being” or one’s “existence” [what “is”], which has importantly [“kai”] become “spiritually” elevated, such that John was the “Son within.”
That then led John to write [NRSV]: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” This translation is valid enough to use, as it makes it clear that possession of one’s soul by Yahweh makes one become the “Son,” and from that possession of one’s soul, that soul has earned Salvation, which means “life eternal.” What needs to be seen is the semi-colon that connects two opposing views: one with the Son; and, one without the Son. That reflects back on the mathematical symbol “⇔ ,” where the truth states the first, and the lie states the second. That returns one to the original premise that offers the choice of “human testimony” or that which is “greater,” coming from God.
Verse 13 then begins with the capitalized word “Tauta,” which places divine essence of “These.” Rather than reduce the Word of God to “things,” the importance intended through capitalization is John stating [like he repeated as “here”] “These” words are a reflection of what had just been stated. That is missed when the NRSV translates this simply as: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
That paraphrase reduces what John wrote, as the first segment of words is where a focus is placed on “life eternal,” not at the end. The first segment of words translates literally to say, “These have I written to you in order that you may perceive because spiritual existence [“zōēn”] you hold eternal”. That places importance on realizing each reader has an eternal soul, but the manner in which Yahweh has John write [the truth clouded] is not clear to human brains. This leads to the subjunctive aspect of “you may perceive” or “you might realize,” which means one has to be guided to see the truth herein contained. One’s soul must seek the truth, in order to gain eternal release from the bondage of the physical realm.
Following a comma mark separating that first segment from the following, John then wrote: ”to those having faith in purpose this name of this Son of this of God.” This says that the truth is not overtly made clear, as the difference between “belief” [a “human testimony”] and ”faith” [“testimony of God within”] is one’s desire to seek the truth and look deeper into that written. Faith is then the expectation that the truth will be exposed, as long as one seeks – then one will find. All who seek the truth will then marry Yahweh and be led by the “Son” within, which is “of God,” so one assumes the “name” that is Jesus.
Not translated by the NRSV, due to it being in brackets, acting as if an optional aside, is the following: “⧼ kai hina pisteuēte eis to onoma tou huiou tou theou ⧽ .”
This states importantly “in order that you may believe in result that name of this son of this of god.” Here, it is most important to realize the brackets statement acts as an inverse of that stated prior, where “pisteuēte” is reduced to “belief” and “onoma tou Huiou tou Theou” [“name of this Son of this of God”] has been reduced to “onoma tou huiou tou theou,” all written in the lower case. This says a “believer” is of human testimony, as a “descendant” that is a follower “of god,” where the lower case spelling of “god” means the “soul” leads the flesh, not having been married to Yahweh. Thus, the brackets are again a reflection of the “⇔ “symbol.
As a selected Epistle reading for the seventh Sunday of Easter, one must see how preparation for ministry demands one be able to see the truth of Scripture, as that becomes the mission one is sent out to explain. One needs to be practicing seeing the truth of Scripture, because one has taken on the name of Jesus, as the Son of God resurrected. Jesus was risen on Easter Sunday. The Easter season reflects the time he spent within the souls of his disciples, preparing them to become apostles. John is telling one to see that written in the holy texts, so one can elevate the souls who wallow in human testimony, which denies them eternal life.