• • • who you are (Genesis) 
    • where you should be going (Exodus) 
    • to be Set Apart and Holy (Leviticus)
    • to Trust YHWH as He guides you (Numbers)
    • to OBEY HIS INSTRUCTIONS so you may Live (Deuteronomy)

This will not be too hard for you, because Messiah laid down His Life to make it possible for you to “Get in Covenant” with His Father! He even sent His Set Apart Spirit to give you strength to finish the Race! If you think of yourself as a “Gentile Christian” you may be suffering from Spiritual Identity Theft. The only Cure is to start at the very BEGINNING.

1 John 2 (NLT)

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

John later defines sin as transgression of the Torah (law). So, first we must understand that it is possible to NOT sin. To achieve this, we need to obey Torah.

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.

John says we are known to be of Him if we keep/obey His Commandments. To drive the point even further, he says that if anyone claims to be a Believer, but doesn’t obey the Commandments, he is a liar and there is no truth in him. That’s pretty serious! It makes you really wonder how many truly are Believers doesn’t it? If being a Believer means putting on the “mind of Christ” and obeying the Commandments, there aren’t a whole lot of “real” Believers out there. I get attacked on a fairly regular basis by people claiming to be Believers… but who do not at all think the way Christ thought, which was ALWAYS to obey His Father and also included a HEBREW mindset, as that was His (human) ancestry, being of the line of Judah.

5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

This is MASSIVELY HUGE! People say they “love God.” The problem (for them) is, to “love God” is to keep His Commandments:

1 John 5:2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

A New Commandment

7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. [see Lev. 19:18] 8 Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. 10 Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. 11 But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

12 I am writing to you who are God’s children
because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith

because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

14 I have written to you who are God’s children  because you know the Father.I have written to you who are mature in the faith    because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith    because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts,

and you have won your battle with the evil one.

Do Not Love This World

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Warning about Antichrists

18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. 19 These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

20 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. 21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. 22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. 25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

What happened to the Holy Spirit in John’s discussion?

The Trinity – Three Persons?

First, I’d like you to take notice of the Nicene Creed (which many adhere to in support of their doctrine) as it was originally written…

The Nicene Creed

The Synod at Nice set forth this Creed.

The Ecthesis of the Synod at Nice.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of his Father, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten (γεννηθέντα), not made, being of one substance (ὁμοούσιον, consubstantialem) with the Father. By whom all things were made, both which be in heaven and in earth. Who for us men and for our salvation came down [from heaven] and was incarnate and was made man. He suffered and the third day he rose again, and ascended into heaven. And he shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead. And [we believe] in the Holy Ghost. And whosoever shall say that there was a time when the Son of God was not (ἤν ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν), or that before he was begotten he was not, or that he was made of things that were not, or that he is of a different substance or essence [from the Father] or that he is a creature, or subject to change or conversion — all that so say, the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes them.

You’ll note that even they did not state that the Holy Ghost/Spirit was another person in the Godhead. They merely stated that they believe in it. As do I! I will never deny the existence of the Holy Spirit! It is very real and I welcome its work in my life on a regular basis. However, the idea I am challenging is whether or not it should be considered a “He” as in another person (i.e. Third Person of the Trinity), who works alongside the Second Person of Yeshua/Jesus, and the First Person of the Father YHVH.

New International Version (©2011) For there are three that testify:New Living Translation (©2007) So we have these three witnesses-- English Standard Version (©2001) For there are three that testify: New American Standard Bible (©1995) For there are three that testify: King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009) For there are three that testify: International Standard Version (©2012) For there are three witnesses — NET Bible (©2006) For there are three that testify, Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010) And The Spirit testifies because The Spirit is the truth. GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995) There are three witnesses: King James 2000 Bible (©2003) For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. American King James Version For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. American Standard Version And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. Douay-Rheims Bible And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Darby Bible Translation For they that bear witness are three: English Revised Version And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth. Webster’s Bible Translation For there are three that bear testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. Weymouth New Testament For there are three that give testimony – the Spirit, the water, and the blood; World English Bible For there are three who testify: Young’s Literal Translation because three are who are testifying in the heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these — the three — are one;

The first thing you will notice is that only a few translations even include the statement concerning the Father, Word (Son) and Holy Spirit. KJV Only types will accuse the other translations of removing the text. However it would appear that the KJV (and a few others) added the text!

The first thing we must acknowledge is that this passage is actually a call-back to a TORAH-based principle of needing 2 to 3 witnesses to establish truth (Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1).

Second (and I encourage you to do your own research on this), many commentators point out the following:

Pulpit Commentary
…the remainder of this verse and the first clause of verse 8 are spurious. Words which are not contained in a single Greek uncial manuscript, nor in a single Greek cursive earlier than the fourteenth century (the two which contain the passage being evidently translated from the Vulgate), nor are quoted by a single Greek Father during the whole of the Trinitarian controversy, nor are found in any authority until late in the fifth century, cannot be genuine.

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
For there are three that bear record in heaven,…. That is, that Jesus is the Son of God. The genuineness of this text has been called in question by some, because it is wanting in the Syriac version, as it also is in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions; and because the old Latin interpreter has it not; and it is not to be found in many Greek manuscripts; nor cited by many of the ancient fathers, even by such who wrote against the Arians, when it might have been of great service to them: to all which it may be replied, that as to the Syriac version, which is the most ancient, and of the greatest consequence, it is but a version, and a defective one.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Two or three witnesses were required by law to constitute adequate testimony. The only Greek manuscripts in any form which support the words, “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one; and there are three that bear witness in earth,” are the Montfortianus of Dublin, copied evidently from the modern Latin Vulgate; the Ravianus, copied from the Complutensian Polyglot; a manuscript at Naples, with the words added in the Margin by a recent hand; Ottobonianus, 298, of the fifteenth century, the Greek of which is a mere translation of the accompanying Latin. All the old versions omit the words. The oldest manuscripts of the Vulgate omit them: the earliest Vulgate manuscript which has them being Wizanburgensis, 99, of the eighth century.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

The portion of the passage, in 1 John 5:7-8, whose genuineness is disputed, is included in brackets in the following quotation, as it stands in the common editions of the New Testament: “For there are three that bear record (in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth,) the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one.” If the disputed passage, therefore, be omitted as spurious, the whole passage will read, “For there are three that bear record, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one.” The reasons which seem to me to prove that the passage included in brackets is spurious, and should not be regarded as a part of the inspired writings, are briefly the following:

 

I. It is missing in all the earlier Greek manuscripts, for it is found in no Greek manuscript written before the 16th century. Indeed, it is found in only two Greek manuscripts of any age – one the Codex Montfortianus, or Britannicus, written in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and the other the Codex Ravianus, which is a mere transcript of the text, taken partly from the third edition of Stephen’s New Testament, and partly from the Complutensian Polyglott. But it is incredible that a genuine passage of the New Testament should be missing in all the early Greek manuscripts.

 

II. It is missing in the earliest versions, and, indeed, in a large part of the versions of the New Testament which have been made in all former times. It is wanting in both the Syriac versions – one of which was made probably in the first century; in the Coptic, Armenian, Slavonic, Ethiopic, and Arabic.

 

III. It is never quoted by the Greek fathers in their controversies on the doctrine of the Trinity – a passage which would be so much in point, and which could not have failed to be quoted if it were genuine; and it is not referred to by the Latin fathers until the time of Vigilius, at the end of the 5th century. If the passage were believed to be genuine – nay, if it were known at all to be in existence, and to have any probability in its favor – it is incredible that in all the controversies which occurred in regard to the divine nature, and in all the efforts to define the doctrine of the Trinity, this passage should never have been referred to. But it never was; for it must be plain to anyone who examines the subject with an unbiassed mind, that the passages which are relied on to prove that it was quoted by Athanasius, Cyprian, Augustin, etc., (Wetstein, II., p. 725) are not taken from this place, and are not such as they would have made if they had been acquainted with this passage, and had designed to quote it. 

 

IV. The argument against the passage from the external proof is confirmed by internal evidence, which makes it morally certain that it cannot be genuine.

 

(a) The connection does not demand it. It does not contribute to advance what the apostle is saying, but breaks the thread of his argument entirely. He is speaking of certain things which bear “witness” to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah; certain things which were well known to those to whom he was writing – the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. How does it contribute to strengthen the force of this to say that in heaven there are “three that bear witness” – three not before referred to, and having no connection with the matter under consideration?

 

(b) The “language” is not such as John would use. He does, indeed, elsewhere use the term “Logos,” or “Word” – ὁ Λόγος ho Logos, John 1:1, John 1:14; 1 John 1:1, but it is never in this form, “The Father, and the Word;” that is, the terms “Father” and “Word” are never used by him, or by any of the other sacred writers, as correlative. The word “Son” – ὁ Υἱός ho Huios – is the term which is correlative to the “Father” in every other place as used by John, as well as by the other sacred writers. See 1 John 1:3; 1 John 2:22-24; 1 John 4:14; 2 John 1:3, 2 John 1:9; and the Gospel of John, “passim.” Besides, the correlative of the term “Logos,” or “Word,” with John, is not “Father,” but “God.” See John 1:1. Compare Revelation 19:13.

 

(c) Without this passage, the sense of the argument is clear and appropriate. There are three, says John, which bear witness that Jesus is the Messiah. These are referred to in 1 John 5:6; and in immediate connection with this, in the argument, 1 John 5:8, it is affirmed that their testimony goes to one point, and is harmonious. To say that there are other witnesses elsewhere, to say that they are one, contributes nothing to illustrate the nature of the testimony of these three – the water, and the blood, and the Spirit; and the internal sense of the passage, therefore, furnishes as little evidence of its genuineness as the external proof. 

 

V. It is easy to imagine how the passage found a place in the New Testament. It was at first written, perhaps, in the margin of some Latin manuscript, as expressing the belief of the writer of what was true in heaven, as well as on earth, and with no more intention to deceive than we have when we make a marginal note in a book. Some transcriber copied it into the body of the text, perhaps with a sincere belief that it was a genuine passage, omitted by accident; and then it became too important a passage in the argument for the Trinity, ever to be displaced but by the most clear critical evidence. It was rendered into Greek, and inserted in one Greek manuscript of the 16th century, while it was missing in all the earlier manuscripts.

 

VI. The passage is now omitted in the best editions of the Greek Testament, and regarded as spurious by the ablest critics. See Griesbach and Hahn. On the whole, therefore, the evidence seems to me to be clear that this passage is not a genuine portion of the inspired writings, and should not be appealed to in proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. One or two remarks may be made, in addition, in regard to its use.

 

(1) even on the supposition that it is genuine, as Bengel believed it was, and as he believed that some Greek manuscript would still be found which would contain it , yet it is not wise to adduce it as a proof-text. It would be much easier to prove the doctrine of the Trinity from other texts, than to demonstrate the genuineness of this.

 

(2) it is not necessary as a proof-text. The doctrine which it contains can be abundantly established from other parts of the New Testament, by passages about which there can be no doubt.

 

(3) the removal of this text does nothing to weaken the evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, or to modify that doctrine. As it was never used to shape the early belief of the Christian world on the subject, so its rejection, and its removal from the New Testament, will do nothing to modify that doctrine. The doctrine was embraced, and held, and successfully defended without it, and it can and will be so still.

 

Read more commentaries here and decide for yourself what is true concerning this interesting verse: http://biblecommenter.com/1_john/5-7.htm

For me, it’s really a non-issue. It’s semantics we’re dealing with. Clearly, the Holy Spirit is a functional part of God and His plan. So, whether or not I choose to think of it as a “person” is irrelevant. It exists. It works in our lives. I believe in the Holy Spirit (just as those who wrote the Nicene Creed did). It only becomes an issue when the Trinity Police want to press the issue, by demanding you must believe the Holy Spirit is a PERSON.

Consider this:

1) Why did John (when considering what it means to be “antichrist”), leave the Holy Spirit out of his discussion in 1 John 2:22,23?

 

2) Even if we were to accept that 1 John 5:7 is authentic, it does not even state that they are three persons. It simply states that they are all one (which I am in complete agreement with).

a) The Father
b) The Son who was begotten of Him
c) The Holy Spirit that proceeds from the Father/Son

1 John 3 (KJV)

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.