1 John 4:15-5:13 Three witnesses to salvation

1 John 4:15-5:4 This seems to be a summary of previous chapters. The added element here is fear of judgment. If we abide in the Father's love, we do not fear the judgment of God. John has previously explained what abiding in God looks like, and summarizes it one more time. If we abide in Him, keeping His commands is not a burden, it brings us joy, the joy of victory over the temptations and opposition of the world. He empowers us to do those things, and our part of this transaction is faith. Just like Abraham. (Genesis 15:6)

1 John 5:5-13 In the matter of witnesses to the deity of Christ, Jesus cites three. The water testifies; at the baptism of Christ, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended and the Father spoke from heaven affirming that Jesus is His Son. (Luke 3:22) In a similar manner, when we are baptized as believers, the water testifies to us and to the world that we have been buried with Christ and brought up as a new creature. (Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12) It is our identification with Christ in the waters of baptism that is the means by which God places our sins on Christ on the cross so that they are judged therein. This brings in the third witness, the blood of Christ. Jesus presented His blood to the Father on the heavenly altar as the full and complete propitiation for our sins. (Hebrews 9:11-12) We remember this every time we partake of the Lord's Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) and the Holy Spirit testifies directly to us that we children of God. (Romans 8:15-16)

          We as humans don't really know if another person is saved or not. The appearance of faith could be pretense. We may question our own faith. Do we really believe? So John offers us these three witnesses. They are not primarily for the benefit of God deciding whether to save us, or others to know we are believers. These three witnesses are for our own assurance. The one who has the Son has eternal life.