1 John 5 · Verse 10

1 John 5:10

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

1 John 5:10, King James Version

1 John 5:10 in other translations

BSB	Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son.
WEB	He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
ASV	He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son.
YLT	He who is believing in the Son of God, hath the testimony in himself; he who is not believing God, a liar hath made Him, because he hath not believed in the testimony that God hath testified concerning His Son;
DARBY	He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself; he that does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness which God has witnessed concerning his Son.
BBE	He who has faith in the Son of God has the witness in himself: he who has not faith in God makes him false, because he has not faith in the witness which God has given about his Son.
Webster	He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he hath not believed the testimony that God gave of his Son.

What does 1 John 5:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

10. hath the witness--of God, by His Spirit (1Jo 5:8). in himself--God's Spirit dwelling in him and witnessing that "Jesus is the Lord," "the Christ," and "the Son of God" (1Jo 5:1, 5). The witness of the Spirit in the believer himself to his own sonship is not here expressed, but follows as a consequence of believing the witness of God to Jesus' divine Sonship. believeth not God--credits not His witness. made him a liar--a consequence which many who virtually, or even avowedly, do not believe, may well startle back from as fearful blasphemy and presumption (1Jo 1:10). believeth not the record--Greek, "believeth not IN the record, or witness." Refusal to credit God's testimony ("believeth not God") is involved in refusal to believe IN (to rest one's trust in) Jesus Christ, the object of God's record or testimony. "Divine "faith" is an assent unto something as credible upon the testimony of God. This is the highest kind of faith; because the object hath the highest credibility, because grounded upon the testimony of God, which is infallible" [Pearson, Exposition of the Creed]. "The authority on which we believe is divine; the doctrine which we follow is divine" [Leo]. gave--Greek, "hath testified, and now testifies." of--concerning.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. The evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. Rom 8:16. This cannot refer to any distinct and immediate revelation of that fact, that Jesus is the Christ, to the soul of the individual, and is not to be understood as independent of the external evidence of that truth, or as superseding the necessity of that evidence; but the "witness" here referred to is the fruit of all the evidence, external and internal, on the heart, producing this result; that is, there is the deepest conviction of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. There is the evidence derived from the fact that the soul has found peace by believing on him; from the fact that the troubles and anxieties of the mind on account of sin have been removed by faith in Christ; from the new views of God and heaven which have resulted from faith in the Lord Jesus; from the effect of this in disarming death of its terrors; and from the whole influence of the gospel on the intellect and the affections--on the heart and the life, These things constitute a mass of evidence for the truth of the Christian religion, whose force the believer cannot resist, and make the sincere Christian ready to sacrifice anything rather than his religion; ready to go to the stake rather than to renounce his Saviour. 1Pet 3:15. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar. 1Jn 1:10.

Because he believeth not the record, etc. The idea is, that in various ways--at his baptism, at his death, by the influences of the Holy Spirit, by the miracles of Jesus, etc.-- God had become a witness that the Lord Jesus was sent by him as a Saviour, and that to doubt or deny this partook of the same character as doubting or denying any other testimony; that is, it was practically charging him who bore the testimony with falsehood.

(a) "witness in himself" Rom 8:16

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 10 He that believeth on the Son of God - This is God's witness to a truth, the most important and interesting to mankind. God has witnessed that whosoever believeth on his Son shall be saved, and have everlasting life; and shall have the witness of it in himself, the Spirit bearing witness with his spirit that he is a child of God. To know, to feel his sin forgiven, to have the testimony of this in the heart from the Holy Spirit himself, is the privilege of every true believer in Christ.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 John 5:9-12

Nothing can be more absurd than the conduct of those who doubt as to the truth of Christianity, while in the common affairs of life they do not hesitate to proceed on human testimony, and would deem any one out of his senses who declined to do so. The real Christian has seen his guilt and misery, and his need of such a Saviour. He has seen the suitableness of such a Saviour to all his spiritual wants and…

Read the full comment on 1 John 5:9-12 →

1 John 5:10 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὁhoThe [one]G3588

πιστεύωνpisteuōnbelievingG4100

εἰςeisinG1519

τὸνtontheG3588

υἱὸνhuionSonG5207

τοῦtou<the>G3588

θεοῦtheouof GodG2316

ἔχειecheihasG2192

τὴνtēntheG3588

μαρτυρίανmarturiantestimonyG3141

ἐνeninG1722

ἑαυτῷ·he'autōhimself;G1438

ὁhoThe [one]G3588

μὴmēnotG3361

πιστεύωνpisteuōnbelievingG4100

τῷtō<the>G3588

θεῷtheōin GodG2316

ψεύστηνpseustēna liarG5583

πεποίηκενpepoiēkenhas madeG4160

αὐτόν,autonHim,G846

ὅτιhotibecauseG3754

οὐounotG3756

πεπίστευκενpepisteukenhe has believedG4100

εἰςeisinG1519

τὴνtēntheG3588

μαρτυρίανmarturiantestimonyG3141

ἣνhēnthatG3739

μεμαρτύρηκενmemarturēkenhas testifiedG3140

ὁho<the>G3588

θεὸςtheosGodG2316

περὶpericoncerningG4012

τοῦtoutheG3588

υἱοῦhuiouSonG5207

αὐτοῦ.autouHim.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 John 5:10

Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Galatians 4:6
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
John 3:33
He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
John 5:38
And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
Hebrews 3:12
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
1 John 5:1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Colossians 3:3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Psalms 25:14
The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Revelation 2:17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Proverbs 3:32
For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.
Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

that believeth on.
1; Joh 3:16
hath the.
Ps 25:14; Pr 3:32; Ro 8:16; Ga 4:6; Col 3:3; 2Pe 1:19; Re 2:17,28
hath made.
1:10; Nu 23:19; Job 24:25; Isa 53:1; Jer 15:18; Joh 3:33; 5:38
Heb 3:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

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.
1 John 5:10
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
1 John 5:11
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Read all of 1 John 5

1 John 5:10 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	El que cree en el Hijo de Dios, tiene el testimonio en sí mismo: el que no cree á Dios, le ha hecho mentiroso; porque no ha creído en el testimonio que Dios ha testificado de su Hijo.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Celui qui croit au Fils de Dieu, a le témoignage au-dedans de lui-même; celui qui ne croit pas Dieu, l’a fait menteur, car il n’a pas cru au témoignage que Dieu a rendu au sujet de son Fils.
German Elberfelder 1871	Wer an den Sohn Gottes glaubt, hat das Zeugnis in sich selbst; wer Gott nicht glaubt, hat ihn zum Lügner gemacht, weil er nicht an das Zeugnis geglaubt hat, welches Gott gezeugt hat über seinen Sohn.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Qui credit in Filium Dei, habet testimonium Dei in se. Qui non credit Filio, mendacem facit eum: quia non credit in testimonium quod testificatus est Deus de Filio suo.