What does it mean that Jesus came by water and by blood? (1 Epistle of John 5:6-8)

I have received this question from a devoted reader of this portal and I want to answer it in this article. But, before this, I would like to put down the biblical text to which I will refer in this passage:

This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. (1 John 5:6–8)(NASB)

The first Epistle of John was written to confront the gnostic heresy

You can not understand the first Epistle of John, Paul’s Epistle to Collosians and other passages from the New Testament if you do not know a little about the gnostic teaching. Many antique authors wrote about them and about their teaching, but I want to cite some passages from the short article about gnostics and their teaching from the International Inductive Study Bible. Here is what this article relates:

The term gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge”. Gnosticism is a philosophy which centers on a search for higher knowledge. The Gnostics taught that this knowledge was not intellectual knowledge but a knowledge which the ordinary Christian was incapable of attaining. Once a believer came into possession of this extraordinary knowledge, according to Gnostic thought, he had “salvation”. (International Inductive Study Bible, page 2100)

Apostle John combats Cerinthus’ heresy

Cerinthus was a teacher of gnosticism and the article from the International Inductive Study Bible writes:

The Cerinthian Gnostics separated the man Jesus from the aeon, the power of Christ. They believed that when the dove came on Jesus at His baptism, the power of Christ came and rested on the man Jesus. This power the departed before His death on the cross. So it was simply the “man” Jesus who died, not Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. (International Inductive Study Bible, page 2101)

So, when Apostle John writes that Jesus came by water and by blood, he proves the recipients of the epistle that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that He was so, both when He was baptized and when He was crucified. Knowing the truth about the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential for the salvation of our souls. By the way, the same author said this in the Gospel of John:

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (The Gospel of John 20:30–31)(NASB)

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? Have you entered the covenant with Him? Have you been born again by faith in our Savior?

Translated by Felicia Djugostran