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.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
- NASB The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
- NLT All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever believes in the Son has God's testimony within; whoever rejects it calls God a liar. To refuse the gospel is to deny God's own word about his Son.
Overview
The believer experiences the inward assurance of God's testimony through the Spirit, while the unbeliever, by rejecting it, in effect accuses God of falsehood. John presents the gravity of unbelief starkly: it is not a neutral stance but an affront to God's truthfulness. Faith honors God's word; rejection insults it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Rom 8:16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
- Gal 4:6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
- John 3:33Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.
- John 5:38nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.
- Heb 3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Col 3:3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
- 1 Jn 5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Ps 25:14The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
- Prov 3:32for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.
- Rev 12:17And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
- 1 Jn 1:10If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
- 2 Pet 1:19We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
- John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Job 24:25If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
- Isa 53:1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
- Rev 2:28And I will give him the morning star.
- Jer 15:18Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me—water that is not there.
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Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 5:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.