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And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
  • KJV And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
  • NKJV And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
  • NASB And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
  • NLT And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in 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

God's testimony is this: he has given us eternal life, and that life is found in his Son. Eternal life is a gift located entirely in Christ.

Overview

John summarizes the content of God's witness as the gift of eternal life through Jesus. This life is not earned but graciously given, and it exists only 'in his Son,' so that to have Christ is to have life. The verse points to the gospel's heart: salvation is a present possession for those united to the Son.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 36

  • Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • 1 Jn 2:25And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.
  • John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
  • 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
  • John 1:4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
  • 1 Jn 4:9This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
  • 1 Jn 1:1–3That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.
  • John 17:2–3For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
  • John 10:28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
  • John 5:26For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.
  • John 19:35The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
  • 1 Jn 5:10Whoever 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.
  • John 6:40For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
  • John 6:68Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
  • 1 Tim 1:16But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
  • Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
  • John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
  • 1 Jn 5:12–13Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
  • 1 Jn 5:7For there are three that testify:
  • 3 Jn 1:12Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true.
  • Col 3:3–4For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
  • John 3:15–16that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
  • Jude 1:21keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
  • John 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
  • John 12:50And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”
  • John 4:36Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.
  • Rev 1:2who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
  • John 1:32–34Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.
  • John 6:47Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.
  • Matt 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
  • Rev 22:1Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
  • John 5:21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.
  • John 8:13–14So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid.”
  • Rom 5:21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • John 1:19And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”
  • John 4:4Now He had to pass through Samaria.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 John 5:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 5:11 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.