Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.
- KJV He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
- NKJV He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
- NASB The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.
- NLT Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true.
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 accepts Jesus' testimony certifies that God is truthful. Believing the Son is to affirm the trustworthiness of God himself.
Overview
To 'set his seal' is to attest formally that God's word is reliable. Receiving Jesus' witness is not merely intellectual assent but a confession that God, who sent him, is true. This ties saving faith to the very faithfulness and truthfulness of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eph 1:13And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- Heb 6:17So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.
- 2 Cor 1:18But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
- Titus 1:1–2Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,
- Rom 3:3–4What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
- John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
- 2 Cor 1:22placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
- Rom 4:18–21Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
- 1 Jn 5:9–10Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son.
- Rev 7:3–8“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 3:33 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
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