“³³ Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴ For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.”

In the previous passage John the Baptist mentions the difference between himself and Jesus. John is from the earth so can only speak of this limited knowledge whereas Jesus, in contrast, comes from heaven so He can not only speak to all things but is also above all things. John explains that Jesus comes as a witness to things we on earth cannot understand yet no one receives this witness—as is a common theme in the gospel of John. In these verses this week John the Baptist goes on with the passage and mentions those who receive the testimony and the benefit of receiving the testimony.

The first verse shows a promise that John the Baptist has already experienced. He witnessed Jesus’s life, His testimony. What John the Baptist means when He says, “His testimony,” is what Jesus has already preached in the gospel of John and everything else He will preach before He ascends back to heaven. This is the Gospel. Then John the Baptist mentions that the person who receives that testimony “sets his seal.” It is important to note two things in this part of the verse. One, the person must receive. This gives the idea of inviting it in more than just accepting it to be true. They welcome it in. And second is the idea of setting their seal. This idea of the seal is their endorsement. Finally, John mentions that they set this endorsement to one thing: that God is true. This statement of “God is true” is carrying a lot of weight. Basically, it reinforces what Jesus will say through the rest of the gospel of John. To say “God is true,” is to know who God truly is. If people receive Jesus, they will know the Father, who is God, signifying that God is true and to truly know God you must know the Son, Jesus.

Then in the next verse John explains why this is true because Jesus, who God sent, speaks the words of God. This is through the giving of the third part of the trinity, the Holy Spirit without measure. This verse is John the author (through John the Baptist) reinforcing what Jesus said to Nicodemus earlier in the chapter. To enter the Kingdom of God, one must be born again through the Holy Spirit and the receiving of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the loving God that has come down to earth as Jesus Christ who offers everyone a chance to set their seal to this testimony because God gives the Holy Spirit without measure like an overfilling a cup.

For Christians, there are two things we must receive from these verses. Everything God does He works through His triune nature and God loved us so much to give the Holy Spirit without measure. We see the perfect working of God’s triune nature through Jesus’s testimony, the Father sending Jesus, and the Holy Spirit being given without measure. We must always rest in this triune nature never forgetting all three persons of the Godhead especially in our prayer. The second thing we must see is that He, as Paul puts it, lavishes the riches of His grace on us (Ephesians 1:7b-8a). We must take advantage of this love to which we have set our seal and remember to grow through the Holy Spirit close to God through the reading of the Word of God.

For Non-Christians, if you feel the call of God on your life, do not turn away from Him. Come to Him. The Holy Spirit has already done the work. All you must do now is receive it, welcome Him into your life so that He can change you into the person He wants you to be. He gives the Holy Spirit without measure, and the Holy Spirit wants to work in your life but you must receive the testimony of the life of Jesus first.