GOOD TIME WASTED HAVING GOOD TIMES

December 31^st, New Year Eve, is the official end of the Christmas season as well as the end of the year. Many will be making New Year resolutions with the hope of amending a particular character flaw in their lives or to accomplish a new objective. Despite their good intentions, chances are that most will fail to be realized within the first month.

People across the world are anticipating midnight and the onset of the New Year. Some are at parties having a good time; some are at Times Square in New York City waiting for the “Ball” to drop; others are at home celebrating with friends, family or by themselves, safe from those who are having too much of a good time, maybe over indulging and perhaps causing hazardous driving conditions. All are endeavoring on this special night to have “good times.”

Good Times

But what exactly are “good times”? It is an expression meaning “to enjoy oneself; to find pleasure in a particular situation or activity.1 In today’s culture this could include many things: going to an amusement park; at the beach; at a party; playing/listening to music; watching a movie or TV, etc. What is the nature of these pleasures? Some are wholesome and beneficial while enjoying God’s creation. Yet some may be objectionable and detrimental to the individuals’ well-being. In 1967 the British musician Eric Burdon recorded Good Times, presenting the unfavorable aspects of good times that even the 1960’s generation failed to take notice:

  When I think of all the good time that's been wasted having good times.

When I was drinking,

I should've been thinking.

When I was fighting,

I could've done the right thing.

All of that boozing,

I was really losing,

Good times.

 

  When I think of all the good time that's been wasted having good times.

Useless talking,

All that walking,

All of my sinning,

I could've been winning,

Good Times.2

Good time wasted having good times. It’s unquestionable a play on words, but let us consider the possibility that a person could waste good time having good times. For the unbeliever, they believe this is absolute nonsense, maintaining with certainty that the opposite is true: good times are always a good time. They have very little to restrain them from indulging in whatever provides enjoyment or pleasure. The right thing they “ought to” do is no longer a part of their decision process, since our culture does not advocate absolutes to provide them with a moral compass. Upon realizing that there are no restrictions—no “ought to”—they will establish their moral truth standards based on their own personal desires.

Larry P. Arnn, the president of Hillsdale College, recently observed: “We see a generation in which too many have been taught that the only truth is in the human will, which then becomes sovereign.”3 Therefore, whatever they desire is formulated as personal truth—arbitrary self-determining truth. And since this type of truth varies and fluctuates among others, consequently there is no such thing as absolute truth to preside over and govern all mankind.

Passing Pleasures

In contrast, believers in Jesus Christ have absolute truth that they acquire from Scripture. The knowledge of God’s Word becomes the content of their faith—the structure of their belief system: “that which is believed, body of faith or belief, doctrine.”4 From this basis of absolute truth the believer is able to know God’s will for their life. The writer of the Hebrew epistle in chapter 11 emphasized this kind of faith. When introducing the men and women of the Old Testament, they are prefaced with “by faith”—Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab—each one were obedient to God and embraced His will for their lives.

Take Moses for example:

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. (Hebrews 11:24–25)

Moses stands out concerning this subject of good times. He could have had all the splendor and glory of Egyptian royalty, the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:26). But instead Moses willingly chose on his own behalf to endure ill-treatment, to suffer affliction5 alongside his people and to forgo the passing pleasures of sin. The phrase passing pleasures denotes the times of enjoying the worlds’ pleasures—good times.

However, not all passing pleasures or good times are sinful. But what is sinful is when they are indulged in and are not what God wills for our lives. That is where our faith, our belief system, becomes important in the development of our relationship with the Lord and the establishing of a godly witness before others. We cannot afford to delight ourselves exclusively in the good times of this world. Note the apostle Paul’s emphasis concerning this specifically:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Paul is outlining here what should be considered by all believers as the genuine basis for good times.

Something to Ponder

Do we consider our Christian life as good times? Do we desire to grow and prove by our lives that we are endeavoring to fulfill His will in our life? Anything other than this should cause us to reconsider our priorities and make certain that Jesus Christ is at the center of our life.

May this years’ New Year resolution be to determine every day of every year to advance to spiritual maturity through personal growth “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). This should take precedence in our life, ensuring that our genuine good time of faith in Christ is not wasted having the distraction of the world’s “good times.”

---

[1] https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/having+a+good+time [Retrieved January 2, 2026]

[2] “Good Times,” Eric Burden and the Animals (1967). Winds of Change, MGM SE-4484, ℗ 1967 UMG Recordings, Inc.

[3] https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/todays-firestorm-and-the-declaration/Vol. 54, No. 11 [Retrieved, January 3, 2026)

[4] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 4^th Ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 664, §3.

[5] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G4778.

 

© 2026 David M. Rossi 

 

THE THREE THAT TESTIFY - 1 JOHN 5:6-8

Verses 6-8: 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.

In the previous installment, the theological meaning of the water and the blood was defined as they pertain to the earthly mission of Jesus Christ. Ryrie asserts that they are the “verification of Christ’s credentials”1 as the Son of God (v. 5).

The One Who Came

 Now John clarifies the influential means by which Our Lord came to fulfill His earthly ministry by emphasizing that it was “not with water only.” But, in contrast to the belief that His baptism could stand alone to validate that the Father sent Him, John maintains that it is the water and the blood that substantiate Jesus Christ’s divine mission. But this cannot be understood as truth unless the theological meaning of the water and the blood is accurately interpreted.    

·        The water refers to His baptism: the inaugural event of His earthly ministry, by which He fulfilled the Jewish Law prescribed by Moses for the ordination of priests (Leviticus 8:6).

•  The blood refers to His violent death: the completion of His earthly ministry by crucifixion as the substitutionary sacrifice on behalf of the sins of the entire world (1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2).

  These inseparable events substantiate the entire earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. He came having been divinely sent by the Father by His incarnation, thus becoming the unique person of the universe, the God-Man: He “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). It was in human flesh that Our Lord accomplished His divine mission. Again, John is confronting the widespread Gnostic heresy advocated by Cerinthus, who was mentioned in the introduction to this epistle. Cerinthus taught that Our Lord was not human but a phantom, an apparition. He denied the conception and physical birth of Jesus Christ, claiming that Our Lord had what only seemed or appeared to be a real body, yet able “to converse, to eat, to suffer, and to die.”2 These Gnostic adherents rejected Our Lord’s hypostatic union of “two distinct and dissimilar natures.”3 Instead they regarded Him as two unconnected entities: Jesus, the man and Christ, as deity/God. Lightfoot explained that they “supposed that the Christ entered Jesus at the time of His baptism and left him at the moment of His crucifixion. Thus the Christ was neither born as a man nor suffered as a man.”4

The Spirit of Truth

John’s opposition to the Gnostic heresy is centered on two particular points: first, their erroneous teachings of Our Lord’s Incarnation, claiming that Jesus was the “natural son of Joseph and Mary.”5 Secondly, their dismissal of the divine nature of His earthly ministry; encompassing His baptism to His crucifixion and everything in between, including His miraculous signs and teachings, even denying the actuality of Our Lord’s bodily resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven.

John maintains that his truth claims are not based upon human viewpoint, as something that he personally fabricated. Instead he wisely gives proper credit to the testimony of the Holy Spirit: “It is the Spirit who testifies.” This word testify comes from the Greek word meaning “to bear witness.”6 Here the Holy Spirit is the irrefutable witness to the person and earthly works of Jesus Christ. For the Holy Spirit was instrumental in His incarnation (Luke 1:35); was at His baptism (Mark 1:10); empowered Our Lord in His works and miracles (Matthew 12:31–32) and raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11).

John attests to the truthfulness of the Holy Spirit’s testimony having been told by Jesus that the promised Helper “is the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). And now John amplifies Our Lord statement by declaring that “the Spirit is the truth” meaning that the Holy Spirit is the undeniable possessor and propagator of absolute truth. John believes this, and so can we.

The Three Witnesses

In verses 7 and 8, John declares that in fact there are three consistent and reliable witnesses that corroborate the authenticity of the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the One having been sent by the Father. This is John’s objective in all of his writings, to provide the definitive foundation that others may believe in Christ for eternal life:

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. (John 20:31)

John enumerates these three witnesses: the Spirit, the water and the blood. It should be noted that the Holy Spirit is a genuine person, but the water and the blood are not, yet John personifies them as equal witnesses with the Spirit. The identification of three witnesses recalls the requirement from the Law handed down to Moses, at first instructed in Numbers 35:30 that “no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness” (cf. Deuteronomy 17:6). It was expanded upon in Deuteronomy 19:15 as a general guideline for resolving disputes, ruling that “on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” This directive is emphasizes throughout the New Testament: Matthew 18:16; John 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28. Thus, John supplies us with the prescribed three witnesses required to disprove the Gnostic heresy, stating adamantly in verse 8 that these three witnesses are in absolute “agreement.” The Greek states that literally they are indivisibly united as one, making them legitimate witnesses.

Their Agreement

The Holy Spirit bears witness of Christ throughout this age concerning His divine works and righteousness and He will ever glorify Him (John 15:26; 16:8-14). He is the Helper and power source for the believer today (Acts 1:8; Romans 15:13). The water refers to the beginning of Our Lord’s earthly ministry—His baptism, attended by His Father and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22). The blood indicates the culmination of His divine mission—His crucifixion, the accomplishment of salvation for all mankind (John 17:4; 19:30).

Collectively, the Spirit, the water and the blood eternally testify to the reality that Jesus Christ was indeed the beloved Son of God. As God, having been sent by the Father to earth in the form of man, He fulfilled the divine will of His Father (John 6:38; Luke 22:42).

---

[1] Ryrie, C. C. (1995). Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 update. Chicago: Moody Press, p.1997.

[2] Barnes, Albert (2005). Notes on the New Testament (R. Frew, Ed.), Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, XIII.2.276.

[3] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1.382.

[4] Lightfoot, J.B. (1999). St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, p.264.

[5] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.524.

[6] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G3140.

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi 

 

JESUS CHRIST, THE ONE WHO CAME - 1 JOHN 5:6

Verse 6: 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.

John begins with an emphatic declarative statement of undeniable truth: that this Son of God (v. 5), Jesus Christ, is the One who came. Who came refers specifically to the factual historic event of His Incarnation when the preexistent Son of God was sent from His heavenly dwelling to do God’s will (John 6:38); and that the effectual agency of water and blood was the means that authenticated His coming. The quality of the water and blood in the opening phrase is not regarding merely these physical elements but is designed to accentuate significant spiritual truths.

The Water

The water indicates His baptism by John the baptizer, inaugurating His earthly ministry and certifying that He was the One sent by the Father (John 5:37–38). The explanation that follows may come as a surprise revelation for some. For Jesus was not sent to earth for the Church, but for the Jewish nation as their long awaited Messiah, their priest (Hebrews 3:1), prophet (Luke 13:33; Deuteronomy 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22) and king of their restored kingdom (Matthew 2:2; John 1:49).

The baptism that John administered was for repentance in preparing the nation for their Messiah, as he had proclaimed: “Repent, for the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2, 11). Chafer clarifies that “This is not a gospel call, but one leading to restoration of a covenant people into its right and original relationship to God (cf. Matthew 4:12-17).”1 There was nothing mystical or magical in the physical water used in this baptism, it was a symbolic ritual for the cleansing of their sin.

It is the view of many scholars that believe Our Lord was baptized by John “in order to be identified (the real meaning of the word ‘baptized’) with sinners”2 or to demonstrate “His solidarity with sinners.”3 However, His baptism was not to identify with sinners, nor did He need cleansing from sin, for He was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5). Instead, as He told John, His baptism was “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), meaning that in order for Our Lord to commence His earthly ministry, He needed to be anointed according to the customary practice of the Jewish Law. Since Jesus is our great High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14) it was necessary for Him to submit to the ordination of priests prescribed by Moses in Leviticus 8, which included a ceremonial washing (v. 6); this was satisfied by His baptism.

The Blood

The Levitical requirement for the ordination of priest also included the offering of a blood sacrifice (Leviticus 8:15ff). Our Lord satisfied this requirement by personally being the blood offering (Hebrews 10). Here, John reference of the blood relates to Our Lord’s violent death of crucifixion as the completion of His earthly ministry. This was confirmed on the cross when He declared: “‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).

The accurate meaning of the blood of Christ was discussed in 1 John 1:7, but it is worth repeating for clarification. Carson, among other biblical scholars, agrees that for decades speculations regarding the literal blood of Christ have been “irresponsibly mystical and theologically misleading.”4 The truth is that the Greek word for ‘blood’ does not always refer to the literal liquid that is “indispensable for the maintenance of life in both human beings and animals.”5 But instead, as defined by the highly regarded Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, it is variously denoted in Greek literature as a “‘violently destroyed life’, ‘death’ or ‘murder’” It is “also used for ‘to kill,’ though with no specific reference to the actual shedding of blood.”6 The article goes on to explain that “The interest of the New Testament is not in the material blood of Christ, but in His shed blood as the life violently taken from Him.”7

The blood of Christ represents His atoning work of bearing our sins and the sins of the world on the cross (1 John 2:2; 1 Peter 2:24). Since all mankind are considered spiritually “dead in our transgressions [sins]” (Ephesians 2:5), this makes us enemies of God. Thus sin spiritually separates mankind from God and dooms man to eternal death—“The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20a ESV). This is spiritual death, eternal separation from God. The Apostle Paul concludes that even though we were enemies, God the Father resolved our predicament “through the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10):

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It is beyond our ability to comprehend how the Son of God as the sin bearer could experience spiritual separation from God, but that is exactly what His atoning work entailed. He suffered that same spiritual death we deserved—separation from God. And while He was still alive on the cross, He suffered that awful penalty for our sins, crying out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:54). Then when it was concluded He declared, while He was still alive: “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Mission Accomplished

The water and blood signifies the events of the earthly mission of Jesus Christ, the unique God-man, the One Who came, sent by the Father. At Our Lord’s baptism of water, the Father certified the onset of His mission when “a voice out of heaven said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased’” (Matthew 3:17). And the blood indicated the completion of His earthly mission; a finale being as equally dramatic as His baptism:

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:44–46)

“It is finished!” (John 19:30)

---

[1] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press,  7.266.

[2] Barbieri, L. A., Jr. (1985). In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Eds.). Victor Books, 2.25.

[3] Beetham, Christopher A. (Ed.) (2021). The Concise New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, p.134

[4] Carson, D.A. (2004). Exegetical Fallacies. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, p. 34.

[5] Beetham, p. 32.

[6] Behm, Johannes (1964–). αἷμα. In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich, Eds.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1.173.

[7] Behm, 1.174.

 

© 2025 David M. Rossi