Set to His Seal That God Is True John 3:31–36 (Smith)

When we come to John chapter 3, we find ourselves standing beside two men whose ministries could not be more different in scope, yet perfectly united in purpose: Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, and John the Baptist, the forerunner appointed to prepare His way. John understood his calling with remarkable humility. When his disciples expressed concern that the crowds were now flocking to Jesus rather than to him, John answered with words that have echoed through the centuries: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

Those words are not merely a historical remark; they are a spiritual principle for every believer. In all our worship, in all our preaching, in all our reflections on the gospel, Christ must be exalted, and we must be diminished. Whenever the focus shifts from Christ to ourselves—our feelings, our performance, our worthiness—we lose sight of the gospel’s center. True worship is not about what stirs us, but about what magnifies Him. 

Christ, the One Who Comes From Above 

John continues by lifting our eyes to the supremacy of Christ: 

“He that cometh from above is above all.” 

This is not poetic exaggeration. It is a declaration of Christ’s absolute authority. He possesses all wisdom, all knowledge, all power. He is the One to whom the Father has given a name above every name. He is the One who has been given power over all flesh, the One who gives eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. 

John contrasts this with himself: 

“He that is of the earth is earthly.” 

 John is acknowledging his limitations. He is a man—finite in knowledge, finite in strength, finite in faithfulness. Christ is the Giver; John is merely the recipient. Christ is the source; John is the vessel. Christ is above all; John is of the earth. 

And because Christ is above all, His testimony is above all. He alone has seen and heard the eternal counsel of God. He alone has opened the sealed decree. He alone has made the invisible God known. Whether through His own lips during His earthly ministry, through the prophets of old, or through the apostles by His Spirit, Christ is the voice of God to His people. 

The Universal Problem: No Man Receives His Testimony, 

Yet John makes a sobering statement: 

“What he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.” 

This is the natural condition of every human being. We are born spiritually dead—without spiritual appetite, without spiritual understanding, without spiritual desire. We have no capacity to receive divine truth. As Paul writes, “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.” Jesus told Nicodemus that "unless a man is born again, he cannot see" or "enter the kingdom of God." 

By nature, we have no spiritual “antenna,” no inward faculty capable of receiving the things of God. Christ may speak, but the natural heart cannot hear. 

The Glorious Exception: Those Who Have Received His Testimony 

Immediately after saying that no man receives Christ’s testimony, John adds: “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” 

This is not a contradiction. It is a revelation. 

"No man can receive Christ’s testimony, yet some have received it. How can this be? 

It can only be because God has done something in them that He has not done in others. Something must occur before a person can receive Christ’s testimony. Something must be given before faith can arise. 

Scripture explains this repeatedly and consistently. 

1. Belief is the evidence of the new birth, not the cause. 

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1). 

The believing one is already born of God. The new birth is not the reward for believing; it is the root from which believing grows. 

2. Only those born of God receive Christ.

 

“But as many as received him… which were born… of God” (John 1:12–13). 

Receiving Christ is the fruit of being born from above. 

3. Only the ordained believe.

 

“As many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). 

Ordination precedes eternal life, and eternal life precedes faith. 

4. The sheep believe because they are sheep.

 

“Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep” (John 10:26). 

Christ does not say, “You are not my sheep because you do not believe.” He says the opposite: unbelief reveals that one is not His. 

Those who believe do so because they were given to Christ before the foundation of the world, chosen in Him, and predestinated to the adoption of children. 

Faith as Seal, Not Cause 

John says that the one who receives Christ’s testimony “hath set to his seal that God is true.” 

To set one’s seal is to affirm, to acknowledge, to confess that God is true. Faith does not make God true; faith recognizes that God is true. 

Faith is not the cause of salvation. 

Faith is the God‑given recognition of a salvation already accomplished in Christ. 

Abraham illustrates this beautifully. Romans 4 teaches that Abraham was counted righteous before he believed, and that circumcision was given as a seal of the righteousness he already possessed. So it is with every believer: faith is the seal, not the cause. 

The Spirit as God’s Seal 

God Himself seals His people: 

“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22). 

The Spirit:

 

● testifies of Christ, 

● confirms the truth of the gospel, 

● preserves the believer in faith, 

● and guarantees the inheritance until the day of redemption. 

The Spirit never testifies of man. He never points us to our works, our obedience, or even our faith. He always points us to Christ alone. 

He That Believeth Hath Everlasting Life. 

John concludes with a simple yet profound statement: 

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” 

This is not a conditional offer. It is a declaration of fact. 

The believer has everlasting life because: 

● he was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, 

● redeemed by Christ at the cross, 

● and quickened by the Spirit in time. 

Faith does not produce eternal life; eternal life produces faith. 

Conclusion 

The gospel is not an offer waiting on man’s acceptance. It is the proclamation of what God has eternally purposed, Christ has perfectly accomplished, and the Spirit effectually applies. To believe this testimony is to set one’s seal that God is true. And all who believe do so because God has sealed them, given them life from above, and caused them to behold Christ as their righteousness. God 

Bless, 

Mikal