Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
He that hath received his testimony - Hath received and fully believed his doctrine. Hath yielded his heart to its influence.
Hath set to his seal - To "seal" an instrument is to make it sure; to acknowledge it as ours; to pledge our varacity that it is true and binding, as when a man seals a bond, a deed, or a will. Believing a doctrine, therefore, in the heart, is expressed by "sealing it," or by believing it we express our firm conviction that it is true, and that God who has spoken it is true. We vouch for the veracity of God, and assume as our own the proposition that it is the truth of God.
God is true - Is faithful; is the author of the system of doctrines, and will fulfill all that he has promised. We learn here:
1.That to be a true believer is something more than to hold a mere speculative belief of the truth.
2.That to be a believer is to "pledge ourselves" for the truth, to seal it as our own, to adopt it, to choose it, and solemnly assent to it, as a man does in regard to an instrument of writing that is to convey his property, or that is to dispose of it when he dies.
3.Every Christian is a witness for God, and it is his business to show by his life that he believes that God is true to his threatenings and to his promises. See the notes at Isaiah 43:10.
4.It is a solemn act to become a Christian. It is a surrender of all to God, or giving away body, soul, and spirit to him, with a belief that he is true, and alone is able to save.
5.The man that does not do this - that is not willing to pledge his belief that God is true, sets to his seal that God is a liar and unworthy of confidence, I John 5:10.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing John 3:33:
John 6:27
Romans 4:11
1 Corinthians 9:2
2 Corinthians 1:22
Ephesians 1:13
2 Timothy 1:8
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