Imagine you see 2 frozen lakes, for some reason, one has a very thin layer of ice, the other really thick, and you want to walk on the ice. This is a bad idea, but for the purposes of illustration, if you were going to do it, which is better, a really strong faith in the lake with the very thin ice, or a very small faith in the thick ice?
It matters more about what your faith is in, than how strong your faith is. A really strong faith in something that will not support you is useless, a tiny faith in something strong is far better.
How might you increase your faith in the thick ice? You could send your husband out first! Or, you might throw something on the ice to test it, you might measure the thickness of it. The way to increase your faith is not by looking inside yourself, but to look at the object and ask is it reliable?
In this letter of 1 John, false teachers have been upsetting the Christians, making them feel that Jesus is not enough for them. That they need something more than Jesus.
In 1 John 5, the Apostle John tells them the way to overcome—the way to overcome the world (including the false teachers 4v5), is our faith!
But it’s not about how strong your faith is, it’s about what or who your faith is in, are they reliable? It’s not about looking within, but looking at Him! Who is it we’re to trust in? The object of our faith is Jesus Christ (v5). We don’t have to look inside ourselves and try and believe something untrue. We look to the person who walked on this earth 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And the way that we come to believe in Him and grow in our faith in Him, is by looking at testimony about Him. We don’t look within but we look at Him. We look at His proven track record. John gives us three reasons to trust Jesus, (v6 water, blood and the Spirit). The water is probably a reference to Jesus’ baptism, remember the public declaration from God the Father that this is His beloved Son. Jesus’ baptism helps us not only with His identity but with His mission. Baptism is a sign of sin being washed away, but Jesus had no sin to wash away. So why was Jesus getting baptised? He was showing what He had come to do—to identify with us, to stand with us. Everyone else was having their sins washed away, but Jesus had no sins to wash away, instead, he was showing what he had come to do. As the water was poured over Jesus, it was a sign of how he would take on the sins of his people. How would He do that? See what John tells us next about Jesus.
The blood. The blood is a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross. How is that a testimony from God? Think about what happened at the cross—remember what happened in the middle of the day—darkness. Darkness is a sign of God’s judgment, why would God be punishing His own beloved Son? He was punishing Him instead of us. Here God was testifying as to what Jesus was doing, he was taking our sin on himself. And remember what happened as Jesus died. The curtain in the temple—torn in two—from top to bottom. Here is testimony from God—the way to God is now open! Can you believe that?
But God gives us more, there is a third witness. The third witness is the Holy Spirit (v7). How does He testify?
The Holy Spirit caused the Scriptures to be written, so that we can know the truth, because He is truth. How else could a book written over thousands of years by multiple authors be true all fit together? How else could the prophecies be fulfilled, right down to the place and events of the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus?
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth caused the Bible to be written and this testifies to who Jesus is. The Spirit, the baptism and the cross all point us to who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
You don’t need to drum up faith, you simply need to look at what Jesus has done and trust Him. John tells us, if you have done that, you have life (v12).
Light and Momentary Troubles 
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