Bible Commentaries
1 John 4

Verses 1-3

God asks us to test people. We are to use spiri­tual discernment because many false prophets are gone out into the world. How can we do this? One man says the Bible teaches this, and another man says the Bible teaches that. Someone else says the Bible is not to be trusted at all. How can we know that which is of God and that which is not of God?

We are to test a person on the basis of what he confesses about the Person of Jesus Christ.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 John 4:2. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that con­fesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

1 John 4:3. and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.

When John wrote this Epistle, he was facing what is known as Gnosticism. The Gnostics were those who believed that Jesus Christ was an ema­nation from God, a created being. They considered Him to be higher than the angels but not truly God, not God manifest in the flesh. Their ground for this was that they believed the flesh to be evil. Of course, we can agree with that. The desires of our flesh are evil and get us into trouble. So they asked how a holy God could be made manifest in that which is evil.

John faces this question:. Who are those who are true?

Who are those who really believe the Word of God?

Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

Permit me to change the wording. Everyone who confesses that Jesus Christ is God Incarnate is of God.

Both John and Peter declared that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Later, on the Isle of Patmos, John saw Jesus in His glory.

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Revelation 1:17-18).

Peter writes,

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16).

Do not try to say that Jesus Christ did not make that same claim! In the fifth chapter of John, the Jews said to Him in effect, “Who do You think You are? God?” And they sought to kill Him.

He answered them, “Yes! My Father has the au­thority to raise the dead and make them alive. That is exactly what I can do!”

We read at the end of John, chapter 8, that when Jesus said to the Jews of His day, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it and was glad,” the Jews knew exactly what He was talking about.

Then said the Jews unto Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

His answer to them was, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

I am!

Jehovah!

I am the eternal God.

So the Jews tried to kill Him.

That person who denies that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh is not of God.

I say very bluntly that a great many ecclesiastical leaders in our country are not Christian because they deny the Incarnate Word of God. Let me say that if Jesus Christ is not God Incarnate, if He is not the sinless Son of God, then we do not have a Saviour. Then He had to die for His own sin and could not have died to put away sin by the sacri­fice of Himself.

This is precisely what these people are saying. They teach that when He died on the cross, He died as a martyr. They take the very words of Scripture and twist them to deceive the people of God.

Remember that in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 we are told that Satan himself is transformed into an an­gel of light, and that his servants will come as ser­vants of righteousness. The Word of God declares that we are to try the spirits to see if they are of God.

In chapter three of 1 John we studied the contrast between two families, the children of God and the children of the devil. Here we find a contrast between two spirits, the spirit of Christ and the spirit of antichrist. Every spirit that con­fesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

The contrast to this is the spirit of antichrist. We have already learned that this exists (1 John 2:18). Now it is defined as the denial that Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word of God. So we find that we can test the character of those who claim to speak for God on the basis of what they teach and believe about the person of Jesus Christ.

May I remind you again that Satan will come as an angel of light and that Satan’s servants come as the servants of righteousness for the purpose of deceiving the people of God. There is abundant evidence of this in the Scriptures. There is an abundance of counterfeiting of truth everywhere. Our Lord in Matthew 13:24-30 speaks the parable of the wheat and the tares. They both grow to­gether until the harvest.

In Exodus we find Moses, the servant of God, performing miracles; and immediately Jannes and Jambres (2 Timothy 3:8), who were the magicians of Pharaoh, tried to imitate the things that Moses did. In Acts 8:1-40 Simon the sorcerer wanted to imitate Philip and Peter. In Acts 13:1-52 Paul is opposed by Elymas, the sorcerer.

Listen to the Apostle Peter.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will se­cretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. . . . These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black dark­ness has been reserved.; (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:17).

Then in 2 Peter 3:3-5 he goes on to point out that they are willingly ignorant. They do not want to know the truth. Mark these things!

Our Saviour gave His disciples a stern warning:

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name?’ . . . then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you’” (Matthew 7:22-23).

There are people who profess to be preachers, who profess to perform miracles in the name of Christ, and yet our Saviour will say, “I never knew you.”

John is making it very, very clear to us. You see, one can profess knowledge of a fact and not accept it. We read “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” Confesses! This is a relationship by faith with the person of Jesus Christ. The issue is always Christ. Is He God who took His place in the human family? The Word was with God and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh (John 1:1; John 1:14).

Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. In Him all the fulness of God is revealed. By Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-19). The fulness of the Deity dwells in Him bodily form (Colossians 2:9).

He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:3) (the ex­press image of His person KJV). The great question is the position that is given to Christ. Is HE the center of all? Is this Jesus of Nazareth confessed to be God manifest in the flesh, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:22; Acts 2:36). This is the issue.

Preachers may have enthusiasm and showman­ship, but if they say that Jesus is just a prophet, a teacher, an ideal, and deny His person and His de­ity, then they have the spirit of antichrist. When we see religious leaders hating the Word of God and rebelling against the person of Christ, we know they have imbibed the spirit of antichrist.

When leaders who deny the person of Christ ad­vocate immorality and corruption, lawlessness and rebellion, then we are seeing the world preparing for the coming of the man of sin, the antichrist. He will be the personification of Satan.

Verses 1-6

THE TEST OF THE FELLOWSHIP

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 John 4:2. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that con­fesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

1 John 4:3. and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.

1 John 4:4. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:5. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

1 John 4:6. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Verse 4

Just as our Saviour is God who was manifest in the flesh, so the antichrist will be the devil incarnate. He is going to gather the nations to­gether and make war against the Saviour (Revela­tion 13 and 20). Satan and all his disciples hate God, hate the Son of God, hate the people of God, hate the Word of God. Let us not be deluded. The issue is very clear. If we stand for the Saviour, it is going to cost us something.

Since we are to take our place and stand for the Person of Christ against the world around us, there is a word of encouragement for us.

1 John 4:4. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Our Lord has already conquered the powers of darkness. The victory is already assured. The Spirit of God who indwells you is greater than the prince of this world, the god of this age.

I want to tell you very frankly and joyfully that when one accepts the Saviour he has a relation­ship with the Saviour, and the Spirit of God in­dwells him. Greater is He, the Spirit of God, that is in you than he that is in the world. The Spirit of God is greater than any other force in the world or in hell, and so the victory is guaranteed.

1 Corinthians 6:15 gives us this same assur­ance. If we love the Saviour, our bodies become members of Christ, and verse 19 states that we become the sanctuary of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us. It is the presence of this indwelling Spirit of God that guarantees the vic­tory.

I love the testimony of a man who had been a slave to drink, a down-and-out alcoholic. He ac­cepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and one day someone said to him, “So you have the mas­tery over the devil at last.”

“No!” he said, “No, but I have in me the Master who has conquered the devil.”

Of our own strength we cannot overcome sin, or the devil, or the world. But there is in the one who accepts the Saviour the Spirit of God, and “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” You are of God, little children, and have overcome them.

1 John 4:5-6

We have been dealing with the fact that we are to test the spirits by testing their character. We test those who claim to speak for God on the basis of their belief about the person of Jesus Christ. Now we learn that we are also to test them on the basis of their witness. We are to determine the source and the effect of their witness.

1 John 4:5. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

1 John 4:6. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

We are to test not only the messenger but also the message. Those who have the spirit of anti­christ, those who deny the Incarnate Word of God, are of the world. And the effect of their witness is that the world hears them. When we hear someone preach or teach, we need to discern whether the source of their teaching is of the world.

Is it of Satan, the prince and god of this world? We can determine this because the world loves its own. The world speaks of its own. The world exalts man instead of exalting Christ. For the world, man is the center of attraction.

We find in the world a rebellion against God be­cause man wants to be the center. So people of the world are confused. Satan sees to it that they are confused. And I would say to you, until they have their faith and their love centered in the Saviour, they will continue to be confused.

People who are not of God belong to the world. They are of the world. They will gladly hear the world. They do not want to hear the things of God. In contrast, the believer loves to hear the message from God.

Therefore, we have a criterion by which we may test any witness that we hear. The message of the world will make man the center. The message from the Spirit of God will always make Christ the cen­ter.

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative; but whatever He hears, He will speak: and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you” (John 16:13-14).

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Jesus, speaking of Himself and His work, told his disciples,

“You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).

May I add here that the Word of God is the stan­dard of truth. When you choose a church, be sure it is one where the worship of Christ is the central attraction and where you will be taught the Word of God. It is His Word that must be the rule and guide.

Proof Texts

I will bow down toward Thy holy temple, and give thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name (Psalms 138:2).

In the revised text this is translated,

Thou hast underwritten every word by Thy name.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Now these (the Bereans) were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).

But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Verses 7-10

FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

WHO IS LOVE

The reason why so many people despise the God of love and have so little appreciation of the God of love is that they have never seen that God is righteous. The more we see the holy character of God, the more we will appreciate His love. There could be no display of His love without first of all a display of His righteous character. The gospel message does not reveal that God is love apart from the truth that God is righteous.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who be­lieves, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17).

And this is the message we have heard from Him, and announce to you, that God is light (1 John 1:5).

For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).

God must deal with sin in judgment, in right­eousness and in holiness. The only reason we can come into the presence of a holy God is because His righteous character has been vindicated by His Son at the cross.

This is guaranteed to us by the resurrection.

Because of this, we can enjoy fellowship with God who is holy, who is righteous, and who is love.

DIVINE LOVE MANIFESTED

1 John 4:7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:8. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:9. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

We notice John’s declaration of the fact that God is love. Our generation is very confused about the difference between love and lust. Many people think that immorality and moral corruption are not bad so long as people “love” each other. Some ecclesiastical leaders teach situation ethics. Isn’t it really situation immorality?

We need to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 to learn what love is and to find how God describes love.

“Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecom­ingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 12:4-8).

Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you (Isaiah 49:15).

If we love the Saviour, He will never leave us. Whatever we may be, His love is never affected by our frailty or weaknesses or failures. He loves us with an everlasting love.

Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end (John 13:1).

If the truth that every real believer in the Saviour is the object of His love and of His affection would really get hold of our hearts, then we would begin to love His people. Love responds to love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my dis­ciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15:12).

It is divine love that has been shed abroad in our hearts according to Romans 5:5:

The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

In other words, there has been imparted to us di­vine love as well as divine life.

May I plead with your heart, let us love one another. There are hundreds of Christians who are lonely, longing for a little manifestation of love from other Christians. They might not be very lov­able, but perhaps this is because they need love. I know it is easy for us to love somebody who loves us, but God loves us even when we are unlovely and unlovable.

1 John 4:10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.

The very energy of God’s nature to man is love.

Next, John shows to us the manifestation of that love.

1 John 4:9. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him.

1 John 4:10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

People come to me and say, “Mr. Mitchell, I am not a pagan. I believe in God. I have my God and you have yours.”

Then I ask them, “What kind of a God do you have?”

They will say that their God is a God of love.

Then I ask them, “How do you know that your God is love?”

You see, my friend, apart from the Scriptures, apart from the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, there is no revelation that God is love.

We do not find love in nature. One animal preys on another, and one fish feeds on another fish. No, we do not find love displayed in nature. There it is the survival of the fittest.

The great manifestation of the love of God was when He sent His only begotten Son into the world for us. If we reject Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, if we say that Jesus Christ is not the In­carnate Word of God, then we have no basis to de­clare that God is love. God has manifested His love in Christ Jesus.

Love must have an object upon which to dis­play itself. We are the object of God’s love. It is an active love, and it is manifested by sacrifice. It is divine love. It is love which God extended to us even when we were unlovely and unlovable.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:10).

1 John 4:10. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

May I suggest this to your thinking? We mani­fest our love for God by our obedience to His Word. We found that in chapter two. In chapter three we leaned that we manifest our love for each other by sacrifice. We do that though an imparted, divine love.

Here we find that God manifested or displayed His love for us by sending His only begotten Son into the world to die for us.

Has it penetrated your heart that God loved you enough to send His Son to die for you?

Do you know that God sent Jesus, heaven’s best, to die on the cross to put away your sins by the sacrifice of Himself, and then God raised Him from the dead and put Him at His own r

The purpose of this sacrifice made by God was that we might live.

1 John 4:9 b. That God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

God sent His Son on a mission. That mission was to take men who were dead in trespasses and sins and to transform them into children of God who should live with Him eternally. I know of no message on God’s earth that has such hope and love and joy and peace and satisfaction for the human heart. All that we need to do is to accept this divine gift which God has given to us and is now offering to us.

For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Allow me to stop here for a moment and spend some time on these two verses in the Epistle of John since they are the very heart of the gospel.

It is so frequently found that people think of the love of God and forget His righteousness and His holiness. These verses tell us how God can still be righteous and yet manifest His love to us, men and women who are unrighteous and have sinned. God cannot save people at the expense of His right­eousness. Then He would not longer be righteous.

There must be a putting away of sin and a satis­faction of the divine righteousness before God could ever save a single sinner. What righteous­ness could not do, love has done. Love provided the sacrifice. Love has provided a Saviour. The Saviour satisfies (propitiates) the righteous charac­ter of God and the demands of His righteous law.

This makes it possible for us to experience His love. Before God could ever open up His heart and open up His arms to receive men and women in their sins, His character had to be satisfied. His righteousness had to be vindicated. This is what our Saviour accomplished at the cross.

I am persuaded that there is so little appreciation for the love of God today because men have never seen the God who is absolute in righteousness and holiness.

In order to emphasize the fact that the Son of God was sent on a mission, I want to call your attention to another study.

John is the only one who calls Jesus “the only begotten Son of God.” Five times in the New Tes­tament, and only in John’s writing, do we find this name. He is emphasizing that this is the One who is God, manifest in the flesh, the only begotten Son of God.

We find it in John 1:14; John 1:18; John 3:16; and 1 John 4:9. Incidentally, John is also the only one who calls Him the “Lamb of God.” We find that in John 1:29, John 1:36; John 1:27 times in the book of Revelation. Men will be judged in the presence of the Lamb of God.

Isaiah also emphasizes the fact that the Son of God was sent on a mission.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us (Isaiah 9:6).

Notice that the child was born, a real man com­ing through a human mother. But the Son was given. He was sent.

John, in his Gospel, emphasizes that the only begotten Son was never born. He was sent. Ap­proximately 40 times in that Gospel we read that He was sent on a mission for a distinct purpose. Even as a boy of twelve, He knew that He must be about His Father’s business. Later, Jesus said, “I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do” (John 17:4). When the mission was accomplished. He cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

His mission was to take men who were dead in trespasses and sins and to transform them so that “we might live through him” (1 John 4:9) . And by the way, the life which God gives through Him is everlasting life.

The moment a child is born into the world, he is under the sentence of death. We were all born with the seed of death in us.

Jesus came into the world that men might live forever, that we might live through HIM.

This is the great theme of the Gospel through John.

Proof Texts

In Him was life (John 1:4)

“. . . should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16)

The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:14).

He who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judg­ment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).

If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever (John 6:51).

If anyone keeps My word, he shall never see death (John 8:51).

I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (John 10:10).

I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).

I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

But these have been written 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).

This is the glorious answer to a human race that was under the sentence of eternal death. This is the answer to the question of the ages. Job, centuries ago, said there is hope for the tree, for if it is cut down, it will sprout again. But he won­dered about man.

If a man dies, will he live again? (Job 14:14).

The answer is that we have life through union with Jesus Christ. Christ means eternal life, abundant life, satisfying life, resurrection life, in­dwelling life. Not to have Christ means not to have life. In Him is life.

How can we live forever when we were born in sin? Not only do we need life but we also need to be rid of our sins. A man cannot stand in the presence of God when he is sinful. John gives us the answer.

1 John 4:10. He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

He sent His Son as a sacrifice to put away sin at the cross. He is the propitiation, the satisfaction, for our sins. God is satisfied.

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3).

Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).

But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12).

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him (Isaiah 53:6).

And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin, and live to right­eousness; for by His wounds you were healed (I Pe­ter 2:24).

And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5).

Now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26).

How could I possibly have eternal life when I am dead in sins? Something must happen to those sins. Either I must die for them or someone else must die in my place.

Isn’t it wonderful that He came not only to give us life but also to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself? No one can ever produce any evidence in the presence of God to show that a believer has ever sinned. You see, our Saviour didn’t just cover our sins. He put them away, once, for all, forever.

But through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemp­tion (Hebrews 9:12).

One sacrifice for sins for all time (Hebrews 10:12).

So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many; shall appear a second time for salva­tion without reference to sin to those who eagerly await Him (Hebrews 9:28).i

He came the first time to put away sin. He came the first time to make provision whereby we might be fitted for the presence of God. He came the first time as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He is coming again, and then it will be to judge sinners. In flaming fire He is going to take venge­ance on them that know not God (2 Thessalonians 1:8). When He comes the second time, the Lamb of God will be the Judge.

Have you accepted Him? He became an accursed thing so that you might be saved. My yearning is that you might have a tremendous love for the Saviour. May your love be so great and so wonder­ful that people will be attracted to the One who put away sin, so that they may receive the Saviour and pass from death to life.

Verses 11-12

ASSURANCE OF OUR UNION WITH HIM

How can we know that we are in union with the Saviour? How can we know that we are in fellow­ship with God who is love? The apostle gives to us four definite assurances.

1. We know because of our love for His people.

1 John 4:11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one an­other.

1 John 4:12. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one an­other, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

Our relationship with God makes us right in our relationship with men. I can know that I am in right relationship with God when I am in right relationship with my brethren. One is the outflow of the other. Our love for God is displayed by our love for the brethren. If this is not true, then love is just an empty word.

God did not start to love us when we accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour. He loved us when we were sinners. He loved us when we hated Him, when we were afar from Him, when we were dead in trespasses and sins, without Christ, without hope, without God.

He demonstrated His love by sacrifice, and He gave His Son to die for us. When we accept the Saviour, that same love which gave His Son to die for us is manifested through us to others. Our love for God is displayed by obedience to His Word. Our love for each other is displayed by sacrifice. This is the recurring theme through the Epistle of John.

Verse 13

2. We know because He has given to us His Spirit.

1 John 4:13. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, be­cause He has given us of His Spirit.

There are other Scriptures which state that the Spirit of God dwells in the believer in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you an­other Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot re­ceive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you (John 14:16-17).

Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19).

And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us (1 John 3:24).

By our love for others we know that the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5).

Remember, God sees my faith, but men experi­ence my love. As we walk with God, His love is per­fected in us so that the character of God is re­vealed through us in our actions toward others. The very fact that we love the people of God evi­dences that we are walking in fellowship with God. The ability to love must come from God Himself and is part of the fruit of the Spirit of God in His people.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol; against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).

Someone has stated it this way: the fruit of the Spirit is love manifested by joy, peace, patience, etc. This is divine love. If we truly love God, then we will have divine love in our hearts and lives, and there will be a display of that love by obedi­ence to His Word and by sacrifice for others.

When our Lord was living among men, He said,

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

John said, “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained him” (John 1:18).

How are men going to see God today? How are men going to know that God is love today? It must be through His people! This is not just theory, this is real life.

When we come into the experience of life in Christ, His life is demonstrated through us by the Spirit of God who indwells us. This produces our obedience to His Word and our love for the breth­ren, a love which is willing to sacrifice one for the other. This is our assurance. This is how we know that we are in fellowship with God who is love.

Verses 14-15

3. We know because of our confession of His Per­son.

1 John 4:14. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world

1 John 4:15.Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God.

Verses 16-19

The value of the cross of Christ is dependent upon who died on that cross. It was not just a man who died for us, but it was the Son of God. The very fact that we testify that it was God’s Son whom God sent into the world to be the Saviour of sinners is evidence of our union with God, evidence of our life in Him. The Spirit of God in us is displayed through our love of God and our love of the brethren and our confession that Jesus is the Son of God. This gives us our assurance.

4. We know because we are dwelling in His love.

1 John 4:16. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:17. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confi­dence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

1 John 4:18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment. and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

1 John 4:19. We love him, because He first loved us.

What a wonderful, wonderful truth this is! When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we were joined to Him in an intimate union. We have been made partakers of life, His divine life. We are joined to the Son of God. God never for one mo­ment sees us without His Son. When we stand in the presence of God, we stand in all the beauty and righteousness and glory of Christ. What an assurance this union gives for the life of the be­liever!

One of the great purposes of redemption was that God might have a people with whom He could have fellowship. Did you ever think of the anticipa­tion of God when His children are ready for glory?

Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones (Psalms 116:15).

God is anxious for them, waiting for them to come home. God has forgiven them, saved them, given them eternal life, made them His children. They have been tested and tried and refined while upon earth. God has used them in one way or an­other for the glorifying of His person and for the manifestation of His grace and His love and His compassion. And then He brings them home. Isn’t this cause for assurance?

Think on these things. Lay hold of the assurance God gives to us.

We know we have His life abiding in us, not only an imparted life but also an imparted love.

We know we have His Spirit dwelling in us.

We know we love Him and love His people.

We know we belong to Him by our union with God. We dwell in love because God is love. We dwell in God and God in us and so we dwell in love.

Verse 17

The result of this should be a boldness before God. Perfect love has made provision for the be­liever to have confidence and boldness in the pres­ence of God.

1 John 4:17. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confi­dence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

We find this same thought in the book of He­brews.

Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

We who are creatures of the dust can have real, intimate fellowship with God.

Divine love, imparted to us, guarantees the per­fection of His purpose in His people. We have three glorious proofs of love making perfect. Let us look at them.

One, in chapter two, we found that because we love Him and belong to Him we live in obedience to His Word.

But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him (1 John 2:5)

This is our relationship to God.

Two, in chapter four, we found that His love is perfected in us in our manifestation of love for the people of God.

If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us (1 John 4:12).

This is in our relationship to self.

Three, notice, it does not say as He is, so will we be when we get to heaven. We all would believe that. The Bible clearly states that when we see Him, we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). God has determined that we are going to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Oh, yes, when we get to heaven, we will never fail Him.

But this verse 17 is saying that just as He is, so are we now.

In this world! 1 John 4:17

This is our position in Christ. This is our relation­ship.

Death, sin, judgment are all behind us. No one can produce any evidence in the presence of God that we were sinners. His perfect love has made a perfect provision for us to come into His presence. Hence, we have boldness.

Death, sin, judgment are all in the past. When we stand before God, we stand before Him without sin. We stand in the righteousness of Christ. This gives us peace of heart, boldness, confidence. God has made a marvelous provision for us in His Son, and it is beyond the comprehension of men.

If we wait until we can analyze and understand all the program and purpose of God in man’s re­demption, we will wait until it is too late. In fact, one cannot know until one first accepts the Sav­iour.

When we accept Jesus Christ, the door is flung open by the Spirit of God, and He keeps and guides us into all truth. He makes the things of Christ very real to us.

I love this 17th verse. It was one of the first verses I learned when I became a Christian. It was so beyond me I could hardly believe that it was in the Bible. Yet, here it stands in the word of God. 1 John 4:17

 

As He is, so also are we in this world.

 

Someone may ask why I don’t talk about Chris­tian service. Doesn’t that come in here some­where? Service is the outflow of our fellowship with the Saviour, our relationship to Him. The more we walk with Him, the more gladly we serve Him.

Otherwise we get occupied with self, become in­different to Him, and service becomes a burden. It is so easy for all of us to allow things to interfere with our own intimate fellowship with God and our walk with Him.

Yet this should always be our first concern.

The perfect provision that God has made for us, whereby we can fully enjoy that fellowship with Him, is that “perfect love casts out fear.”

 

Christianity is not a religion of fear.

I recognize there are those who try to scare peo­ple into obedience to God by calling the judgment and wrath of God upon them.

I find so many Christians who are fearful about coming into the presence of God, not sure about their eternal destiny. The reason they are not sure is that they look at themselves, their works, their service, their failures.

They become so occupied with their weaknesses that they are miserable. There is a terrible fruitage from self-occupation and introspection. Not only does it produce selfishness and egotism but also discouragement.

 

By the way, Satan doesn’t mind a bit if we get occupied with ourselves and our accomplish­ments. Our accomplishments may make us proud and our failures may make us discouraged. Satan doesn’t care which it is, so long as we are not occupied with the Saviour. When we get our eyes on Christ, we find the One whom God accepts and we are accepted in the Beloved.

 

God never sees us apart from His Son. In Christ we can have perfect peace.

 

Proof Texts

 

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (John 14:27).

 

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation: but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

 

He Himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14).

i

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you en­tirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass (I Thessaloni­ans 5:23,24).

 

Fear and love do not go together. The more we look at ourselves and at each other, the more we find fault and become fearful. The more we love the Saviour and are occupied with Him, the more we will experience perfect peace. Let us read the Word of God to see the Saviour, to understand what kind of Father we have, and to know His pro­vision for all our needs. Then love will replace our fears. Perfect peace and full joy is found in Jesus Christ, our wonderful Saviour.

 

 

 

 

LOVE MANIFESTED IN HIS CHILDREN

We love Him because He first loved us. Love responds to love. We love the brethren because He commanded us to do so and we manifest our love to God by our obedience to His command.

1 John 4:20. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4:21. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Let us note this very carefully. In John 15:15-17, Jesus calls us to be friends. He has chosen us and ordained us that we should go and bring forth fruit. He commands us to love one another as He has loved us.

Don’t twist these around. We must love the peo­ple of God because He commands it. If we love Him, we will love His children.

Satan takes great delight in breaking up the assemblies of God’s people by destroying their love the one for the other. I’m sorry to say that we see bitterness, envy, jealousy even among God’s wonderful people.

Churches have been broken, not because of their love for the truth, but because of personalities. Yet, we know that the Lord always loves us. Even though we are in frailty, weakness and failure, His love for us is not affected.

Now Jesus commands us to love the brethren just as He loves us.

Our reaction is to say that such love is im­possible for us. It is a supernatural love. That is correct. But Romans 5:5 tells us that divine love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It was noted that in the early church they loved one another. Cannot we demonstrate this same love? If we do not love the brother whom we have seen, how can we love God whom we have not seen?

Our next reaction may be to say we just don’t feel like it. That also may be true. Then we should go look in the mirror and marvel at the grace of God that He could love even us.

Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). In­stead of criticizing and judging people, we are to love them. God has given us that divine love by His Spirit so that we can manifest supernatural love.

We are to manifest our love for the Saviour by lov­ing the people of God—the “ornery” as well as the lovely ones, regardless of age or circumstance or experience. If we have trouble doing that, then let us get on our knees and pray for them.