The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, The principle of presenting a true Jesus is essential to the testing of spirits. (1 John 4:17-18) The perfecting of love, both now and in eternity. (1 John 4:2-3) How to know when a false prophet speaks. Oh sir, this is indeed a cowardly fear! (Spurgeon), iv. Pauline Epistles (1 John 4:12) Seeing God through the evidence of love. iv. e. We have seen and testify: Speaking as one who has the Spirit of God (He has given us of His Spirit), John declares three essential truths about who God is and how He saves us. 2. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world: The believer has a resource for victory, the vital presence of the indwelling Jesus, which makes victory always possible if we will rely on He who is in you instead of relying on ourselves. Brother, do the same. ii. You may know the greatness of Jesus salvation now; you will really know it in the day of judgment. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. That sense of being grounded in God only comes when we set aside our sin in the pursuit of the one true God. Love believed is the mother of love returned. (Spurgeon), ii. 1. c. His love has been perfected in us: Perfected uses the Greek word teleioo, which doesnt mean perfect as much as mature and complete. If we love one another, then the love of God is mature and complete in us. a. Beloved, let us love: The ancient Greek sentence begins in a striking way agapetoi agapomen, "those who are loved, let us love." And it is by faith that we overcome. You may know you are a sinner now; you will really, You may know now you are not a better person than those who are going to hell; you will really, You may know the reality of hell now; you will really, You may know the greatness of Jesus salvation now; you will really, Boice, James Montgomery "The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary" (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1979), Clarke, Adam "Clarke's Commentary: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes" Volume 6 (Romans-Revelation) (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1832), Marshall, I. Howard "The Epistles of John" (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1978), Poole, Matthew "A Commentary on the Holy Bible" Volume 3 (Matthew-Revelation) (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1969), Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The New Park Street Pulpit" Volumes 1-6 and "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit" Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990). i. Pentateuch It is a true gift from God. But it is no less important to say, Jesus is a man, because both the deity and humanity of Jesus are essential to our salvation. Sally is obviously traumatized from killing a man, and she attempts to rehabilitate herself by going home, but the instant she gets to Joplin, she learns that Barry has been arrested for the murder of Janice Moss. He is glorified, justified, forever righteous and bold, sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Your partnership makes all we do possible. First of all, by asking for water, he engages in a conversation based on the context and circumstances of the moment. John 4 It was, more than any thing else, the glory of the land of Israel, that it was Emmanuel's land ( Isa 8 8 ), not only the place of his birth, but the scene of his preaching and miracles. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Ah! Links 1 John 4:20 Interlinear 1 John 4:20 Parallel Texts i. ii. Love describes the character and heart of God. a. It is up to us to respond to His command with our will and whole being. In the day of judgment: This is when the completeness of loves work in us will be demonstrated. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. i. b. b. He loved you when you were at hells gate, and drank damnation at every draught. Wisdom Literature As Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 9:15, Jesus was the Fathers indescribable gift. Minor Prophets Marvellous, O Christ, is thy strange love! (Spurgeon). "The world" refers to godless humanity. In speaking of God the Father, Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:17: Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. We know that we abide in Him: By beginning with the words by this, John connected the thought of this verse directly to the previous verse. Do you believe it? e. Everyone who loves is born of God He who does not love does not know God: This does not mean that every display of love in the world can only come from a Christian. i. We need to appreciate this fully, and receive the Fatherly love God has to give us. We love him from a sense of obligation and gratitude. d. Boldness in the day of judgment: How can anyone have such boldness? And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. This false teaching said Jesus was truly God (which is correct), but really a make-believe man. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. Look through all the pages of history, and put to the noblest men and women, who seem to still live, this question, Who loves Christ? and, at once, up from dark dungeons and cruel racks there rises the confessors cry, We love him; and from the fiery stake, where they clapped their hands as they were being burned to death, the same answer comes, We love him. If you could walk through the miles of catacombs at Rome, and if the holy dead, whose dust lies there, could suddenly wake up, they would all shout, We love him. The best and the bravest of men, the noblest and purest of women, have all been in this glorious company; so, surely, you are not ashamed to come forward and say, Put my name down among them. (Spurgeon), v. Be out-and-out for him; unfurl your colours, never hide them, but nail them to the mast, and say to all who ridicule the saints, If you have any ill words for the followers of Christ, pour them out upon me but know this ye shall hear it whether you like it or not, I love Christ. (Spurgeon). Not only is this position ignorant (ignoring the confirmed historical validity of the New Testament) it is also arrogant. Oh, if you do really believe that he has loved you so, sit down, and turn the subject over in your mind, and say to yourself, Jesus loves me; Jesus chose me; Jesus redeemed me; Jesus called me; Jesus has pardoned me; Jesus has taken me into union with himself. (Spurgeon). Of course, no one has seen God the Holy Spirit at any time either, though He has represented Himself in various ways. He first loved us: This verse not only declares our love for Jesus, it also tells us when He loved us. We can receive the healing power in our Fathers love. These verses are the equivalent of saying that a person cannot practice agape-love unless he can first practice philia-love. (Boice). I have sometimes noticed that, in addressing Sunday-school children, it is not uncommon to tell them that the way to be saved is to love Jesus, which is not true. 1. General Epistles We are human beings; He is a God-being who added humanity to His deity. 1. But it is there, and its presence is demonstrated by our love for one another and our agreement with Gods truth and that all serves to give us boldness. 1:1-4 That essential Good, that uncreated Excellence, which had been from the beginning, from eternity, as equal with the Father, and which at length appeared in human nature for the salvation of sinners, was the great subject concerning which the apostle wrote to his brethren. Our love for God is always in response to His love for us; He initiates, and we respond. i. Since no one has seen God at any time, this provides evidence for the presence of God. We touched it with our hands. c. And this commandment we have from Him: We have a commandment to love. i. Jesus loved you when you lived carelessly, when you neglected his Word, when the knee was unbent in prayer. One might say, I want to love God more; I want to grow in my love for Him. i. Exegetical Commentary on 1 John 4:1-6. iii. It is because men are created in the image of God, an image that has been defaced but not destroyed by the Fall, that they still have the capacity to love Human love, however noble and however highly motivated, falls short if it refuses to include the Father and Son as the supreme objects of its affection. (Marshall). You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. (1 John 4:4) The protection of the child of God. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Spiritually, we can have that same standing now, while we are in the world, because as He is, so are we in the world. d. Boldness in the day of judgment: How can anyone have such boldness? It is exciting when the world will listen to the gospel, but we must take care that they are not hearing us because we speak as of the world. John does not think it is enough if a person has some kind of love in his life if he does not confess that Jesus is the Son of God. This is because love does not define everything in the character of God, and because when most people use the term love, they are not thinking of true love, the God-kind of love. b. Love is by no means the root. Now, just forget your own love to him, and think of his great love to you; and then, immediately, your love will come to something more like that which you would desire it to be. (Spurgeon), iii. Yet, if we abide in Him, and He in us (1 John 4:13), then our identity is bound up in Jesus: as He is, so are we in the world. Paul knew that nothing could separate him from the love of God that was in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:35-39), and each Christian should have the same confidence. These academics present their baseless opinions as if they were scholarly facts. i. 1 John 4 - Abiding in God and His Love A. T he spirit of truth and protection against the spirit of error. If we want to love one another more, we need to draw closer to God. We love him from the influence of his own love; from his love shed abroad in our hearts our love to him proceeds. The Old Testament They also are giving false doctrine because they are not presenting a true Jesus. The Old Testament Love was the constant, greatest evidence of the presence and work of God in Jesus Christ. How is Jesus now? Weir is still on his phone, dialing the numbers, while Ben and Hailey are with Homm, tending to his wound. First, it is the Spirit of God in us that is the abiding presence of Jesus the presence of His Spirit is how He abides in us. If God had sent Jesus simply to be our example, that would have been good too and would have had some value But the wonderful thing is that God did not stop with these but rather sent His Son, not merely to teach or to be our example, but to die the death of a felon, that He might save us from sin. (Boice). Major Prophets Plainly, Christians can say, We know. We dont have to merely hope we are saved, and hope we will make it to heaven, thus having no assurance of salvation before we pass from this world to the next. c. That we might live through Him: The love of the Father was not only in the sending of the Son, but also in what that sending accomplishes for us. He loved you when you could not have been worse or further from him than you were. ii. b. Instead, we know the holiness of God is loving, and the righteousness of God is loving, and the justice of God is loving. If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: By this crucial measure, Jesus said the world could measure our status as disciples by the measure of our love for one another. ii. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. That sense of obligation and gratitude Ben and Hailey are with Homm, tending to command! A cowardly fear again when opening a new browser window or new a tab be prompted again when opening new! Draw closer to God he who loves God must love his brother also strange! 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