Key Verse:
1 John 4:16b AMP
16b God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him.
There is a bit of God in all of us, isn’t there? And if God is love, then we are intended for love and to love. Let us proceed...
Where to begin?
1 John 1:4
4 And these things we write to you that [a]your joy may be full.
Contrary to last week’s lesson, where the problem was with Hebraic Christians facing challenges from the Hebrew Community to return to Temple worship (see Hebrews 10), this week’s focus is on a relatively new group of Gentile believers who face opposition from the very diverse ethnos surrounding them. In this community, the challenge is to stay true to their confession of Christ as having come in the flesh (fully man), the Son of God (fully God) who came that we might share in eternal life through His shed Blood.
The confusion surrounding the identity of Christ came about because of the rise of Gnosticism, a belief that (simplified) the spiritual was good, the temporal was evil, therefore Christ could not have come in the flesh, but only as a ‘spirit’. This erroneous belief called into question the very necessity of the cross and Christ’s sacrifice. The challenge then was to hold to the teaching of the Apostles and to the Word of God, which at that time existed in the form of the Old Testament, and all of the New Testament writings except the letters of John and the Book of Revelation. Since most of these believers had not seen Christ in the flesh, nor had extensive knowledge of the ancient worship system of the Hebrews, like us, they would have had to take what they heard by faith and then hold onto that teaching by faith. How similar were their challenges to ours today?
The Lesson
1 John 4:2 NKJV
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
In this, his first letter, John is encouraging his readers to hold fast to what they have been taught. Primarily that, yes, Jesus was actually born of a virgin, had lived in Israel as a man, and was killed at Calvary for our sakes. Simple, life-changing truths whereby they had come to salvation. Those simple facts remained simple. They did not (and do not) require any philosophical embellishment or application of reason that would allow the hearer to compartmentalize the Gospel message into a place of intellect, rather than a place in one’s heart. The message given by the Spirit of God was that Jesus had come in the flesh.
1 Timothy 3:16 NKJV
16 And without controversy great is the [i]mystery of godliness:
God[j] was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
_____________________________________________________________
1 John 4:3 NKJV
3 and every spirit that does not confess [a]that Jesus [b]Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world.
Just as simply, for the sake of completing the parameters of this very simple ‘litmus’ test, John states that those who do not confess that Christ has come in the flesh are not of God. Period. Full Stop. There is no need to broach the subject of Antichrist, except to note that John makes it clear that the spiritual impetus behind any denial that Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.
Interlude
1 John 4:12
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
Though this verse is not part of the printed text of the lesson, I include it because it informs us of several things. First, John identifies with his readers by informing them that He, as maybe the last alive of the twelve original disciples of Christ, had seen Christ (1 John 1:1), and was a witness to the miracles Christ performed and to His crucifixion and His resurrection, he (John) had not ever seen God. No man has. However, he (John) goes on to tell his readers (and us) that the evidence that God exists and that He makes His abode in the believer is the love that they (and we) have for one another. Another very simple test. Additionally and importantly, John adds that by this, God has perfected His love in us (past tense)!
For a young body of believers, this is critical because, on every hand, their confidence in God, whom they have not seen is being challenged. To be told that God started the work, that He is doing the work and that yes, He has perfected the work of salvation within them brings peace that surpasses all understanding. They can walk in peace when they understand that God initiated salvation within them, it was not by their own force of will. Subsequently, it is not by their own force of will that they will remain ‘saved’, nor will it be by their own willpower that they will be caught up to Heaven on that great and Glorious Day of the Lord’s return. It’s all God.
Zechariah 4:6 NKJV
Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ saith the Lord of hosts.
John 1:12-13 NKJV
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the [e]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(Back to The Lesson)
1 John 4:13 NKJV
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
The agency or Agent by which this miracle of the ‘New Birth’ occurs is the Ruach HaKodesh; The Holy Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. As believers, they and we have the assurance of God with us through the Presence: the Holy Spirit, both within and without.
1 John 4:14 NKJV
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
John, again, testifies to his personal knowledge of the ministry of Jesus, the Messiah, and to the fact that God sent Christ to save all who would hear His message (the Gospel) and believe (John 1:12-13 & John 3:16). As a witness to these events, John’s testimony validates the testimony of other New Testament writers in the ears of his audience and to us today.
1 John 4:15 NKJV
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
John then assures his audience that even though they have not seen Jesus, because they have believed his (John’s) message and have accepted and confessed Jesus as Lord of their lives, they share in the Salvation that John preaches: the salvation that Christ provides. By this, they can trust that God truly lives in them.
1 John 4:16 NKJV
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Beloved, we are hopeful in what we believe because we know that God is love. A loving God loves those who believe. That must be the case. There is no scenario whereby God would save us if He did not love us. None. We have and abide in this great promise of salvation because we are assured that … God is love. We can relax in His love. His is a love that can be trusted.
1 John 4:17 NKJV
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
As we discussed in verse twelve (above), God’s love in us has been perfected (in us). God’s work in us is complete. So certain is truth, that we can look toward the Day of the Lord without fear, but with boldness. Our ticket has been punched. Our boarding pass has been issued. We’re just waiting on the train.
When I first ‘got saved’, I was in a small Holiness fellowship where, oftentimes, during Friday night service (yes, we had church on Friday night), we would have what we called ‘Rapture drills’. During the praise and worship portion of the service, the pastor would exhort us to ‘jump up!’, as a way of imitating the Rapture. However, that imitation falls short because we won’t ‘jump up’, we will be ‘caught up’, ‘swept up’, ‘carried up’ by the very Spirit of God that lives within us and keeps us until that glorious day. Our guarantee of that is His Spirit living in us. Hallelujah!
Take a Moment
1 John 4:18-19 NKJV
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love [c]Him because He first loved us.
(The two verses above are not part of today’s text, but complete the thought that John makes in verses 12 through 17)
1 John 5:4 NKJV
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—[a]our faith.
Faith! Faith! Woo Hoo! Yes, Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Faith! We are overcomers by faith! The same faith by which God commanded creation into existence has saved us! The same faith by which the elders obtained a good report has saved us! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! We have overcome the world by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of our testimony! By Grace, we are saved, through Faith! Hallelujah!
The intent of this lesson, then, is summarized quite handily in this last verse of today’s lesson. There is no need for further exhortation. John finishes with a rhetorical flourish with these words...
1 John 5:5 NKJV
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
I guess I’ll close with a rhetorical question, “Need I say more?” (smile)
Selah!
wb
♫“All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need”♫
~ The Beatles
Oh my, brother Wayne. That was "Meaty" and wonderful. I like reference to the Third Person
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