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FIRST JOHN CHAPTER FOUR
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand in
accordance with the framework in which it was written: a framework which
is defined by the normative rules of language, context and logic - rules
which do not impose undue, unintended meanings to the text
,
and which largely limit the observer to the content offered by the books
of 1st John and the Gospel of John. In order for any passage from
elsewhere to be considered, it must have a relationship with the context
at hand, such as a Scriptural quotation or a specific cross reference in
the passage at hand by the author. This will serve to avoid going on
unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the
framework for a proper and objective comparison with passages located
elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
(1 Jn 3:24 NASB) "[And] the one who [guardedly] keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by [out of] the Spirit Whom He [gave] us.
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) 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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear) by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God;
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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 Jn 4:5 NASB) They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
(1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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.
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
(1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love.
(1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives toward God and one another].
(1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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.
(1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
(1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us.
(1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit.
(1 Jn 4:14 NASB) .[And so we - we] have seen [in our mind's eye] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
(1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
(1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him.
(1 Jn 4:17 NASB) [In] this, love [has been] perfected [among] us: that we may have [boldness] in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
(1 Jn 4:18 YLT) Fear is not in the love, but the perfect love [casts] out ... fear, because ... fear [has] punishment, and he who is fearing [has] not been made perfect in the love.
(1 Jn 4:19 NASB) We love [Him], because He first loved us.
(1 Jn 4:20 NASB) 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 Jn 4:21 NASB) And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."
(1 Jn 3:24 NASB) "[And] the one who [guardedly] keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, [out of] the Spirit Whom He [gave] us." =
The last verse of 1 Jn chapter 3 appears to be best considered as the first verse of chapter 4. For 1 Jn 3:24 begins a parenthetical statement through 1 Jn 4:6, about testing the spirits in the midst of instruction about expressing agapE, godly love for the brethren from 1 Jn 3:1 through 1 Jn 4:21. Note that 1 Jn chapter 2 has already provided instruction for the child of God, born of God relative to the subject of keeping God's commandments and thereby knowing that one is abiding in Him which is the subject in view in 1 Jn 3:24:
****** EXCERPT FROM 1ST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 2:3 NKJV) "Now by this we know that we [have known] Him, if we keep His commandments." =
Author and apostle John transitions from the subject of children of God, born of God having fellowship with God and with His Son Jesus Christ through walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness and confessing sins, (1 Jn 1:1-2:2), to their knowing God / Jesus Christ in a more intimate sense beyond their salvation / fellowship experience, beginning at 1 Jn 2:3 with when they are careful to keep God's commandments.
(1 Jn 2:3 Interlinear) "kai ..en toutO ginOskomen hoti egnOkamen ......auton
....................................."And by this ....we know .......that we have known Him
ean tas .entolas ................autou tErOmen."
if ....the commandments His .....we [are careful to] keep."
The Greek verb "tErOmen" rendered "we are careful to keep" is used in this epistle six times with 'commandments' as its object (here and in verse 4; in 3:22-24; and 5:2-3); once with 'His word' as the object (verse 5); and in 5:18 with 'himself' as the object. The verb fundamentally means to be careful to keep, to watch over, to guard. To keep a commandment simply means to 'carry out a command.' But the Greek verb (tErOmen) carries an additional connotation of being 'observant' or 'careful' about keeping the commandments. The English 'to keep a commandment' does not suggest this additional idea found in the Greek. John is not thinking, therefore, about perfunctory performance of the commands of God, but rather about that attitude of obedience which is marked by being careful and concerned for, and attentive to God's will. We are to carefully keep His commands!
The YLT has "we have known Him." The NKJV, ASV, KJV have "we know that we know Him," and the NASB, HOLMAN, NIV have "we know that we have come to know Him." The Greek perfect tense verb, "ginOskomen" rendered "have known" in the YLT best fits the context of the verse, conveying a knowledge of God / Jesus Christ in a greater sense than when they were saved occurring when they became careful to keep God's commandments - and continuing as they continued to be so carefully obedient. So the verse is best rendered "Now by this we know [present tense] that we [have known] [perfect tense] Him, [God] if we [are careful to] keep His commandments."
Note that the Greek verbs rendered "we know" and "we have known," "ginOskomen" and "egnOkamen" respectively are from the infinitive "ginOskO," which means to know. This verb is used interchangeably with "epiginOskO" which can have the same meaning in the particular context that it appears without regard to which verb is chosen by the writer to use. Some falsely contend that "epiginOskO" has a specialized meaning in Scripture to convey a special knowledge of God, but the verb "ginOskO" does that in 1 Jn chapter 2 as well. The two verb forms are synonymous as every koine Greek dictionary indicates.
Since 1 Jn 2:3
has in view children of God, born of God who are already saved unto
eternal life and who have known God at those times when they are careful
to keep God's commandments; and since salvation unto eternal life is
received only by a moment of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for it
wherein the one believing in Him may know Christ as ones Savior, (1 Jn
5:1, 9-13
.Jn 3:15-18; 5:24); then 1 Jn 2:3 does not
have in view what an individual must do and/or know in order to acquire /
keep eternal life.
So 1 Jn 2:3 has in view children of God, born of God having a certain knowledge of God commensurate with the manner in which each one of them is carefully keeping God's commandments beyond the saving knowledge they had received when they believed in the Son of God, Jesus Christ for eternal life. It is a measure of the spiritual maturity and fellowship with God of already saved children of God, born of God, (cf. Jn 14:15; 15:10; 1 Jn 3:22, 24). Further details of this greater knowledge of God depend specifically upon the circumstances in the mortal life of each child of God, born of God - a measure of the extent to which he is careful to keep God's commandments.
The phrase rendered "if we [are careful to] keep His commandments" cannot be conveying an absolute sense of leading a sinless life of absolutely perfect righteousness. This would contradict Scripture, (ref. 1 Jn 1:8, 10; 2:1). It is conveying the sense of children of God, born of God living in remarkably consistent patterns of remaining in fellowship with and growing in the knowledge of God by walking in the Light of His Absolute Righteousness, constantly confessing their sins to God, diligently studying and being careful to keep God's commandments, etc.
Despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light they can know that they are righteous and discern righteous acts in others - not by what they feel such as by some kind of supernatural power taking control of them like an expression of an imagined spiritual gift, as some contend - but by trusting in what Scripture says about the matter: For Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
So whatever
children of God, born of God do in the name of God while they walk in the
Light of God's Absolute Righteousness in accordance with that which they
have properly learned from Scripture, albeitly imperfectly
.,
their deeds will be purified from all unrighteousness and be acceptable to
God for eternal rewards at judgment .
This is true when children of God, born of God endeavor to do the
following:
» study / abide in God's Word - be careful to keep His commandments, and thereby abide in God / Jesus Christ - hence walk in the same manner as Jesus Christ by the grace of God, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23);
» determine what to say to others from Scripture, (1 Jn 2:14, 24);
» care for the unsaved and share their faith with them with an agapE, godly love, (1 Jn 2:24; Mt 28:19-20);
» express
agapE, godly love toward the brethren and thereby affirm to themselves
that by the grace of God they know God and are born of God and that they
know that God's love is perfected, i.e., made complete in them
,
(1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12; 5:9-13);
» confess their sins while walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10);
» be assured because they are children of God, born of God that their sins are forgiven unto eternal life and unto temporal fellowship with God, (1 Jn 1:9, 2:12; 5:9-13);
» look forward to Christ's appearing and thereby be assured of their eternal destiny, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2);
» not love the world or the things in it, (1 Jn 2:15);
» know that they are children of God, born of God unto eternal life because the world hates them like it hated Christ - implying that they are endeavoring to abide in God - in His Word, (1 Jn 3:13);
» confess the Father and the Son - acknowledging truths from Scripture about them, and especially the Son having come in the flesh, (1 Jn 2:23);
» know that God is Light - that He is Absolute Righteousness; and in Him there is no darkness, no unrighteousness at all, (1 Jn 1:5-7; 2:29; 3:5);
» know that they are children of God, born of God because they have the sure hope of eternal life fixed upon the Son of God, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2-3; 5:9-13);
» test the spirits through Scripture to determine if they are from God, (1 Jn 4:1-6); etc.
Furthermore, in
addition to self-examination to determine if they are abiding in God's
love, children of God, born of God while they walk in God's Light can know
what is of God and what is not relative to what they observe others say
and do, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin. Such
tests presume that a child of God, born of God is walking in the Light of
God's Absolute Righteousness, expressing agapE, godly love for others, and
has properly learned from Scripture in order to make a godly judgment on
the matters in view in these tests. And this is conditioned upon the
accuracy of what they think another is saying and doing. Appearances due
to the lack of the knowledge of details behind what is observed can be
deceiving. And children of God, born of God neither have God's Absolute
Knowledge of another's eternal and temporal position with Him, nor what
God knows about another's understanding, motivation and faith. And this is
further limited by what the child of God, born of God has as an accurate
understanding of what Scripture teaches on the matter at hand - in
accordance with their faithfulness in following the rules by which the
words of God's Word were composed .
Nevertheless, there are a number of indicators as to whether or not one is a child of God, born of God on the path of abiding in God, i.e., toward a more intimate fellowship with God such as:
«
persistent, daily study of Scripture in accordance with the order in which
each book of God's Word was inspired by the Holy Spirit to be written
without skipping any parts - hence no cherry picking of verses from all
over the Bible without regard for context instead of thoroughly analyzing
each passage to verify the context from the beginning of the Book it
is contained in, in the order it was written - all of which must be in
accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic which
were evidently used to compose the Bible .-
[1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; Jn 14:23].
«
persistent, daily sharing of what one has learned and confirmed in ones
study of Scripture with others via a vigorous contending of each point
with accurate citations, and quotes from a reliable version of God's Word;
but with a willingness to allow oneself to be proved wrong by carefully
listening to what others have to say, verifying / refuting each point made
from Scripture - all of which must be in accordance with the normative
rules of language, context and logic which were evidently used to compose
the Bible .-
[1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23].
«
persistent, daily review of what one has learned and shared with others,
to make sure it accurately follows Scripture - all of which must be in
accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic which
were evidently used to compose the Bible .-
[ref. 1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23].
«
persistent, daily concern - an agape, godly love for the eternal destiny
of others characterized by a reluctance to turn away from them even
despite rejection - always looking for ways to communicate with them from
Scripture in a manner which will get them to seek what it says in the
Bible and to seek salvation / fellowship with God - all of which must be
in accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic
which were evidently used to compose the Bible ,
[ref. 1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12].
«
persistently resolving apparent contradictions within ones own mind about
the Bible by rigorously applying the normative rules of language, context
and logic
.leading to corrections and affirmations of
the conclusions one has arrived at. Hence accurate non-contradictory
observations of what Scripture is saying are consistently arrived at when
the rules are faithfully applied. This testifies to the inerrancy /
non-contradictory nature of God's Word when interpreted faithfully via the
rules by which it was penned. And thereby it will constantly be affirmed
that all conclusions are in perfect harmony with one another and fit one
another without contradiction - hence God actually did inspire Scripture,
[ref. abiding in God's Word, (ref. 1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn
14:23].
And God has indeed communicated His Word in a perfect manner utilizing normative rules of language. For whenever the normative rules are strictly adhered to, what results is a 'single line' of interpretation with no contradiction, no confusion and perfect consistency throughout every book of the bible, corroborating that it is God's Word!
«
persistently not willing to compromise if compromise means going against
what one has learned from God's Word; and willing to be alone / persecuted
- all of which must be in accordance with the normative rules of language,
context and logic which were evidently used to compose the Bible
.,
[ref. 1 Jn 3:13];
« living
every day with a view to eternity more than temporal matters as a result
of ones assurance of ones eternal destiny - all of which must be in
accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic which
were evidently used to compose the Bible .,
[ref. 1 Jn 2:12, 28; 3:2-3, 13].
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 3:24 NASB cont.) "[And] the one who [guardedly] keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, [out of] the Spirit Whom He [gave] us." (cont.) =
Children of God, born of God who keep His commandments, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin, will abide in Him, and He in them. They abide in His Word and know that God abides in them [out of] the Spirit Whom He [Jesus Christ] gave them. This implies that the Holy Spirit operates within the lives of the children of God, born of God to verify that God abides in them such as prompting them:
» to study / abide in God's Word - guardedly keep His commandments, and thereby abide in God / Jesus Christ - hence walk in the same manner as Jesus Christ by the grace of God, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23);
» to determine what to say to others from Scripture, (1 Jn 2:14, 24);
» to care for the unsaved and to share his faith with them with an agapE, godly love, (1 Jn 2:24; Mt 28:19-20);
» to
express agapE love toward the brethren and thereby affirm to themselves
that by the grace of God they know God and are born of God and that they
know that God's love is perfected, i.e., made complete in them
,
(1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12);
» to confess their sins - to walk in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10);
» to be assured, because they are children of God, born of God, that their sins are are forgiven unto eternal life, (1 Jn 2:12);
» to look forward to Christ's appearing and thereby to be assured of their eternal destiny, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2);
» to walk in the same manner that Christ walked, (1 Jn 2:6);
» to not love the world or the things in it, (1 Jn 2:15);
» to know that they are born of God unto eternal life because the world hates them like it hated Christ - implying that they are endeavoring to abide in God's Word, (1 Jn 3:13);
» to confess the Father and the Son, especially that the Son having come in the flesh, (1 Jn 2:23);
» to know that God is Light - Absolutely Perfect Righteousness; and in Him there is no darkness, no unrighteousness at all, (1 Jn 1:5-7; 2:29; 3:5);
» to know that he is a child of God, born of God, because they have the sure hope of eternal life fixed upon the Son of God, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:1-3); etc.
» to test the spirits to determine if they are from God, (1 Jn 4:1-6); etc.
........................................................................................................................................ (1 Jn 3:24)
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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:" =
The Greek word "pneumati" rendered "spirit" in 1 Jn 4:1-3 can refer to a human spirit or to supernatural spirits like satanic angels or demons, but also to an attitude or disposition such as the spirit of fear or of power or of love or of a sound mind. Any of these may be in view in 1 Jn 4:1-3 relative to conveying something other than what God the Holy Spirit has conveyed. But there is only one Spirit Who is the Teacher of the children of God, born of God, (1 Jn 2:27). And John warned that "many false prophets have gone out into the world:" who claim to be God's teachers. So the human spirit may or may not at times be controlled by the Holy Spirit in the sense of conveying God's Word. The supernatural spirits - satanic angels or demons do not convey a message from the Holy Spirit at all. And an individual may or may not be controlled by the Holy Spirit. So what is communicated by word or deeds must always be tested to assure that the message and the individual is from God.
Although Children of God, born of God who are keeping God's commandments, i.e., who are abiding in His Word - albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin, but by the grace of God they can know that God abides in them by the work of the Holy Spirit in them, (1 Jn 3:24);
and although John previously wrote that children of God, born of God have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit and thereby will receive instruction from God and can abide in God through His teaching:
(1 Jn 2:27 NASB) "As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him;"
nevertheless John declared to his "AgapEtoi" = "Beloved" children of God, born of God, in 1 Jn 4:1: "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:"
and in 1 Jn 4:2a, he wrote, "by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known;
and in 1 Jn 4:2b, "Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God."
So not every spirit is the Holy Spirit. Other spirits such as those of the many false prophets who have gone out into the world have been conveying messages that are not from God to the children of God, born of God.
................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 4:1).
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear)..by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God;" =
1) [1 Jn 4:2a CBL Greek Interlinear]:
"en toutO ginOsketai .....................to pneuma tou Theou."
"by this ....it is being made known the Spirit ...of ..God."
2) [Manuscript evidence for 1 Jn 4:2a]:
Sinaiticus-corr2, A, B, C, L, Psi-corr3, 33, 614, 945, 1739, 1852, 1881 - "ginOskete" = "you know," active voice.
Psi-org, byz - ginOsketai, = "it is being made known," middle voice.
The exceptional use of the middle voice of ginOskO in the 3rd personal singular, "ginOsketai" rendered "it is being made known" instead of the first person, active voice, "ginOskete" rendered "you know," is in some key early manuscripts as well. But since the active voice phrase "you know" predominates in First John, "ginOsketai" in 1 Jn 4:2a was evidently changed to "ginOskete" in order harmonize it with the other places that John has this verb form, (e.g., 2:3, 5, 18, 29; 3:19, 24; etc.). But "ginOsketai" which is rendered "it is being made known" better fits the context of the Spirit of God being made known by testing the spirits.
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2a CBL Interlinear).by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God;"
Although the Greek words "en toutO" rendered "by this" which begin 1 Jn 4:2a can refer forward to the rest of verse 4:2, there are no clear explanatory clauses that indicate that the reader should look forward. It makes better sense to treat 1 Jn 4:2a as a reference backward to 1 Jn 4:1, signifying that by testing the spirits, that this is how it is being made known that what is being conveyed is from the Spirit of God. So 1 Jn 4:1 should end with a colon, and 1 Jn 4:2a complete the thought as follows: (1 Jn 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 Jn 4:2a) by this [by testing the spirits] it is being made known the Spirit of God."
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear) by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known..Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God;" =
The second phrase of 1 Jn 4:2b is best rendered as follows:
1) [1 Jn 4:2b CBL Greek Interlinear]:
"Pan ...pneuma .ho .......homologei IEsoun .......Christon en ..........sarki
"Every spirit .....which .confesses ...Jesus ...[as] .Christ ....in [the] .flesh
elEluthota ....ek tou .theou estin."
having come of ........God ...is."
**************************************************************************
(1 Jn 4:2b NASB) "Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God;"
Since there is no word for "that" which appears in most versions in the phrase rendered "confesses that Jesus;"
and since the Greek verb form "elEluthota" rendered "having come" modifies "Christon" rendered "Christ," indicating Jesus to be Christ having come in the flesh;
and since
John's principal concern in this test is that Jesus of Nazareth, a Human
being should be recognized as the "Christ," the Anointed Son of
God, Who is God, come
to make a propitiation for the sins of all mankind, (cf 1 Jn 2:2),
which belief
in this truth is a saving one, (cf. 1 Jn 2:22; 5:1, 9-13; cf. Jn
20:30-31);
then 1 Jn 4:2b is best rendered "Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God;" indicating to a child of God, born of God that what is conveyed to him is from God.
This is a key test among many tests, one which is designed to authenticate if a particular spirit albeit human, angelic, etc. is from God. So if that spirit confesses that Jesus is the Christ - the Anointed One, the Son of God, Who is God come in the flesh, then that particular spirit is from God. A negative result confirms that the spirit is an ungodly, supernatural spirit; a human spirit that has become the agent of an ungodly supernatural spirit; or a rebellious human spirit of man in opposition with God - all of which are characterized as antichrist. Note that in John's time as well as in today's times, many have contended that 'Jesus' was a mere man and that the divine 'Christ' was an incorporeal, spiritual being who descended on Him at His baptism, but departed from Him before He died. So the spirit who affirms Jesus as Christ having come in the flesh is from God for those moments he has made that confession because he has been enlightened and motivated by God's Spirit to make that confession.
If an individual demonstrates not believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah Who is the Son of God, Who came to earth in the form of Humanity, in the flesh, then that individual is not in fellowship with God. And he may not be a child of God, born of God. So whatever spirit / individual that one is communicating with is not to be trusted as from God.
Note that tests
should always be made of whatever individuals might say or act out by
comparing what they are communicating or acting out with a proper
interpretation of God's Word utilizing the normative rules of language,
context and logic .
On the other hand, tests of whether or not what an individual declares is
from God's Word, and / or whether or not what he does such as ones 'good'
works is biblical cannot rule out an individual from being saved unto
eternal life; since no man can claim to be without sin - including making
erroneous interpretations of God's Word, (1 Jn 1:8, 10). Nevertheless, any
test which produces a result which does not match up to Scripture, the
person / spirit and what is communicated must not be trusted.
....................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 4:2b)
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear) by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God; (1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world." =
TR WH NU Sinaiticus, A, B, C, 33, 1739 Maj has "every spirit that does not confess."
Variants 1739mg it, vg Irenaeus Clement, Origen and Augustine have "every spirit that destroys"
In this verse, the 'spirit' is the ungodly spirit operating in the false prophets, through whom that spirit would not confess that Jesus is from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist (2:18) and the spirit of error (4:6). According to nearly every Greek manuscript, the spirit is identified as one that does not confess Jesus. Some ancient translators and commentators, however, saw an opportunity here to make an anti-gnostic statement by changing the text to read 'every spirit that annuls Jesus' or 'every spirit that severs Jesus' (as in the Vulgate). The annulling would be to destroy the orthodox teaching about Jesus' incarnation; the severing would be to divide 'Jesus' from 'the Christ,' as was done by Docetists and Nestorians.
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God."
So John confirms to his beloved in 1 Jn 4:3a, "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God." This is a sweeping conclusion that warns the child of God, born of God not to trust in what is being conveyed from the spirit who does not outwardly and clearly confess that Jesus - the Humanity of Jesus is from God - in the sense of denying that Jesus Christ - the Anointed Son of God, Who is God came in the flesh - in the Humanity of Jesus of Nazareth to make a propitiation for the sins of all mankind, (1 Jn 2:2; 4:2).
[(1 Jn 4:3a) Hodges, op. cit., pp. 177-178]:
"It is noteworthy that John does not say 'every spirit that' denies, but rather 'every spirit that does not confess.' Heretical teaching can mask the full extent of its deviation from the truth by simply failing to affirm some pivotal biblical truth. This is often done to make its false doctrine more palatable to the Christian audience it seeks to reach. But, says John, even the failure to confess 'Jesus' as 'Christ come in flesh' is a clear indication that the religious outlook in question 'is not of God.' If a religious leader or movement cannot speak loud and clear about the fundamental Christological and soteriological truth that 'Jesus' is the 'Christ,' then that leader or movement does not have its source, or dynamic, in 'God."
3) [More manuscript evidence of 1 Jn 4:3a]:
WH NU A, B,
1739, cop(bo) Origen have "Jesus
Variant 1 Psi (33) have "Jesus coming in the flesh"
Variant 2 Sinaiticus has "Jesus [as] Lord having come in the flesh"
Variant 3 TR Maj vg(ms) have Jesus [as] Christ having come in the flesh"
There are other minor variants in this part of the verse, but the four readings listed above are the primary ones. The WH NU reading, which has early documentary support, was expanded in two ways. First, the words "having come in the flesh" were either pedantically carried over from 4:2 or purposely added to make sure that the confession included an insertion of the orthodox position on the incarnation. Second, the name of 'Jesus' was enlarged to 'Jesus Lord' or 'Jesus Christ.' These could be normal expansions of nomina sacra [the sacred name of Jesus], or the scribes may have been intending to clarify the orthodoxy of the confession. It was not Jesus Who came to live in the flesh - since He did not have the human name Jesus until after His incarnation - it was 'the Christ' or 'the Lord' Who came in the flesh and took on Humanity in the man Jesus. In other words, all these changes were attempts to make it even clearer that John was refuting the heretical view that 'the Christ' as a divine aeon descended into Jesus at the time of His baptism and then withdrew from Him before He died on the cross. Stott (1988, 159) said it well: 'The truth is not that Christ came 'into' the flesh of Jesus, but that Jesus was the Christ come 'in' the flesh.' This is probably what motivated various ancient Latin translators to make the text condemn those who separated 'Jesus' from 'the Christ'...
The expanded reading in 1 Jn 4:3a, "Jesus Christ come in the flesh," was popularized by TR and KJV. But John needed only to write 'and every spirit not confessing Jesus,' because the preceding verses make it perfectly clear in what regard one is confessing Jesus - namely, as the incarnate one - the Word, the Son of God made flesh. Jesus [the Word, the Son of God] did not merely appear to be a man; He actually became a man with a human body, (cf. Jn 1:1-14). John's 'statement is directed against the gnostic error promulgated by Cerinthus, that the Christ descended into an already existing man.
..................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 4:3a).
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear) by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God; (1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world." =
John further warned in 1 Jn 4:3b about the spirit that does not confess Jesus being from God - in the sense of 1 Jn 4:2 of not confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God Who has come in the flesh to make a propitiation for the sins of all mankind: (1 Jn 4:3b NASB) "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 2:17 NASB) "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 Jn 2:18 NASB) [Little children], It is [a] last hour [in the sense of the ever increasing ungodly character of the end of the age]; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is [a] last hour. (1 Jn 2:19 NASB) They [many antichrists, (v. 18)] went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." =
The message begun in verse 17 of: "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever" continues in 1 Jn 2:18a, with author John once again referring to his readers as "Little children," i.e., believers in Jesus Christ who have had their sins forgiven unto eternal life, (ref. 1 Jn 2:12; cf. 1 Jn 3:1-3), who look to John as Apostle and teacher: "Little children, it is [a] last hour [in the sense of the ever increasing ungodly character of the end of the age]; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is [a] last hour."
[Compare 1 Jn 2:18 Interlinear]:
"Paida, ...............eschatE hOra estin; kai ..kathOs ..........Ekousate ..hoti .[ho] antichristos
"Little children, last ........hour .it is, ..and .according as .you heard that [the] antichrist
erchetai, ...kai ...nun .antichristoi poloi ..gegonasin; .hothen .ginOskomen hoti eschatE
is coming, .even now .antichrists ..many have arisen whence we know ........that last
hOra estin."
hour .it is."
In the absense of the definite article, the words rendered "last hour" in 1 Jn 2:18 make no definitive chronological or temporal assertion, as some contend. The definite article, if it were present to qualify the Greek words "eschatE hOra" rendered "last hour," would indicate the specific last hour - the last period of time - of the passing away of the world in its immoral, ungodly state. But since there is no definite article in the phrase, then the phrase indicates a sense of the increasing, ungodly character of the age until its expiration without indicating a specific measure of time which is passing. The particular age in view is the age begun when Adam and Eve were displaced from the Garden of Eden, when moral decay and unGodliness began to prevail.
(Ro 5:12 NASB) "Because of this: [just] as through one man the sin did enter into the world, and through the sin the death; and thus to all men the death did pass through, for that all sinned."
The age of
unGodliness includes the period of the Gentiles, the Patriarchs, Moses and
the Law and God's chosen people, Israel; and the period of the Church, the
body of Christ comprised of both Jews and Gentiles
.
There have been nearly 2,000 years that have passed by since John wrote these words in 1 Jn 2:18. Events since the first century have occurred which can be characterized as fulfilling the eschatological descriptions that point to the progression of predicted events to the end of the age in view in 1 Jn 2:18 - events that can be characterized as increasingly evil and destructive. Antichrists have come along throughout this period of centuries, as well as many wars and rumors of wars and catastrophic disasters, empires rising and falling with antichristlike leaders - all of which author John and the other bible authors have referred to throughout Scripture:
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 NASB) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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 Jn 4:5 NASB) They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them."
(Mt 24:3 NASB) '''As He [Jesus] was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
(Mt 24:4 NASB) And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
(Mt 24:5 NASB) For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
(Mt 24:6 NASB) You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
(Mt 24:7 NASB) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
(Mt 24:8 NASB) But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
(Mt 24:9 NASB) Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
(Mt 24:10 NASB) At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
(Mt 24:11 NASB) Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many." '''
Note that author John in his gospel in Jn 2:4; 4:21; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23 uses the word rendered "hour" in a similar manner to 1 Jn 2:18 - not to indicate the specific time it will take for an event / period to come about but to indicate the ever increasing ungodly character of that event / period. .................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:18a).
John goes on to
write in 1 Jn 2:18b, "and just as you heard that antichrist is
coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it
is [a] last hour" - in the sense of that which is characteristic of
the end of the age such as the many antichrists who are appearing
throughout the age characterizing the Antichrist - the
epitome of all antichrists - who will come at the end of the age.
Antichrists are those who stand openly against the LORD - even try to
present themselves as authoritative representatives of God, sometimes as
God Himself. They are false teachers and enemies of the truths which are
found via a proper interpretation of Scripture .
This opposition to God may be expected to increase and intensify as time
goes on, culminating in the person and activities of one who will gather
together under his banner all the anti-God forces in a final attempt to
dethrone God. The Book of Revelation by John depicts his activities and
defeat.
(Rev 13:1 NASB) "And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
(Rev 13:2 NASB) And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
(Rev 13:3 NASB) I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
(Rev 13:4 NASB) they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?'
(Rev 13:5 NASB) There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
(Rev 13:6 NASB) And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
(Rev 13:7 NASB) It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
(Rev 13:8 NASB) All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain."
(2 Thess 2:1 NASB) "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
(2 Thess 2:2 NASB) that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
(2 Thess 2:3 NASB) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
(2 Thess 2:4 NASB) who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God."
................................................................................................................................. (1 Jn 2:18).
In 1 Jn 2:19, John wrote, "They [many antichrists, (v. 18)] went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
In view in verse 19 is an historical event of a number of antichrists who left the first century congregation of believers in Jesus Christ in Jerusalem where the apostle John and other apostles taught as led by the Holy Spirit, (Acts 1:2-8; Eph 3:1-12) - indicating that the doctrines taught there were true and from God. This group of people who went out from the Jerusalem Church were stipulated as "not really of us," in the sense of not being of the faith of the apostles and children of God, born of God - those who expressed a moment of faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life, (1 Jn 5:1, 9-13). Verse 18 stipulates that they were antichrists. Antichrists are those who are against the LORD Jesus Christ, who often presented themselves as authoritative representatives of God, sometimes as God Himself. They were false teachers and enemies of the truths found in Scripture. They had evidently spent some time in the Jerusalem fellowship where the apostles were first gathered to teach. It is implied that for much of that time, they concealed their opposition to what the apostles were teaching while outwardly feigning agreement with what was taught. Whereupon they began to claim to have their own separate authority with God and taught their own doctrines apart from and against what the apostles were taught by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Shortly after this, something caused them to voluntarily depart from the fellowship "so that it would be shown that they all are not of us" - implying that God was the cause.
Note that if they had been believers who departed from the faith, then they would have been characterized by author John as having been in accord with the believers in the Jerusalem Church whereupon they departed from what was taught. But that is not the case. Since author John stipulated that they "were not really of us," then it is concluded that they were never children of God, born of God.
The fact that the antichrists in 1 Jn 2:19 were never born of God is further corroborated by the rest of the verse: "for if they had been of us," [implying they never were], they would have remained with us; [which they did not]; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they are not of us," implying that they found cause and voluntarily left.
Verse 22 further characterizes these antichrists as unbelievers:
(1 Jn 2:22 NASB) "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."
1 Jn 2:22 corroborates that since antichrists - whether unbelievers or apostasized believers - are characterized as denying that Jesus is the Christ - denying that faith alone in Christ alone provides eternal life, then those antichrists in view in 1 Jn 2:19 who are stipulated there as those who "were not really of us" had never believed that Jesus is the Christ for salvation - hence they never had eternal life - have always been unbelievers who secretly infiltrated the Jerusalem Church.
(1 Jn 5:1 NASB) "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him."
The Apostle Paul also wrote similarly of the Jerusalem Church being secretly invaded by unbelievers:
(Gal 2:1 NASB) "Then after an interval of fourteen years I [Apostle Paul] went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
(Gal 2:2 NASB) It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
(Gal 2:3 NASB) But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
(Gal 2:4 NASB) But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
(Gal 2:5 NASB) But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you."
This is not to say that when
individuals leave a congregation, fall into moral failure, are unfaithful
to the doctrines of the faith, it is absolute proof that they were not
saved unto eternal life. For this is determined only by whether or not an
individual at some time believed that Jesus is the Christ unto eternal
life, (ref. 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13); thereafter he is eternally secure,
.
On the other hand, Scripture
does provide tests for discerning whether or not what an individual is
saying or doing is from God - from Scripture. Such tests presume that a
child of God, born of God is walking in the Light of God's Absolute
Righteousness, expressing agapE, godly love for others, and has properly
learned from Scripture in order to make a godly judgment on the matters in
view in these tests. But this is conditioned upon the accuracy of what
they think another is saying and doing. Appearances due to the lack of the
knowledge of details behind what is observed can be deceiving. And
children of God, born of God neither have God's Absolute Knowledge of
another's eternal and temporal position with Him, nor what God knows about
another's understanding, motivation and faith. And this is further limited
by what the child of God, born of God has as an accurate understanding of
what Scripture teaches on the matter at hand - in accordance with their
faithfulness in following the rules by which the words of God's Word were
composed .
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 NASB) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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 Jn 4:5 NASB) They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
(1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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."
Although Scripture does indicate that believers can fall away from the faith and act the way the antichrist's acted in 1 Jn 2:19, author John clearly indicated that those particularly in view in 1 Jn 2:19 who had departed from the Jerusalem Church were antichrists who were never of the faith of the believers in the Church in the first place. For it is indicated that they had all denied that Jesus is the Christ and never did believe in Him, (1 Jn 2:22). Hence they were not believers who had departed from the faith as in the following passage:
[Compare Acts 15:1, 5, 24-26]:
(Acts 15:1 NASB) "Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'
(Acts 15:5 NASB) But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, 'It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.'
(Acts 15:24 NASB) Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,
(Acts 15:25 NASB) it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
(Acts 15:26 NASB) men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
................................................................................................................................ (1 Jn 2:19).
(1 Jn 2:22 NASB) "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. (1 Jn 2:23 NKJV) Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges [in the sense of believes in] the Son has the Father also" =
In verse 21, author John reminded his "children" that he did not write to them because they have not known the truth, but because they have known it. And he stated relative to the lies of the antichrists, "and because no lie is of the truth," in the sense that even partial agreement is still a lie and not the truth, especially since in view are Absolute Truths from God juxtaposed to the lies of antichrists in the Jerusalem Church.
Then in 1 Jn 2:22a, author John wrote the antichrists and their lies: "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?" They denied that Jesus was the Anointed / Chosen One Who is the Propitiation for all of mankind's sins - the sole basis which one must believe in for salvation unto eternal life. And He is the sole basis for why when one believed in Jesus as the Christ for forgiveness of sins unto eternal life, i.e., "for His name's sake," one received the anointing of the Holy Spirit:
[Review 1 Jn 2:1-2, 12, 20; 5:1]:
(1 Jn 2:1 NASB) "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous;
(1 Jn 2:2 NASB) and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
(1 Jn 2:12 NASB) I [write] to you, little children, because [your] sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake.
(1 Jn 2:20 NASB) But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
(1 John 5:1 NASB) Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him."
John then declared in 1 Jn 2:22b: "This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son," implying that they denied the Father and the Son - a denial of the basis for ones salvation unto eternal life! It was an assertion that the antichrists held to a wholly different belief in Who God is, that His Son was not the Son of God, nor the Christ at all! This is a completely different point of view - a lie perpetrated upon the believers in the Jerusalem Church, counter to everything that the apostles taught in that church. These heretics taught that Jesus was a mere man - not God incarnate, nor the Son of God - solely a human who was indwelt temporarily by the Christ, Whom they believed was a divine spirit Who left Jesus just before He went to the cross. To deny the work of Christ is to deny the Father as well, for they are One and Their Purpose relative to mankind was to propitiate mankind through Jesus' Humanity - His sacrifice for the sins of all mankind on the cross. So the antichrists' view of God was totally unscriptural. The antichrists' teaching if true would nullify the entire message of Scripture and destroy the only means by which men might be saved, through Jesus Christ, the Son of God's propitiation in His Humanity on the cross for all mankind. So John was urging his "children" to recognize that anything that the antichrists had to say was a lie and no lie was of the truth, implying that none of what they said or did could be of God, Who is Absolute Truth; nor could any of it be of the Holy Spirit Whom the children of God received, (cf. 1 Jn 1:5-7), when they believed in what the apostles taught them to believe for salvation unto eternal life, (1 Jn 2:1-2; cf. Jn 1:1-14; 3:1-18).
............................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:22b).
(1 Jn 2:23 NKJV) "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; *he who acknowledges [in the sense of believes in] the Son has the Father also."
[* WH NU include the second phrase rendered "he who who acknowledges [in the sense of believes in] the Son has the Father also, with the excellent support of Sinaiticus, A, B, C, P, Psi, , 33, 1739, it, syr, cop. This is reflected in all English versions including the KJV which has the phrase in italics indicating access of manuscripts with the second phrase as well. TR, Maj, it(z), vg(ms), cop(boMs) omit the phrase.
The omission is the result of homoeoteleuton: The last three words in both clauses in the verse are identical, hence the last phrase was evidently overlooked and thereby omitted in a number of manuscripts in error. The WH and NU - the preferred readings - provide the full thought: Denial of the Son is tantamount to denying His Father, just as confessing the Son is tantamount to confessing the Father - for the Two are One - a doctrinal teaching which is repeatedly taught by John in order to combat those who claimed to know the Father apart from the Son]
So the first clause of verse 23 - 1 Jn 2:23a - author John concluded the point he had begun making in verse 22 - that the antichrists and whoever else denies the Son in the sense of not believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God Who in His Humanity died on the cross and thereby propitiated all mankind relative to all of their sins, (cf. 1 Jn 2:1-22), does not have the Father in the sense of not believing in Who God the Father is either - denying the truth of what God has said about receiving eternal life through His Son. Instead they believe in the lies of a false God, perpetrated by such as the antichrists John wrote about who invaded the Church in Jerusalem who John declared in verse 19, "They [many antichrists, (v. 18)] went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." So by their denying Christ, they denied the truth of the gospel - the only means by which one may be saved unto eternal life.
So if any of those such as the antichrists whom John refers to in verses 18-22 who deny the Son, who have never trusted in Christ for eternal life during their lifetimes, then they do not have eternal life and thus do not have the Son or the Father especially as Savior. On the other hand, those who deny the Son who at one time trusted in Him for eternal life do have eternal life because they did believe, (1 Jn 5:9-13); but for the moment they do not have Christ or the Father in fellowship with them to bless them in their temporal lives. They instead are under God's severe discipline because of the degree to which they have departed from the faith.
............................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:23a).
On the other hand, 1 Jn 2:23b indicates that "he who (Greek, "homologOn" =) acknowledges [in the sense of believes in] the Son, has the Father also. So the one who believes in the truth of Who the Son is - what the Word of God says about Who He is as taught by the apostles - has the Father also. This makes it clear that there is a singular dependence upon the reality of God and eternal life being available solely through the Son - His propitiatory sacrifice for sins unto forgiveness unto eternal life.
(Jn 1:18 NASB) "No one has seen God at any time; the [lit., One and only] God Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has [lit., declared] Him"
No finite human being has seen God at any time, (Jn 1:18a); but the One and only God, (Jn 1:18b), the Word, Who has always been face to face with God - able to see and intimately know God, (Jn 1:1-2), Who is in the bosom of the Father - in the closest personal intimate relationship with Him, (Jn 1:18b) - has become flesh, (Jn 1:14). And in His Perfect Humanity, the One and only God, has come into the world, (Jn 1:14), to declare through Himself Who God is to mankind, (Jn 1:18). Mankind can now behold the glory as of the One and only from the Father, full of the grace and truth of God, (Jn 1:14). The Word become flesh has made God knowable and known to mankind, so that men can choose to know God and trust in the Word unto an eternal life familial relationship with God, (Jn 1:12-13).
............................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:23b).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 4:1 NASB) "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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear) by this [by testing the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that confesses ... Jesus.as Christ [having come] in the flesh is from God; (1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world," (cont.) =
Notice that every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God but from the spirit of the antichrist. They who deny that Jesus in His Humanity is the Christ - the Son of God, Who is God - is one of the many antichrists who were appearing in the first century and therafter until the Antichrist who is called the False Prophet, will appear in the end-time. ................................................................................................................................. (1 Jn 4:3b).
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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." =
Author John writes in 1 Jn 4:4 reminding his "little children" that they have overcome the spirit of the antichrist, referring to the spirit of those who do not confess Jesus: those of the spirit of the antichrist will not confess that Jesus in His Humanity is the Christ, the Anointed Son of God, Who is God, come in the flesh. And those of the spirit of antichrist, John writes, are coming and are already in the world. He reminds his little children, "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He Who is in you than he [the spirit of the antichrist] who is in the world."
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 2:12 NASB) "I [write] to you, little children, because [your] sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. (1 Jn 2:13 YLT) I write to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I write to you, young men, because [you] have overcome the evil [one]. I *write to you, little [children], because [you] have known [God] the Father: (1 Jn 2:14 YLT) I [** write] to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because [you] are strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one]." =
Once again, in 1 Jn 2:12, author John confirms who his readership is with, "I [write] to you, little children, because [your] sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake." [or literally, 'Because sins have been forgiven [Greek perfect tense] you for His name's sake.']
So John is writing to his "little children," in the sense of to those who are born again children of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, (cf. 1 Jn 2:1-2; 5:1, 9-13; Jn 1:12-13, 3:16), who have had their sins forgiven them unto eternal life.
Their forgiveness is true and eternal because they are declared to "have been forgiven ... for His name's [Christ's] sake" - (literally, 'on account of His name'). That is, their forgiveness is predicated upon the absolute effectiveness of Christ's name, sealing that forgiveness as absolutely true and eternal because He is the Eternal Son of God, (cf. 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13; Jn 1:1-3). Note that saving faith unto eternal life is everywhere in John's writings defined as a moment of belief in His name - the name of the Son of God, (cf. 1 Jn 5:1, 13; John 1:12; 3:16-18).
Although in the previous chapter, 1 Jn 1:9 speaks of the provision for forgiveness of sins through confession as an ongoing availability for the believer for a temporal forgiveness for fellowship with God; in view in 1 Jn 2:12 is a one time experience of forgiveness of sins unto eternal life to become once for all time children of God the Father unto eternal life, (cf. 1 Jn 1:13; Jn 1:12-13; 3:16). An eternal forgiveness is in view which characterizes all of John's intended readers, including the "fathers" referred to in 1 Jn 2:13a - those who have matured as believers unto a more intimate relationship with God the Father by coming to have known Him Who is from the beginning - of all Creation, i.e., the Eternal God.
So from the beginning of this letter, the subject has not been how to have or retain eternal life; nor has it been about passing certain tests for individuals to discern who are the false professors of the faith who do not have eternal life - as many have contended.
On the other
hand, Scripture does provide tests for discerning whether or not what an
individual is saying or doing is from God - from Scripture. Such tests
presume that a child of God, born of God is walking in the Light of God's
Absolute Righteousness, expressing agapE, godly love for others, and has
properly learned from Scripture in order to make a godly judgment on the
matters in view in these tests. But this is conditioned upon the accuracy
of what they think another is saying and doing. Appearances due to the
lack of the knowledge of details behind what is observed can be deceiving.
And children of God, born of God neither have God's Absolute Knowledge of
another's eternal and temporal position with Him, nor what God knows about
another's understanding, motivation and faith. And this is further limited
by what the child of God, born of God has as an accurate understanding of
what Scripture teaches on the matter at hand - in accordance with their
faithfulness in following the rules by which the words of God's Word were
composed .
For all men are flawed and incapable of determining absolutely the temporal or eternal spiritual condition of another - this is for God alone to absolutely determine.
On the other hand, the subject of chapter two is about children of God who have already been forgiven and who are secure in their eternal life, (1 Jn 2:1-2, 12-13) and how they might advance in the Christian life toward an intimate fellowship with God and His Son Jesus Christ, (1 Jn 2:3-11):
(1) by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness and confessing ones sins to receive temporal forgiveness of sins and purification from all unrighteousness unto temporal fellowship with God, (1 Jn 1:3, 7, 9).
(2) by keeping His commandments, (1 Jn 2-3);
(3) by studying and keeping His Word, (1 Jn 2:5a);
(4) by being perfected / made complete in God's love, (1 Jn 2:5b);
(5) by being in Him, (1 Jn 2:5c);
(6) by abiding in Him, (1 Jn 2:6a);
(7) by walking in the same manner as Jesus did, (1 Jn 2:6b);
(8) by demonstrating of godly, "agapE" love of ones brother(s) in Christ, (1 Jn 2:7-11).
...................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:12).
Following verse 12, author John then writes in verse 13, "I write to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I write to you, young men, because [you] have overcome the evil [one]. I write to you, little [children], because [you] have known [God] the Father:"
So in verse 13, the "fathers" are stipulated as having come to "have known " Him Who is from the beginning [i.e., God]." For the phrase "from the beginning" conveys One Who existed from the beginning of Creation and before, i.e., the eternally existing One, i.e., God. This verse implies a more intimate experience of God beyond the salvation experience. So the term rendered "fathers" are those who already have become believers - those whose sins have been forgiven unto eternal life, (1 Jn 2:12) - who have come to a more intimate experience of God which is in view beginning with 1 Jn 2:3 and continuing on through verse 11:
The experience of having come to know God in a more intimate experience beyond the salvation experience is further described in the following verses:
(1 Jn 2:3 NKJV) "Now by this we know that we [have known] Him, if we [carefully] keep His commandments."
(1) by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness and confessing ones sins to receive temporal forgiveness of sins and purification from all unrighteousness unto temporal fellowship with God, (1 Jn 1:3, 7, 9).
(2) by keeping His commandments, (1 Jn 2-3);
(3) by studying and keeping His Word, (1 Jn 2:5a);
(4) by being perfected / made complete in God's love, (1 Jn 2:5b);
(5) by being in Him, (1 Jn 2:5c);
(6) by abiding in Him, (1 Jn 2:6a);
(7) by walking in the same manner as Jesus did, (1 Jn 2:6b);
(8) by demonstrating godly, "agapE" love of ones brother(s) in Christ, (1 Jn 2:7-11).
The message of the fathers having come to have known God is repeated in the first phrase of verse 14:
(1 Jn 2:14 YLT) I [write] to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because [you] are strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one]."
.................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:13a).
The second phrase of verse 13, 1 Jn 2:13b, states, "I write to you, young men, because [you] have overcome the evil [one]." The Greek verb ("nenikEkate," perfect tense) rendered "you have overcome" indicates a past victory with ongoing results. Since all believers have overcome the evil [one], i.e., the devil, (cf. 1 Jn 3:12; 5:18; cf. Jn 17:15; Eph 6:16; 2 Thess 3:3) - which overcoming is all through Christ by the grace of God. These "young men" are thus confirmed as believers.
(Jn 16:33 NASB) "These things I [Jesus Christ] have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace..In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
(1 Jn 3:8 NASB) "The one who [does] sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."
(1 Jn 5:1 NASB) "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
(1 Jn 5:2 NASB) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
(1 Jn 5:3 NASB) For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
(1 Jn 5:4 NASB) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.
(1 Jn 5:5 NASB) Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Further information about whom author John is referring by the phrase "young men" in 1 Jn 2:13b is given in verse 14:
(1 Jn 2:14 YLT) I [** write] to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because [you] are strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one]."
Notice that the "young men" are further described as being "strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one].
So the phrase "young men" in 1 Jn 2:14b also refers to those having an intimate experience beyond the salvation experience by the phrase, "and the Word of God in you [remains]," (cf 1 Jn 2:5a) - hence they have already experienced salvation unto eternal life in order to have gone beyond that experience to remain strong in the Word of God, being obedient to it for a period of time. And in addition, they "have overcome the evil [one]" which applies to all children of God, born of God, by the grace of God, (cf. 1 Jn 2:13-14).
................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:13b)
The third phrase of verse 13, 1 Jn 2:13c, states, "I write to you, little [children], because [you] have known [God] the Father"
So in 1 Jn 2:13c, the "little children" are stipulated as having come to "have known [God] the Father," also implying a more intimate experience beyond the salvation experience - which implies that the "little children" had already become believers as well. For the previous verse had determined that their sins had been forgiven unto eternal life, (1 Jn 2:12, cf. Jn 1:12-13; 3:16; 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13). The phrase "having known God" implies that one has had an intimate experience beyond the salvation experience.
Elsewhere in First John, the author's readership is addressed as 'little children' (2:1, 18, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21). So in the First Epistle of John believers are continuously in view. Hence throughout the chapter two the author leaves it to his readers to discern their level of spiritual maturity relative to the Greek words "teknia" (1 Jn 2:13) and "paidia" (1 Jn 2:14) which are virtually synonymous - both rendered "little children;" "pateres" rendered "fathers," in 1 Jn 2:13 & 14; and "neaniskoi" rendered "young men" in 1 Jn 2:13 & 14 as a measure of the time that children of God, born of God have devoted to being obedient to the Word of God - further details of which were given in 1 Jn 1:1- 3:11.
...................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:13c).
The following verse, 1 Jn 2:14, "I [write] to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because [you] are strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one]," repeats and corroborates the message of 1 Jn 2:12-13.
(1 Jn 2:14 YLTa) I [** write] to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because [you] are strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one]."
(1 Jn 2:14 YLTb) I [** write] to you, fathers, because [you] have known Him Who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because [you] are strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one]."
Notice that the "young men" are further described as being "strong, and the Word of God in you [remains], and [you] have overcome the evil [one].
So the phrase "young men" in 1 Jn 2:14b also refers to those having an intimate experience beyond the salvation experience by the phrase, "and the Word of God in you [remains]," (cf 1 Jn 2:5a) - hence they have already experienced salvation unto eternal life in order to have gone beyond that experience and remain in the Word of God in the sense of being obedient to it for a period of time. And in addition, as all believers are, they are described as having victory over the evil one: "and [you] have overcome the evil [one]" which applies to all believers as previously established.
So the only destinguishing factor author John leaves for his readers to discern is the time each individual has spent in the godly pursuit of the doctrines of the faith implied by the words "children," "young men," and "fathers" - some more than others.
................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:14).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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," (cont.) =
Author John exhorts his little children, his first century readers with encouraging words, "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them [those of the spirit of the antichrists, (1 Jn 4:3) - of the false prophets, (1 Jn 4:1)]; because greater is He Who is in you [the anointing from the Holy One, (1 Jn 2:20) - the Holy Spirit, (1 Jn 3:24)] than he [the spirit of the Antichrist (1 Jn 4:3)] who is in the world." He reminds them that they have the Holy Spirit within them to rely upon, Who has already enabled them to have overcome the false teaching of the false prophets / antichrists in the world. And He will continue to enable the children of God, born of God to overcome the spirit of the antichrists all around them - all children of God, born of God throughout the age.
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 2:19 NASB) "They [many antichrists, (v. 18)] went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. (1 Jn 2:20 NASB) But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. (1 Jn 2:21 YLT) I did not write to you because [you] have not known the truth, but because [you] have known it, and because no lie is of the truth." =
In 1 Jn 1:20 NASB, author and Apostle John reminds his readership - children of God, forgiven of sins unto eternal life, believers, (1 Jn 2:1-2; 12-14, 25) that they have an anointing from the Holy One, i.e., the Holy Spirit, (cf. 1 Jn 2:27). Author John reminds his readers of this anointing from God evidently because the antichrists in the Jerusalem Church had claimed to have their own anointing which provided them with superior knowledge but this "superior knowledge" was neither supported by the apostles nor Scripture nor by God the Holy Spirit within the children of God, born of God.
The term "anointing" in 1 Jn 2:20 describes the impartation of the Holy Spirit (see Isa 61:1). Christians, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are joined to Christ, "the Anointed One," and share in His anointing.
(2 Cor 1:21 NASB) "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
(2 Cor 1:22 NASB) Who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.'
(Jn 14:26 NASB) " 'But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.' "
(Jn 16:13 NASB) 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,' "
So in accordance with the preferred reading in 1 Jn 2:20 NASB, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know, the believers of the Church in Jerusalem "all know" in the sense of having the capacity through what they were being taught in the Jerusalem Church by the apostles from the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in them and through their own personal study of Scripture, to discern what is true and what is not concerning the teachings that they were being exposed to from the antichrists who were there in the Church.
Despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light, and are expressing agapE, godly love for others, they can know that they are righteous and what is true and what is false - not by what they feel such as by some kind of supernatural power taking control of them like an expression of an imagined spiritual gift, as some contend - but by trusting in what Scripture says about the matter as led by God the Holy Spirit within them. For Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
But this is
conditioned upon the accuracy of what they think another is saying and
doing. Appearances due to the lack of the knowledge of details behind what
is observed can be deceiving. And children of God, born of God neither
have God's Absolute Knowledge of another's eternal and temporal position
with Him, nor what God knows about another's understanding, motivation and
faith. And this is further limited by what the child of God, born of God
has as an accurate understanding of what Scripture teaches on the matter
at hand - in accordance with their faithfulness in following the rules by
which the words of God's Word were composed
.
............................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:20).
(1 Jn 2:21 YLT) "I did not write to you because [you] have not known the truth, but because [you] have known it, and because no lie is of the truth." =
According to 1 Jn 2:21a &
b, "I did not write to you because [you] have not known the truth,
but because [you] have known it," the message that John wrote to his
readers, children of God, born of God was not new information - not new
truths from God. What he wrote was evidently a reminder to his readers of
what they had already come to know. His message particularly in chapter
two was one of assurance to his readers that they have known the truth of
the doctrines of the faith - the absolute truths from God from the
beginning of their being taught by the apostles in the Jerusalem Church,
(refs, 1 Jn 2:7, 13-14, 21, 24). So they have known that they are
assuredly children of God, (1 Jn 2:1-2; Jn 1:12-13); who have their sins
forgiven unto eternal life, (1 Jn 2:12, 25); who have received the
anointing of the Holy One - the Holy Spirit, (1 Jn 2:20, 27), who can have
fellowship with God, (1 Jn 1:1-10); etc., etc. And having known this, they
can discern and resist false teaching such as from the antichrists who
were part of their congregation, (1 Jn 2:18-19, 22-23, 26), through the
indwelling Holy Spirit's confirmation within their minds of the veracity
of what the apostles had taught them in the Jerusalem Church, and what
they have learned by their own personal study of Scripture via the
normative rules of language, context and logic .
In 1 Jn 2:21c, John also wrote "I did not write to you because [you] have not known the truth, but because [you] have known it, and because no lie is of the truth." John was further reminding his readers and all children of God, born of God that any departure from the truths that they had learned from the apostles in the Jerusalem Church, from personal study via the normative rules of language, context and logic and in conjunction with the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit - departure such as what the antichrists in the congregation were teaching - is a lie and not of the truth, even if it is in partial agreement to what they have learned. Especially in view in verses 18-19; cf. 1 Jn 2:22-23; 4:2-3, are the lies of the antichrists in the Jerusalem Congregation who denied Christ Himself. Nothing can be claimed to be in part false and in part from God, as many have contended throughout time, beginning with the devil in the Garden of Eden and carried forth by many antichrists of the ages.
Note that the Jerusalem Church - the people to whom author and apostle John wrote to firsthand had the benefit of the apostles' teaching as inspired by the Holy Spirit as evidenced by the books that a number of them wrote that are part of Scripture.
.............................................................................................................................. (1 Jn 2:21).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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 Jn 4:5 NASB) They are from the world; therefore they speak [as] from the world, and the world listens to them." =
John writes that the antichrists with their false teaching are from the world. Their speech accommodates the world's beliefs which are for the most part opposed to God, even Godless. Hence the world - even members of churches - listen to them, not to the children of God, born of God who are commanded to listen to the Spirit within them and thereby abide in God's Word, which is opposed to popular points of view which reflect the spirit of the antichrist.
(1 Jn 4:3 NASB) "and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4 NASB) 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 Jn 4:5 NASB) They are from the world; therefore they speak [as] from the world, and the world listens to them. (1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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."
1) [Manuscript evidence for 1 Jn 4:6]:
Sinaiticus, B, 33, 1739, Maj TR WH NU. Good testimony supports the inclusion of the clause rendered "the one who is not of God does not listen to us."
A few manuscripts (A, L, 1241, 1881) omit the clause. The omission could be due to homoeoteleuton - the last two words of the second and third clauses in this verse are identical, Greek, "akouei hEmOn" renderd "listens to us." However, we cannot be certain that the change was accidental inasmuch as it occurred in four independent witnesses. Some scribe(s) may have purposely excised the third clause as being superfluous. But John had a penchant for antithetical restatement]
(1 Jn 4:6 NASB) "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 of 1 John chapter 4 began with "You are from God, little children," referring to children of God, born of God; then verse 5 of 1 John chapter 4 indicated that the antichrists, (v. 3), are from the world - in direct opposition to Whom children of God, born of God are from. Then in 1 Jn 4:6 author John emphatically declared "We are from God," the emphatic "We" referring not to just the apostles, as some contend, but to children of God, born of God and the apostles. This is because the passage continues to offer instruction to children of God, born of God on how they are to know who is from God and who is not, i.e., knowing the spirit of truth and the spirit of error by virtue of their own experiences encountering other individuals. So 1 Jn 4:6 indicates that he who knows God listens to us - not only the apostles, but also to "us" children of God, born of God who have been abiding in God's Word. And he who is not from God does not listen to us. This includes children of God, born of God who are not abiding in God's Word for the moment.
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER THREE ******
(1 Jn 3:6 YLT) "[Everyone] who [abides] in Him [does] not sin; every one who [sins] [has] not seen Him, nor known Him [the Son of God]." =
Every child of God, born of God, (cf. 1 Jn 2:29; 3:2) while he sins is characterized as having not seen God, nor known Him in the sense that while he sins he does not have in his sight or in his mind Who God is, not the least of which is that He is Perfect Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7). So every one who sins is neither abiding in God, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:6); nor walking in the same manner as He [Jesus Christ] walked; (1 Jn 3:6a, 2:6, 24); nor keeping His commandments - His Word, (1 Jn 2:3-5); nor loving his brother, (1 Jn 2:10-11); nor walking in the Light of His Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7; 2:9-11). Hence the one who sins is operating without a view as to Who God is: as if he "has not seen Him or known Him."
The two verbs in the Greek phrase in view below,
"ouch heOraken .auton oude .egnOken ...auton"
"not ...has seen ...Him, ..nor ...has known Him"
which is best rendered "has not seen Him, nor known Him" are in the perfect tense signifying action that has begun in the past with present results the length of which is defined by the time that one is committing sin without reconciling it with God, (1 Jn 1:-9). The phrase does not indicate that one has never seen or known the Son of God. It does not define whether or not a person is a born of God, child of God. For both saved, (1 Jn 1:8-10, 9; 1 Jn 2:29), and unsaved individuals are fully capable and do sin all the time! Nor does it indicate that the one who sins will not return to fellowship with God hence return to having seen and having the knowledge of God by abiding in Him, by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, confessing ones sins, (1 Jn 1:5-9), etc. On the other hand, the phrase does stigmatize sin as the product of not abiding in the Son of God characterized by blindness and ignorance of God - having not seen Him and not known Him.
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER THREE ******
................................................................................................................................ (1 Jn 4:6b).
John finally states in 1 Jn 4:6d, "by this - by knowing that they are from God, (4:6a), and knowing that those who know God listen to them, (4:6b); and knowing that those who are not from God do not listen to them, (4:6c) - they [children of God, born of God including the apostles] know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." This particular kind of experiential knowledge of who is of the spirit of truth and who is of the spirit of error was examined in 1 Jn chapter two:
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 2:3 NKJV) "Now by this we know that we [have known] Him, if we keep His commandments." =
(1 Jn 2:3 Interlinear) "kai ..en toutO ginOskomen hoti egnOkamen ......auton
....................................."And by this ....we know .......that we have known Him
ean tas .entolas ................autou tErOmen."
if ....the commandments His .....we keep."
This verse best rendered "Now by this we know [present tense] that we [have known] [perfect tense] Him, [God] if we keep His commandments," (YLT, instead of "we know that we know Him" (NKJV, ASV, KJV), or "we know that we have come to know Him," (NASB, HOLMAN, NIV). The verse conveys a knowing in the sense of a recollection of having begun knowing God in the past with ongoing present results of knowing God (perfect tense) as a result of knowing that we have been keeping His commandments.
The Greek verb "tErOmen" rendered "we keep" is used in this epistle six times with 'commandments' as its object (here and in verse 4; in 3:22-24; and 5:2-3); once with 'His word' as the object (verse 5); and in 5:18 with 'himself' as the object. The verb fundamentally means 'to keep watch over, guard.' To keep a commandment simply means to 'carry out a command.' But the Greek verb (tErOmen) carries an additional connotation of being 'observant' or 'careful' about the commandments. The English 'to keep a commandment' does not suggest this additional idea found in the Greek. John is not thinking, therefore, about mere performance of the commands of God, but rather about that attitude of obedience which is marked by concern for, and attentiveness to, God's will. We are to 'guard' His commands!
Author John's transition from believers having fellowship with God and with His Son Jesus Christ, (1 Jn 1:5-2:2), to believers having become disciples knowing God / Jesus Christ in a more intimate sense beginning in 1 Jn 2:3 is one which logically follows as the believer as a disciple becomes more and more consistent with walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:7), by more and more consistently acknowledging His Perfect Light which shines upon him through the believer's acknowledgment of God's handiwork in His creation, (Ro 1:20), through consistent study of the Word of God, (1 Jn 2:14), through confession of his sins to God, (1 Jn 1:7, 9), and as a disciple through obedience to God's commandments, (1 Jn 2:3).
The measure of a believer's knowledge of God will correspond to the extent of his obedience to God's commandments, i.e., to his godly conduct. Note that the believer's fellowship and knowledge in view in 1 John is of both the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ without distinction. To know One of them intimately is to know the Other; for they are separate Personalities, but comprise absolutely one God, (Jn 10:30-33).
Note that the Greek verbs rendered "we know" and "we have known," "ginOskomen" and "egnOkamen" respectively are from the infinitive "ginOskO," which means to know. This verb is used interchangeably with "epiginOskO" which can have the same meaning in the particular context that it appears without regard to which verb is chosen by the writer to use. Some falsely contend that "epiginOskO" has a specialized meaning in Scripture to convey a special knowledge of God, but the verb "ginOskO" does that in 1 Jn chapter 2 as well - the two verbs are synonymous as every koine Greek dictionary indicates.
Since salvation
unto eternal life is received only by a moment of faith alone in Jesus
Christ alone for it; wherein the one believing in Him may know Christ as
ones Savior, (1 Jn 5:1, 9-13 ;
Jn 3:15-18); and since 1 Jn 2:3 has in view what an already saved
individual / believer has known of God at those times when he is keeping
God's commandments; then 1 Jn 2:3 does not have in view
what an unbeliever must do and/or know in order to acquire eternal life.
Since 1 Jn 2:3
has in view a believer having a certain knowledge of God commensurate with
the manner in which he is keeping God's commandments, then that which is
in view in 1 Jn 2:3 is a knowledge of God beyond the saving knowledge one
receives when one believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life - a further
knowledge which is not a measure of whether or not one has eternal life
which the latter measure of knowledge is solely based on that moment of
saving faith, (1 Jn 5:1, 9-13 );
but it is a measure of an already saved believer's spiritual maturity,
(cf. Jn 14:15; 15:10; 1 Jn 3:22, 24). Further details of this greater
knowledge of God depends specifically upon the circumstances of each
believer's mortal life, moment by moment - a measure of the extent to
which that believer in that moment is keeping God's commandments.
The phrase rendered "If we keep His commandments" cannot be conveying in the absolute sense the leading of a sinless life of absolutely perfect righteousness. This would contradict Scripture, (ref. 1 Jn 1:8, 10; 2:1; 2:1). But it is conveying the sense of a believer living in a *remarkably consistent pattern of remaining in fellowship with and growing in the knowledge of God by walking in the light of His absolute righteousness, constantly confessing his sins to God and obeying His commandments - *"remarkably" as defined by the grace of God working in the life of each individual believer.
(John 14:6 NASB) "Jesus [says] to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
(John 14:7 NASB) If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."
Jesus was reproving the disciples considering the context of verses 8 and 9 which follow. Promising them a future knowledge that is tantamount [equivalent] to salvation is not in view. So Jesus was not promising the disciples that they would come to know the Father as they had known Himself, the Son, but that they should have already known the Father as manifested in the Son - a knowledge which goes beyond what one would come to know through a moment of saving faith in Jesus Christ.
The phrase rendered "If you had known Me," is similar to Jesus' conversation with the pharisees in John 8:19 NASB, "So they [the pharisees, v. 13] were saying to Him, 'Where is Your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.' " So just as in John 8:19, Jesus was promising to the disciples in Jn 14:7 that they would know the Father even as they had come to know the Son. The phrase "If you had known Me," of Jn 14:7a is affirmed by the next statement in 14:7b, "from now on you know Him and have seen Him" in the following two verses]:
(John 14:8 YLT) Philip [says] to him, 'LORD, [show] to us the Father, and it is enough for us;'
(John 14:9 YLT) Jesus [says] to him, 'So long time am I with you, and [you have] not known me, Philip? He who [has] seen me [has] seen the Father; and how [do you] say, ['Show] to us the Father?"
So after announcing that He is 'the way, the truth, and the life,' (Jn 14:6), the LORD goes on to say to all the disciples, 'If you [Greek, plural] had known Me [implication: but you didn't], you [Greek, plural] would have known [implication: but you don't] My Father also; and from now on you [Greek, plural] know Him and have seen Him.' When Philip asks to see the Father, Jesus again responds, "Have I been with you [Greek, plural] so long, and yet you [Greek, singular] have not known Me, Philip?' Clearly, there was a sense in which Philip and the other disciples did not know the One in Whom they had believed.
(1 Jn 2:3 NKJV) "Now by this we know that we [have known] Him, if we keep His commandments." =
First John 2:3
does not say that one can know that one is saved on the basis of whether
or not one is keeping God's commandments. For 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13 indicates
that the knowledge that one is saved comes exclusively on the basis of the
individual knowing that he has believed in Christ for eternal life
.
First John 2:3 does say that one who is a believer and who obeys God's
commandments has known God in the sense of beyond what he knows from his
moment of saving faith - evidently a greater knowledge on a more intimate
level than he received when he became a believer. Further details of this
greater knowledge of God depends specifically upon the individual
circumstances in each particular believer's mortal life, moment by moment
- a measure of which is the extent to which that believer in that moment
is keeping God's commandments. Finally, in view of an individual's flawed
nature which includes his mentality, salvation unto eternal life cannot be
confirmed in an individual on the basis of that individual's perception
that he is keeping God's commandments, yet may not be - especially if he
is boasting about it. For he may not know all of what God commands of him,
because of inadequate study of God's Word. On the other hand, 1 Jn 2:3
does address whether a believer - a child of God, (cf. 1
Jn 2:1-2, 12; Jn 1:12-13), has a certain knowledge of God as a result of
keeping His commandments - a knowledge beyond the saving knowledge of God
and Jesus Christ which one acquires when one has trusted in Jesus Christ
for eternal life, (ref. 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13 ).
(1 Jn 2:4 NASB) The one who says, "I have [known] Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
[Note that sinaiticus has "the truth of God" but it appears to be an addition. In any case the context implies the truth of God without having to add "with God]
(1 Jn 2:5 YLT) and whoever may keep His Word, truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected; in this we know that in Him we are.
(1 Jn 2:6 NASB) The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He [Jesus Christ]." =
1 Jn 2:4 continues the subject of keeping God's commandments begun in verse 3 wherein in verse 4 there is in view someone who makes a false claim to have known God while the claimant was not keeping God's commandments. Believers and unbelievers alike are potentially in view in 1 Jn 2:4 in the phrase rendered "He who is saying," (as opposed to 'we who are saying' which would have limited the subject to believers only). So anyone might falsely claim to have known God, (perfect tense) while not obeying God's commandments. The perfect tense portrays a moment begun in the past during which one imagined knowing God yet was not keeping God's commandments and which imagination continues on into the present. But 1 Jn 2:4 says, "The one who says, 'I have [known] Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;" So it is implied that keeping the commandments of God is an indicator of one who is a disciple - a faithful believer - who is operating relative to God in truthfulness of Who God is and in obedience to God's commands. No one can truthfully claim to have known God in the sense of achieving an intimate personal knowledge of the Father and His Son beyond saving faith without living in a remarkably consistent pattern of remaining in fellowship with God by being a believer who is walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, constantly confessing his sins to God and obeying His commandments, (1 Jn 1:7, 9; 2:4). This is not to say that one who has not been obedient to God's commandments cannot be a believer albeit an immature believer who is out of fellowship with God. ......................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:4)
(1 Jn 2:5 YLT) "and whoever may keep His Word, truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected; in this we know that in Him we are." =
The Greek phrase "hos d' an tErE autou ton logon," rendered "and whoever may keep His Word" in 1 Jn 2:5 results in knowing God beyond ones experience of salvation unto eternal life. Since the Greek word rendered "tErE" means to keep in the sense of carefully guarding and observing, then this phrase has in view one who carefully guards and observes God's commandments for a period of time, resulting in one being declared as follows: "truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected." In view is the love of God as demonstrated in children of God, born of God when / while they are keeping God's Word. The Greek word "agapE" rendered "love" in 1 Jn 2:5 refers to the godly, self-sacrificial, benevolent love children of God, born of God are commanded to express for one another. And this commandment is in Old Testament Scripture:
(Lev 19:18 NASB) " 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.' '
In the Greek translation the word rendered "love" is "agapEseis," (2 pers sing fut).
This godly, "agapE" love is characterized by an individual who is "in God," (1 Jn 2:5), who "abides in Him," (1 Jn 2:6), who walks "in the same manner as He [Jesus Christ] walked," (1 Jn 2:6).
Children of
God, born of God who have been perfected in God's godly, "agapE"
love have been made complete
.in their
mortal lives mortal life effective for those moments that they are walking
in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness including confession /
keeping God's Word. This is a message about children of God, born of God
when / while they learn and obey God's commandments while / when they
study and obey the Word of God wherein those commandments are contained.
The subject of
knowing God beyond ones experience of salvation unto eternal life, the
subject of the last two verses, (ref. 1 Jn 2:3-4), continues in verse 5:
those who are children of God, born of God when / while they are faithful
- when / while they keep the Word of God, have been perfected in the sense
of have been made complete / matured .
When / while they keep God's Word, they are in harmony with the Absolute
Righteousness of God - with God Himself and His Son Jesus Christ by the
grace of God through walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness
including confession and obedience, (1 Jn 1:1-10; 2:1-5). And for those
moments when the disciple has been perfected / made complete, the verse
goes on to declare: "in this we know that in Him we are" in the
sense of abiding in Him, having an intimate fellowship with God - having a
greater knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ than when we first
believed in Jesus Christ for eternal life - all by the grace of God. For
no one can claim to live perfect moments without sin, (1 Jn 1:8, 10; 2:1;
2:1).
[Compare Jn 14:21, 23 with 1 Jn 2:3, 5]:
[Jn 14:21 and 23 read together as follows]: (Jn 14:21 NASB) "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
(Jn 14:23 NASB) "Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him."
[Likewise 1 Jn 2:3 and 5 read together as follows]: (1 Jn 2:3 NASB) "Now by this we know that we [have known] Him, if we keep His commandments.
(1 Jn 2:5 NASB) "and whoever may keep His Word, truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected; in this we know that in Him we are."
So just as the disciple's love for God is manifested in obedience to His commandments / to His Word in Jn 14:21, 23 so it is in 1 Jn 2:3, 5. And that disciple abides in Christ and Christ in him.
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 79-82]:
"It is to be noted that these statements [in Jn 14:21 and 23] are made only at the end of the three and one-half years of teaching that the disciples had received from God's Son. Now they did have His commands and were enjoined to show their love for Him by keeping them.
There is no reason to doubt that when John penned 1 Jn 2:3-5 he had in mind the statements of Jesus in John 14:21 and 23-24. Even the change from 'commandments' to word [in 1 Jn 2:3] is reflected in that passage in his Gospel, where we find 'My commandments' in verse 21 and 'My word' in verse 23. We are thus firmly stationed on what may be called discipleship truth, in contrast to truth about eternal salvation. Love for Christ and obedience to His Word are in no way a test of saving faith, despite the repeated claim by many that they are. Instead, they are tests of genuine ... discipleship to the One Who loved us and gave Himself for us.
As the verses from John's Gospel make clear, obedience to His word is inseparably connected to the experience of 'the love of God.' This phrase could be taken either as 'God's love for us' (subjective genitive) or as 'our love for God' (objective genitive). The Greek permits either interpretation. In the light of John 14, it is quite possible that John has both ideas in mind in 1 Jn 2:5. According to John 14, obedience is an expression of love for Christ and disobedience is an expression of a lack of love for Him (John 14:23-24). But at the same time, the one who loves Christ will be the special object of the love of the Father and the Son (John 14:23).
So John tells us here [in 1 Jn 2:5] that the obedient Christian disciple is a person in whom truly the love of God is perfected (teteleiotai) suggests ideas like 'bring to completion,' 'bring to its goal,' 'bring to full measure.' God's love for the believer is wonderful at the point of salvation (see 1 John 3:1). But its goal is not reached until the believer returns that love by obedience, with the result that he knows the deeply personal love of the Father and Son as they 'make [their] home with Him' (John 14:23).
In view of all that has just been said about verse 5, it seems clear that 1 Jn 2:3-11 is concerned with one who has had some time in the faith, has learned what his Lord commands, and by obedience has come to know God and His love in a special way. This goes beyond the truth John deals with in 1:5-2:2. As described there, fellowship with God requires only openness to the light and a willingness to acknowledge whatever sin the light reveals. Even the believer who is a babe in Christ can live in harmonious fellowship with the Lord. But in time he will learn God's will and, if he does it, will enter the more advanced stage of fellowship in which he comes to know God and His love. In such a person the love of God is perfected / made complete. That is, it has reached its 'goal' in him.
....................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:5a).
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 79-82]:
"In the next statement of the verse, (1 Jn 2:5b), in this we know that we are in Him, the words in this refer [backward] to the experience of love just described, "and whoever may keep His Word, truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected."
Note that the expression in Him (Greek: en autO) in 1 Jn 2:5b cannot be forced to read as an equivalent to Paul's concept of being 'in Christ' (Greek: en ChristO) in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in order to conclude that one must keep God's commandments in order to obtain / retain eternal life it is to be read that way.
[Bible Knowledge Commentary, Victor Books, 1988, USA, Zane Hodges, contributing editor, p. 888]:
"For Paul,
the words "in Christ" [for example in 2 Cor 5:17] describe a
Christian's permanent position in God's Son with all its attendant
privileges .
With John, the kind of relationship pictured in the vine-branch imagery
describes an experience that can be ruptured (John 15:6) with a resultant
loss of fellowship and fruitfulness. Thus here in 1 John, the proof that a
person is enjoying this kind of experience is to be found in a life
modeled after that of Jesus in obedience to His Word. In short, 1 Jn 2:5-6
continues to talk about the believer's fellowship with God."
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 79-82 cont.]:
"The
seedbed for John's idea is our Lord's teaching in John 13-17, especially
15:1-8 .
This well-known passage about the vine and its branches can rightly be
understood as a metaphor for the relationship between a disciple and his
Lord. This is made clear by the words that conclude the vine/branch
discourse: 'By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so
you will be My disciples' (John 15:8, italics added). Unlike the
salvation relationship, the relationship of a disciple to his Teacher can
be lost: 'If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a
branch' (John 15:6, emphasis added). The 'anyone,' of course, means 'any
disciple,' since only a disciple can 'abide' in Christ. As the whole
discourse in John 15 makes clear, the disciple must remain in his
Master, just as the branch must abide in the Vine (John 15:4). To
be 'cast out as a branch' means to lose the disciple / Teacher
relationship, not to lose eternal life
In using the words in Him, therefore, John is referring to the 'abiding' Teacher / disciple relationship. This is made evident in the very next verse. The disciple's experience of the love of God being perfected / made complete in Him is evidence that this disciple is indeed in Him in the sense of 'abiding' in his Lord."
Note that the
observation of one keeping God's Word is neither, as some contend, a
requirement to have nor a reliable confirmation of whether or not one has
possession of eternal life - whether it is the individual himself in
self-assessment, or a second party in judgment of another. The reception
of eternal life does not require that one keep God's Word / His
commandments. The only requirement and reliable confirmation that
Scripture offers for knowing that one has eternal life is for the
individual to remember that he himself has believed in Christ for eternal
life, (1 Jn 5:1, 9-13 ,
cf Eph 2:8-9). Furthermore, the one who observes another's behavior in
order to judge whether or not one is saved is only a flawed, finite being
himself who cannot judge or see as God judges and sees. Only God sees into
the motivations of another; and is he able to observe the actions and
motivations of another, all the time.
On the other hand, despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light, and are expressing agapE, godly love for others, they can know via trusting in what Scripture says: that they have (temporal) fellowship with God and with one another who are walking in that Light. Furthermore, Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
So children of God, born of God can know what is of God and what is not relative to what they observe others say and do while they walk in God's Light, and are expressing agapE, godly love for others; but it is limited by their not having God's Absolute Knowledge of the other's eternal and temporal position with Him, and the other's understanding, motivations and faith. And it is limited by what they accurately know of what Scripture teaches on the matter at hand. And it is conditioned upon the accuracy of what they think that another is saying and doing. Better to limit ones conclusions about another to what one can prove out from Scripture on the matter at hand, or remain silent on the matter - praying for the other rather than subjecting them to false teaching or undue condemnation.
....................................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:5b).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God," =
1) Manuscript evidence for 1 Jn 4:7
Most manuscripts have John saying "everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." The statement in isolation could be taken to mean that all people who love are those who are born of God and know him. By adding "God" after "loving," the scribe of manuscript named "A" provided a corrective: Everyone loving..God is born of God and knows God. But this misses the mark. John was speaking of brotherly love - love among believers beginning once more in 1 Jn 4:7: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."
****** EXCERPT FROM STUDY OF THE WORD LOVE ******
[The New Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, Joseph Henry Thayer, Hendrickson, Peabosy, Ma, 1981, p. 3]:
"agapaO ..... the love of Christians towards one another; of the benevolence which God in providing salvation for men, has exhibited by sending His Son to them and giving Him up to death... of the love which led Christ, in procuring salvation to undergo sufferings and death... of the love with which God regards Christ..."
[Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, W. E. Vine, Fleming H. Revell, Old Tappan, N. J., p. 20]:
"AgapE and agapaO are used in the N.T.
(a) to describe the attitude of God toward His Son, John 17:26; the human race, generally, John 3:16; Rom 5:8; and to such as believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly, John 14:21;
(b) to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude one toward another, John 13:34, and toward all me, 1 Thess 3:12; 1 Cor 16:14; 2 Pet 1:7
(c) to express the essential nature of God, 1 John 4:8.
Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God's love is seen in the gift of His Son, 1 John 4:9, 10. But obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects, Rom 5:8. It was an exercise of the Divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself, cp. Deut 7:7, 8.
Love had its perfect expression among men in the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Cor 5:14; Eph 2:4; 3:19; 5:2; Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian, Gal 5:22.
Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments, John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10; 1 John 2:5; 5:3; 2 John 6. Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God.
Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impluse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all, Rom 15:2, and works no ill to any, 13:8-10; love seeks opportunity to do good to all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith, Gal 6:10.
In respect of agapaO as used of God, it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver."
****** END OF EXCERPT
FROM STUDY OF THE WORD LOVE ******
Note that 1 Jn 3:24-4:6 is a parenthetical instruction which interrupts author and apostle John's exhortation to children of God, born of God to love one another begun at 1 Jn 3:1. The parenthetical instruction to children of God, born of God was to test the spirits, i.e., to test thoughts, words or deeds that the children of God, born of God observe in order to determine which come from God and which do not, evidently by comparing them with Scripture; whereupon 1 Jn 4:7 resumes the subject of children of God, born of God expressing agapE, godly love toward one another:
2) [Compare 1 Jn 3:23-4:6 with 4:7]:
(1 Jn 3:23
NASB) [And] this is His commandment, that we [may] believe in the name of
His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us. (1 Jn
3:24 NASB) "[And] the one who [guardedly] keeps His commandments
abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, [out
of] the Spirit Whom He [gave] us
. (1 Jn 4:1 NASB) 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 Jn 4:2 CBL Interlinear) by this [by testing
the spirits] the Spirit of God is being made known. Every spirit that
confesses ... Jesus.as Christ
[having come] in the flesh is from God; (1 Jn 4:3 NASB) and every spirit
that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; 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 Jn 4:4
NASB) 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 Jn 4:5 NASB)
They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world,
and the world listens to them. (1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:7 NASB)
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who
loves is born of God and knows God." =
Since 1 Jn 3:24-4:6 has in view the instruction of children of God, born of God including the apostles to test the spirits, i.e., to test thoughts, words or deeds that come to mind, to see if they are from God;
and since the subject of children of God, born of God expressing agapE, godly love for one another was interrupted at the end of 1 Jn 3:23 and then resumed at verse 7, beginning with the endearment rendered, "Beloved," indicating that children of God, born of God are in view;
and since the phrase "Let us love one another," in 1 Jn 4:7b is an exhortation to children of God, born of God to love one another with an agapE, godly love - of giving sacrificially of oneself toward fellow children of God, born of God in order that God's will might be accomplished - something which unbelievers cannot do because they are not fellow children of God, born of God, nor has God enabled them to express godly, agapE love;
then it is true that children of God, born of God are in view in 1 Jn 4:8 and that they at times will neither love one another, nor know God in a fellowship relationship with Him. Otherwise there would be no need for this exhortation.
Furthermore, since no one is able to accurately discern whether or not one is born of God because there is nobody qualified in the human race to accurately perform or pass such a test except Jesus Christ Himself, Who is Wholly born of God, (1 Jn 3:9);
and since no child of God, born of God in his mortal body can conduct himself without being sinful and thereby express perfect agapE, godly love toward another; or be perfectly discerning as to whether or not another is born of God, (1 Jn 1:5-10);
then 1 Jn 4:7 cannot be a reliable human test to see if another person is born of God, as some contend.
The only actual
test of a person's salvation that author John and Scripture provides is
the test of whether or not an individual expressed and recalls that
expression of a moment of faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life -
albeit an imperfect self-test of the child of God, born of God, (1 Jn 5:1,
9-13 ).
Nevertheless, since the agapE, godly love that a child of God, born of God is exhorted to express toward a brother comes from God, then if the expression is in accordance with Scripture it can be an indicator, albeit an imperfect one, to the child of God, that he is born of God and knows God beyond his salvation experience.
(1 Jn 1:5 NKJV) "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
(1 Jn 1:6 NASB) If we [should] say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not [do] the truth;
(1 Jn 1:7 NASB) but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, [One = God, with another = with each of we believers walking in the light], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
(1 Jn 1:8 NASB) If we [should] say that we have no sin, we [deceive] ourselves and the truth is not in us.
(1 Jn 1:9 NASB) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 Jn 1:10 NASB) If we [should] say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."
In view of the above passage in 1 Jn 1:5-10,
despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light they can know via trusting in what Scripture says about the matter - and not what they feel such as by some kind of supernatural power taking control of their actions like an expression of a spiritual gift: that they have temporal fellowship with God and with one another who are walking in that Light. Furthermore, Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
So whatever
children of God, born of God do in the name of God while they walk in the
Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, and are expressing agapE, godly
love for others, in accordance with that which they have properly learned
.which is in accordance with the truths of
God as relayed in Scripture, their deeds will be purified from all
unrighteousness and be acceptable to God for eternal rewards at judgment
.
This is true when children of God, born of God endeavor to do the
following:
» study / abide in God's Word - guardedly keep His commandments, and thereby abide in God / Jesus Christ - hence walk in the same manner as Jesus Christ by the grace of God, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23);
» speak to others from Scripture, (1 Jn 2:24);
» care for the unsaved and share their faith with them with an agapE, godly love, (1 Jn 2:24; Mt 28:19-20);
» express
agapE love toward the brethren and thereby affirm to themselves that by
the grace of God they know God and are born of God and that they know that
God's love is perfected, i.e., made complete in them ,
(1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12; 5:9-13);
» confess their sins while walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10);
» be assured because they are children of God, born of God that their sins are forgiven unto eternal life and unto temporal fellowship with God, (1 Jn 1:9, 2:12; 5:9-13);
» look forward to Christ's appearing and thereby be assured of their eternal destiny, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2);
» keep God's commandments, (1 Jn 2:3, 2:25; 3:2-3, 24);
» walk in the same manner that Christ walked, (1 Jn 2:6);
» not love the world or the things in it, (1 Jn 2:15);
» know that they are born of God unto eternal life because the world hates them like it hated Christ - implying that they are endeavoring to abide in God's Word, (1 Jn 3:13);
» confess the Father and the Son, and especially the Son having come in the flesh, (1 Jn 2:23);
» know that God is Light - Absolutely Perfect Righteousness; and in Him there is no darkness, no unrighteousness at all, (1 Jn 1:5-7; 2:29; 3:5);
» know that they are children of God, born of God, because they have the sure hope of eternal life fixed upon the Son of God, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2-3: 5:9-13);
» test the spirits to determine if they are from God, (1 Jn 4:1-6); etc.
Furthermore, in addition to self-examination to determine if they are abiding in God, children of God, born of God while they walk in God's Light can know what is of God and what is not relative to what they observe others say and do. But this is conditioned upon the accuracy of what one thinks another is saying and doing. Appearances can be deceiving when one lacks the knowledge of details behind what they observe. For children of God, born of God neither have God's Absolute Knowledge of another's eternal and temporal position with Him, nor know what God knows about another's understanding, motivation and faith. And this is further limited to what the child of God, born of God has as an accurate understanding of what Scripture teaches on the matter at hand.
Nevertheless, there are a number of indicators as to whether or not one is a child of God, born of God on the path toward fellowship with God such as:
«
persistent, daily study of Scripture in accordance with the order in which
each book of God's Word was inspired by the Holy Spirit to be written
without skipping any parts - hence no cherry picking of verses from all
over the Bible without regard for context instead of thoroughly analyzing
each passage to verify the context from the beginning of the Book it
is contained in, in the order it was written - all of which must be in
accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic which
were evidently used to compose the Bible .-
[ref. abiding in God's Word, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; Jn 14:23)].
«
persistent, daily sharing of what one has learned and confirmed in ones
study of Scripture with others via a vigorous contending of each point
with accurate citations, and quotes from a reliable version of God's Word;
but with a willingness to allow oneself to be proved wrong by carefully
listening to what others have to say, verifying / refuting each point made
from Scripture - all of which must be in accordance with the normative
rules of language, context and logic which were evidently used to compose
the Bible .-
[ref. abiding in God's Word, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23].
«
persistent, daily review of what one has learned and shared with others,
to make sure it accurately follows Scripture - all of which must be in
accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic which
were evidently used to compose the Bible .-
[ref. abiding in God's Word, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23].
«
persistent, daily concern for the eternal destiny of others characterized
by a reluctance to turn away from them even despite rejection - always
looking for ways to communicate with them from Scripture in a manner which
will get them to seek what it says in the Bible and to seek salvation /
fellowship with God - all of which must be in accordance with the
normative rules of language, context and logic which were evidently used
to compose the Bible -
expressing agape, godly love for others, [ref. 1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19;
4:7-12].
«
persistently resolving apparent contradictions within ones own mind about
the Bible by rigorously applying the normative rules of language, context
and logic
.leading to corrections and affirmations of
the conclusions one has arrived at. Hence accurate non-contradictory
observations of what Scripture is saying are consistently arrived at when
the rules are faithfully applied. This testifies to the inerrancy /
non-contradictory nature of God's Word when interpreted faithfully via the
rules by which it was penned. And thereby it will constantly be affirmed
that all conclusions are in perfect harmony with one another and fit one
another without contradiction - hence God actually did inspire Scripture,
[ref. abiding in God's Word, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23].
And God has indeed communicated His Word in a perfect manner utilizing normative rules of language. For whenever the normative rules are strictly adhered to, what results is a 'single line' of interpretation with no contradiction, no confusion and perfect consistency throughout every book of the bible, corroborating that it is God's Word!
«
persistently not willing to compromise if it means going against what one
has learned from God's Word even to the extent of being alone and all by
oneself even persecuted - all of which must be in accordance with the
normative rules of language, context and logic which were evidently used
to compose the Bible .,
[ref. 1 Jn 3:13];
« living
every day with a view to eternity more than temporal matters as a result
of ones assurance of ones eternal destiny - all of which must be in
accordance with the normative rules of language, context and logic which
were evidently used to compose the Bible .,
looking to eternity, [ref. (1 Jn 2:12, 28; 3:2-3, 13)].
(1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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. (1 John 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love." =
A careful observation of verses 7 and 8 together indicates that the subject of children of God, born of God expressing agapE, godly love for one another continues from verse 7:
(1 John 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God," to verse 8:
(1 Jn 4:8 YLT) "he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love."
Both verses
have in view children of God, born of God expressing agapE, godly love for
one another, but not to test ones salvation depending upon whether or not
one is loving God, as some contend. Notice the "one another" in
verse 7 which continues to be the subject of children of God, born of God
in v. 8 - albeit unstated. Children of God, born of God cannot be expected
to earn or keep eternal life by expressing perfect agapE / godly love
toward one another or toward God, because their expressions will always be
contaminated with imperfection while in their mortal bodies, (1 Jn 1:8,
10). Salvation unto eternal life according to Scripture can only be based
upon a moment of faith alone in the Son of God alone plus nothing else, (1
Jn 5:1, 9-13 ).
So the subject in verse 8 is the same as it is in verse 7, except that it takes the negative point of view of when children of God, born of God are not expressing love for one another.
Since the child of God, born of God remains in view in 1 Jn 4:8; and since the Greek phrase "ouk egnO" rendered "did not know God" is in the aorist tense signifying punctilear action in the context of 1 Jn 1:8 of not knowing God having begun at the time that the "unloving" began in the sense of verse 7, namely toward a brother, (ruling out unbelievers who have no brothers in the faith);
and since the phrase rendered "did not know God" in the context of verse 8, cannot demand a conclusion that the individual in view, being a child of God, born of God, never did know God in a salvation experience, as some contend;
then the phrase rendered, "did not know God" does have in view a child of God, born of God who for the moment is not expressing agapE, godly love toward his brother. Hence that child of God, born of God "did not know God," from the beginning of his unloving moment, until the moment when he does express agapE godly love toward the brethren.
Since believing
in God's Son is what secures eternal life forever, (eternal life once
received is forever by definition, (cf. 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13
);
and since a child of God, born
of God cannot claim to have a moment without sin, (1 Jn 1:8, 10); then
a moment of not loving a brother by a child of God, born of God cannot
signify not having salvation.
During
those periods that a child of God, born of God is not loving a brother. He
can be characterized as not having known God - all the while continuing to
have possession of eternal life - the promise given to them by God when
they believed in His Son for it, (cf. 1 Jn 2:25; 5:9-13
).
On the other hand, it does signify a condition of being out of
fellowship with God on the part of the child of God, born of God which is
ongoing after it has begun by virtue of the Greek phrase "ho mE
agapOn" rendered "he who is not loving" - a present
participle.
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 2:10 NASB) The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. (1 Jn 2:11 NASB) But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes." =
On the other hand, in 1 Jn 2:10, John wrote, "The one who loves his brother" - with a godly, "agapE" love - "abides in the Light" - the Light of the Age to come which will be characterized by God's Absolute Righteousness - evidence of his abiding in a close personal fellowship with God so long as he demonstrates godly, "agapE" for his brother - fellow children of God, born of God. And the one who abides in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness is equally characterized as Righteous - a result of his confessing of his sins, of his obeying of God's commandments, etc. And while he demonstrates this godly, "agapE" love for his brother - while he is abiding in the Light, there continues in his life to be no cause for stumbling in the sense of being accountable for sinful activity and thereby be walking in darkness / sin.
This implies that hatred for another is a stumbling block causing the individual to walk in darkness / evil - ensnaring him further into sin and in the darkness of this present age - far and away from the Absolute Righteousness of God.
This is not to say that others can accurately judge the extent of another's fellowship with God or even his salvation on the basis of their own personal understanding of whether or not a person is demonstrating godly, "agapE" love toward others, as some falsely contend. For there is nobody qualified in the human race to accurately perform or pass that test except Jesus Christ Himself Who is Wholly born of God. Nevertheless, how an individual believer himself acts toward others is evidence to himself as to whether or not he is abiding in Christ, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin.
................................................................................................................................ (1 Jn 2:10).
In 1 Jn 2:11, author John goes back to the potential dark side of a believer's life - to the believer who hates his brother, and by that has chosen to walk in darkness:
"But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes." The child of God, born of God who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness in evil. That is where he lives while he is hating his brother. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. His life has become a search without spiritual direction toward righteousness. To live in darkness generated by hate is to make the Savior a stranger in ones experience on earth - Who is the only means by which an individual might be given true direction and a righteous purpose in his life. Though saved unto eternal life, such a believer has forfeited the vital, intimate knowledge of God until he stops hating his brother. ........................................................................................................................... (1 Jn 2:11).
........................................................................................................................................ (1 Jn 4:8a)
The phrase
rendered "God is love" in 1 Jn 4:8b indicates that God's
essential nature is characterized as Perfect Agape love because God is
characterized as Absolute Perfection, (Ro 12:2). The absence of the
definite article with the word rendered "love," (Greek = "agapE)
indicates having the quality of, i.e., characterized by. This does not
mean that God does not have other attributes, such as Absolute Wisdom,
Justice, Sovereignty, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, etc. - which He does. But
it does indicate that Perfect AgapE love is characteristic of whatever God
is and to whatever He does .
Note that God is unique in His expression of Absolutely Perfect AgapE Love
throughout the universe - His creation. He is the source of agapE love
wherever and whenever it is expressed in His creation, albeit imperfectly
- without perfect moments without sin by His children. He is not part of
His creation, as some contend, but separate, albeit omnipresent in it, and
sovereign over it all.
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER TWO ******
(1 Jn 4:6 NASB) 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. (1 John 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives toward God and one another]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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." =
1) [1 Jn 4:9 CBL Interlinear]:
"En .toutO ephanerOthE ...hE agapE tou .Theou ...en hEmin,"
"By ..this ....was manifested the love ............of God .in .us,"
hoti .ton .Uhion autou .ton .monogenE ....apestalken ho Theou eis ...ton kosmon,
that the ..Son ....His .....the .One and only has sent ..........God ..into the .world,
hina zEsOmen ......di' ..........autou."
that we might live through .Him."
The previous verse, 1 Jn 4:8, states that "God is love," wherepon the next two verses describe what that means.
The Greek text of 1 Jn 4:9, is best rendered, "By this was manifested the love of God to us and among us, [Greek phrase, "en hEmin" means "in" as well as "among us" in the context of children of God, born of God including the apostles] that He has sent His One and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life and of manifesting His agapE love in their temporal lives toward God and one another].
The Greek word "monogenE" can mean "unique," "One and only," "only begotten," etc. In the phrase in 1 Jn 4:9, "hoti ton Uhion autou ton monogenE apestalken," it is best rendered "that God has sent His One and only Son." For if the meaning "only begotten Son," is used as it appears in the NASB, YLT, NKJV, ASV, KJV, it leaves open the possible conclusion that the Son of God was not the Eternal Son of God become human, (cf. Jn 1:14), but a temporal human offspring created at that time by God through a woman. But Scripture corroborates that the Son of God is the Eternal Word, the Eternal Son become flesh:
2)
[Compare Jn 1:1, 14 ,
34 ]:
(Jn 1:1 YLT) "In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the [One and only from] the Father, full of grace and truth. ... (Jn 1:34 NKJV) And I [John the Baptist] have seen and testified that this [the Word] is the Son of God."
(Jn 3:16 NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
This is not to say that this expression of God's agapE love to provide salvation unto eternal life through the death of His Son in 1 Jn 4:9-10 was not also extended to all mankind, despite the fact that most of mankind will not choose to believe in Him:
(1 Jn 2:2 NASB) "and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
Note that the specific manifestation of God's love among "us" children of God, born of God including the apostles, is stipulated in 1 Jn 4:9 as the Incarnation of God's One and only Son, (cf. Jn 1:14), and His propitiatory, sacrificial death for the sins of all mankind, (cf. 1 Jn 2:2). This particular manifestation of the love of God occurred in history before many will have trusted in Him for that manifestation to then be made through them. This manifestation is largely unobservable by mankind - a spiritual one which is that they have become children of God, born of God with possession of eternal life. Thereafter that moment of faith alone in Christ alone, through the Son of God, children of God, born of God have been equipped to manifest God's agapE love in their temporal lives when they endeavor to do the following:
» study / abide in God's Word - be careful to keep His commandments, and thereby abide in God / Jesus Christ - hence walk in the same manner as Jesus Christ by the grace of God, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23);
» speak to others from Scripture, (1 Jn 2:24);
» care for the unsaved and share their faith with them with an agapE, godly love, (1 Jn 2:24; Mt 28:19-20);
» express
agapE love toward the brethren and thereby affirm to themselves that by
the grace of God they know God and are born of God and that they know that
God's love is perfected, i.e., made complete in them ,
(1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12);
» confess their sins while walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10);
» be assured because they are children of God, born of God that their sins are forgiven unto eternal life and unto temporal fellowship with God, (1 Jn 1:9, 2:12);
» look forward to Christ's appearing and thereby be assured of their eternal destiny, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2);
» keep God's commandments, (1 Jn 2:3, 2:25; 3:2-3, 24);
» walk in the same manner that Christ walked, (1 Jn 2:6);
» not love the world or the things in it, (1 Jn 2:15);
» know that they are born of God unto eternal life because the world hates them like it hated Christ - implying that they are endeavoring to abide in God's Word, (1 Jn 3:13);
» confess the Father and the Son, and especially the Son having come in the flesh, (1 Jn 2:23);
» know that God is Light - Absolutely Perfect Righteousness; and in Him there is no darkness, no unrighteousness at all, (1 Jn 1:5-7; 2:29; 3:5);
» know that they are children of God, born of God, because they have the sure hope of eternal life fixed upon the Son of God, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2-3);
» test the spirits to determine if they are from God, (1 Jn 4:1-6); etc.
.............................................................................................................................. (1 Jn 4:9).
Verse 10, which reads, (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) "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," completes the point that God's agapE love was manifested in the children of God, born of God including the apostles after He had sent His One and only Son into the world - establishing the definition of God's unsurpassable, self-sacrificial love as demonstrated by the sending of His One and only Son to be the propitiation for our sins:
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives toward God and one another]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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." =
The subject of the expression of God's agapE love by children of God, born of God including the apostles begun in 1 Jn 4:7-8 and now continuing to be in view in verse 9 is then defined in verse 10 as a love which first originated with God, and not first in those who became children of God, born of God. For verse 10 rendered, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin," implies this reference of priority in time. So agapE, godly love exists only within the child of God, born of God to be manifested to the universe and expressed by each child of God, born of Him toward God only after it has first been received from God through one trusting in His Son's propitiation - His atoning sacrifice for ones sins. Whereupon, those who trusted in God's Son become children of God, born of God having been given possession of eternal life - a manifestation of God's great agapE love for all in God's universe to see.
(1 Jn 3:1 NASB) "[Behold!] how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and .such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."
The Greek word "potapEn" rendered "how great" in 1 Jn 3:1 carries the sense of "how great," "how wonderful," "how glorious" is God's "agapE" love that we believers would be called children of God - a God Who is Almighty and Absolutely Righteous!
In view is the absolutely gracious benevolence of God's "agapE" love which He demonstrated in providing salvation for men by sending His Son to pay the penalty for mankind's sins; thus procuring salvation unto eternal life to all who choose to believe in Him who then become and are called by Him to be His children - children of God and who are equipped by Him to express God's AgapE Love toward others.
The "agapE" love of God in the context of First John reveals the very nature of God which characterizes the activity of God’s words and deeds throughout the history of His salvation from the beginning of creation, throughout the history of mankind, and through His born again children.
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 185-187]:
[1 Jn 4:10]:
"Love which is displayed only toward those who already love us does not measure up to this standard. Thus Jesus Himself said, 'For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?' (Mt 5:46). True Godlike 'love' for our Christian brother does not require that our brother love us!
Second, we can note that God's 'love' sought to meet our spiritual need: 'and' [God] sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' God's 'love' for us was not deterred by our sinful condition or by the need to sacrifice 'His Son' to make 'propitiation for our sins.' Instead, the 'Son' became precisely the 'propitiation' that was required. ... In the light of the powerful example presented in this verse, we can never excuse our failure to love our brother by the claim that he is too sinful and therefore unworthy of our love. The fact is that the worst sinner in the Christian church - indeed in all the world - is covered by the propitiatory work of Christ (cf. 2:2). Since no one in all humanity is beyond the reach of our Savior's sacrificial death, no brother or sister should be beyond our sacrificial love."
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB)..Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." =
Author and apostle John once more addressed his readers as "Beloved," and included himself and the rest of the apostles with his readers with the following words which affirm the meaning of agapE, godly love as self-sacrificial - for the benefit of others, regardless of their response to Him: "If [in the sense of since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." This is a reminder of what John wrote in Jn 3:16.
(Jn 3:16 NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but [should] have eternal life."
So 1 Jn 4:11 states to the "beloved," i.e., children of God, born of God, that since God so loved them (and all mankind) with such a supremely grand agapE, self-sacrificial love - by sending His One and only Son into the world as a propitiation for their sins (and those of all mankind) so that they - those that have chosen to become children of God, born of God by a moment of faith alone in Christ alone might live - have eternal life and manifest His love in their temporal lives, then they ought to emulate Him and to express that same kind of self-sacrificial agapE, godly toward one another.
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Sonto be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us." =
In 1 Jn 4:12a, the message is that in His essence, God has never been seen by any living man. The word rendered "God" in 1 Jn 4:12a appears first in the Greek text, without a definite article as a point of emphasis. Without the article it refers to the nature of God's being - His essence which no one has seen in the sense of no human being.
(Jn 1:18 NASB) "No one has seen God at any time; the [lit., One and only] God Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has [lit., declared] Him."
John 1:18 declares that no human being has seen God at any time, (Jn 1:18a); but the One and only God, (Jn 1:18b), the Word, Who has always been face to face with God - able to see and intimately know God, (Jn 1:1-2), Who is in the bosom of the Father, i.e., Who is in the closest personal intimate relationship with Him, (Jn 1:18b) - has become flesh, (Jn 1:14). And in His Perfect Humanity, the One and only God, has come into the world, (Jn 1:14), to declare through Himself in His Perfect Humanity Who God is to mankind, (Jn 1:18). Mankind can now behold the glory as of the One and only from the Father, full of the grace and truth of God, (Jn 1:14). The Word become flesh has made God knowable and known to mankind, so that men can choose to know God and trust in the Word unto an eternal life familial relationship with God, (Jn 1:12-13).
Although God has never been seen by any living man, (Jn 1:18; 1 Jn 4:12, 20; 1 Tim 6:16; Ex 13:18-23; 33:20; Gen 32:30), thus refuting anyone who claims to have special sightings or knowledge of God tantamount to seeing Him, as some contend; there is nevertheless the availability of knowing God which originates with trusting in His Son for eternal life; and then children of God, born of God are equipped to express God's self-sacrificial agapE, godly love toward one another, (1 Jn 4:7, 11).
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us," (cont.) =
Although
Scripture repeatedly declares that in His essence, God has never been seen
by any living man, (Jn 1:18; 1 Jn 4:12, 20; 1 Tim 6:16; Ex 13:18-23;
33:20; Gen 32:30); nevertheless, He has manifested Himself throughout
history in preincarnate appearances, visions,
.
and then especially in His Son, in His Humanity in earthly life
culminating in His Son's propitiation for the sins of all mankind, (ref. 1
Jn 2:2; 1 Jn 4:10-11). His great love was then manifested in and among
those who would choose to trust in Him and become children of God, born of
God, (cf. 1 Jn 3:1; 4:9, 12).
With this in
mind, author John states in 1 Jn 4:12b, "if we [children of God, born
of God] love one another [with an agapE, godly sacrificial love], God
abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us [in the sense
of having been made complete]." So in the experience of expressing
agapE, godly sacrificial love for one another, children of God, born of
God can know that God, albeit invisible to them, actually abides within
them and that His love is having been perfected [Greek, "teteleiOmenE"
= made complete ]
in them.
So whatever
children of God, born of God do in the name of God while they walk in the
Light of God's Absolute Righteousness in accordance with that which they
have properly learned
.which is in accordance with the truths of
God as relayed in Scripture, their deeds will be purified from all
unrighteousness and be acceptable to God for eternal rewards at judgment
.
And when children of God, born of God endeavor to express agapE love
toward the brethren they affirm to themselves that they know God and are
born of God and that they know that God's love is perfected, i.e., made
complete in them ,
(1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12);
(1 Jn 2:5 YLT) "And whoever may keep His Word, truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected; in this we know that in Him we are."
3) [Compare 1 Jn 3:16, 23, 24]:
(1 Jn 3:16 YLT)
"In this we have known the love [of the Son of God], because He for
us His life did lay down, and we ought for the brethren [our] lives to lay
down.;"
(1 Jn 3:23
NASB) "[And] this is His commandment, that we [may] believe in the
name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us
."
(1 Jn 3:24
NASB) "[And] the one who [guardedly] keeps His commandments abides in
Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, [out of] the
Spirit Whom He [gave] us "
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 188-189]:
"Not only does 'God' abide in believers [children of God, born of God] who 'love one another,' but also 'His love has been perfected in' (or 'among') them. The idea of the perfecting of God's love in obedient Christians [children of God, born of God] was first mentioned in 2:5... The Greek words for 'has been perfected' (teleleiOmenE estin) are in a form (the perfect tense) that somewhat stresses the effect of 'His love' being 'perfected' (teleioO). [It] indicates 'to 'complete,' 'to finish,' 'to bring to its goal,' 'to bring to full measure,' and similar ideas. The implication in this text is that God's 'love' achieves its goal and reaches its full measure 'in us' when that 'love' is reproduced in us and reflected through us by loving 'one another.' No form of fellowship with God could attain a higher level than this, namely, the fulfilling of our Lord's superlative 'new commandment' (John 13:34)."
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Sonto be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit." =
According to 1 Jn 4:11-12, by the expression of agapE, godly love for one another, children of God, born of God abide in God and He in them. Then 1 Jn 4:13 says that this they know that they abide in God and He in them because He has given them [out] of His Spirit. When a believer is expressing agapE, godly love for others his agapE love comes out of the Spirit of God.
This is also the key message of 1 Jn 3:24: children of God, born of God who carefully keep God's commandments - not the least of which is to love one another, abide in God and He in them. And they know that He abides in them [out of] the Spirit Whom He gave them:
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER THREE ******
(1 Jn 3:24 NASB) "[And] the one who [guardedly] keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, [out of] the Spirit Whom He [gave] us." (cont.) =
Children of God, born of God who keep His commandments, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin, will abide in Him, and He in them. They abide in His Word and know that He [God the Holy Spirit] abides in them - [out of] the Spirit Whom He [Jesus Christ] gave them. This implies that the Holy Spirit operates within the life of the child of God, born of God such as prompting him:
» to study / abide in God's Word - guardedly keep His commandments, and thereby abide in God / Jesus Christ - hence walk in the same manner as Jesus Christ by the grace of God, (1 Jn 2:3-14, 24; 3:2-3, 24, 27; Jn 14:23);
» of what to say to others from Scripture, (1 Jn 2:14);
» to care for the unsaved and to share his faith with them, (Mt 28:19-20);
» to express agapE love toward the brethren, (1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19);
» to confess his sins - to walk in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7, 9);
» to be assured that his sins are forgiven, (1 Jn 1:9, 2:12);
» to look forward to Christ's appearing and thereby to be assured of his eternal destiny, (1 Jn 2:28; 3:2);
» to walk in the same manner that Christ walked, (1 Jn 2:6);
» to not love the world or the things in it, (1 Jn 2:15);
» to know that they are born of God unto eternal life because the world hates them like it hated Christ, (1 Jn 3:13);
» to confess the Father and the Son, especially that the Son having come in the flesh, (1 Jn 2:23);
» to know that God is Light - perfect Righteousness; and in Him there is no darkness, no unrighteousness at all, (1 Jn 1:5-7; 2:29; 3:5);
» to know that he is a child of God, born of God, (1 Jn 3:1-3); etc.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.
"3:24. Two
new themes appear in this verse. The first theme is the epistle's first
reference to God, or Christ, abiding in each obedient believer. Those who
obey His commands (cf. 2:3; 3:23; 5:2-3) live (menei, "abide")
in Him, and He in them. That the abiding life involves this mutuality is
made plain in the Parable of the Vine and the Branches (John 15:4-5, 7);.
.The second new idea is the epistle's first
of six explicit references to the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 John 4:2, 6, 13; 5:6,
8; cf. "the Holy One" in 2:20 ).
The way a believer can verify that God lives (menei, "abides")
in him is by the operation of God's Spirit in his life."
........................................................................................................................................ (1 Jn 3:24)
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER THREE ******
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Sonto be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit," (cont.) =
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 189-190]:
"In place of 'keeping His commandments' as in 3:24, here [in 1 Jn 4:12-13] we find 'loving one another' as the key to this mutual 'abiding' relationship...
Taking 3:24 and 4:13 together, it is clear that John regards the Holy Spirit as the Person within us Who can make evident the inward abiding of God. He does this when we find ourselves loving one another. Since love in the likeness of God's love, revealed at the cross, could be produced in us only by the Holy Spirit, when such love is produced in us, the Holy Spirit is manifesting the reality of the indwelling God. That is to say, the God of love is loving our brethren through us by the power of His Spirit. And when we thus partake 'of His Spirit' of love, we can know that 'He' abides 'in us.' "
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Sonto be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).[And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." =
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." =
Since the agapE, godly love that a child of God, born of God is exhorted to express toward a brother comes from God, then if the expression is in accordance with Scripture it can be an indicator, albeit an imperfect one, to the child of God, that he is born of God and knows God beyond his salvation experience.
(1 Jn 4:8 YLT) "he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love." =
And
during those periods that a child of God, born of God is not loving a
brother, he can be characterized as not having known God - all the while
continuing to have possession of eternal life - the promise given to him
by God when he believed in His Son for it, (cf. 1 Jn 2:25; 5:9-13
).
On the other hand, it does signify a condition of being out of
fellowship with God on the part of the child of God, born of God which is
ongoing after it has begun by virtue of the Greek phrase "ho mE
agapOn" rendered "he who is not loving" - a present
participle.
(1 Jn 4:9 NASB) "By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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." =
In view in verses 9 and 10 are children of God, born of God including the apostles in whom is manifested the absolutely gracious benevolence of God's "agapE" love - a love which He demonstrated in providing salvation for men by sending His Son to pay the penalty for mankind's sins; thus procuring salvation unto eternal life to all who choose to believe in Him who then become and are called by Him to be His children - children of God, born of God who are equipped by God to express His AgapE Love toward one another.
(1 Jn 4:11 NASB) "Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." =
And in verse 11, it states to the "beloved," i.e., children of God, born of God that since God so loved them, they ought to express agapE, godly love for one another.
(1 Jn 4:12 NASB) "No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit." =
Verses 12 and 13 continue by stating that although no one has seen God at any time if "we" children of God, born of God including the apostles love one another, God abides in them, and His love has been and continues to be perfected in them. And by this they know that they abide in God and He in them: because God has given to them the ability to express agapE, godly love toward God and one another out of His Spirit Who was given to them when they first believed in His Son.
(1 Jn 4:14 NASB) "[And so we - we] have seen [in our minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." =
Then 1 Jn 4:14 has in view the apostles and children of God, born of God - John's readers. Note the emphatic "we's" which point to those to whom author John has written these verses: children of God, born of God - including the apostles. And while they are abiding in God, they "have seen (in their own minds) and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world," because they have been abiding in God - expressing agapE, godly love for one another.
Note that the verb form rendered "have seen" in 1 Jn 4:14 is in the perfect tense implying past action with ongoing present results. The verb rendered "testify to" is present tense expressing the ongoing result of their having seen that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The statement that they have seen (in their own minds) and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world is a fact that they have known from the beginning of their salvation unto eternal life experience in Whom they believed to become born of God, children of God. And this salvation experience they have seen and testify to according to 1 Jn 4:14 is conveying the sense of seeing, i.e., having an understanding in the mind that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world as a result of their having been abiding in God and He in them especially via their having been expressing agapE, godly love toward God and toward one another.
First John 4:14 is a reminder and a response to what author and apostle John wrote in 1 Jn 1:1-4 when he and fellow apostles witnessed and were present with the Son of God in His Humanity Who came into the world to bring Eternal Life to mankind through a moment of faith in His propitiation for the sins of the whole world, (cf 1 Jn 5:1, 9-13; 2:2). These four verses, (1 Jn 1:1-4), established a key goal that John's readers might attain: to share in the apostles' experience of their having "heard," "seen," "beheld," "handled" that which was from the beginning - the Word of Life, the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to them. And the children of God, born of God might attain that goal by walking in God's Light, confessing sins, abiding in God's Word, expressing agapE, godly love for one another, etc.
(1 Jn 1:1 YLT) "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we did behold [in the sense of gazed intently upon], and our hands did handle, concerning the Word of ... Life -
(1 Jn 1:2 NASB) and [indeed] the Life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the Eternal Life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us -
(1 Jn 1:3 NASB) what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
(1 Jn 1:4 NASB) These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete."
So in 1 Jn 1:1-4, the manifestation of "the Word of Life," "the Eternal Life," "the Life" - everything that that entails was revealed to John and fellow apostles in the Person of the LORD Jesus Christ. It is all about Who He is, what He said and what He did as witnessed and experienced by His chosen disciples / apostles. Therefore, the subject of the epistle of First John is the proclamation and reaffirmation of the truths about eternal life which John stipulated was the key for author John's readers and all believers to having an ongoing fellowship and shared joy with those disciples / apostles whom Jesus had chosen; and that shared fellowship and shared joy author John declared was with God the Father and with His Son.
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 190-192]:
"We can paraphrase the words of the verse, [1 Jn 4:14] 'And' so, when we love like this, 'we [both the readers and the apostles] have seen [the reality,] and [we] testify [to the reality] that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.' Thus, by loving one another [with an agapE, godly, self-sacrificing love], the readership can have fellowship with the apostles in what the apostles had seen... fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1:3b)...." [And this applies to today's readership as well]
If the readers were to 'have fellowship' with the apostles in what the apostles had 'seen' (1:3), that fellowship could not be the visible Person of Jesus Christ Himself. But it definitely could be an experience of seeing 'that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested' to the apostles.... In 2:29-3:10a, John has affirmed that the born again child of God is manifested by, and only by, the doing of righteousness. In 3:10b-23, he asserts that this manifestation takes the form, not of brotherly hatred like Cain's, but of self-sacrificing love like Christ's. And in 3:24-4:13, he teaches us that such love demonstrates the presence of the indwelling God Whose S/spirit of love we share. Thus, 'that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to the apostles (1:3) is re-manifested ... among the readers, they along with the apostles can be said to 'have seen ... that the Father sent the Son as Savior of the world.' Since this manifested [agapE] ... love is nothing less than the manifestation of eternal life within the loving [Child of God, born of God], those who so manifest this life are living witnesses to the reality that 'the Son' Who saved them really is the 'Savior of the world' (cf. John 13:35)...
In other words, the visible manifestation of eternal life through [agapE] love, so that this life can be 'seen' in that love, is an enormously effective way to 'testify' about the Saviorhood of Christ. It goes without saying that such a 'seeing' is a 'seeing' of faith expressed in the confession of 'Jesus' as the world's 'Savior.' "
Q) (1 Jn 4:15) WHOEVER CONFESSES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD, GOD ABIDES IN HIM, AND HE IN GOD
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).[And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." =
1) [Manuscript evidence for 1 Jn 4:15]:
As often happened in the course of textual transmission, scribes expanded the divine title in this verse. The scribe of B expanded the title rendered "Jesus" to "Jesus Christ." This expansion, included in WH (showing its favoritism to B, was probably prompted by 4:2).
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." =
Since the agapE, godly love that a child of God, born of God is exhorted to express toward a brother comes from God, then if the expression is in accordance with Scripture it can be an indicator, albeit an imperfect one, to the child of God, that he is born of God and knows God beyond his salvation experience.
(1 Jn 4:8 YLT) "he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love." =
And
during those periods that a child of God, born of God is not loving a
brother, he can be characterized as not having known God - all the while
continuing to have possession of eternal life - the promise given to him
by God when he believed in His Son for it, (cf. 1 Jn 2:25; 5:9-13
).
On the other hand, it does signify a condition of being out of
fellowship with God on the part of the child of God, born of God which is
ongoing after it has begun by virtue of the Greek phrase "ho mE
agapOn" rendered "he who is not loving" - a present
participle.
(1 Jn 4:9 NASB) "By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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." =
In view in verses 9 and 10 are children of God, born of God including the apostles in whom is manifested the absolutely gracious benevolence of God's "agapE" love - a love which He demonstrated in providing salvation for men by sending His Son to pay the penalty for mankind's sins; thus procuring salvation unto eternal life to all who choose to believe in Him who then become and are called by Him to be His children - children of God, born of God who are equipped by God to express His AgapE Love toward one another.
(1 Jn 4:11 NASB) "Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." =
And in verse 11, it states to the "beloved," i.e., children of God, born of God that since God so loved them, they ought to express agapE, godly love for one another.
(1 Jn 4:12 NASB) "No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love [out of] His Spirit." =
Verses 12 and 13 continue by stating that although no one has seen God at any time if "we" children of God, born of God including the apostles love one another, God abides in them, and His love has been and continues to be perfected in them. And by this they know that they abide in God and He in them: because God has given to them the ability to express agapE, godly love toward God and one another out of His Spirit Who was given to them when they first believed in His Son.
(1 Jn 4:14 NASB) "[And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." =
Then 1 Jn 4:14 has in view the apostles and children of God, born of God - John's readers. Note the emphatic "we's" which point to those to whom author John has written these verses: children of God, born of God - including the apostles. And while they are abiding in God, they "have seen [in their own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world," because they have been abiding in God - expressing agapE, godly love for God and one another.
(1 Jn 4:15 NASB) "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."
Although the Son of God was sent by the Father as Savior of the world, not all mankind will choose to be believe / confess that Jesus is the Son of God to be saved, (1 Jn 4:15, 5:1, 9-13).
Note that the verb form rendered "have seen" in 1 Jn 4:14 is in the perfect tense implying past action with ongoing present results. The verb rendered "testify to" is present tense expressing the ongoing result of their having seen [in their own minds] that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The statement that they have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world is a fact that they have known from the beginning of their salvation unto eternal life experience in Whom they believed to become born of God, children of God. And this salvation experience they have seen and testify to according to 1 Jn 4:14 is conveying the sense of seeing, i.e., having an understanding in the mind that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world as a result of their having been abiding in God and He in them especially via their having been expressing agapE, godly love toward God and one another.
First John 4:14 is a reminder and a response to what author and apostle John wrote in 1 Jn 1:1-4 when he and fellow apostles witnessed and were present with the Son of God in His Humanity Who came into the world to bring Eternal Life to mankind through a moment of faith in His propitiation for the sins of the whole world, (1 Jn 5:1, 9-13; 2:2). These four verses, (1 Jn 1:1-4), established a key goal that John's readers might attain: to share in the apostles' experience of their having "heard," "seen," "beheld," "handled" that which was from the beginning - the Word of Life, the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to them. And the children of God, born of God might attain that goal by walking in God's Light, confessing sins, abiding in God's Word, expressing agapE, godly love for one another, etc.
Verse 15 then stipulates, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God" with children of God, born of God in view in the context of while they are expressing agapE, godly love for one another. For unbelievers cannot abide in God nor He in them. The confession that Jesus is the Son of God by children of God, born of God testifies to their belief in His Diety and His Humanity and it is associated with Him being the Savior of the world referred to in verse 14 as their personal Savior, since they are born of God unto eternal life and have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit within them when they are abiding in God via expressing agapE, godly love for one another and making that confession that Jesus is the Son of God. And this confession serves to testify to others of the indwelling Holy Spirit within the children of God, born of God, Who is the source of that confession, (cf. 1 Jn 4:2, 13).
Hence this confession is yet another means by which the children of God, born of God might abide in God, and He in them - and experience inwardly - in their minds - what John and the apostles experienced when they had "heard," "seen," "beheld," "handled" that which was from the beginning - the Word of Life, the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to them, (1 Jn 1:1-4).
(1 Jn 5:1a NASB) "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him."
(1 Jn 2:23 NKJV) "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges [in the sense of believes in] the Son has the Father also."
The confession of the title "Son of God" when it is confessed by one who attributes that title to Jesus Christ in the sense of believing in His atoning sacrifice for one's sins unto eternal life and that alone, then that one has become a child of God, born of God or is affirming that fact via the work of the Holy Spirit within one. Some may confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but fall short of the biblical meaning of phrase rendered "the Son of God" which includes trusting in Him alone for eternal life. So they fall short of becoming children of God, born of God and of receiving eternal life, and there is no true affirmation that they are children of God, born of God unto eternal life.
(1 Jn 3:23
NASB) "[And] this is His commandment, that we [may] believe in the
name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us
."
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).[And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him." =
1) [Manuscript evidence 1 Jn 4:16]:
According to most Greek manuscripts (including the three earliest, P9, Sinaiticus, B), there are two perfect tense verbs in this verse: "we have known" and "we have believed." But A and 33 read the present tense "we believe." The change was probably intended to counter any notion that "faith is simply a 'past' experience, although the perfect tense itself contains a 'continuous,' and thus perfect reference.
According to all Greek manuscripts except P9, the following expression is "the love which God has in [toward] us," P9 has a singular, questionable reading here: 'Christ' instead of TR WH NU's 'God.'
.........................................................................................................................................................
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." =
Since the agapE, godly love that a child of God, born of God is exhorted to express toward a brother comes from God, then if the expression is in accordance with Scripture it can be an indicator, albeit an imperfect one, to the child of God, that he is born of God and knows God beyond his salvation experience.
(1 Jn 4:8 YLT) "he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love." =
And
during those periods that a child of God, born of God is not loving a
brother, he can be characterized as not having known God - all the while
continuing to have possession of eternal life - the promise given to him
by God when he believed in His Son for it, (cf. 1 Jn 2:25; 5:9-13
).
On the other hand, it does signify a condition of being out of
fellowship with God on the part of the child of God, born of God which is
ongoing after it has begun by virtue of the Greek phrase "ho mE
agapOn" rendered "he who is not loving" - a present
participle.
(1 Jn 4:9 NASB) "By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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." =
In view in verses 9 and 10 are children of God, born of God including the apostles in whom is manifested the absolutely gracious benevolence of God's "agapE" love - a love which He demonstrated in providing salvation for men by sending His Son to pay the penalty for mankind's sins; thus procuring salvation unto eternal life to all who choose to believe in Him who then become and are called by Him to be His children - children of God, born of God who are equipped by God to express His AgapE Love toward one another.
(1 Jn 4:11 NASB) "Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." =
And in verse 11, it states to the "beloved," i.e., children of God, born of God that since God so loved them, they ought to express agapE, godly love for one another.
(1 Jn 4:12 NASB) "No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit." =
Verses 12 and 13 continue by stating that although no one has seen God at any time if "we" children of God, born of God including the apostles love one another, God abides in them, and His love has been and continues to be perfected in them. And by this they know that they abide in God and He in them: because God has given to them the ability to express agapE, godly love toward God and one another out of His Spirit Who was given to them when they first believed in His Son.
(1 Jn 4:14 NASB) "And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." =
Then 1 Jn 4:14 has in view the apostles and children of God, born of God - John's readers. Note the emphatic "we's" which point to those to whom author John has written these verses: children of God, born of God - including the apostles. And while they are abiding in God, they "have seen, (in their own minds), and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world," because they have been abiding in God - expressing agapE, godly love for God and one another.
Note that the verb form rendered "have seen" in 1 Jn 4:14 is in the perfect tense implying past action with ongoing present results. The verb rendered "testify to" is present tense expressing the ongoing result of their having seen (their own minds) that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The statement that they have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world is a fact that they have known from the beginning of their salvation unto eternal life experience in Whom they believed to become born of God, children of God. And this salvation experience they have seen and testify to according to 1 Jn 4:14 is conveying the sense of seeing, i.e., having an understanding in the mind that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world as a result of their having been abiding in God and He in them especially via their having been expressing agapE, godly love toward God and one another.
First John 4:14 is a reminder and a response to what author and apostle John wrote in 1 Jn 1:1-4 when he and fellow apostles witnessed and were present with the Son of God in His Humanity Who came into the world to bring Eternal Life to mankind through a moment of faith in His propitiation for the sins of the whole world, (1 Jn 5:1, 9-13; 2:2). These four verses, (1 Jn 1:1-4), established a key goal that John's readers might attain: to share in the apostles' experience of their having "heard," "seen," "beheld," "handled" that which was from the beginning - the Word of Life, the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to them. And the children of God, born of God might attain that goal by walking in God's Light, confessing sins, abiding in God's Word, expressing agapE, godly love for one another, etc.
(1 Jn 4:15 NASB) "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." =
Verse 15 then stipulates, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God" with children of God, born of God in view in the context of while they are expressing agapE, godly love for one another. For unbelievers cannot abide in God nor He in them. The confession that Jesus is the Son of God by children of God, born of God testifies to their belief in His Diety and His Humanity and it is associated with Him being the Savior of the world referred to in verse 14 as their personal Savior, since they are born of God unto eternal life and have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit within them when they are abiding in God via expressing agapE, godly love for one another and making that confession that Jesus is the Son of God. And this confession serves to testify to others of the indwelling Holy Spirit within the children of God, born of God, Who is the source of that confession, (cf. 1 Jn 4:2, 13).
Hence this confession is yet another means by which the children of God, born of God might abide in God, and He in them - and experience inwardly in their minds what John and the apostles experienced when they had "heard," "seen," "beheld," "handled" that which was from the beginning - the Word of Life, the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested to them, (1 Jn 1:1-4).
(1 Jn 4:16 YLT) "[and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him." =
Verse 16 continues the context of 1 Jn 4:13-15 which the latter reads as follows:
(1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).[And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."
Whereupon 1 Jn 4:16a begins in the same way that verse 14 did: with the emphatic pronoun "we" (Greek:hEmeis) rendered, (1 Jn 4:16a YLT) "And so we - we" [followed by the stipulation of the means by which children of God, born of God may abide in God in He in them]: "have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us." Note that the phrases rendered "we - we have known" and "have believed" are in the perfect tense indicating a completed action in the past with ongoing results of the children of God, born of God while they were expressing agapE love toward one another.
And so the children of God, born of God, apostles included, who while they have expressed agapE love toward one another, have seen and testify, (1 Jn 4:13-14); and have known and have believed the agapE love that God has toward them, (1 Jn 4:16). For since their salvation unto eternal life experience; children of God, born of God have been equipped by the Spirit of God to express God's agapE love toward one another - toward fellow children of God, born of God out of His agapE love for them. Thus through their experience as they express agapE, godly love for one another, they have come to know and have come to believe in the agapE love that God has for them that saved them unto eternal life when they believed in His Son's propitiation for their sins, (cf. 1 Jn 2:2, 2:5; cf 5:11).
The second half of 1 Jn 4:16, (1 Jn 4:16b YLT) "God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him," addresses the children of God, born of God who have known that God is love while they have expressed agapE, godly love toward one another: they can know that God is love and that they remain / abide in Him; and that He remains / abides in them - confirming all the more their salvation unto eternal life experience, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin, and only while they have expressed agapE, godly love toward one another. Since God is love, then for children of God, born of God to express toward one another, i.e., to abide in God's love is to abide in God, and He in them.
(1 John 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love." =
A careful observation of verses 7 and 8 together indicates that the subject of children of God, born of God expressing agapE, godly love for one another continues from verse 7:
(1 John 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God," to verse 8:
(1 Jn 4:8 YLT) "he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love."
Both verses
have in view children of God, born of God expressing agapE, godly love for
one another, but not to test ones salvation depending upon whether or not
one is loving God, as some contend. Notice the "one another" in
verse 7 which continues to be the subject of children of God, born of God
in v. 8 - albeit unstated. Children of God, born of God cannot be expected
to earn or keep eternal life by expressing perfect agapE / godly love
toward one another or toward God, because their expressions will always be
contaminated with imperfection while in their mortal bodies, (1 Jn 1:8,
10). Salvation unto eternal life according to Scripture can only be based
upon a moment of faith alone in the Son of God alone plus nothing else, (1
Jn 5:1, 9-13 ).
The phrase
rendered "God is love" in 1 Jn 4:8b indicates that God's
essential nature is characterized as Perfect Agape love because God is
characterized as Absolute Perfection, (Ro 12:2). The absence of the
definite article with the word rendered "love," (Greek = "agapE)
indicates having the quality of, i.e., characterized by. This does not
mean that God does not have other attributes, such as Absolute Wisdom,
Justice, Sovereignty, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, etc. - which He does. But
it does indicate that Perfect AgapE love is characteristic of whatever God
is and to whatever He does .
Note that God is unique in His expression of Absolutely Perfect AgapE Love
throughout the universe - His creation. He is the source of agapE love
wherever and whenever it is expressed in His creation, albeit not
absolutely perfectly but imperfectly by His children.
Despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light they can know that they are righteous and discern righteous acts in others - not by what they feel such as by some kind of supernatural power taking control of them like an expression of an imagined spiritual gift, as some contend - but by trusting in what Scripture says about the matter: For Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
So whatever
children of God, born of God do in the name of God while they walk in the
Light of God's Absolute Righteousness in accordance with that which they
have properly learned from Scripture, albeitly imperfectly
.,
their deeds will be purified from all unrighteousness and be acceptable to
God for eternal rewards at judgment .
This is true when children of God, born of God endeavor to express agapE,
godly love toward the brethren and thereby affirm to themselves, albeit
imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin, that they know God and
are born of God and that they know that God's love is perfected, i.e.,
made complete in them ,
(1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12, 16) - and that He remains / abides in
them - confirming all the more their salvation unto eternal life.
[Hodges, op. cit., pp. 196-198]:
[1 Jn 4:16]
"They [children of God, born of God who express agapE, godly love toward God and one another] now know 'the love that God has' toward them, not by apostolic testimony alone (valid though that was), but by first-hand experience, like the apostles. They have come to know it in the living experience of loving one another, because God Himself is loving each of them through their brethren' "
(1 Jn 2:28 NASB) "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have [bold assurance] and not shrink away from Him in shame at His [appearing]... (1 Jn 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him. (1 Jn 4:17 NASB) [In] this, love [has been] perfected [among] us: that we may have [boldness] in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." =
1) [Manuscript evidence 1 Jn 4:17]:
After John says that "we may have confidence in the day of judgment," nearly all Greek manuscripts read "because as that one is, so are we in this world." This causal explanation is perplexing because it seems to mean that Christians - without any maturation - are now even as Christ is, when experience speaks against this. Some scribes, seeing this problem, made two adjustments. The first is an interpolation, which adds "with respect to having put on human nature" before this clause (in 1505, 1611, 2138). This interpolation suggests that Christians will be judged as humans, which is a nature they share with Jesus Christ, and so they are said to be even as he is - i.e., both Jesus Christ and the believers are human. The second alteration appears in 2138 only; it adds the words "he was blameless and pure in the world" in order to describe in what way Jesus was "in the world." The third alteration is not as drastic, but effective; it changes the present tense verb "we are" to a future tense, "we will be" - so Sinaiticus, 2138 with the resultant rendering, 'as that one is so we will be in this world.' This change allows for the maturation process. All three changes occur in the eleventh-century manuscript 2138, which reads in full" "We may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as that One is [was] blameless and pure in the world, so we, who [also] have human nature, will be in this world."
Note that the last phrase of 1 Jn 4:17, rendered "because as He is, so are we in this world" is correctly interpreted to mean that just as Christ is, so are the children of God, born of God in this world in the sense of being accounted by God as pure by the grace of God, (cf. 1 Jn 1:7; 3:3), which resolves the problem of trying to explain how children of God, born of God can be declared to be sinlessly pure as Christ is in their mortal lives.
(1 Jn 1:7 NASB) "But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, [One = God, with another = with each of we believers walking in the light], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
(1 Jn 3:2 NASB) "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
(1 Jn 3:3 NASB) And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."
(1 Jn 4:17a NASB) "[In] this, love [has been] perfected [among] us: that we may have [boldness] in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." =
God's agapE
love has been perfected / made complete in those children of God, born of
God
while they have believed the agapE love that God has toward them and have
remained in His love - via expressing it toward Him and toward one
another, which includes testifying / confessing that Jesus is the Son of
God Who is their Savior unto eternal life, (1 Jn 4:14-15). Albeit all of
this is done by them imperfectly. Nevertheless, while they do this they
remaining in God and He in them. In view is God's perfecting of His apapE
love among His children while they remain in His love so that they may
have boldness / confidence in the day of their judgment: because as Christ
is Righteous, so are they accounted by God as Righteous as the Son of God
by the grace of God even while they are in the world - in their mortal
bodies while they remain in God's love.
The phrase rendered "the day of judgment" refers to Christ's judgment of the children of God, born of God when He appears.
****** EXCERPT FROM 1 JOHN CHAPTER 2 ******
(1 Jn 2:28 NASB) "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have [bold assurance] and not shrink away from Him in shame at His [appearing]." =
Despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light they can know that they are righteous and discern righteous acts in others - not by what they feel such as by some kind of supernatural power taking control of them like an expression of an imagined spiritual gift, as some contend - but by trusting in what Scripture says about the matter: For Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
So whatever
children of God, born of God do in the name of God while they walk in the
Light of God's Absolute Righteousness in accordance with that which they
have properly learned from Scripture, albeitly imperfectly
.,
their deeds will be purified from all unrighteousness and be acceptable to
God for eternal rewards at judgment .
This is true when children of God, born of God endeavor to abide in the
Son of God, Jesus Christ, via expressing agapE, godly love toward God and
one another.
So John stipulates in 1 Jn 2:28 a formidable reason why children of God, born of God should choose to abide in Jesus Christ, i.e., in God's Word - the subject of 1 Jn 2:1-27. And that reason is so that they will have bold assurance and not shrink away in shame at His [Jesus Christ's] "parousia" - His appearing to take them from the earth to be with Him forever in the Rapture of the Church.
Christ's Second
Coming to the earth is not in view, as some contend; for believers of this
Church Age will be with Jesus Christ when He comes again to set down upon
the earth; hence they will not be waiting for Him upon the earth when He
comes in His Second Coming, they will already be with Him on this return
.
So according to
Scripture, Christ's judgment of the lives of all children of God, born of
God of this age will occur in heaven before His Second Coming - during the
interim between the Rapture of the saints at Christ's "parousian"
- His appearing in the clouds (same Greek word as in 1 Jn 2:28) to rescue
the children of God from the coming wrath of God upon the earth, (cf. 1 Th
1:10; 4:13-18 );
and the descent of the Lord Jesus in glory at His Second Coming, (Greek, "elthE"),
seven years later, (Mt 25:31-46; Rev 19:11-21) .
[Compare Mt 25:31a Interlinear]:
"Hotan de ...elthE ..ho Uhios tou anthrOpon en tE doxE .autou"
"When .but .comes the Son .........of Man .......in ......glory His"
Note that the
Greek word "elthE" rendered "coming" in Mt 25:31a is
referring to Christ's Second Coming to the surface of the Earth, as
opposed to the Rapture: His appearance "parousian" in
the clouds above the earth in 1 Thess 4:13-18
.
Despite the
fact that John's readership / children of God, born of God have been
declared by author John, (and many other places in Scripture), as
eternally saved unto eternal life, (refs, 1 Jn 2:1-2; 12, 25; 5:9-13
);
they will all face Jesus Christ in judgment of their lives:
(2 Cor 5:10 NASB) "For we [eternally secure believers, (2 Cor 5:1-9)] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." [Greek, "kakos" = "evil."]
(1 Cor 3:11 NASB) "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(1 Cor 3:12 NASB) Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
(1 Cor 3:13 NASB) each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
(1 Cor 3:14 NASB) If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
(1 Cor 3:15 NASB) If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
The Judgment
Seat of Christ is not just a ceremony of handing out rewards to faithful
believers, it is Christ's comprehensive review and consequent judgment of
each believer's life wherein He examines everything from good to bad, with
the potential consequence of the believer suffering loss of rewards and
shame beginning at the Judgment Seat and lasting throughout the Millennial
Rule of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the believer might receive
rewards such as a greater capacity to serve and honor God in the Kingdom
to come and for the rest of eternity .
Since children of God, born of God of this age at that time will have
their eternal bodies, sin will no longer inhibit appropriate regret and
embarassment about those things in ones earthly life that did not please
the LORD - even to the extent of weeping and gnashing of teeth for being
excluded from fellowship and the wedding banquet with the LORD Jesus
Christ for the entire Millennial Rule .
The Greek word "parrhEsian" in 1 Jn 2:28 rendered "confidence" in most versions is better rendered "bold assurance" to convey the direct opposite of shame. It signifies a brave, courageous assurance - not shrinking away from Him in shame when He comes - a great anticipation of receiving a positive assessment of ones life resulting in eternal rewards for being faithful - for standing firm in the faith in the doctrines of God's Word - from the Son of God, the LORD Jesus Christ when He appears. Author John is making the point that whether or not one has a bold assurance or is shamed at Christ's appearing depends upon the extent to which one has abided in God's Word throughout ones mortal life.
1 Jn 2:28 embodies the main theme of John's First Epistle which is followed by 1 Jn 2:29-4:19, which provides details of how a believer might fare well at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM 1 JOHN CHAPTER 2 ******
(1 Jn 2:28 NASB) "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have [bold assurance] and not shrink away from Him in shame at His [appearing]....
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) He who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB) And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him (1 Jn 4:17 NASB) [In] this, love [has been] perfected [among] us: that we may have [boldness] in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. (cont.) =
The Greek words
"en toutO" rendered "in this" appear first in the
verse in the Greek for emphasis in order best to tie them to the previous
context of 1 Jn 4:7-16 of the children of God, born of God while they
believe in and remain in the agapE love of God, and thus in God they
remain, and God in them which includes testifying / confessing that Jesus
is the Son of God Who is their Savior unto eternal life, (1 Jn 4:14-15).
So "en toutO" makes the point that the agapE, godly love that
the children of God, born of God including the apostles have been abiding
in according to the previous verses, (1 Jn 4:7-16); have in the next
verse, (1 Jn 4:17), that agapE love perfected - in the sense of made
complete by the grace of God.;
all so that they may have boldness in the day of judgment, (1 Jn 2:5, 23,
28; 4:7-17).
Hence it is implied that in the day of judgment, those children of God, born of God while they have been abiding in God's agape love, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin - have nevertheless been abiding in Him and He in them. And they will have a favorable judgment - one filled with rewards for being faithful, because His agapE, godly love has been perfected in them by the grace of God.
(1 Jn 2:28 NASB) "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have [bold assurance] and not shrink away from Him in shame at His [appearing]"
(1 Jn 2:28 NASB) "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have [bold assurance] and not shrink away from Him in shame at His [appearing]....
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) He who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him (1 Jn 4:17 NKJV) [In this] love has been perfected among us: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world." (cont.) =
The demonstrative pronoun "ekeinos" rendered "He" in the phrase rendered "because as He is, so are we in this world," in the NKJV in 1 Jn 4:17b is masculine, singular. It refers to Jesus Christ Whom children of God, born of God are commanded to: walk just as He walked, (1 Jn 2:6); abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have [bold assurance] and not shrink away from Him in shame at His [appearing], (1 Jn 2:28); look forward to the moment when they will be like Him when He is revealed, so that everyone who has this hope fixed on Him will purify himself, just as He is pure, (1 Jn 3:2-3) - all completely and solely by the grace of God. For no child of God, born of God can claim to participate in any of this without contaminating his participation with sin, (1 Jn 1:8, 10).
This last
phrase which concludes verse 17, "because as He is, so are we in this
world," concludes the thought that God's agapE love has graciously
been perfected / made complete in those children of God, born of God while
they have believed the agape love that God has toward them and have
remained in his love - via expressing it toward Him and toward one
another, thus remaining in God and He in them ,
albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin. This - God's
perfecting of them - is so that they may have boldness / confidence in the
day of their judgment. And God's judgment of those children of God, born
of God who remain in Him is as follows: "because as He [Christ] is,
so are [they] in this world," i.e., because as Christ is Righteous so
are they accounted by God as Righteous as the Son of God by the grace of
God even while they are in the world - in their mortal bodies while they
remain in His love, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without
sin.
(1 Jn 3:2 NASB) "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
(1 Jn 3:3 NASB) And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."
Despite remaining in mankind's fallen condition, children of God, born of God may walk in fellowship with God by walking in the Light of God's Absolute Righteousness - not according to it in sinless perfection; but in the sense of
(1) acknowledging that God is Perfect Light / Absolute Righteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-7); and
(2) acknowledging their sinful shortcomings before a Holy God, (1 Jn 1:8-10);
and while they are walking in that Light they can know that they are righteous and discern righteous acts in others - not by what they feel such as by some kind of supernatural power taking control of them like an expression of an imagined spiritual gift, as some contend - but by trusting in what Scripture says about the matter: For Scripture says that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses each of them from the temporal sin they are acknowledging and from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:5-10).
So whatever
children of God, born of God do in the name of God - while they do
it - such as having known and believed the love that God has
toward them, expressing it toward God and one another, albeit imperfectly
- without perfect moments without sin while they walk in the Light of
God's Absolute Righteousness in accordance with that which they have
properly learned from Scripture, albeitly imperfectly - without perfect
moments without sin .,
their deeds will be purified from all unrighteousness and be acceptable to
God for eternal rewards at judgment .
So when children of God, born of God express agapE, godly love toward God and one another, they thereby affirm to themselves that by the grace of God they know God, are born of God and know that God's love is perfected in them. And they thereby will have confidence in the day of judgment, (1 Jn 2:10; 3:14, 18-19; 4:7-12, 16-17).
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) "He who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him. (1 Jn 4:17 NKJV) [In this] love has been perfected among us: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (1 Jn 4:18 YLT) Fear is not in the love, but the perfect love [casts] out ... fear, because ... fear [has] punishment, and he who is fearing [has] not been made perfect in the love.; (1 Jn 4:19 NASB) We love [Him], because He first loved us." =
The message of
1 Jn 4:16-17 indicates that those children of God, born of God who have
known and have believed the AgapE love that God has toward them and have
remained in that love and thus have remained in God and He in them, albeit
imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin; nevertheless, will have
that agapE love perfected / made complete
.among them by God, by the grace of God. And
this gracious work of God will be toward this end: that those children of
God, born of God may have boldness / confidence in the day of judgment -
of their judgment by Jesus Christ - because as He is Righteous so are they
accounted by God as Righteous as the Son of God by the grace of God even
while they are in the world - in their mortal bodies, as they abide in
God's love, (1 Jn 4:16-17).
Whereupon verse 18 which reads as follows, "Fear is not in the love, but the perfect love [casts] out ... fear, because ... fear [has] punishment, and he who is fearing [has] not been made perfect in the love;" stipulates that the fear of God's judgment unto punishment (Greek: "kolasin"= punishment) is not a component of the agapE love which God has perfected / made complete in the children of God, born of God who have been expressing such agape love toward God and one another, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin. For agapE love which has been perfected by God casts out fear, hence children of God, born of God who have a fear of God's judgment unto punishment have not been abiding in God's love and are due disciplinary measures as punishment for not being faithful. This not to say that children of God, born of God are not to have the fear of God in the sense of an awesome and reverential respect for God - His Absolute Sovereignty and Almighty Power, (cf. Pr 1:7) - an alternate meaning for the Greek word "phobos" rendered "fear" which is not in view in the context of 1 Jn 4:18, but nevertheless it is true.
****** EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER THREE ******
(1 Jn 3:18 NASB) "[My] Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. (1 Jn 3:19a NASB) [And by this] we will know that we are of the truth, (1 Jn 3:19b NASB) And [we] will [convince] our hearts before Him [God] [that we are of the truth, (ref. 1 Jn 3:19a)] (1 Jn 3:20 NKJV) because if our [hearts] may condemn [us] - ... greater is God than our [hearts], [for] He [knows] all things."
So according to 1 Jn 3:18-19a: as a child of God, born of God expresses agapE, godly love for the brethren in deed and in truth, then 1 Jn 3:19b indicates that he will convince / assure his own heart / his mind before God that he is of the truth in the sense that he will be assured before and by the grace of God that his actions were indeed expressions of agapE, godly love, albeit imperfect, (cf. 1 Jn 1:8, 10). Whereupon 1 Jn 3:19b then leads directly into 1 Jn 3:20 covering the possibility that if because our [hearts] should condemn us in the sense of convince us that our efforts to express agapE, godly love are not that worthy of God, i.e., flawed and thereby condemned that it is nevertheless accepted by God because He is greater than our hearts and knows all things - and will purify us from all unrighteousness by his grace because we love the brethren, however imperfectly.
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM FIRST JOHN CHAPTER THREE ******
(1 Jn 4:7 NASB) "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:8 YLT) He who is not loving did not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn 4:9 NASB) By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives]. (1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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. (1 Jn 4:11 NASB) Beloved, [since] God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 Jn 4:12 NASB) No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is [having been] perfected in us, (1 Jn 4:13 NASB) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us [this agapE, godly love (to express to others)] [out of] His Spirit (1 Jn 4:14 NASB).[And so we - we] have seen [in our own minds] and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. (1 Jn 4:15 NASB) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jn 4:16 YLT) [and so we - we] have known and [have] believed the love that God [has] [toward] us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he [does] remain, and God in him. (1 Jn 4:17 NKJV) [In this] love has been perfected among us: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (1 Jn 4:18 YLT) Fear is not in the love, but the perfect love [casts] out ... fear, because ... fear [has] punishment, and he who is fearing [has] not been made perfect in the love; (1 Jn 4:19 NASB) We love [Him], because He first loved us." =
1) [Manuscript evidence for 1 Jn 4:19]:
WH NU A, B, 1241, 1739 Lach, Treg, Alf,Word, Tisc, Weis, SOD, UBS have "we love"
Sinaiticus, 048, 33, syr cop(bo) have "we love God"
Psi, Maj, K, L have "we love Him"
Alexandrinus (A) and Vaticanus (B), plus nine later manuscripts are cited in UBS, 4th ed. (along with some minimal versionary evidence, plus Augustine [various times] - out of the approximately six hundred known manuscripts containing the Johannine Epistles in whole or in part omit the Greek word Him. The accidental omission of the Greek word for Him (auton) was no doubt made in an early copy from which most of the few Greek manuscripts omitting it are probably derived. ... The omission is followed in many modern translations (e.g., RSV, NASB, NIV, JB, etc.)."
(1 Jn 4:19 NASB) "We love [Him], because He first loved us." =
Note the words rendered "Him" and "us" include an emphatic pronoun for emphasisizing the message. John was emphatically saying that God demonstrated what agapE, godly love is when He sent His Son to die for mankind's sins; and through His Son, He enabled children of God, born of God including the apostles to express that agapE love, albeit imperfectly - without perfect moments without sin, toward Himself and fellow children of God, born of God. That agapE, godly, sacrificial love that children of God, born of God express toward God and one another is sourced in His love for them - especially as manifested toward them, (and all mankind, 1 Jn 2:2), in the sending of His one and only Son as a propititation for the sins of all mankind. A child of God, born of God who expresses agapE, godly love toward other children of God, born of God also loves God, and in facing him at judgment he is simply facing One Whom he loves. There is no fear in the sense of trepidation in such an experience; and he recognizes that his love for God originated in God's love for him.
(1 Jn 4:9 NASB) "By this the love of God was manifested in us [in the sense of in us and among us children of God, born of God including the apostles], that God has sent His [One and only] Son into the world so that we might live through Him [in the sense of having eternal life, and of manifesting His love in their temporal lives].
(1 Jn 4:10 NASB) 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."
(1 Jn 4:20 NASB) "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) [Manuscript evidence 1 Jn 4:20]:
WH NU Sinaiticus, B, Psi, Lach, Treg, Alf, Tisc, Weis, Sod, UBS, 1739, syr(h) cop(sa) have "he is not able to love God Whom he has not seen," which is the superior documentation.
A, K, L, 33, byz, it, bo RSVmg, KJV, NKJV, NLT, HCSBmg have the variant reading as a rhetorical question, when John probably intended it to be a proclamation of a significant spiritual truth. Thus, the rendering found in most modern versions goes something like this: (1 Jn 4:20 KJV) "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
In either case, there is no difference in the message.
(1 Jn 4:20 NASB) "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." =
In 1 Jn 4:20a, the phrase rendered "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar" has in view children of God, born of God. This is not a test to determine if one is saved unto eternal life or not, as some contend. For unbelievers do not have brothers in the faith in Jesus Christ. Hence only believers are in view in this verse. Furthermore, children of God, born of God cannot claim to be without sin, (1 Jn 1:8, 10); so believers, i.e., children of God, born of God do have the capacity to hate their brothers and still remain saved unto eternal life - still remain as children of God, born of God, (cf. 1 Jn 2:25). Hence if a child of God, born of God says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar and is not expressing an agapE, godly, self-sacrificial kind of love for God at all. Since God first expressed agapE, godly, self-sacrificial love for all mankind, (ref 1 Jn 2:2; 3:14-18; Jn 3:16) - among other things, the key example of how children of God, born of God are to conduct themselves toward God and one another; and although the expression of agapE, godly, self-sacrificial love does not demand an emotional attachment toward one another, nevertheless a child of God, born of God must express the same self-sacrificial agapE, godly love for all fellow children of God, born of God or he cannot express agapE love at all - toward God or anyone.
Compare 1 Jn 2:5 which stipulates that if children of God, born of God obey God's word, i.e., His commandments, then the agapE love of God has been perfected in them and they know that in God they are...
(1 Jn 2:5 YLT) "and whoever may [be careful to] keep His Word, truly in him the love of God [has] been perfected; in this we know that in Him we are."
and compare 1 Jn 3:23 which commands children of God, born of God to love one another ...
(1 Jn 3:23 NASB) "[And] this is His commandment, that we [may] believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us."
So if children of God, born of God do not love their brethren children of God, born of God, then they cannot say that they love God, (cf. 1 Jn 3:17).
The love of God does not abide in them...
(1 Jn 3:17 NASB) "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?"
The test of a child of God, born of God - of his love for God is his obedience to God's commandments... If he does not obey God's commandments, not the least of which is to love one another, then he does not love God, no matter what he says or feels. Thus the person who says, "I love God" but does not obey God's command to love his brother, is a liar.
.............................................................................................................................. (1 Jn 4:20a).
Whereupon the phrase in 1 Jn 4:20b rendered "for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God Whom he has not seen" indicates that if a child of God, born of God does not express agapE, godly sacrificial love for his brother in the faith in Christ whom he can see, he will certainly not be able to express that love for God, Who is not visible to him. This implies that the character of agapE, godly sacrificial love does not include whether or not a brother is worthy of that love, or is even likable, but simply that that brother - a fellow child of God, born of God is commanded by God to be loved by their brothers in the faith in Christ as God first loved us by giving us His Son as a propitiation for the sins of all mankind, (1 Jn 2:2).
(1 Jn 4:10 NASB) "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."
(1 Jn 4:21 NASB) "And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."
1) [Manuscript evidence 1 Jn 4:21]:
Most manuscripts have "this is the command we have from Him."
Only a few manuscripts, A, 048(vid), it(r) have changed "from him" to "from God."
.................................................................
Author John then restates in 1 Jn 4:21 the command to children of God, born of God that if they love God they should love one another also - all part of the same command which is sourced in God and is from Him. To do one is to do the other. Note that John stipulates that this command is from "Him," meaning God / Jesus Christ.
(1 Jn 2:10 NASB) "The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him."
3) [Compare 1 Jn 3:11, 16-17, 23; cf. Jn 13:34]:
(1 Jn 3:11 NASB) "For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
(1 Jn 3:16 YLT) in this we have known the love [of the Son of God], because He for us His life did lay down, and we ought for the brethren [our] lives to lay down;
(1 Jn 3:17 NASB) But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
(1 Jn 3:23 NASB) [And] this is His commandment, that we [may] believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us."