1 John 4 FSI - HEAR, O EARTH

> [!title|noicon] **1 John 4 Notes** > [[1 John 3 FSI|<Prev]]   [[1 John 5 FSI|Next>]] > [[1 John 4|Verse list view]] > [1 John 4:1](1%20John%204.md#^1), [2](1%20John%204.md#^2), [3](1%20John%204.md#^3) note > > We know right away that this epistle is addressed to the brethren in Christ, because it is addressed to the beloved. The beloved are the fellow-believers. God is starting out this chapter with an admonition: “Beloved, believe not every spirit.” > > The beloved are warned to not believe everything they hear, just because someone says it is a message inspired by God. Already in the early church there was a big problem with false teachers, just as we have this problem today. So we are to try, or test, the spirit of the teacher, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. > > This brings to mind what we read in 1 John chapter 2, where the true believers were warned about antichrists, and those who had left the brethren because they were not of them. This is the same kind of language here in 1 John 4:1. The false prophets have gone out into the world because they are not of God. > > Then in verse 2 we are given a method of testing: “every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” To confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh means to believe that He is the Son of God who came to earth and humbled Himself to become a man, yet He never ceased to be God. The Person of the Son of God is the center of all true Christian belief. > > There are many ways to test teachers to see if their message is truly from the Lord. One way is to check to see if their words match what God says in the Bible. Another way is to see their fruits. But the Apostle John here gives us a very important test: what do they believe about Christ? Do they teach that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man? > > When Christ came to earth, He became a man in every respect except that He did not sin. However, He did not give up the Godhead in any way. Christ never ceased to be eternal God. This fact should be evident in the message that we are hearing. > > According to 1 John 4:3, every one that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and is the spirit of antichrist. Jesus had warned that the antichrist would come, and the source of the denial of Christ is seen as “the spirit of the antichrist.” > > That word “it” in verse 3 can be more correctly translated as “he.” The antichrist was already in the world when this was written. That can only be referring to Satan. > > The false teachers are not of God; they are of Satan, who is the great deceiver. That is the danger. Because Satan is so deceitful, his followers can seem to bring the truth. > > We can read other Scripture passages such as [2 Corinthians 11:14](2%20Corinthians%2011.md#^14) that tell us that Satan comes as an angel of light. This means that Satan and his own followers can look and sound like Christ and the true believers, but they do not bring the Truth of the Gospel. > > Even when Jesus was still here on earth, He warned against false prophets in sheep’s clothing, who inwardly are ravening wolves ([Mt 7:15](Matthew%207.md#^15)). A false teacher of the gospel can sound genuine, and thus God gives us these solemn warnings, and tells us how to test the spirits. > > A true teaching is of God. That is, it has its origin in God, and is faithful to God’s Word in every way. God says we will know the Spirit of God. But we have to listen carefully to the message. Is it of God? Or of the antichrist? > > The admonition to test the spirits is in order to establish the validity of the claims of any teacher who claims God as the origin of his message. > > When Christ asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” Peter made his great confession: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-16). That should be the heartfelt confession of every true believer. > > This admonition to beware of false teachers can sound very daunting, and make us feel uneasy about the possibility of false teachers. However, in 1 John 4:4, the next verse in this passage, Christ gives the true believers tremendous encouragement when it comes to being exposed to false teachers. ^1jn4-1-3 > [1 John 4:4](1%20John%204.md#^4) note > > What beautiful, comforting words! You are of God, little children. God is our heavenly Father and we are His children. We belong to Him! Not only do we belong to our heavenly Father, but we have His Spirit within us. And God’s Spirit is infinitely more powerful than Satan. > > “He that is in you” is God’s Spirit, if you are truly saved. “He that is in the world” is Satan, who is the prince of this sinful world. Satan rules the hearts of the unbelievers. But God rules the hearts of His children. > > Because God is so much more powerful than Satan, He can say that we have overcome them; that is, the true believers have overcome the false teachers who have the spirit of antichrist. > > These dear children who are of God did not overcome the false teachers because of their great intelligence. Not at all. The Christians who lived in the days of the early church were not delivered from Satan’s deceitfulness by themselves. No, they were delivered from evil by the One who dwelt within them. It was the greatness of God that kept them straight. And it is the greatness of God that will keep us straight today. > > When you see the success of evil throughout history, you can see that the enemy has great power. The world is full of evil and violence, bringing untold despair and heartache. We can easily see the power of the enemy, Satan. Wickedness is everywhere we look. If you look at the history of the world, it looks like Satan is winning the battle because the world is incredibly wicked. > > But of course that is not true, in spite of appearances. We know that God is more powerful than Satan and all evil. In fact, God is so much more powerful that there is no contest. > > In our hours of darkness or despair, in faith we must always turn to God and the Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal the truth about God and how He is so much greater than anything or anyone, including the powers of darkness. > > The Bible is our great source of hope. God constantly reminds us in the Bible that if we belong to Christ, we abide in Him and He abides in us. We are able to live in His strength, not just our own. What could be more wonderful than that? > > So, knowing that this is true, when we are testing the spirits whether they are of God, as we were instructed in verse 1 of this chapter, we go to God’s Word for guidance. We do not rely on our own abilities of discernment. We seek guidance from God’s Spirit that dwells within us. ^1jn4-4 > [1 John 4:5](1%20John%204.md#^5) - [6](1%20John%204.md#^6) note > > Here is the comparison. Verse 5 describes someone who is of the world, while verse 6 describes someone who is of God. These two groups of people have a different authority, and therefore a different message. > > Those who are of the world have a message that only the world – that is, the unbelievers – will hear. That audience will not listen to God’s words of Truth. But those who are of God will hear a message from God’s Word. Jesus had told us back in [John 10:27](John%2010.md#^27), “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” > > So this business of testing the spirits leads us to this conclusion. As God points out here in 1 John 4:6, this is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. We ask the question: Is the message of God or of the world? > > That word “error” in verse 6 can also be translated as “deceitfulness.” If we are not in the Truth, we are in error. That is, we have been deceived into believing something that is not true. Only God can keep us on the right path of Truth. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no other absolute Truth in this world. ^1jn4-5-6 > [1 John 4:7](1%20John%204.md#^7) note > We see here right away that our love for others is related to God’s love. The Bible says that love is of God. For a correct understanding of love, we always have to go back to what God has said. This verse seems to imply that everyone who loves someone knows God, and we know that is not true of everyone. ^1jn4-7 > [1 John 4:8](1%20John%204.md#^8), [9](1%20John%204.md#^9), [10](1%20John%204.md#^10) note > > Remember, “propitiation” is a word that means *appeasement* or *atonement*, having to do with forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. It is a word that should cause us to rejoice. > > We should note that in verse 10, the words “to be” have been inserted by the translators, but were not in the original manuscript. So verse 10 should correctly read: > > *Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son, the propitiation for our sins.* > > Christ was the covering for sin because of the great sacrifice of His life. He was able to forgive our sins because He took our guilt upon Himself. All of this is included in the sense of the word “propitiation.” Christ was already the propitiation for our sins when God sent Him to live on earth (because He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world - [Rev 13:8](Revelation%2013.md#^8)), in order to show us His great love. > > Throughout this book of 1 John, God has been telling us to love the brethren. In these verses He is giving us even more information about love, because it clearly is a very important subject. > > God’s love for us is the example we are to follow as we think about our love for others. > > We find the key in verse 9. God showed us His great love when He sent Christ into the world. Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, died in our place. He paid for the sins of His chosen elect. In His great love for the brethren, He gave His life for us. > > God gives us the greatest definition of love in verse 10: “Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” > > It is God’s love that is at the forefront. Because He loved us, we are able to love God and others in the way God expects of us. All of this is tied together in the next verse. ^1jn4-8-10 > [1 John 4:11](1%20John%204.md#^11) note > > This verse ties back into what we had read in [1 John 3:16](1%20John%203.md#^16), “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” > > Christ laid down His life for us, and that is the kind of love God expects us to have as well. As God manifested His love to us, so we are to manifest (show) our love to others. > > God’s love is demonstrated to us by God through Christ. In other words, it is not only seen, but it is demonstrated. It is put out there for us to look at. Those who do not know God do not know His love. It is because of God’s love that we are able to have the right kind of love, and to live through Christ, as we read in verse 9. We belong to Christ if He has saved us. > > God’s love for us is really beyond comprehension. We talk about it, we sing about it; but we really cannot understand it. God chose us from the foundations of the world, and He laid out a salvation program so that we would belong to Him for eternity. > > Christ suffered and died and rose again in order to pay for our sins and give us the wonderful inheritance. It was all done before God even created the world. And the inheritance includes everything that had to do with our salvation. We can’t possibly understand any of that. But as a true believer, we know that it is all true. God loved us when we were dirty, rotten sinners. > > What did we read in verse 11? “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” If God so loved us; that is, if He loved us in this manner and magnitude, so we should love one another. > > If God loved us when we were so unlovely, we should also love others who seem unlovely. God expects us to love others no matter what they are like. Of course we easily love our families and our close friends. There may be many people in our Christian circles who are easy to love because they are so nice and so kind, and so on. > > But we are to love all the brethren: even the ones who are hard to love because of a difficult personality; even the ones we can’t seem to get along with. We are to love them the same way – with all of our heart. > > God’s love for us was not conditional. He chose His elect in a way known only to Him, but it surely was not because they were especially good people. Every sin we commit is an affront to God, and is known to God. Yet He forgave all our sins because of His great love. ^1jn4-11 > [1 John 4:12](1%20John%204.md#^12), [13](1%20John%204.md#^13), [14](1%20John%204.md#^14) note > > No one has seen God at any time, because of course He is a spirit Being. We know Him and we pray to Him, but we do so in faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. > > And yet God has appointed His children as the recipients of His love. And as a consequence of His love for His children, they are able to love one another. It is because of Christ dwelling within us that we are able to have genuine love for the brethren. Verse 12 tells us that His love is perfected in us. > > We had read those same words back in [1 John 2:5](1%20John%202.md#^5), “…whoso keeps His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him.” > > The word “perfected” has the sense of being brought to completion or fulfillment. As God’s love works in us, our love for God and for the brethren should be increasing and becoming more perfect in God’s sight. It is attaining its proper maturity, so to speak. God’s love for us is not without results. Whatever He gives us to do, we as His children will strive to do it with perfection. > > God dwelling in us and we in Him is a relationship that could only come from God. We as human beings could never establish this type of relationship with God, or even imagine such a possibility. > > This same relationship is described in John 15 where Jesus declares that He is the true Vine and the believers are the branches. So He abides in us and we abide in Him. Abiding and dwelling are exactly the same thing, and God makes a strong point about this relationship. > > In 1 John 4:13 God tells us that we know that this is the case because He has given us His Spirit. He is repeating what He had told us in [1 John 3:24](1%20John%203.md#^24), “And hereby we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us.” > > That is our proof that God abides in us: His Spirit. Where the Spirit of God is, there God is. His Spirit at work within us causes us to develop the fruit of the Spirit, such as we read about, for example, in [Galatians 5:22](Galatians%205.md#^22) - [23](Galatians%205.md#^23), “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance....” > > These characteristics should be seen in the life of every true believer, as a result of being indwelt by the Spirit of God. The first fruit in the list is love, the subject of this chapter we are currently studying. God tells us repeatedly that God is love. > > He has shown to the world the greatest love this world has ever known. He is the Source of our love for others. It is because of His love that the true believers, who are His children, are able to manifest love to others. > > God’s love was manifested to us when Christ came to earth, and humanity beheld Christ’s great sacrifice on our behalf. We are His representatives on earth, and as such we show our love for God by manifesting our love for the brethren. > > The apostles were eye-witnesses of Jesus Christ. They walked with Him and talked with Him, and beheld His suffering on the cross. > > Therefore the Apostle John can declare in verse 14: “We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son, the Savior of the world.” As in verse 10, the words “to be” were not part of the original manuscript, but were inserted by the translators, so I have left them out of this reading of verse 14. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ the Savior into the world. This is the manifestation of God’s love for His own. > > We know that everything God is telling us is all true. The internal evidence of the indwelling Spirit is confirmed by the external evidence of the eyewitnesses. They are witnesses to the fact of the Father sending His Son, the Savior of the world. > > How can we really know whether someone’s confidence in their salvation does proceed from the Holy Spirit? Those who trust that they are truly children of God have discovered that they hate sin, and they do not want to go against God’s will. They now have a strong and on-going desire to do God’s will. > > This kind of testimony is the testimony of the Holy Spirit in their lives. As we read in [Romans 8:16](Romans%208.md#^16), “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” ^1jn4-12-14 > [1 John 4:15](1%20John%204.md#^15) - [16](1%20John%204.md#^16) note > > Unfortunately, the commentary for these verses was skipped in the original study. ^1jn4-15-16 > [1 John 4:17](1%20John%204.md#^17) - [18](1%20John%204.md#^18) note > > We have already learned that God is love, and that His saved children abide in Him and in His love. Therefore God can go on in verse 17 and declare: “Herein is our love made perfect…” > > Our true love for God assures us of God’s love for us. Or to put it another way, God’s perfect love for us enables us to love Him in return. It is this love that will give us boldness in the Day of Judgment. > > The Bible frequently speaks of the Day of Judgment, in reference to the final day of this universe. This final day will be the end of any possibility of salvation, because God will be finished with this earth. It will be destroyed on that day. This is a day that should strike fear into the hearts of humanity. But for a true believer, there is no fear. > > In fact, we look forward to that day when all of God’s children will go to live with Christ. > > In reality though, when a person dies unsaved, that is judgment day for him. It is (eternal) death that is in view when God speaks of judgment. We have often read [Romans 6:23](Romans%206.md#^23) which declares: “The wages of sin is death.” Humanity in general fears death, because it is so alien to us. > > But God’s love takes away that fear of death. The true believers know that they do not need to fear death or judgment. They know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What could be more wonderful? That is why God says we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment. > > “Because as He is, so are we in the world.” As Christians, we should want to be as much like Christ as possible. God tells us that we are to be perfect and holy, as Christ is perfect and holy. We read, for example, in [Ephesians 1:4](Ephesians%201.md#^4), “According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” > > And [Matthew 5:48](Matthew%205.md#^48) declares, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” > > That is our calling as Christians. We are to be like Christ as we live out our life on earth. It is Christ whom the Christians ought to resemble. We are to be like Christ, to the extent of denying ourselves, and seeking total identity with Him, because we abide in Him and He abides in us. Christ’s love for us was self sacrificing, and that is the kind of love we should have for others. > > There is no fear in love, we read in verse 18. Perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. Fear of any kind brings torment into our being. To be fearful is an awful way to live. But the love of Christ takes away our fears. Not only fear of judgment, but any fear at all. > > That is because we put our trust altogether in Christ. If we are living in fear, we have not been made perfect in love. We have not put our trust in Christ. We are trying to make it in our own strength. > > But how can we be perfect in love? That seems impossible. God is giving us the requirement of perfection for all those who are saved. Yes, it is impossible, without Christ. But for those who are in Christ; who abide in Him, love Him, follow Him, obey Him – to the fullest extent of their ability –those people will be given the blessings of God. They will be made perfect in love. > > The completeness of love means we do not cower in fear before God or dread His judgment. All the judgment we ever deserved was poured out on Jesus Christ in our behalf when He paid for our sins. Love and fear are incompatible. For the Christian, love is first of all the Father’s love for us. That love is powerful and life changing. The fear we are speaking of should not be confused with our reverence for God. We as true believers are God-fearing people. We have the fear of God. That is, we have the greatest awe and reverence for God. We know we are completely accountable to Him. Our fear of God and our love for God make us desire to be more and more obedient to God’s commands. We obey Him gladly, knowing God loves us with perfect love. ^1jn4-17-18 > [1 John 4:19](1%20John%204.md#^19), [20](1%20John%204.md#^20), [21](1%20John%204.md#^21) note > > It is important to understand the truth of verse 19. We love God because He first loved us. God doesn’t love us because we loved Him. He loved us first, and our love for Him followed. > > The wonderful fact is that when God loved us, He gave us the capability to love Him in return. If God had not prepared our lives by loving us first, we would never love Him, because by nature we move in a direction away from Christ. > > Our love for God is not a result of our goodness, but is given to us by God as He prepares us for His wonderful love. We can never take any credit for having a love for God. The reason we can show love is because we have a loving Savior who puts love in our hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who gets all the credit and all the honor for the fact that He is our Savior. His love is far more wonderful than any speech or language can express. We should never fail to realize that any and every aspect of our love, as it is seen in our life, is only a function of God’s grace working in our life. > > God does the whole work of saving us, and we cannot take any credit for the fact that we have come to love God, and the fact that He has saved us has brought us completely under His love. If God had not chosen us for salvation we would never love God. > > But God goes on in verse 20 to remind us that we must put our love in action. That is, our love for God must show up in our genuine love for others. So if we profess to love God, but hate our brother, God says we are a liar. He declares that if we can’t love our brother whom we see, then we cannot love God whom we cannot see. > > God knows our hearts, and we cannot deceive Him by declaring we love Him if it isn’t the truth. > > The reason we are able to love our fellow brother or sister is because God loved us first and gave us that love for others. Everything backs up to our relationship with Christ, and He gives us the impetus for every aspect of this that is happening. When Christ impacts our lives, then we will love our brother. > > Therefore God can say in verse 21: “And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also.” If we are unable to do this, it is a sign we are not saved. > > We can know that God is the reason for any kind of righteous love we are manifesting in our lives. God is in charge of our love, and He makes love for our brethren a reality in our lives. > > Remember, we had read these words in [1 John 3:14](1%20John%203.md#^14), “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death.” > > That gives us a reason for self-examination. If we cannot truly find in our hearts a love for our brother, then we are in trouble. We need to keep this in mind always. These verses in 1 John 4:20-21 repeat this principle. God is again making the point that if He has saved us, and we are a true believer – that is, Christ is definitely our Savior - that will show up in our love for our brethren. It will make our love for our brothers altogether different than if Christ is not the King of our life. > > On the other hand, a love for any unrighteousness immediately shows that we are at odds with God. It means that we are showing that we do not love God the way that we should. Any wrong action we take, shown by dishonest living or whatever it may be, immediately tells us that our life is still bound up in sin, and we don’t really have any desire to live for Christ. > > God is teaching us principles. He is showing us Truth. He has been speaking about the way He loves us and we should also love Him. God lays it out for us in this book of 1 John, as well as in other parts of the Bible. Because it is in the Bible, it is absolutely true and trustworthy. We don’t argue with the Bible. We must pray for wisdom that we indeed might understand how important this is for our lives. > > This subject is so important because God’s love for humanity is the very reason He has chosen us for salvation. Christ was willing to come under God’s wrath to pay for our sins out of His great love. The love of God is magnificent! > > Does God love us so much because He saw something good in us? No, not at all, because there is nothing good in us! Humanity is inherently sinful by nature. > > The Bible declares in [Romans 3:10](Romans%203.md#^10), [11](Romans%203.md#^11), [12](Romans%203.md#^12), > > *There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, They are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.* > > That seems harsh, but that is what God declares, so we know it is true. God sees our hearts, and He sees our sin. > > Yet in spite of our sinful hearts, God has loved His chosen ones. It is only because of His great love that He brings His wonderful work of salvation and replaces unrighteousness with righteousness. Christ in His great love comes to abide within us if we are His children, and He gives us His righteousness ([Ro 3:25](Romans%203.md#^25) - [26](Romans%203.md#^26)). And He is the One that makes us His child. > > He promises to abide in us and we will abide in Him. He loves us and gives us love for others. We don’t love others because they are such wonderful people, but because God puts His kind of love in our hearts. And so we begin to find the ability to love others the way we should. > > We are able to love the brethren the way that God loves us. That sounds impossible, but it is not impossible if we only wait upon God. We keep praying; we keep a broken heart before God. It is all because of God’s great love. ^1jn4-19-21 Tags: #New_Testament #1John #Gods_love #FSI