Abiding in God through Truth and Love

1 John 4:14-16

June 29, 2003

            Human beings are creatures of reaction. When something bad happens to us, generally we take preventative measures to ensure that it will not happen again. Perhaps one humorous example of this can be seen in my own life. As a child I used to enjoy eating breakfast sausage. One day, when I was about nine years old, I ordered some sausage with my lunch at school. I enjoyed my lunch, but as the hours began to pass, the sausage was not agreeing with my stomach. That night my family was going to an Easter musical production at a church in Phoenix, and as I got ready to go my stomach went from bad to worse. Hoping it would improve, I left the house with my family, but I never made it to the musical. On the way there I got extremely sick, and my dad had to take me home to change clothes and get cleaned up. Something had been wrong with my lunch and I got food-poisoning. I don’t know how many years after that it was before I had breakfast sausage again. Getting sick like that was an awful experience, and so my logic was that if I removed sausage from my diet I could avoid reliving that stomach illness. Even to this day, I normally don’t eat sausage because I completely lost my taste for it after that episode.

            Of course, whether or not I eat sausage is insignificant in the scope of eternity. However, many people react to life situations that are far more significant than having sausage or bacon in similar ways. Throughout church history we have constantly seen a separation between truth and love. Perhaps it happens this way: there is a group of Christians who are devoted and committed to the truth, and as time passes they grow to be extremely academic, cold, and unloving. Their religion is one solely of an intellectual nature. And then someone comes along who recognizes the inconsistency of this, and the reaction is to discard doctrine and truth altogether, and to focus only on the love aspect. So the pendulum swings to the other side. And as this new movement of love grows, doctrine begins to fade, and people become more and more concerned with experiences and unity than they are with truth, to the point that truth almost disappears. But then someone begins to rediscover the great doctrines of the Bible, and cries out that truth must be central, and his focus is so intent on the truth aspect because of the battle he is having to fight, that eventually the pendulum swings the other way, and the love aspect again fades away.

            This is typical of human nature. We tend to react to extremes, and usually we do it by going to the equal and opposite extreme. The Apostle John in 1 John is constantly trying to prevent his readers from becoming people of extremes. He wants them to be balanced Christians, believing the truth and living in love. We have summed this up by saying that the Apostle wants his readers to walk in light, but not only in light, but also to walk in love. He so greatly desires his beloved readers to be full of the light and love of the Lord, and not merely to be on one extreme or the other. The first three chapters of the epistle focus largely on the “light” aspect. In fact, about two-thirds of chapters one through three are devoted to this idea of walking in the light, and then the first six verses of chapter four are dedicated to this theme as well.

            As the Apostle comes to 4:7, then, it is understandable why he spends such a great deal of time and effort to exhort his readers to love one another. He does not want his readers to be cold, academic, loveless people no matter how discerning they may be or how much they may insist that Jesus Christ is both God and man. John wants the Christian community to be one of light and love, and so here in this section in chapter four we find a lengthy exhortation to love one another.

            This section is complex, and it is circular in nature in many places. It begins with its foundational statement that drives the entire argument: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He then goes on to show how great God’s love toward us who believe has been, and pleads with us, on the basis of God’s love, that we also love one another, coming back to his main argument.

            In verses 12 through 16 the Apostle wants to show that it is by abiding in love, loving one another, that we have fellowship with God. This theme of loving one another is also applicable to abiding in God, and we cannot abide in God if we do not love one another. Thus, the Apostle persuades us to love one another on the basis that our union with God Himself is only valid if we love one another. If we want to have union with God, we must love one another. You will notice that in verses 12 through 16 that John repeats the word abide in one form or another five times explicitly and two times implicitly. Verse 12: If we love one another, God abides in us. Verse 13: By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us. There, you see, abide is used twice, both explicitly and by implication. Verse 15: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and He in God. Once again, we see it twice in that verse in that reciprocal relationship. And finally verse 16: The one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. This is the key concept in this passage: abiding in God. And now the Apostle deals with this union with God through the grid of loving one another.

            As the Apostle does this, though, he must take a moment to clarify something that may be puzzling his readers. Throughout the epistle the Apostle has been insisting that we abide in God by believing in the Son, or, as we could put it, by walking in the light. So now he wants to deal with the question that may have arisen, “What about doctrine? Can a person abide in God who does not confess that Jesus is the Son of God? Is it possible for a person to be in union with God simply through being a loving person?” When we read this text, perhaps that may have troubled you, as you may know many people who do wonderful acts of kindness toward others and are very caring, yet who are not Christians. Because they demonstrate a type of love, does that put them into union with God?

            The Apostle is interested now to demonstrate that truth and love are both required if we are to be in union with God. He wants to make sure that we understand it is only through Jesus that we have union with God, but when we have union with God, we abide in love. Doctrine and truth are essential, but they cannot exist in a vacuum when they are truly believed. They must come out in love toward the brethren, and it is this synergy between truth and love that is a sure sign that we abide in God, and that He abides in us. John Calvin said it like this: “Faith in Christ makes God to dwell in men, and we are partakers of this grace; but as God is love, no one dwells in Him except he loves his brethren…Love ought to reign in us, since God unites Himself to us.” The Apostle, then, is now trying to show that this emphasis on loving one another is not a departure from his original message; rather, it is the logical extension of it. Walking in love will occur if we truly walk in the light.

The Apostolic Testimony (v. 14)

            Notice how the Apostle John begins verse 14. He writes, We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Again, we come to one of these statements of this beloved Apostle that seem disconnected from his whole argument, but I must again insist that these thoughts are a tightly knit fabric of indestructible logic. This Spirit-inspired Apostle here is now bringing up the issue of truth and how it relates to loving one another.

            The whole argument of this section from 4:7 to 5:5 is that if we love one another we can be absolutely certain that we personally have a relationship with God. We can know without a doubt that we know Him, and that He knows us. This knowledge, though, is not one of a physical, material nature. We know God by the indwelling Spirit. We know God because He dwells in us and we abide in Him. There is this vital, spiritual unity and relationship with God that we have as Christians. So John, wanting to dispel any preconceptions someone might have about how to know God, plainly stated in verse 12, No one has seen God at any time. No one knows God through the physical senses. That is not how He is to be known. How, then, is God known? He is known by the indwelling Spirit, and we know that the Spirit is in us when we love one another.

            But just as John can say that no one has seen God at any time, there has been a visible, physical manifestation of God’s love to us. We have not seen God in His pure, holy, eternal, spiritual essence, but something has been seen that has made His eternal love known to us. Thus, John says in verse 14, We have seen.

            Who is this we in this verse? Who is he talking about? I believe that the Apostle is here referring to himself and the other Apostles, like Paul, Peter, James, Matthew, and the rest. He is talking about the Apostolic testimony. He says, in effect, “No one has seen God, but there is something that has been seen, and we apostles have seen it. We have seen that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world!”

            Here, I believe that the Apostle means that he and his companions saw Jesus personally, physically, in the flesh. This verse is very similar to what we read at the beginning of the epistle, where the Apostle wrote, What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands (1:1). The word translated seen in 4:14 is the same word translated looked at in 1:1. It is a long, extended gaze. It means to study, to examine with your eyes, to behold. It is not a cursory glance, a quick look. No, this is something they beheld, something they studied. They examined Jesus, His life, His ministry, His miracles, His teaching, and they came to know that He Himself was sent by the Father to be the Savior of the world.

            Their experience with Jesus was something that replayed in their minds over and over again, and the Apostle here is saying that he can see it as if it was just yesterday. It is still vivid in his mind, and it was so powerful that he continuously testifies about it. He continually gives witness to it. He writes in verse 14, We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. “This amazing, thrilling sight of the glorious Son of God, the Savior, is something I am now testifying about, and something which I will continue to testify about until I see Him in glory!” the Apostle says. What, then, is his testimony?

            First, he testifies that the Father sent the Son. The Father had the Son go on this mission of mercy. The Father wanted to redeem those whom He had foreknown, so He sent the Son to accomplish this purpose. One time I heard a sermon preached about how Jesus loves us, but the Father is hardened to us, and He has no favorable disposition toward us. The Father would just as well condemn us all, and if it wasn’t for Jesus convincing the Father to have pity, He would have done just that. What a wrong view of our heavenly Father! How tragic to view Him as a God who hates those in Christ, and only tolerates them, as it were, because of Jesus! Surely John here is saying that the Father Himself has loved us. He sent the Son. He is favorably disposed toward us; He loves us! This verse ought to be enough to smash down any view of our heavenly Father that does not show Him to be a God of infinite love and compassion!

            You also will notice that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. This is glorious! The Father did not send Jesus to condemn and judge the world. In John 3:17 Jesus said, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, when He grew up a carpenter’s son, when He walked on water, raised the dead, cast out demons, healed the sick, and taught the poor, the prostitutes, the sinners, and the drunks about the kingdom of God, He did so that the world might be saved through Him. He did not come to condemn the world or to judge the world. Yes, someday He will return in great power and glory, and He will judge all men, but at His first coming He came on a mercy mission. He came to bring salvation; He came to bring good news and glad tidings of great joy! The Father sent the Son so that we might be saved, not so that we might be eternally condemned! What a glorious message! Can you conceive of a more glorious thought than that the Father loved us so much that He sent the Son into this world so that He might save it? And can you think of anything more wonderful than that the Son came to fulfill that mission of mercy? In spite of the mocking, the crown of thorns, the rejection, the beatings, the nails, and the cross, He came to save this world, this dark place of sin and death!

            This is the Apostolic testimony. This is what they preached and taught and persuaded men to believe. Jesus came to die on the cross to save men from sin and death and hell. Jesus came to die as a substitute. We deserved to die. We deserved punishment, but Jesus came and took the punishment on behalf of all of God’s children. Jesus came to satisfy the justice and wrath of God for His people. He came as our Savior.

            When John says that Jesus is the Savior of the world, he means to extend salvation to the whole world, and not to limit it to one country, one race, one people. The Jews were convinced that God only loved the nation of Israel and hated the nations and would never save the nations. This is one reason the disciples were so shocked that Jesus brought salvation to the Samaritans, who were not Jews. This was unheard of! Even the Samaritans were overwhelmed with this concept. This concept of Jesus as Savior of the world actually comes from Jesus’ visit to Samaria in John 4. Jesus brought salvation to that city in Samaria through the immoral woman at the well, and in John 4:42 the Samaritans exclaim to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world. Not just the Jews, but the whole world! As many nations and people as our God will call to Himself, Jesus came to be their Savior! Every tribe and tongue and nation! This is a glorious salvation not meant for just one country or another, one race or another, one ethnic group or another, but for the world! Oh may we be moved by this and be passionate about seeing this salvation spread to the world!

            This is the Gospel message. This is the message of salvation that the Apostles preached, and the Apostle John wants his readers to understand that this is the vital thing – the Savior. We must love one another, but there is still this central truth that governs it all: Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He is the message. He is the testimony the Apostles give.

Receiving Salvation (v. 15)

            It is this message that, when believed and received by faith, brings salvation. It is faith in this Gospel that the Apostles preached and recorded in the New Testament for us that puts us into union with Christ. Notice verse 15. The Apostle writes, Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. What is he saying?

            He is simply saying this: Anyone who confesses that the Apostolic message is the truth and receives it is immediately joined to God by faith. There is no limit who can have God abiding in him or her. It is whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God that is in this union with God Himself.

            This idea of confession is the moment of conversion. It is what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:9: If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. And again in Romans 10:13, Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. If you receive Jesus as the Son of God, sent to be the Savior of the world, then you will be saved, and God will abide in you by His Spirit, and you will abide in God. You will be in union with God through faith!

            Is there anything more wonderful that you can conceive of? You, a sinner who has rebelled against God thousands of times and who has spurned His love and mercy and grace and His dear precious Son, you who have hated His glorious Gospel, you can be saved if you confess that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world? You can have God abiding in you, and you can be abiding in God, and be in union with Him even this very moment if you only will confess that Jesus is the Savior of the world, and you will take Him as your Savior!

            What does it mean to confess that Jesus is the Son of God? This word for confess is the opposite of deny. We either confess something or we deny it. We recognize it and acknowledge it, or we reject it and ignore it. If you would confess Jesus as the Son of God, then, you would first of all be confessing that you agree with the Apostolic testimony. You would be confessing that Jesus is who the Apostles said He is – the very Son of God, by nature God, sent to be the Savior for sinners.

            If you are to confess this, however, you must still go further and confess that you need the Savior. You must confess that you have sinned against God, who is holy and deserves your highest allegiance. You must admit and not deny that you do not deserve His love or His mercy, and that you have not loved Him, but you have been His enemy. You must come clean and confess your sins to Him, and admit that you are in desperate need of the Savior. What good will it do you to confess that Jesus is the Savior of the world if you do not view yourself as having need of the Savior? You are in the world. You are not unique and set apart from everyone else. To the contrary, you have sinned just like everyone else, and if you confess that Jesus is the Son of God, you must surely confess that you are a mere human, filled with sin and wickedness. Certainly, if we examine our hearts, will we not find this to be true?

            And then ultimately if you are to confess this, you must believe that God will do what He has promised. He will save you from your sins and give you eternal life. You must exercise faith in the promises of the Gospel that are offered to you through this Savior sent by the Father for sinners. You must believe in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead, and that someday He will raise you as well if you are in Christ. You must believe that you have been put into this vital relationship with God, where you are no longer your own, but you are His. You must realize that if you confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in you, and you abide in God. You must realize this incredible truth. You must have faith in what God has said through His inspired prophets and apostles in His Word, and you must personally believe that Jesus is your Savior, or He will not be your Savior. You must take Him as your own if you want Him to be your Savior. If you do these things, you can say with the Apostle Paul, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is not longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Gal 2:20).

            The beloved Apostle John reminds us that union with God comes through faith in Christ. It is faith in the Son of God, the Savior of the world, sent by the Father Himself that puts us into this union with God. This is the vital thing, and we must start here, with confessing that Jesus is the Son of God, and we are sinners in need of His glorious salvation.

Abiding in Love (v. 16)

            When we receive this salvation, then we can say with the Apostle, in verse 16, We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. The Apostle now speaks to his readers, and says that all of us who are in Christ have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. What is he saying by that?

            I believe he is saying this: When we have believed the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, there is only one thing we can say: God has loved us beyond what we could have ever imagined or conceived. We have come to know this love. We have experienced the love of God, and it is something that continually fills our hearts and overflows in praise to Him. We have come to know it.

            But not only have we known it, we also have believed the love which God has for us. We have come to believe in this love. Our hearts have taken hold of it by faith, as it were, and we hold on to it with all that we are. We believe that God does indeed love us. This is a sure sign of conversion. We no longer feel as if God is against us and is our enemy; now we feel, if we have believed this love, that God is our best friend, our Savior, our all. We believe that He is for us. That all things work together for good to them that love God (Rom 8:28). We see Him as our ally, our friend, working things together for our good in our lives. We believe that, come what may, God loves us and has shown us this love by sending His Son to be our Savior!

            What John is saying here is that when we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, we have really confessed that God has loved us. We really confess that God has loved us beyond what we could ever deserve. We come to know that God has loved us. We believe that He loves us. We take hold of His love by faith, and it is all summed up in Christ.

            What is the love God has for us? It can be nothing other than the very Son of God Himself. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him (v. 9). This is the love of God! When we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and when we are in this union with God, we know the love that God has for us because we know Christ. We have been saved if we are in union with God, and so we can truthfully say that we have known and believed in this matchless love!

            The Apostle here is trying to move our minds along this path: We enter into union with God by faith in His Son, Jesus, the Savior of the world. When that happens we know and believe in the love of God for us. Faith, then, is surely something that cannot happen apart from experiencing and believing in the love of God. We cannot believe the truth and not have experienced and known the love of God, because it is the love of God that has made salvation possible! The truth is a truth filled with love. Light and love are inseparable because the light is love. Oh how balanced we would be if we saw the Gospel this way! How much more loving would we be if we saw in all the doctrines in Scripture the love of God!

            Looking at our salvation and all that God is for us in Christ, John restates a basic truth about God in verse 16: God is love. Seeing our wondrous salvation, the Apostle can only say, God is love. We have known this love. We have believed it. And God is love.

Here, then, is where the Apostle brings his argument to its conclusion. He says, The one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. Seeing this wondrous love of God, the Apostle makes plain that we must abide in love if we truly have confessed that Jesus is the Son of God. If we truly have understood and believed the Gospel message, we have been recipients of infinite divine love. God Himself is love, and if He is in us, then surely we must abide in love. If we are in this union with God, who is love, then we must abide in love. And if we do, then God abides in us.

The Apostle John’s message that if we love one another we abide in God and He abides in us does not contradict his message that we must abide in the light to abide in God. Rather, it is the logical extension of it. If we abide in Christ, we must abide in love because of the incredible love we have been shown. These messages are not contradictory. They are not to be separated and compartmentalized. They are a unity. Those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God must also confess that God is love. And if we confess that, then surely we must abide in love. This is how we know God, by His indwelling Spirit who lives in us, who sanctifies us and puts God’s love in us. We do not know God through visions and voices and with our physical senses. No, we know God through this abiding in Him, this union with Him, and when we confess the truth about Jesus, we will abide in love, and when we abide in love in this way, we can be certain that we abide in God. Let’s pray.

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