I John 4:17-21

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 4:15-16. Here is the summary:

John has added to his model by stating that people who abide in love PROVE they are believers...they PROVE that they abide in God and God abides in them.

Now that John has FORMALLY added LOVE to his model, he can explain SPECIFICALLY the WHY/HOW of love.

Today, we will conclude I John 4 and find out John's definition for love...


I JOHN 4:17-21
"17 Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world."


Notice, our love is made perfect in an ACTION: that we have boldness in the day of judgment. WHY would we have boldness in the day of judgment?

John says BECAUSE as He is, even so are we in this world. Having the Holy Spirit in us NOW makes us "like" Jesus as He is NOW. Remember, Jesus said He had to go away so the Holy Spirit would come. Jesus said we would do GREATER things than Him BECAUSE of the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, John has PROVEN different things connected with being bold before God...

I John 2:28 said:

"28 And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming."


John stated that abiding in Him resulted in being able to have boldness before Him at His coming. We now know this is ONLY done through taking direction from the Holy Spirit inside of us.


I John 3:21-22 said:

"21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God;
22 and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight."


In that post, we saw that John's model for LOVE was:

LOVE is a QUANTITATIVE ACTION that SPECIFICALLY involves GIVING.

LOVE is Profitable.

LOVE is a Right WHAT (giving) with a Right HOW/WHY. However, John has not explained the Right HOW/WHY yet.

The next verse allows us to look at the Right HOW/WHY for love. Let's look at the next verse in I John 4...

"18 There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love."


Thre is A LOT in this one verse...

PERFECT LOVE removes FEAR.

John states that fear has punishment...which is the loss of a value. We have seen that love involves giving. However, this giving CANNOT be concerned AT ALL with the loss of a value...otherwise it is fear.

John is stating the HOW of LOVE!

Love is the giving of a value WITHOUT being afraid of losing the value. This means two things...

1. Love must involve giving WITHOUT EXPECTING anything in return from the one to which we are giving. If we have ANY expectations, then we will have fear that we have loss the value.

2. Love must involve giving AND KNOWING we will get it back SOME WAY. Remember, love is Profitable...so we know we are going to gain. The ONLY way to gain, is if we get something back that is MORE valuable to us.

Remember, perfect LOVE casteth out FEAR. Fear and love are COMPLETELY incompatible. Giving without expecting AND giving knowing that it will result in more BOTH remove ANY possibility of punishment...loss of value...fear.

WHY don't we expect to get anything in return?

WHY would we expect to become Profitable?

As John wrote from the beginning of this letter: God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL.

God is ALWAYS COMPLETELY Right and ALWAYS COMPLETELY Just.

We KNOW that God will equal everything out through Justice. We KNOW that the value will return to us eventually through God. If it returns at judgment (when we are bold before Him), then it is an eternal value...which is MUCH MORE Profitable than anything we can give today!

Remember:
-I Corinthians 13:3 has Paul stating that if he gives but does not do it by love, then it profiteth him nothing. Love is more than just the action of giving...it involves an attitude that does NOT expect anything in return from the person you are giving to. It is not fearful of losing something.
-John quoted Jesus as saying greater love hath no man than he gives his life for a friend. (John 15:13) Notice, if you give your life, there is NO WAY to expect the person to pay you back! The ONLY way to get paid back is through God!
-Jesus defined love as giving and not expecting anything in return from the person you gave to in Luke 6:34-35.

Giving without expecting anything in return from the one to which you give is the ONLY definition that fits the words of Jesus, Paul, and John!

"19 We love, because he first loved us."


MAJOR DOCTRINE!!! John has wrapped up his model on "God is Love". Love is ONLY possible if it is God's love through us. We don't have the ability to love within ourselves. We couldn't do it FIRST. God HAD to FIRST love us IN ORDER for us to be able to love Him. God had to FIRST love us IN ORDER for us to be able to love ANYONE.

God had to FIRST give us a value IN ORDER for us to be able to give ANYTHING to ANYBODY.

Take some time to really state what you believe the definition of love is BECAUSE it is THE MEASURE for determining if someone is a believer.

"20 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, cannot love God whom he hath not seen.
21 And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also."


I John 4 ends with John stating the commandment we have from Him: loving God and loving his brother.

John states POINT BLANK: How can someone who does NOT love his brother who he sees (doesn't require faith) SAY that he loves God?...who he hasn't seen (which requires faith).

This is a HUGE POINT: IF a person does NOT love believers in ACTIONS, then he is NOT a believer.


CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY
John states that loving believers is PROOF that God dwells in us and that we have Righteousness...that we are making progress (ACTION) in the light. Notice, John ends with two foundational principles: Righteousness (being a believer/loving God) and loving our brother.

John then references the commands that he referenced earlier to show that he has PROVEN them TRUE. What were the two commands?

First Command: Love the Lord thy God
Second Command: Love your neighbor.

John has gone through an EXTREMELY powerful philosophical proof. Unlike Paul, John does NOT use the scriptures to prove his points. He is doing this COMPLETELY logically...and it ALL checks out WITHOUT contradiction.

Now we are ready for John to bring the ENTIRE PROOF to a POWERFUL conclusion in the final chapter of I John.

I John 4:15-16

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 4:12-14. Here is the summary:

We KNOW that we dwell in God (are believers) because His Spirit works through us to love others...which is the ONLY way we can love. Today's passage ALSO presents John's proof that God exists.

John has shown how LOVE is PROOF that God exists and is abiding in us. John has PROVEN that we KNOW THAT we know God if we love one another.

With each passage, we see that LOVE is critical to KNOWING THAT we know we are believers.

However, John still hasn't given his specific definition for love.


I JOHN 4:15-16
"15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God."


WARNING: Do NOT take this verse out of context.

With EVERYTHING we have read up to this point, it is wrong to state that all one has to do is confess Jesus is the Son of God as PROOF that God abides in him and he in God. This sentence is occurring inbetween the "bracketed God is love" verses. The entire point of this chapter is that LOVING others PROVES we are abiding in God and God is abiding in us.

In fact, from the VERY BEGINNING, John stated:

"6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:" (1 John 1:6)

John has CONSISTENTLY stated that our actions (effects) are PROOF of our beliefs (causes) REGARDLESS of what we say. Stating I John 4:15 by itself would contradict I John 1:6, as well as several other verses from I John.

Therefore, John is stating I John 4:15 as part of a PROOF. Let's look at the next sentence...

"16 And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him."


The "love which God hath in us" is that we KNOW and BELIEVED (fully convinced) is Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Remember, "believed" means "fully convinced"...which means UNDERSTAND and EXPERIENCE. Our beliefs are PROVEN by our actions. So, again, we PROVE we believe the love which God has in us when it comes out in our actions...when we love others.

John then concludes this week's section by stating "God is love" AND he that abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.


SUMMARY
John has added to his model by stating that people who abide in love PROVE they are believers...they PROVE that they abide in God and God abides in them.

Now that John has FORMALLY added LOVE to his model, he can explain SPECIFICALLY the WHY/HOW of love.

Tomorrow, we will conclude I John 4 and find out John's definition for love...

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I John 4:12-14

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 4:10-11. Here is the summary:

John states that if God loved us then we ought to love others BECAUSE we are able to do it...BECAUSE God is doing it through us towards others AND God WANTS to love others through us. John also stated this process results in Salvation for the individual.

We now see how Biblical Grace, Love, and Salvation work together without contradiction. However, we still don't know SPECIFICALLY John's definition for love.

Today, we will continue learning more about John's definition for love...


I JOHN 4:12-14
"12 No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us:
13 hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."


Verse 12 is a "faith verse".

Remember, faith is the belief in something that you can't see and/or belief in something that hasn't happened yet. Faith is built by understanding and/or experience.

John is PROVING that the proof that God exists will NOT come by SEEING Him. Remember, John is showing us how we can KNOW THAT we know God. This presupposes that God exists. John realizes this and wants to deal BOTH with God existing AND God abiding in us.

John has removed the possibility that we will prove God's existence by seeing Him. John moves on to an IF/THEN...

IF: we love one another

THEN: God abides in us AND His love is perfected in us

Then, verse 13 states the PROOF that He abides in us and we abide in Him: God has given to us His Spirit.

John has previously PROVEN that the ONLY reason we are able to have God's Spirit in us is BECAUSE Jesus has come in the flesh to be the propitiation for our sins.

Verse 14 states that John and others have SEEN that Jesus came in the flesh to be the saviour of the WORLD. (Again, this is another verse showing that God not only intended for ALL to be saved, but has provided the means for EVERYONE who has ever existed to be saved.)


SUMMARY
We KNOW that we dwell in God (are believers) because His Spirit works through us to love others...which is the ONLY way we can love. Today's passage ALSO presents John's proof that God exists.

John has shown how LOVE is PROOF that God exists and is abiding in us. John has PROVEN that we KNOW THAT we know God if we love one another.

With each passage, we see that LOVE is critical to KNOWING THAT we know we are believers.

However, John still hasn't given his specific definition for love.

Next Post

I John 4:10-11

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 4:8-9. Here is the summary:

Remember, towards the end of I John 3, we saw John's preliminary explanation for love:

LOVE is a QUANTITATIVE ACTION that SPECIFICALLY involves GIVING.

LOVE is Profitable.

LOVE is a Right WHAT (giving) with a Right HOW/WHY. However, John has not explained the Right HOW/WHY yet.

I John 4:9 agrees with John's preliminary explanation for love. God sending His only begotten Son into the world is a quantitative action that specifically involves giving.

The EFFECT of this action (us living through Him) is Profitable.

Today, we will see continue to learn the Right HOW/WHY associated with John's definition for love...


I JOHN 4:10-11
"10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."


John continues to explain the Right HOW/WHY that defines love. John states that another example of love is God loving us by sending His Son as a propitiation for our sins.

Again, notice this is an ACTION. God gave to us. What EXACTLY did He give to us? What does "propitiation" mean?

This was the same word John used in I John 2:2...

Here is an excerpt from that post:

I JOHN 2
"1 My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world."


It is only two verses, but there is a lot here...

-"My little children" means this section is written to new believers.
-John states the reason he has written these thing is so that these new believers may not sin. However, we know that people are going to sin...so John is trying to help people do the best they can at NOT sinning. John's solution is to have Fellowship with God and all the effects mentioned in I John 1 will follow.
-John then ALSO helps people after they sin by stating that if you sin, you have an Advocate: CHRIST.

(Excerpt from "I John 2:1-7")


The verses from I John 4 that we are looking at today sync up with the foundational verses in I John 2. Jesus being the propitiation for our sins allows us to attain Salvation AND avoid sinning. This is a HUGE point!

WHATEVER explanation you have for Salvation, it ought to deal with sin so that it results in Salvation AND prevent the person from sinning WHILE they are doing the explanation you have for Salvation.

Let's take a brief look at two models for Salvation. If you are interested in looking at this issue in depth, we did an entire Series on Salvation. Here is the link for the beginning of that series: "Salvation Series Introduction: Resolution".


UNMERITED FAVOR
Most "Christians" follow the man-made traditional explanation of grace: unmerited favor. There are Greek words for this concept of unmerited favor and they are NOT in the Bible.

Unmerited favor believes that God gives us value we don't deserve to cover our sins. So, the result is we are back to even. There is NO Righteousness that is accumulated. Jesus said our Righteousness needed to EXCEED the righteousness of the Pharisees in order to get into Heaven. Unmerited favor does NOT result in Salvation according to Jesus.

Worse yet, believing in unmerited favor would require the individual to believe we have to reimburse God for what He has given to us OR the individual has to believe that God violates Justice.

Notice that unmerited favor is ONLY necessary when we sin. So we have to sin IN ORDER to get this "grace". Unmerited favor does NOT help us avoid sinning!


Here is a summary from a post from the Salvation Series: "Unmerited Favor":

"Unmerited favor" does NOT result in Righteousness and therefore can't result in Salvation.

"Unmerited favor" violates Justice.

"Unmerited favor" is a man-made tradition that is making the Word and Will of God of NONE effect.

Remember yesterday's post with the verse (Ephesians 2:7) previous to today's focus where Paul speaks about God showing the exceeding riches of His grace in ages to come? Why would we need to cover sins in Heaven?...yet there will be grace in Heaven.


BIBLICAL GRACE
Biblical Grace is "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life."

We saw that John called this "an anointing from the Holy One" in the same passage that warned us about "antichrists"!

God influences our heart through the Holy Spirit. We choose to allow this influence to reflect off of us and be carried out in our life by the Holy Spirit OR do something in our own strength. This is Fellowship with God!

We do NOT get credit for the resulting work. We get credit for choosing to allow God to flow through us. We don't obtain Reward through Grace, we obtain Salvation through Grace.

It is like taking medicine for an ailment. The medicine cures us. We are only responsible for whether we take the medicine or not. It would be foolish and prideful to state that we cured ourselves. No...the medicine cured us. However, we have to chose to take the medicine or we don't get cured at all. All we can do is PREVENT ourselves from getting cured.

According to Ephesians 2:8, Salvation is by grace through faith. Allowing grace through us results in Righteousness that is God's. I represent this Righteousness with a capital "R". This Righteousness is necessary for Salvation.

Our works result in righteousness which results in Reward. This righteousness is like filthy rags compared to the Righteousness that comes from God and leads to Salvation.

Biblical Grace begins with God giving to us and us choosing to let God reflect off of us. The resulting Profitability is attributed to God, NOT us. God supplied it AND God gets the resulting value. This does NOT violate Justice.

Notice, Biblical Grace is GIVEN to us and can ONLY reflect off of us if we are humble...if we confess and repent. This is how Biblical Grace deals with sin. Also, notice doing this process helps us avoid sinning. John repeatedly states that a person CANNOT sin if they are abiding in God and allowing Him to direct our actions...Fellowship with God...which is Biblical Grace!


Here is a summary from a post from the Salvation Series: "Biblical Grace":

We attain Salvation by choosing to let God work through us. This is a cause that results in Righteousness that we can't boast about because the ONLY way it happens is if we humble ourselves...which is the OPPOSITE of ANYTHING we can do in our strength!

How can ANYONE boast about being humble?

How is humbling one's self an accomplishment?

Notice, this doesn't violate Justice!


Now, notice the second verse from today's passage: if God loves us we ought to love others. If God is flowing through us, the result ought to be that we love others. If we are in Fellowship with God, we ought to be in Fellowship with others who are in Fellowship with God. Basically, we ought to be grace to others.

Can we be grace to others? Can we give unmerited favor to others? Isn't it prideful to think we have the favor that saves others?

However, we would be able to be a godly influence (grace) to others if we allow God to flow through us to others.

The letter from Paul that presents the Salvation Process (Ephesians 2:8-9) also has a verse about being grace to others!

"29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear." (Ephesians 4:29)


Edifying means PROFITABLE.

Paul is saying that what proceeds out of our mouth OUGHT to be an influence that fits the specific and unique need of the person to the point of making them Profitable...and Paul called it "grace".


SUMMARY
John states that if God loved us then we ought to love others BECAUSE we are able to do it...BECAUSE God is doing it through us towards others AND God WANTS to love others through us. John also stated this process results in Salvation for the individual.

We now see how Biblical Grace, Love, and Salvation work together without contradiction. However, we still don't know SPECIFICALLY John's definition for love.

Tomorrow, we will continue learning more about John's definition for love...

Next Post

I John 4:8-9

This month's Series looks at I John verse by verse. (Here is the link to the beginning of the Series: I John Introduction.)

Yesterday's post covered I John 4:7. Here is the summary:

John begins his explanation of LOVE by stating that since love is of God AND we know God, believers should intentionally love one another.

Once again, the critical question is: What is John's definition for LOVE?

Today, we will begin looking at the most quoted verses in I John...the ones that give John's definition for LOVE.


I JOHN 4:8-9
"8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him."


I John 4:7 stated that those who know God ought to love others BECAUSE love is of God. The subsequent verse (I John 4:8) is the contrastive conclusion: those that do NOT love, do NOT know God. WHY? Because "God is love".

"God is love" is the most quoted phrase from I John. However, John states "God is love" TWICE. John FIRST states "God is love" in I John 4:8 (today's passage).

John is going to continue building from this Statement until he arrives at the conclusion that "God is love" the SECOND time he states it. EVERYTHING in between these bracketed Statements (that "God is love") is John's definition for love!

For now, it is important to realize John makes his FIRST Statement that "God is love" as a contrastive conclusion to I John 4:7. John is stating that those who do NOT love, do NOT know God BECAUSE since God is love, these people would love if they did know God.

John still hasn't BLATANTLY and SPECIFICALLY explained his definition for love...and that is what the subsequent verse begins to do. I John 4:9 states an example of God's love manifesting in us:

God sent His only begotten Son into the world. (WHY?) So that we might live through Him.

God's love was demonstrated by Him sending His only begotten Son into the world. This is the CAUSE.

The EFFECT of this CAUSE is that we are able to LIVE (ABIDE) through Him (through the Holy Spirit which is Biblical GRACE).

John has already PROVEN that those who know God have God abiding in them and PROVE they are abiding in God by allowing God to direct their actions through the Holy Spirit. This conclusion has been repeatedly PROVEN throughout this letter.

Now John is adding to this PROOF. John is saying that God's LOVE is the CAUSE of this repeatedly proven EFFECT. It is now time for John to focus on this CAUSE...


SUMMARY
Remember, towards the end of I John 3, we saw John's preliminary explanation for love:

LOVE is a QUANTITATIVE ACTION that SPECIFICALLY involves GIVING.

LOVE is Profitable.

LOVE is a Right WHAT (giving) with a Right HOW/WHY. However, John has not explained the Right HOW/WHY yet.

I John 4:9 agrees with John's preliminary explanation for love. God sending His only begotten Son into the world is a quantitative action that specifically involves giving.

The EFFECT of this action (us living through Him) is Profitable.

Tomorrow, we will see continue to learn the Right HOW/WHY associated with John's definition for love...

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