Arcing LIVE Class 8
1 John 4:13-19
In Pursuit of Assurance
#assurance
Published October 29th, 2022
Main point summary
1 John 4:13-19 (Complete)
notes
Main point summary
According to these three tests we know we abide in God and Him in us: 1) by the Spirit given, 2) by our public confession of His Son, 3) by living in His love until it is perfected in us.
1 John 4:13-19 (Complete)
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1 John 4:13-19
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By this we know that we abide in Him,
s By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
By this proof we know objectively that our whole self is identified in a living relationship to God
and He in us,
and that God is indeed living in us:
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because He has given us of His Spirit.
because God has given us His very Spirit (how would not have done that if he didn't intend to communicate that there is mutual abiding).
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And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
And t we have seen and testify that u the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of v the world.
We also have personal evidence through our own experience of this truth: that the Father (this same God) has sent His Son to save the world from its sins.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,
w Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
Which is why, if you publicly confess Jesus as that Son of God
God abides in him,
then it becomes a second proof that God is indeed living in you
and he in God.
and that your life is truly identified as in relationship to God.
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And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
So x we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. y God is love, and z whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
We have another proof for those who still doubt their own standing: We have had the privilege of knowing, and believing fully, the kind of love that God has shown us.
God is love,
That's why we can make this statement as a proof of God's love. God is so identified by his love that the two terms are interchangeable
and he who abides in love
and therefore if someone lives in the experiential reality of God loving them
abides in God,
then this is the one who has a fixed identity in relationship to God
and God in him.
and in whom God is living.
Love has been perfected among us in this:
By this a is love perfected with us, so that b we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because c as he is so also are we in this world.
In what way and to what degree can a man know and live in God's love? God's love can actually be perfected in us
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
to this degree: that even on the day of the fierce judgment of men according to their works, we who lives in His love for us can stand confidently (how much more on every other day till then).
because as He is,
because , through that love, the kind of God that HE IS
so are we in this world.
we are also in the midst of a crooked world.
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There is no fear in love;
There is no fear in love, but d perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not a been perfected in love.
Because God's love does not inspire terror toward God's judgment;
but perfect love casts out fear,
quite to the contrary , God's love casts out that kind of terror,
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because fear involves torment.
because that kind of terror involves a the opposite of boldness--torment (like Saul),
But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
which just simply means that that person has not yet matured in their reception of God's love.
We love Him
e We love because he first loved us.
Let me summarize what I mean by a love-perfected boldness toward God: WE LOVE HIM
because He first loved us.
because He loved us with a perfect love first.
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Is this referring to us living a loving life, or living in the love of God for us? I have always read this as us being about loving people, and if we live in that, God abides in us. But I don't think that is primary. Rather, we are to "live/remain/abide/make our home" in his love. This is what the context would suggest, (v.16). So the proof of our abiding in him and him in us is that we are experiencing/abiding in His love.
The point here is not that the Son is Savior. The point is that the one who came to save is the Son. The confession does not center around that Jesus came to save, it centers around that Jesus was the Son, and that the as the Son he came to save. The fact that Jesus is the savior I think is well established in the hearts of the Christian community at this time. But the bigger fact that that savior is the Son, is being called into question. That's why his identity is emphasized in his work in this passage. This passage does not want us to say, "Jesus is a savior!" That is true and wonderful and that point is made in different places in the Bible. But here the emphasis is on the question, " who is this Jesus who is saving us..." The confession centers around the wonder that no less than the Son of God is the one who worked this great salvation on our behalf. Why is the distinction important? Because without the identity of Jesus fixed as the Son, salvation loses its weight. If it is not Jesus as the Son of the Father who is saving us, then we still have a gap between us and God. Somebody else might love us, but what about this God? You see, only salvation by Jesus as the Son bridges heaven and earth. The highest to the lowest. Without Jesus being the Son, it is not a great salvation.
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Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.