1 John 4

Chapter Introduction

Choosing not to trust in Christ and repent of your sins is rejecting the true God and his plan for your life. Rejecting God is aligning your life with the enemy of God and identifying with Satan’s plans and his ways. It’s often said, “God has a plan for your life.” In the same way, Satan has a plan also.

It’s incredible that Almighty God allows us to tell Him no. Yet, if we are not allowed to say no, then our yes becomes meaningless.

There exists a stark contrast between the disciples of Christ and those not of Christ. We can see why it's difficult to be a disciple in this world. John doesn't allow this stark contrast of light and darkness to stand as an excuse. John makes it clear that the disciple ought to be easily seen about the business of the Father working out the love in them in deed and truth. Their life and worldview are formed around their belief, love, and obedience to God's commands. This is the right and normal response to the love that's been shown by God.

Over and over the disciple John detailed the amazing love of God extended toward His children. Those that receive that love are set apart in this world. As we continue in John, take the opportunity to check yourself. Are you among the loved? Have you received that free gift of love? And, if so, are you responding to that gift in a worthy manner?

1 John 4:1-3

I bet most folks remember some very spiritual experience in their life - something happened, supernatural, unexplainable. It may have been something good, something bad, or just something that happened. Now, being older and maybe wiser in the Lord, we can look at some of those experiences and know that maybe some of those things weren't really of the Lord. John wants us to know that every spiritual experience is not of the Lord. You could be thinking of horoscopes, palm readers, fortune tellers, tea leaves, séances, Ouija boards, and so on. But the thought of spiritual things isn't limited to these types of things.

Many people are led away when they are enticed by a spirit that may appear to be good. Remember, even Satan is disguised as an angel of light. People dabble in witchcraft séances, and things like this all the time. People are curious about the spiritual. We are spiritual people. But spirituality is not always of God.

I think the evidence is clear that many people are led away by wacky things happening right at their local church. There's a movement out there now that is appealing to the kids. But the spirit they are dealing with and worshiping doesn't glorify God, point to the atoning work of Jesus Christ, nor is it orderly. In some cases, it is just outright unbiblical. We just can't believe every spirit.

When we abide in with the Father, through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is in us. He is the resident face checker for us. He turns on the bells and whistles of warning in our minds when something doesn’t pass the test. As believers, we develop ears to hear these warnings as we are sanctified in the Lord.

The discerning of spirits shouldn’t just happen outside the church but all the time. The false beliefs John was refuting walked right through the door. These false prophets sounded very spiritual, righteous, and wise. Yet, they denied that Jesus was born in the flesh.

Some of the false teachers John was warning about were saying “spiritual” was good and “physical” was bad. John is saying, you can't believe every spirit. The secessionists were following these false teachers and their antichrist spirit. The spirit must be tested. This is the responsibility of every Christian. First Thessalonians 5:20-21 says: Test all things; hold fast what is good.

We hear the rotten fruit of false teaching all the time.

“My God won't send anyone to hell.” This flows from the idea that God loves everyone. And He does, but He is also just. Those going to hell are choosing to reject Jesus.
“My God won't ask me to give up what I like. He wants me to be happy.” This is a God of their own understanding. God promises surpassing joy not based on the things of the world. His kingdom is not of this world.
“I don't care what the bible says….” is usually followed by a personal interpretation or belief that defies scripture. This is just creating an idol that allows an unbeliever to live by the dictates of their heart while believing they are good enough to make it to heaven. If you carve your god from wood and call it Jesus, it's not the Jesus of the Bible. If you dream your god up in your head and call him Jesus, it's not really Jesus.

Our God must be based on truth. The truth of God was revealed to the world through the creation, the law, the prophets, and through the word that became flesh and walked among us. It's our job to understand the truth. John said to be of God, a spirit must testify that Jesus came in the flesh. Any other belief is of the Antichrist. That's the test, no exception. Let God be true and every man a liar.

It's interesting in John's day they accepted Jesus as God but had trouble with him being a man. In our day, they say Jesus was a man but not God. Islam says Jesus was a man, a prophet. Some of the Eastern religions look at Jesus as a wise sage but not God. The Spirit of God has always been consistent, and He testifies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, that He was crucified for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the 3^rd day, according to the scriptures. We must be careful, though, because even the demons and evil spirits recognize who Jesus is and respect His authority. And a respect for His authority isn't the same as calling Him Lord. An evil spirit will respect the authority of Christ but they won't proclaim it openly. The test must be specific, so the results are revealing and specific because the stakes are high!!

It is easy to recognize, avoid, or confront the new age or evil teachings that are in the world. However, it isn't as easy when the bad teaching is coming from right inside the church. We tend to trust in the church, and to some degree, we should be able to. But trust with no testing is blind and is an open invitation to problems. Any trust we have should have a cautious or guarded nature about it. We should use the word of God to weigh and measure what is going on.

1 John 4:4-6

John, in essence proclaims, you folks passed the test. They had the Holy Spirit in them because they had testified Jesus came in the flesh. And the implication is that those other guys, the false teachers, were not of God.

We must constantly be in search of this spirit of truth because there is much error in the world and because Satan is out to deceive you and lead you away. He is wise to you and has a deception that will be very appealing to your nature. He will introduce it subtly when you least expect it. For these folks at that time, that lie was that Jesus had never come in the flesh, and they were hearing it in the context of their church from false teachers.

Satan doesn't care if you go to church every Sunday. If he can get you to believe a lie, even within the church, he wins. If it were us against Satan, we would be in trouble. We can't win a spiritual battle of our own power against Satan. But we have a greater power within us: the Holy Spirit. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. What a great promise to never forget. When we are intimidated or overrun by the world, we should cling to this. When we feel as though the lies of Satan are constantly fooling us and leading us away, we need to hold on to this promise.

The false prophets and teachers are countless. It's a constant parade of them these days. The dark spirits are more open than ever before. It can become a little intimidating. The world will embrace and popularize the false prophet’s message because he will tell them what they want to hear. Broad is the path that leads to destruction. The name of Christ is regularly blasphemed by the world.

We are from God, those who are loved by God and born of God. The line is drawn right here. Those who are from God listen to those of God. We speak the same language because we come from the same place. In Revelation, we'll hear John say, he who has an ear, let him hear. Those loved by God have an ear to hear the truth. Those not of God won't listen to God's message or people. They have the language of the world and are of the antichrist. By this, John said, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:7-8

Beloved, let us love. The Greek says, “agapetos agapao.” Those who are loved, let us love. We are of the loved; therefore, we should love. We love one another, not to earn favor with God or become worthy of anything. We love because we are loved by God. It is evidence of the regeneration of our hearts.

We live in the light of God's love and this is an amazing place to live your life. And we haven't even seen the really awesome part of this relationship because we still see it through the eyes of flesh in a fallen world. This world can beat us up, it can hate us, it can harm our flesh and even take our lives, but it can't harm our spirit. Our spirit, the real you, is safe and sound in the grip of God.

Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. This "knowing" is a deep and intimate relationship with Him. There is nothing hidden, nothing held back. This relationship with God is the very nature and source of agape' love. Humans have no capacity to whip up a sacrificial and self-denying love of our own strengths. The presence of an Agape love is a testimony.

1 John 4:9

Manifest is to put on display, made clear and evident. There can be no real argument once it is made manifest. The “in this” points forward to the begotten Son. This is how we know God. God sent Jesus so we can live through Him. Without Jesus, there is no life. If we are in sin, we are spiritually dead with no capacity for spiritual life. Our bodies still function, our lungs breathe, and our hearts beat, but death is one short breath and heartbeat away and then judgment. It is through Christ alone we can have life after death. God's love is displayed in the sending of the Son. But it's not just the sending, it's what was accomplished in the sending.

Remember the picture from the last chapter. The guy who jumped off the dock and died for us doesn't have a lot of meaning. But the guy who jumped in the water with us and died while saving us from drowning has great meaning. We can see the accomplishment.

Jesus came down as a man, joining us in our human predicament. And in that predicament, as a man, He lived sinless. This qualified Him to take our place. He didn't owe His life for sin. Therefore, He could lay it down for us. He paid the price we owed. His death accomplished our salvation. If we trust in the work Jesus did and receive the payment He paid on our behalf, we can live through Him.

1 John 4:10-11

This was all done at God's will. He initiated it all. This loving act is all His. We don't get any credit for being worthy or having a little bit of love or goodness. There was nothing good in us; no love, no righteousness. God did all this knowing that we didn't love Him, but He did it anyway.

The ‘loved ones’ are called to love one another. Love is not just a feeling but a choice and an action. God displayed His choice and action in many ways.

God's love explains why God creates. Because He loves, He creates people to love.
God's love explains why God cares. Because He loves, He cares for sinful people.
God even allows us to look to our own creator, Almighty God, and say, “No thanks.” The ability to say no makes our “yes” meaningful.
God's love explains why we are free to choose. God wants a loving response from us.
God's love explains why Christ died. He provided a solution for the problem of sin.
God's love explains why we receive eternal life. His love expresses itself to us forever so we might glorify Him for all eternity.

1 John 4:12-16

Since John tells these believers that no one has seen God, I wonder if the false teachers were possibly making that claim that they had. We don't know, and it really doesn't change John's point. That point is, no one has seen God but if we love then God is seen through us.

John links the love of God and the abiding in God together. His love is perfected in us. Perfected means made complete or brought to maturity. Once again, this is the picture of us being so full of God that His love flows through our life into the lives of others. Others see God through our deeds and truth. They don't look at us and say, wow, that's a really good person. They look at us knowing our heart is wretched but seeing us as a work of God; knowing God is the only explanation of anything good in me.

The evidence that we are in Him and He in us is the presence of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the Son as the Savior. The false teachers claimed a close walk with God but they denied that Jesus was the Son of God. They denied His humanity.

There must be a confession of Jesus. If we acknowledge Christ was sent by God, then we understand the love God has for us. As we grow in Christ, we then grow in understanding of the depth of God's love for us. The depth of God’s love is incredible and we will never experience the end of it.

By this we know we abide in Him and He in us:

If we love one another
He has given us the Holy Spirit (sealed)
We testify to Jesus as Savior of the world, sent by the Father
Confession of Jesus as the Son of God
Abiding in love is abiding in God

1 John 4:17-19

God’s law is perfected in us. This speaks of coming to maturity or completion. This perfection is translated from the word “tetelemene.” This is closely related to the “tetelesti,” the last words Jesus spoke on the cross.

God showed His love by sending Christ as payment for our sins. This was His supreme act of love toward us. It's on the day of Judgment that we will really understand just what that love means. All will understand on that day, believer and unbeliever alike. It's judgment day when we see the full accounting of our sins that are already paid for. It will be the culmination of the accomplishment of God's love.

We have boldness in regard to the Day of Judgment. This is the confident assurance of the love of God. This comes from the abiding in Him and knowing He abides in us.

As He is, so are we now. How is Jesus now? He is glorified, righteous and seated at the right hand of the Father. Since we are in Him, it's as if we also have that position, as though we were seated with Him in heaven at the right hand of God.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

Even as we live and breath and try to make our way through this dark world, positionally, we are as He is. Because we are in Him, we too are seen as righteous. God looks at us and sees us the same way he sees Jesus.

We don't cower in fear of the day of Judgment. Fear is kin to punishment. Fear is a tool of the devil. We are the loved, loved by God. Our only response and right response is to love Him.

1 John 4:20-21

Remember verse 7 said, “Loved ones, you ought to love one another.” How can we be of God if we don’t love others who were born of the same love? The brethren are those loved by God who love Him. Those who hate their brother are liars.

What does the love of God cost you? Does it not cost you your life? Our life was purchased from death by a supreme act of love. Now we are called to love our brother with a similar love. It's sacrificial, not self-serving, not just to those who we think deserve it but whom God says deserve it. You didn't deserve it when He extended His love to you!! John makes it clear, there is no greater display or testimony of God's love present in your life than to offer a similar love to our brother. The love of God can't be measured by our time in church or how much money we give. It is measured by our love for those around us, no matter what?

We find ourselves in the midst of several “By this we know” statements.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us (3:16).
By this we know we are of the truth, we love in deed and truth (3:18).
By this we know He abides in us, by the Spirit given to us (3:24).
By this we know the Spirit of God; when there is a confession of Jesus in the flesh (4:2).
By this we know the Spirit of Truth; when we have an ear to hear the truth (4:6).
By this we know we abide in Him; when we have the presence of the Holy Spirit (4:13).
By this we know we love the children of God; when we love Him and keep His commandments (5:14).

By this do you know that you know these things? If so, you are counted among those who are loved by God. In which case John would say, “loved ones” love one another (Agapatos, Agapaos). You who are loved, go love your brother.

1 John