First John 4:13-21

Introduction

In our study thus far in First John we have seen multiple themes over and over again. We have seen that righteousness is a dominant theme in the life of the believer. We have seen that a correct confession of who Jesus is, is ESSENTIAL to becoming a Christian. We have seen that love is a major theme in this letter. In our last lesson we focused upon 4:7-12. We noticed many things from these five verses. We saw that believers will love other believers because the source of all love is God because God is love. Those who love give evidence that they have been born of God and that they know God. Those who love have God abiding in them and love is perfected in them.

In v. 12 John mentioned two things at the end of the verse. He mentioned God abiding in us and perfected love. This last phrase of v. 12 gives an outline of what is to follow in vs. 13-21. In vs. 13-16 we see God abiding in us. Then in vs. 17-21 we see the effects of perfected love ( See James Montgomery Boice, The Epistles of John, 117).

Before we dive into vs. 13-21 lets review quickly some important things to keep in mind when looking at the book of First John.

1. The theme of First John is Assurance. John writes to this community of believers because there were false teachers who came in and attempted to turn their worldview upside down. Assurance is objective. We know we are believers not so much by something subjective within us, but by how we live. Do we live righteously? Do we love other believers? Do we have a biblical view of who Jesus is? We cold really sum the source of assurance up in one word: obedience.

2. The heresy The Apostle John was refuting was an early form of Gnosticism. These false teachers taught that salvation was found through knowledge, and this knowledge was given to only a special group of people, whoever they chose to give the knowledge to. This teaching believed that Jesus was not God. They believed matter was evil and the spirit is good. God is Spirit therefore Jesus could not be God and Man because man is evil and God cannot have anything to do with something that was evil. Therefore Jesus was not God and salvation is not found in Him.

God Abiding in Us, vs. 13-16

John in v. 13 says by this we know that we abide in Him and he in us, referring to God the Father, we know this because of the Spirit He has given to us. This very much echoes what John has written already in 3:24. Except whereas in 3:24 John just said by this we know that He abides in us, here he says by this we know we abide in him and he in us. How do we know this? We know this because of the Spirit. The Spirit is the one within us who assures us that we are abiding in God and that God is abiding in us.

The emphasis in this passage is on the Holy Spirit and what he does (Stott, 168). James Montgomery Boice says about this passage that one of the first things we notice is that the Spirit is always first in spiritual things (Boice, 117). The Spirit is first in salvation. We saw in our last lesson that we are born of the Spirit. The Spirit changes our hearts so that we are now changed and we can become believers.

John moves on to v. 14 and says we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His son into the world to be the Savior.

First off who is the we in this verse? There are a few ideas here. We will look at two. First C.H. Dodd in his commentary on First John says the we here is “the church and its continuing apostolic witness to the gospel.” (Dodd, The Johannine Epistles, (Harpers & Brothers, New York and London, 1946), 115). The next view is the we is the Apostles. This view holds more water because John has already alluded to this already in vs. 1-4. The Apostles were eyewitnesses to what Jesus did. They saw the miracles that Jesus did, they saw Jesus dying on the cross, and they saw the resurrected Christ. The we here in this verse also refers to the Apostles.

We also see in v. 14 the mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus was sent into the world by the Father to be the Savior. Notice a few things. First this is why the Father sent the Son into the world. God the Father sent God the Son, His one and only Son, to be the Savior of the world. In other words God the Father sent the Son to die. I do not think we think about this enough. God sent His Son to die. That was the mission of Jesus. If Jesus did not die then there is no forgiveness. If Jesus did not die there is no Christianity. There is no way to be made right with God. There is no way for sins to be wiped away. There is no way for justification. There is no way we can go through a process of Sanctification.

Secondly in v. 14 we see that Jesus is THE Savior. John does not say that Jesus is a Savior among a choice of many. John says Jesus is THE Savior. Jesus is the one and only option for a Savior. If you want a Savior Jesus is your one and only option. Jesus Himself said I AM THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME. How exclusive of a claim is that? It is very exclusive. It is very exclusive. John was no doubt there when Jesus said this. John heard Jesus say this. Jesus is the one and only Savior. Do you wish to be saved? The run to Jesus He is your only hope.

The Spirit leads people into the truth of Jesus Christ. This is what John is driving at in v. 15. The Spirit leads people into the truth of Jesus Christ. John says whoever confesses Jesus Christ as the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God. Notice once again those who have a correct view of Jesus are those who have a relationship with God. The Spirit is the one who shows to people who Jesus is. The Spirit reveals the person of Jesus to people. This is what the Spirit is doing here in this text. One commentator said the role of the Spirit in this text is to lead to charismatic experiences (I. Howard Marshall, 219).

In v. 16 we yet see another statement of God as love. John says God is love, whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. Once again we see here that those who are believers will love because God is love. The one who claims to know God yet does not love cannot know God because they are not living as God acts, or as God is. God is Love. If we want to know love look to God. Do you want to know true love? Look to God. God is the only place where we can find true love because God is Love.

We see three distinct characteristics of a Christian in these three verses. We see that Christians will posses the Spirit, confess Jesus as the Son of God, and living in the love of God (ibid, 222). All people everywhere who are true Christians, who are true believers posses the Spirit. It is a gift that is given to all who believe in Jesus name. A true believer can never lose the Spirit. It is something that God gives to them and will never take it away from them. I have been told for years by some people who are from the holiness movement that I do not have the Spirit, because I do not speak in tongues or prophesy or something like that. But my response has always been that I do have the Spirit, because I am a believer in Jesus Christ. God has given it to me, and to all people who have believed in the name of Jesus Christ for their salvation from sin and the wrath of God the Father. A Christian will confess Jesus as the Son of God. The Christian can only do this because of the Spirit. The Spirit leads us into all truth about the Person of Jesus Christ. Any person who claims to have the Spirit yet they do not know who Jesus is prove they do not have the Spirit. They cannot because the Spirit will lead them into the truth about Jesus. It is impossible for someone to be a Christian and not know who Jesus Christ is. The believer will also live in love. The believer will love because God is love. The believer who does not love is antithetical to what God is. They are doing what is opposite of the character of God. Love is not merely a duty but a “striking evidence of the Spirit’s activity.” (Boice, 118). Believing in Christ and loving are evidences of the Spirit at work within us (Stott, 171).

Perfected Love, vs. 17-21

As we begin this section we need to understand what perfected love is. It simply means completed or mature love. So by this love is completed or matured within us.

There are two mark of complete love here according to John Stott, confidence before God and love for our brothers and sisters in Christ (ibid, 171).

Because of perfected or complete love we can have confidence on the day of judgment. The day of judgment is the day of final reckoning (MacArthur, 170). Those who have been perfected in love can and should have confidence before Christ on the day of judgment. Confidence means boldness. We can be bold on the day of judgment because of love, and because we are in this world as Christ was in the world. This means the Father “treats the saints in the same way He does His Son Jesus Christ.” (ibid, 171). I. Howard Marshall says of this verse that “We stand in the same relationship to God as that of Jesus to His Father and we live as Jesus lived.” (Marshall, 223). As believers today we have the same relationship that Jesus and the Father has. The same love the Father had for the Son we have. The same confidence Jesus had in the Father we are to have.

John in v. 18 shows to us how love and fear are incompatible. John makes the claim that there is no fear in love. Perfect or complete love casts out fear. Fear has to do with punishment. Therefore if any one fears has not been perfected in love. In other words those who fear God, and God’s punishment have not been perfected in the love of God. Those who are in the love of God have NO NEED TO FEAR the judgment of God, but should have confidence before God on the judgment day. WHY? Is it something that is within us? Is it something that we did? NO NO NO NO AND NO. It is not because of anything that we did. We can be confident only because of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf. It is only because of the completed work of Christ that we have no need to fear. It is all because of Jesus Christ.

There is another aspect here. Some people fear God and His judgment horribly. This would be foreign to John. John would not understand this. John would ask this person why are you fearing? You have no need to fear. This person may reply, but I see in the Bible all over that I am to fear God. What does that mean? What does that fear mean? True they are right the Bible does say we are to fear God. But the fear that is talking about is different than the fear we are looking at hear. When the Bible says we are to fear God it is saying we are to revere God. We are to stand in awe of God. This fear of God is good, the fear of God’s judgment is damning. The person who fears the judgment of God has not been perfected in the love of God. They do not know the love of God. They have not experienced the love of God in their lives. There is no fear in love. Love drives out fear. It has been thrown out. Fear of judgment does not have a place in the believers life because Christ paid that penalty already.

John moves on from here to say We love because HE firs loved us. God takes the initiative in all things that are spiritual. We love God and we love others because God first loved us. God loved us first and sent Christ to pay the penalty for our sin. It is not because we were begging God for a way to be saved, but it is because of His love that he sent His Son Jesus Christ.

The one who claims to love God and hates his brother is a liar. Why is this? John says if we cannot love someone who we can see we cannot love God who we cannot see. God cannot be seen to our eyes. John says it is easier to love someone or something that we can see than something we cannot see.

The commandment we have is that if we love God we must also love our brother.

To close our discussion on vs. 17-21 I would like to go through quite a length quote from Charles Spurgeon. He sums up everything very well and does better than I could ever come close to.

“ Children of God, if Christ were here on earth, what would you do for him? If it should be rumored tomorrow that the Son of Man had come down from heaven, as he came at first, what would you do for him? If there should be an infallible witness that the feet that trod the holy acres of Palestine were actually treading the streets of this land, what would you do for him? Oh, I can conceive that there would be a tumult of delighted hearts- a superabundance of liberal hands- that there would be a sea of streaming eyes to behold him. “Do for him!” says one. “Do for Him! Did he hunger, I would give him meat, though it were my last crust. Did he thirst, I would give him drink, though my own lips were parched with fire. Was he naked, I would strip myself and shiver in the cold to clothe him. Do for him! I should scarcely know what to do. I would hurry away, and I would beseech him, if it would but honor him, that he would tread upon me, and crush me in the dust, if he would but be raised one inch the higher thereby. Did he want a soldier, I would enlist in his army; did he need that someone should die, I would give my body to be burned, if he stood by to see the sacrifice and cheer me in the flames.”… Ah! We think we love him so much that we should do all that; but there is a grave question about the truth of this matter after all. Do you know that Christ’s wife and daughter are here? And if ye love him, would it not follow as a natural inference that ye would love his bride and his offspring? “Ah!” says one, “Christ has no bride upon the earth.” Has he not? Has he not espoused unto himself his church? Is not his church, the mother of the faithful, his own chosen wife? And did he not give his blood to be her dower? And has he not declared that he never will be divorced from her, for he hates to put away, and that he will consummate the marriage in the last great day, when he shall come to reign with his people upon the earth. And has he no children here? The daughters of Jerusalem and the sons of Zion, who hath begotten me these? Are not they the offspring of the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the child born the son given? Surely they are; and if we love Christ as we think we do, as we pretend we do, we shall love his church and his people. And do you love his church? Perhaps you love the part to which you belong. You love the hand. It may be a hand which is garnished with many a brilliant ring of noble ceremonies, and you love that. You may belong to some poor, poverty-stricken denomination- it may be the foot- and you love the foot; but you speak contemptuously of the hand, because it is garnished with greater honors. Whilst ye of the hand are speaking lightly of those who are of the foot. Brethren, it is a common thing with us all to love only a part of Christ’s body, and not to love the whole; but if we love him we should love all his people.” (Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’ Sermons Vol. 5, (Baker, Grand Rapids MI, 2004), 329-330).

Spurgeon sums up for us exactly what John is talking about here. If we claim that we love God, we love Christ, we love the Holy Spirit, then we will love the people of God, the church. We will love the people who are of God. We will love the people for whom Christ died, THE CHURCH. If there is no evidence of love for the church, then there is no evidence of love for God.

Tying it all Together

How can we relate these verses to the theme of Assurance?

1. Assurance comes from the Holy Spirit. We know that God abides in us and we abide in God because of the Spirit that was given to us.

2. Assurance comes from the correct confession of Jesus Christ. That Jesus is the Son of God, and indeed is God. This Confession can only happen because the Spirit has revealed this truth to us.

3. Assurance comes from God perfected love in us. God’s perfect love for us makes us confident and we have no need to fear judgment because God in His love sent Christ to pay the judgment for the sins of those who believe in Him.

4. Assurance comes from loving other believers, the church, the people of God. If we do not love our bothers and sisters who we can see we cannot love God who we cannot see.