1 John 4:12-21

If we love one another. By this we know. If anyone confesses. Confidence in the day of judgement.

(Bấm vào đây để đọc tiếng Việt)

Let us now examine some of the key concepts proposed by John in the preceding passage.

IF WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER

“¹²If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us. … ¹⁶the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. … ²⁰If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar. ²¹And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too. (1 John 4:12,16,20,21)

The flow of thought in the above-quoted John’s verses appears to communicate that our salvation is contingent on our ability to love our fellow Christians. This topic has already been thoroughly discussed as we studied 1 John 2:9-11, 3:10-11, and 4:8. John’s emphasis on love is not an exhortation to love one another, but a commandment that if we do not fulfill, we will lose our salvation: “If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar” (v. 20).

BY THIS WE KNOW

“¹³By this we know that we reside in God and he in us: in that he has given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:13)

How does John know God has bestowed the Holy Spirit on him? Is it just a feeling? An exprience? Or was it because he obeyed the commandment to love? On the other hand, I don’t place my faith in those feelings or in my ability to fulfill the love commandment. Instead, I believe God has sent me his Holy Spirit as he promised.

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16)

⁷But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7)

¹³And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ – you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13)

Seeking a sign of the Holy Spirit through feelings and experiences is dangerous because they are fleeting and unreliable. However, God’s word is trustworthy because his promise cannot be broken.

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself. (2 Tim 2:13)

The just will walk by faith.

IF ANYONE CONFESSES

“¹⁵If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God. (1 John 4:13)

This verse could refer to what Jesus said in Matthew and Luke gospels.

³²“Whoever, then, acknowledges me before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33—NET)

⁸“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before God’s angels. ⁹But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God’s angels. (Luke 12:8-9—NET)

I’m almost certain Jesus was addressing religious leaders or those who took pride in their ability to uphold the laws and statutes of the Old Covenant. These people have a lot to lose in terms of their religious standing. One such example is Nicodemus. As a religious leader, he risks exposing himself by visiting Jesus at night to inquire about salvation. Knowing each person’s weakness, Jesus always comes up with a challenge that exposes people’s true sinful nature. As a result, I don’t believe this is a requirement for salvation for all of humanity, because even demons or demon-possessed people recognize Jesus as the Son of God.

We already discussed this topic at some length when we studied verses 1 and 2 in the same chapter.

CONFIDENCE IN THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT

¹⁶God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. ¹⁷By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. (1 John 4:13)

This “confidence in the day of judgment” is based on a rather subjective notion of whether or not one “resides in love.” This gospel of John is based on whether or not I reside in love, rather than on Christ, who is the only One who can fully save us. Can you say you live in love? Based on his responses to Jesus’ two questions about whether he lived in love, Peter didn’t think so (John 21:15-17).

Our confidence in the day of judgment must be founded on something more substantial than a fleeting feeling of love. Though some people prefer to define love as an action rather than a feeling, the end result is the same.

If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. (1 Cor 13:3)

An action that appears to be loving is not always proof that it is done out of love.

According to 1 John 4:21, when John asks you to “reside in love,” he means to “love your fellow Christians.”

I can only rely on Christ’s love, not my own.

Can anyone claim to be “just as Jesus is”? Let us grant John the benefit of the doubt and assume that he simply meant that we can be as loving as Jesus is. Then let me rephrase the question: Can anyone claim to love like Jesus?

If to “reside in love” and be “just as Jesus is” are required, no ones can have confidence in the day of judgement.

Nghi Nguyen

- Scripture quoted by permission. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.