The Presence of Mature Loves Provides Assurance of Fellowship
4:13 This is how we know that we abide in Him and He abides in us, by virtue of His Spirit whom He has given to us.
4:14 We have seen and we testify that the Father sent the Son as the world’s Savior. 4:15 Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. 4:16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in that love abides in God, and God abides in him.
4:17 In this way love has reached a state of maturity with us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because just as ˹Jesus˺ is, so also are we in this world. 4:18 There is no fear in this love, rather mature love casts out fear, because fear comes from an expectation of punishment. The one who fears punishment has not reached a state of maturity in love.
Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.
Summary of Verses 4:13-18
In this unit, John explains that the Holy Spirit provides proof and assurance of the believer’s fellowship with God – “that we abide in Him and He abides in us”. Assurance comes through a believer’s knowledge and belief in God’s love that was demonstrated in God sending His Son, Jesus Christ, and is poured into the hearts of believers. As this same love is understood and shown to others, it is evidence that the believer abides in God, provides confidence on the day of judgement, and removes fear from our relationship with God.
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Verse 4:13
This is how we know that we abide in Him and He abides in us, by virtue of His Spirit whom He has given to us.
The Holy Spirit provides proof and assurance of the believer’s fellowship with God – “that we abide in Him and He abides in us“. He is the Spirit of truth that teaches believers that because of God’s love (see John 3:16) “the Father sent the Son as the world’s Savior” (see verse 4:14). The person who believes that “Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God” (see verse 4:15).
John makes a statement similar to verse 4:13 back in verse 3:24, where it is linked to keeping God’s commandments:
3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in ˹God˺ and ˹God˺ in him. And this is how we know that ˹God˺ abides in us, from the Spirit whom He gave to us.
Of course for John, keeping God’s commandments ultimately means loving God and loving others. So the Holy Spirit also provides assurance of the believer’s fellowship with God as the believer expresses mature love, which also provides confidence on the day of judgment (see verse 4:17).
Verse 4:14
We have seen and we testify that the Father sent the Son…
This verse has echoes of the Prologue (1:1-4) where John established that he was a eyewitness to the revelation of the Eternal Life that was incarnated in the historical person of Jesus Christ. In the Prologue, John used the pronoun “we” to refer to himself and other eyewitness who testified to what Jesus said and did (see verse 1:2).
So, in this verse “we” could refer to that same group of original eyewitnesses who saw, heard, and touched Jesus, in contrast to the readers. Or, “we” could refer to John and his readers as it clearly does in nearby verse 4:16 – “we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us“. In verse 4:16, “we” is probably used in contrast to the disruptors who have left the church, “thus renouncing the bond of love and the witness of the Spirit”. [BRUCE p. 111]
It is a difficult choice to make and scholars are divided. If it refers to John and his readers, then the idea is that the message “that the Father sent the Son as the world’s Savior” was passed down to the readers from apostolic authorities, and they now, in turn, testify to the same truth. It is “the testimony of the church as a whole rather than merely of the original eyewitnesses of the earthly ministry of Jesus”. [MARSHALL p. 220] But with this view it is difficult to explain in what sense the readers “have seen” what they are testifying to.
On the whole, it is perhaps best to take “we” as referring to the original eyewitnesses as it agrees with what was stated in the Prologue. It definitely excludes the disruptors.
…as the world’s Savior.
This expression about Christ is only used twice in the New Testament: Here in 1 John 4:14, and in John 4:42 where the Samaritan villagers make this confession about Jesus after seeing Him. It expresses the universal nature of what Christ did.
Verses 4:15
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.
The point here is that fellowship with God is built on the historical incarnation of the Son. One must believe that:
- The Father sent the Son (4:14) as the world’s savior.
- The Son is Jesus (4:15).
This is contra the disruptors who denied the true identity of Jesus as the Son (see 2:22-23 and 4:2-3).
I. Howard Marshall notes in his commentary that “this is a confession which goes beyond mere recognition of the historical fact. To acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God is not simply to make a statement about his metaphysical status but to express obedient trust in the One who possesses such a status”. [MARSHALL p. 220]
The English phase at the end of the verse, “God abides in him and he in God“, is a chiasmic phrase in the Greek which is illustrated below. The mirrored parts are highlighted in identical colors.
Greek word order:
A ὁ θεὸς
B ἐν αὐτῷ
Focus: μένει
B’ καὶ αὐτὸς
A’ ἐν τῷ θεῷ
A word-for-word English translation following the Greek word order is:
A God
B in him
Focus: abides
B’ and he
A’ in God
Verses 4:16
And we…
Here “we” refers to John and his readers in contrast to the disruptors who have left the church, “thus renouncing the bond of love and the witness of the Spirit”. [BRUCE p. 111]
…have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love,
This verse completes the paragraph begun in verse 4:14 by grounding the affirmation that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, on the love of God. Because God is love, He sent his Son.
The object of know and believe is “the love that God has in us“. “The believer is sure of his faith because he has personally experienced the love of God. He has come to know it and also put his trust in it.” [MARSHALL p. 221]
Greek Note: know / believe
The verbs “know” (ἐγνώκαμεν / egnōkamen) and “believe” (πεπιστεύκαμεν / pepisteukamen) are in the perfect tense in Greek. John may be using the perfect tense to communicate “a reflected and settled state of knowledge and trust rather than describing a mood of the moment … or a conviction recalled from some event or era of the past”. [YARBROUGH p. 254]
Note: in us
Commentators note that the phrase “the love that God has in us” is curious or expressed strangely [see for example YARBROUGH p. 255 and MARSHALL p. 211]. The issue is, what is the sense of “in us“? Many modern translations take this as meaning “for us” – NASB (with a footnote indicating the literal rendering is “in us”), NIV, ESV, CSB, and NKJV (though the KJV has “to us). Thus, it is referring to “the love that God has for us” or has shown for us by sending His Son. A few translate it as “in us”, which I have followed in my translation – NET and LSB. In this sense it is referring to the love that God has poured into the hearts of believers that dwells in them [BRUCE p. 112] and they experience in their hearts. God’s love is in those who believe in Him, and it is that love that flows out to others.
and the one who abides in that love abides in God, and God abides in him.
The end of this verse is very similar to the end of verse 4:15, but in this verse abiding is linked to love. Thus:
- Faith in Jesus Christ is faith in God’s love.
- Our fellowship with God is a fellowship of love.
John will build on these thoughts in verses 4:17-18.
Verses 4:17
In this way…
“in this way” points back to the statements that were just made.
…love has reached a state of maturity with us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment,
First John 2:28 makes a similar statement about abiding and having confidence on the day of judgment:
2:28 And so, little children, abide in Him so that when He is revealed we may have confidence, and not turn away from Him in shame when He returns.
Jesus Christ is the one before whom believers can have confidence. He is the judge (see John 5:22).
As noted in verse 4:16, God’s love is poured into the hearts of believers. This same love should characterize the community of believers. And as this love is understood and shown to others (reaches a state of maturity), it gives confidence to believers on the day of judgement. Love and confidence go together. Remember that for John, expressing God’s love for others is also loving God.
because just as ˹Jesus˺ is, so also are we in this world.
This confidence is possible when the believer is like Jesus. Believers are like Jesus when their love has “reached a state of maturity” and so become His visible representatives “in this world“. As David Smith explains in his commentary, “Jesus is in the world unseen, and our office is to make Him visible. We are to Him what He was to the Father in the days of His flesh”. [SMITH p. 192]
Note that the phrase says “just as Jesus is“, not “just as Jesus was“. Jesus is still in the world, though unseen. It is the believer’s role to make him visible.
Note: ˹Jesus˺
The word “Jesus” here in my translation is a substitution for the far demonstrative pronoun ἐκεῖνος / ekeinos in the Greek text, which means “that one”. So a more word-for-word rendering of the phrase would be: “because just as that one is, so also are we in this world“. The pronoun is translated as “he” in most English translations, though the NIV and NET have “Jesus”. In First John, John uses this pronoun six times as a personal reference to Jesus Christ (2:6; 3:3; 3:5; 3:7; 3:16; 4:17), and always in the context of Him as an example for Christians.
In this verse, Jesus is presented as the one who made the love of God visible to the world. Therefore, those who believe in Him should express mature love so that Jesus is visible to the world.
Verses 4:18
There is no fear in this love, rather mature love casts out fear, because fear comes from an expectation of punishment. The one who fears punishment has not reached a state of maturity in love.
As noted above, God’s love is poured into the hearts of believers. Once we comprehend God’s sacrificial love, there is nothing left to fear in our relationship with Him, and fear of His judgment is removed. Love and fear cannot coexist. So the believer can “have confidence on the day of judgment” (4:17).
This same love should characterize the community of believers. And as this love is shown to others (reaches a state of maturity), it also removes fear from our relationship with God.
As Glenn Barker notes in his commentary, “If we experience fear in any portion of our life, to that extent we deny God’s love and fail to trust him”. [BARKER p. 346] He also notes that, “The fear spoken of here is not to be confused with reverence for God. Reverence will only deepen through the experience of God’s love”. [BARKER p. 346]
Most commentators understand “fear” (φόβος / phobos G5401) to be referring to the fear of the final judgment when Christ returns. It is linked in this verse to “punishment” (κόλασις / kolasis G2851 TDNT), a word that occurs only in this verse and Matthew 25:46 in the New Testament that speaks about eternal punishment.
Go back to verses 4:9-12
Go forward to verses 4:19-21
Your Personal Study
Read First John 4:19-5:4 below and answer the questions focused on verses 4:19-21.
4:19 We love because He first loved us. 4:20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his fellow believer, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his fellow believer whom he has seen, cannot love the God whom he has not seen. 4:21 And we have this commandment from ˹God through Jesus Christ˺: The one who loves God must also love his fellow believer.
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the father also loves the child born from Him. 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and carry out His commandments.
5:3 For this is our love for God, that we keep His commandments. Moreover, His commandments are not burdensome, 5:4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world, and this is the overcoming power that has overcome the world – our faith.
1. What gives us the ability to love others?
2. Can a person love God and hate another person at the same time?
3. How is our love for God demonstrated?
4. Based on what John has taught so far in his letter, what are some ways that we show hate to other believers?
First John Translation.
First John Translation with Outline and Notes.
Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.
Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
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