Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 John 4:13
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
13. This should be compared with 1Jn 3:24, to which it is closely parallel. There, as here, the gift of the Spirit is the proof of God’s abiding presence: but there this is connected with keeping His commandments; here it is connected with the special duty of brotherly love.
he hath given us of his Spirit ] We receive ‘ of His Spirit’ ( ): of Christ alone was it said in the fullest sense ‘not by measure’ is the Spirit given to him (Joh 3:34). Christians are sometimes said to receive the Spirit (Gal 3:2-3; Gal 3:5; Gal 4:6), sometimes of the Spirit (see on 1Jn 3:24): only the former is true of Christ. See on 2Jn 1:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hereby know we that we dwell in him – Here is another, or an additional evidence of it.
Because he hath given us of his Spirit – He has imparted the influences of that Spirit to our souls, producing love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, etc., Gal 5:22-23. It was one of the promises which the Lord Jesus made to his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them after he should be withdrawn from them, Joh 14:16-17, Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7, and one of the clearest evidences which we can have that we are the children of God, is derived from the influences of that Spirit on our hearts. See this sentiment illustrated in the notes at Rom 8:16.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Jn 4:13
Hereby know we that we dwell in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit
The evidences of true religion in man
The exercises of the mind, influenced by the Holy Spirit, are the evidences of true religion in man.
The state of the mind is known only by its exercises; and spiritual exercises indicate the operations of the Spirit of Christ.
I. Self-abasement is a certain evidence of true religion. It is a gracious exercise, the effect of a saving work of the Spirit in the soul.
II. Entire dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ is certain evidence of a state of grace.
III. Submission to the law of Christ is an evidence of true godliness.
IV. Joy in God, the Saviour of the soul, is an evidence of piety. (A. Macleod, D. D.)
The work of the Holy Spirit
The recovery of man to his lost righteousness must be by means of an agency from above. The strong evil element in our nature must be dispossessed by a stronger element for good.
I. The nature of the agent spoken of. Who and what is the Holy Spirit? He is a Divine Being, of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God. But what is this work of the Holy Spirit in man, in regard to his salvation? In the text, it is set forth as the occupation or possession of the soul by a Divine principle, designed so to counteract the evil of our nature as to admit of our restored fellowship with God. The Spirit in us is heavens witness and heavens interpreter. Through Him Christ becomes Immanuel, God with us. It is when we are strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, and not before, that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.
II. What is the appointed medium and method of this Spirits operations? and how is this renovating influence brought into effective contact with the human spirit? The result is commonly effected through the instrumentality of the revealed Word, Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God.
1. In these passages the Word is spoken of as an instrument only. It is only when the Spirit takes the veil away that it can be said of us, The entrance of Thy Word giveth light.
2. But if the Word does not convert without the Spirit, so neither, as a rule, does the Spirit convert without the Word; that is, without taking of the facts and statements of revelation, and through them, as a medium, operating upon the religious conscience.
3. In what way does the Holy Spirit ordinarily bring about in us these convictions? Is the influence absolutely miraculous, or is it bestowed in entire harmony with the known laws of mind? Plainly the latter. Taking the written Word as the instrument, the Spirit acts through the natural conscience–using that term in its broad theological acceptation, as describing the judgment which a man passes upon the rightfulness of his own conduct. And this He does by reviving its impressions; by strengthening its empire; by restoring its delicacy of moral perception, and then presenting to it objects suited to its new condition and worthy of its awakened powers. Conscience, of itself, may reprove of sin; but it must be conscience with the spirit that turns the sinner. Conscience may witness to the law, that it is broken; to God, that He is offended; to retribution, that it is awaiting us; but the Spirit only can witness to the impiety of rejecting Christ and the guilt of neglecting so great salvation. And this view of the method of the Spirits working, through the Word upon the conscience, will be found to be entirely congruous with the principles of our mental and moral constitution. He does not give us any new physical power to turn, but He gives us the inclination and the willingness. And the bias of inclination is that which constrains to action. As Sir William Hamilton has well expressed it, The greatest spontaneity is the greatest necessity. We are not driven by the Spirit, but we are led. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Gods life in man
It is said that the finest rose tree in the world is one in Holland, which a few years ago had six thousand flowers in bloom at the same time. The poor brier in the hedgerow might well despair of rivalling that wonderful rose tree and attaining worldwide distinction. But if some kindly hand could transplant it to a choicer soil, and give it nurture of needful skill, and if some bud from that wonderful Dutch tree could be grafted into its central fibres, the poor despised growth of the hedgerow might hope one day to bear its thousand blooms, and be the wonder of a nation. And poor in all high moral and spiritual qualities as we ourselves may be, grudging in sacrifice, ignoble in spirit, grovelling in motive, yet if God infix His own life within us, no limit can be put to our spiritual development. (T. G. Selby.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. Hereby know we, c.] See note on 1Jo 3:24.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The near inward union between him and us, is best to be discerned by the operations of his Spirit, which is the Spirit of all love and goodness, 1Jo 3:24; Eph 5:9.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Hereby“Herein.”The token vouchsafed to us of God’s dwelling (Greek, “abide”)in us, though we see Him not, is this, that He hath given us “ofHis Spirit” (1Jo 3:24).Where the Spirit of God is, there God is. ONESpirit dwells in the Church: each believer receives a measure “of”that Spirit in the proportion God thinks fit. Love is Hisfirst-fruit (Ga 5:22). In Jesusalone the Spirit dwelt without measure (Joh3:34).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,…. That there is a communion between God and us, and a communication of his love and grace to us, and an exercise of grace upon him; for God dwells in his people by his Spirit and grace, and they dwell in him by the exercise of faith and love upon him: and this is known,
because he hath given us of his Spirit: not of the essence and nature of the Spirit, which is the same with the nature of the Father and of the Son, and is incommunicable; but either of the gifts of the Spirit, which are divided to every man as he pleases, and which being bestowed on men, and used by them, for the profit and advantage of the church of God, show that God is with them, and dwells among them of a truth; or of the graces of the Spirit, such as faith, hope, and love, which are each the gifts of God; and these being bestowed and exercised, are proofs of the mutual indwelling of God and his people; [See comments on 1Jo 3:24].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hereby know we ( ). The Christian’s consciousness of the fact of God dwelling in him is due to the Spirit of God whom God has given (, perfect active indicative here, though the aorist in 3:24). This gift of God is proof of our fellowship with God.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Hereby know we that we dwell in him,” It is a thought of “Blessed Assurance” that those saved – those abiding in Christ can know it. One need not go thru life doubting or uncertain about his salvation. For instance consider: 1Jn 4:7; 1Jn 5:1; 1Jn 5:13; 1Jn 3:2; 1Jn 3:14; Rom 8:14; Rom 8:16; Rom 8:28; 2Co 5:1.
2) “And he in us.” The love of the Shepherd, in giving His life for His sheep, validates His claim that they dwell in His bosom (center of His affection) and He in them. Joh 10:11; Joh 10:14-15; Joh 10:17-30; Joh 17:23.
3) “Because he hath given us of his Spirit. (Greek hoti ek tou pneumatos autou) “because out of His own spirit” (dedoken hemin) “He has given to us”. This Spirit (Holy Spirit) is said to be our Lord’s in nature, kind, purpose and agreement.
1) By it He was begotten, so are we. Mat 1:18; Mat 1:20; Luk 1:35; Joh 3:5; Joh 6:63; 2Co 3:6.
2) By it He was sanctified and annointed, so are we. Mat 3:16; Luk 3:22; Act 1:8; Act 2:4; Luk 4:18; 2Co 1:21; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27.
3) By it He was led, so are we. Mat 4:1; Rom 8:14-16.
4)By it He was raised from the dead, so shall we be. Rom 8:11; 1Pe 3:18; Eph 1:13-14; Eph 4:30.
With Divine assurance children of God may victoriously sing: “Born of His Spirit and washed in His blood.”
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CHAPTER XIII
FAITHTHE GROUND OF LOVE
1Jn. 4:13-16
A.
The Text
Hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. (14) And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (15) Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. (16) And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.
B.
Try to Discover
1.
How the Spirit of God in us is evidence that we are in Him and He in us.
2.
The significance of Johns reference here to his eyewitness experience with Jesus.
3.
How confession of Jesus as the Son of God is evidence we are in God and God in us.
4.
How can love be the object of belief?
5.
Why John repeats here what he has already said in 1Jn. 4:8, that God is love?
C.
Paraphrase
Hereby perceive weThat in him are we abiding, And he in us, In that of his Spirit hath he given unto us. (14) And we for ourselves have gazed, and are bearing witness That the Father sent forth the Son as Saviour of the world. (15) Whosoever shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God in him abideth And he in God. (16) And we have come to understand and to trust the love which God hath in us. God is love; And he that abideth in love in God abideth, And God in him abideth.
D.
Comments
1.
Preliminary Remarks
John presents a further synthesis of love and belief as evidence of continued fellowship with God. John appeals to his own experience with Jesus to re-affirm the fact of the incarnation. He then strongly re-asserts that Jesus, the man, is indeed the son of God and the Saviour of the world. If we believe this historic demonstration of Gods love, then we continue in the divine fellowship which is life eternal.
2.
Translation and comments
a.
The presence of the Spirit and the memory of personal experience are assurance of continued fellowship . . . 1Jn. 4:13-14
(1Jn. 4:13) In this we are knowing that we are remaining in Him and He in us because of the Spirit He has given to us. (14) and we have seen and are bearing witness that the Father has sent His Son as Saviour of the world.
There is some question in 1Jn. 4:13 as to whether John intends to refer to the Spirit in all believers, as he has previously, or to the unique inspiration of the Spirit which was his as an apostle. His immediate referral to his own eye-witness experience may indicate the latter.
In either case, the testimony of the Spirit of God is to the deity of Jesus as the object of Christian faith. It is that faith which is the ground of the love we have for one another as the fulfillment of Gods love for us.
In 1Jn. 4:14, John again employs the Greek tenses in such a way as to indicate vivid memory. What he has seen, as set forth in the prologue, (1Jn. 1:1-4) is the basis of his faith and his testimony. When he walked and talked with Jesus of Nazareth, he came to believe that this Carpenter is indeed the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. That conviction has not mellowed with age. It is still the touch stone of his faith. It ought to be so with us today.
Voltaire set forth the following as tests by which any phenomenon may be confirmed as historic fact:
i.
There must be witnesses
ii.
Witnesses must be in substantial agreement
iii.
The witnesses must have had opportunity to know, (i.e. investigate)
iv.
The witnesses must be honest
v.
Hume adds: The more unusual the event, the greater the body of evidence needed to establish it as historical fact.
The great events in the life of Jesus, which establish His claim to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world may be subjected to these tests. If they fail to meet the tests, then we are justified in questioning them, as some have. On the other hand, if they do meet the tests, then to be intellectually honest we must cry out with Thomas, My Lord and my God! (Joh. 20:28)
Space will not permit us here to subject all the essential phenomena of Jesus life to these tests. We shall consider the ultimate demonstration of His deity as an example. Can it be proven, as other facts of history are proven, that Jesus rose bodily from the dead?
Were there witnesses to the resurrection? Whom shall we call first? The Roman guard? These denied that Jesus had risen, but said that His disciples had stolen Him. They admitted the body was gone.
Mary Magdalene? She saw an empty tomb and ran to tell the others.
Simon Peter? He ran to the tomb in utter disbelief and stopped at the entrance. In the intervening forty days He was confronted with the bodily presence of Jesus until he became so convinced, his proclamation of the resurrection converted three thousand of those who had clamored for Jesus blood!
John the Beloved? He ran past Peter, who hesitated at the door of the tomb. It was he who saw the grave clothes lying as though some huge moth had burst forth from his cocoon in full glory.
The two on the road to Emmaus? They were so completely disillusioned as they talked about the hopes that lay crushed on the hill of the skull. But their hearts burned within them as He revealed Himself to them at supper.
Saul of Tarsus? To him the death of the Nazarene was the just execution of a blasphemer who dared call Himself Son of God. But when Saul came face to face with history on the road to Damascus, the love of Christ constrained him with the conclusion that Christ had died for all, that all might live in Him.
The five hundred Brethren of I Corinthians fifteen? Paul challenged his doubting readers to go to them rather than take his word for the fact of the resurrection. There is no record that any one of the five hundred ever denied what he had seen.
Yes, there were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.
Are the witnesses in substantial agreement? There are those who say that the Gospel accounts of the resurrection vary a great deal. None has ever claimed, however, that the substance of what is reported is that the Galilean who was crucified actually rose from the tomb.
The witnesses are in substantial agreement!
Did the witnesses have opportunity to investigate? According to the record, Jesus appeared to them at various times and in various places. He not only gave them opportunity to investigate, but challenged them to do so. He ate fish in their presence to show that He was not merely an apparition, He challenged them to thrust their fingers into the nail scars and the spear mark and feel as well as see for themselves. Their conclusion from this investigation was voiced in the words of the greatest doubter of them all, My Lord and my God!
The witnesses had ample opportunity to know!
Were the witnesses honest? Not all of them were. The Roman guards, to save their own skins for sleeping on duty, accepted a bribe to say that the body had been stolen.
What about the others, and especially what about the ones who left the written record? Were they honest? How else can we account for the change that took place in them? When Jesus was led away to be killed they followed afar off. They cringed in the shadows, afraid for their own lives. Fifty days later they stood up publicly and virtually dared the ones who had put Him to death to prevent them from telling that He is risen!
How can men who were cowards, when He was alive and in His moment of deepest need, suddenly become heroes when He is dead? Are we to conclude that, to the man, these all died for what they knew to be a lie? All they had to do to escape execution was admit they had lied about the resurrection. Not one of them did.
Yes, the witnesses were honest!
Is the body of evidence great enough? In a court of law, two or three eye-witnesses who are honest and in substantial agreement are all that is necessary to establish a thing as a fact. In the case of the resurrection, the event is so extremely unusual that an honest inquirer is justified in asking how many witnesses actually saw Jesus alive after His death. In 1Co. 15:1-58, when confronted with those who doubted that He had risen, Paul challenged the doubters to contact five hundred individuals who were alive at the time of his writing and ask them what they had seen.
There were indeed sufficient reliable witnesses!
Any person who is intellectually honest can prove to himself the truth of what the apostles claim; even the most unusual claim of all. All he needs to do is subject their claims to the same tests by which he accepts other phenomena of the past as true.
John, in 1Jn. 4:14, concludes from what he saw that the Father has sent His Son as the Saviour of the world. He presents his testimony as evidence by which we may test our claim to fellowship with God. He who denies that which is historically true is living according to phantasy. His life is based on a lie. He cannot, therefore, have fellowship with God who is the author of all truth. To accept the deity of Jesus is to simply face reality.
b.
Confession of Jesus, manifestation of Divine love, is evidence we are in God and He in us . . . 1Jn. 4:15-16
(1Jn. 4:15) Whoever may confess that Jesus is the Son of God is remaining in Him and He in God. (1Jn. 4:16) And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one remaining in love is remaining in God and God is remaining in him.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the source of all known truth about God is remaining in God and God is remaining in Him. Likewise, when we believe the love which His coming demonstrated among us, we move into the only area where the experience of God and the experience of man merge. As we saw in 1Jn. 4:7-9, intimate personal knowledge of God comes from sharing His experience of loving.
Since this love was first brought to light and then made available for us to experience by Jesus, His demonstration of love becomes the object of our faith. This coalescence of love and belief are here presented as evidence that we are intimately related to God. The one believing and loving is remaining in God. God is also remaining in him.
To keep this truth in perspective, we must remember that John is not discussing the means by which we come initially into this relationship with God. This is not intended as an answer to what must I do to be saved? He is rather, concerned with the evidences by which we may reassure ourselves individually that the relationship does in fact exist. However, whatever is necessary to the initiating of this relationship, or to put it simply, whatever one must do to be saved will in no way violate or contradict the essential role played by faith and love. On the contrary, the rudiments by which one begins the new life in God will be found to be the embryonic expression of precisely these very elements.
E.
Questions for Review
1.
What are the two alternatives concerning Johns reference in 1Jn. 4:13 to the Spirit He has given us?
2.
What is the essential testimony of the Spirit?
3.
To what does John appeal in 1Jn. 4:14 as the basis of his claim that Jesus is Gods Son and the Saviour of the world?
4.
What are the tests by which phenomena of the past are established as historical?
5.
How does the resurrection prove the claim of Jesus to be the Son of God and Saviour of the world?
6.
Does the resurrection, as recorded in the New Testament, meet the tests of historicity? Explain your answer.
7.
Can you suggest other events in the life of Jesus which may be put to the same test?
8.
What is meant by the area where the experience of God and the experience of man merge? (See comments on 1Jn. 4:7-9)
9.
The love which we share with God was first brought to light by ______________.
10.
In what way is the love of God said to be the object of the Christians faith?
11.
Is John here discussing the means by which we come to salvation? Explain your answer.
12.
Can the steps to salvation contradict the evidences that we are indeed in a saving relationship to God? Explain.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
13. His Spirit Which is itself at once love and light, warming us with itself, and showing itself to be of God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Jn 4:13. Hereby know we, &c. “By this we have a comfortable evidence of a mutual inhabitation between God and us, of our dwelling by faith and love inunion and communion, through Jesus Christ, with him; and of his dwelling by gracious manifestations and influences in our souls; because he has freely afforded us rich communications of his Spirit, to beget and animate this faith and love, and to cast a light upon his own work within us.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Jn 4:13 . The token of our fellowship with God ( corresponds to the preceding: ) is: ; comp. 1Jn 3:24 . The expression: (instead of ), is explained by the fact that the of God is the entire fulness of the life of God operating in believers, of which his share is given to each individual. The expression is not to be connected with the , of which Paul speaks in 1Co 12:4 ; 1Co 12:11 . Compare Act 2:17 ; in reference to Christ it is said: , Gospel of Joh 3:34 . Against the view that by here “love” or a similar quality is to be understood, Spener says: “it is the Spirit Himself, and not His gifts only, that we receive.” [268]
does not mean “if” (Baumgarten-Crusius), for John supposes that his readers are believers, and as such are certainly partakers of the Spirit.
[268] Weiss incorrectly uses this passage as a proof that, whilst Jesus considered the Holy Ghost as a personal being, John had not yet perfectly taken hold of this conception; for even if it be admitted that the expression used here does not specify the personality of the Spirit, yet it is in no way contradictory to it. Besides, Weiss himself admits that the passage: . (chap. 1Jn 5:6 ), points to the personality of the Spirit.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
Ver. 13. He hath given us of his Spirit ] That is, of the fruits of his Spirit, his holy motions and graces. For through the two golden pipes the two olive branches empty out of themselves the golden oils of all precious graces, into the candlestick, the Church.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 .] In this we know that we are abiding in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit (nearly repeated from ch. 1Jn 3:24 . But why introduced here? In the former verse, the fact of His abiding in us was assured to us, if we love one another. Of this fact, when thus loving, we need a token. Him we cannot see: has He given us any testimony of His presence in us? He has given us such a testimony, in making us partakers of His Holy Spirit. This fact it is to which the Apostle here calls our attention, as proving not the external fact of the sending of the Son ( 1Jn 4:14 ), but one within ourselves the indwelling of God in us, and our abiding in Him. It is obvious that all inferences from the expression . against the personality of the Holy Ghost are quite beside the purpose: compare Act 2:17 with Joe 2:28 (Heb. and E. V.). We each have the indwelling of one and the same personal Spirit, but each according to our measure, 1Co 12:4 ; 1Co 12:11 . One only had the Spirit without measure, in all His fulness: even Christ; Joh 3:34 . And the presence of the Holy Spirit is most aptly adduced here where love is in question, His first fruit being love, and His presence being tested by His fruits).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Jn 4:13 . Cf. 1Jn 3:24 . The argument is that God would not have granted us this priceless gift if he were not in intimate relation with us and had not a steadfast purpose of grace toward us.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Spirit. i.e. the gifts. App-101.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13.] In this we know that we are abiding in Him and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit (nearly repeated from ch. 1Jn 3:24. But why introduced here? In the former verse, the fact of His abiding in us was assured to us, if we love one another. Of this fact, when thus loving, we need a token. Him we cannot see: has He given us any testimony of His presence in us? He has given us such a testimony, in making us partakers of His Holy Spirit. This fact it is to which the Apostle here calls our attention, as proving not the external fact of the sending of the Son (1Jn 4:14), but one within ourselves-the indwelling of God in us, and our abiding in Him. It is obvious that all inferences from the expression . against the personality of the Holy Ghost are quite beside the purpose: compare Act 2:17 with Joe 2:28 (Heb. and E. V.). We each have the indwelling of one and the same personal Spirit, but each according to our measure, 1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:11. One only had the Spirit without measure, in all His fulness: even Christ; Joh 3:34. And the presence of the Holy Spirit is most aptly adduced here where love is in question, His first fruit being love, and His presence being tested by His fruits).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Jn 4:13. , because of) Where the Spirit of God is, there is God.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Jo 4:15, 1Jo 4:16, 1Jo 3:24, Joh 14:20-26, Rom 8:9-17, 1Co 2:12, 1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17, 1Co 6:19, Gal 5:22-25, Eph 2:20-22
Reciprocal: Joh 3:21 – that his Joh 14:17 – but Joh 16:14 – glorify Joh 17:26 – and I Rom 8:16 – Spirit Rom 16:7 – were 1Co 1:9 – the fellowship Eph 2:22 – an Col 2:2 – being 1Jo 2:3 – hereby 1Jo 2:5 – hereby 1Jo 2:20 – ye have 1Jo 2:24 – ye also 1Jo 4:4 – greater
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Jn 4:13. This is the same in thought as chapter 3:24; see the comments there.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Jn 4:13-16. Remembering that this whole section has to do with faith in Jesus as the root of brotherly love, we need not be surprised that the apostle goes back to the introductory words of it. Those words, however, are amplified, as usual: the gift of the Spirit is the seal and assurance that we abide in him and he in us: our being in Him and His being in us are, so to speak, convertible terms: the Holy Ghost being the common term, common to Him and us. God the invisible is seen and known only by the Spirits indwelling. But He abides in us as the seal of a great truth confessed. Hence the apostle, before proceeding, pays his homage again to that truth, his own and his fellow-apostles: And we have beheldin His Son the Invisible God whom no man hath beheld at any time,and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son, the Saviour of the world: the apostolic beholding is followed by their special witness; and this, again, by the confession of the whole Church. Here St. John returns back to the Father and the Son of the earlier chapters, and adds what occurs only here as a confession of faith that Jesus is the Saviour of the world: as in chap. 1Jn 2:3, so here it is remarkable as introduced in the midst of a special reference to the benefit of believers.
Whosoever has confessed that Jesus is the Son of Godthis shows that the leading theme of 1Jn 4:2 is still in the mind of the apostle,
God abideth in him, and he in God: the indwelling is individual as well as mutual, and answers to the no man hath seen and every man who keepeth His commandments abideth in Him and He in him (chap. 1Jn 3:24); the commandments were faith in Jesus or confession of Him and love: the former is in this verse connected with the abiding, in the next verse the latter. But, instead of proceeding immediately to the love of our obedience, St. John once moreas if never weary of itpays his tribute to the love of redemption.
And we have known and believed: this of all believers, answering to And we have beheld and bear witness of the apostles. At the basis of the apostolical announcement are beholding and bearing testimony: at the basis of the Churchs confessionfor the apostle joins the Church in confessing what he had witnessed to the Churchare knowing and believing, which in its proper order is, according to Joh 6:69, believing and knowing: abiding faith confirmed in abiding experience. Once more God is love: the sublimity of this repetition is inexpressible; and the clause that follows is answerable. In the former case, believers received out of His fulness love; now the believer that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. The triple repetition of abideth speaks for itself: the love which God hath in as must have its full meaning; and the sentence as it stands carries the privilege of fellowship with God to its highest point; there is nothing beyond it, scarcely anything equal to it, in all revelation. It leads at once to the word perfection.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
1Jn 4:13-14. Hereby , by this, we know Have full proof; that we dwell, , we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit In the enlightening, quickening, renewing, and comforting influences thereof. Some commentators understand the apostle as speaking here of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit; but surely these gifts, of whatever kind they might be, never were to any man a certain evidence of his possessing real piety and union with God, as is manifest from our Lords words, (Mat 7:22,) Many will say to me in that day of final judgment, We have prophesied in thy name, &c.; then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, &c. And St. Paul (1Co 13:2) declares, that though a man had such a measure of miracle-working faith, that he could remove mountains, yet if he had not love to God and mankind, it would profit him nothing. The ordinary graces of the Spirit, such as are enumerated Gal 5:22-23; Eph 5:9; Col 3:12-17; Rom 12:9-21, are certain evidences of a persons being a child of God; but the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are not, inasmuch as they sometimes have been and still may be possessed by persons destitute of true religion. And we have seen Or known; by undoubted evidence, ourselves; and therefore do boldly testify to others; that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world And that it is in and by him alone, how proudly soever the unbelieving and carnal world may reject and disdain him, that present and eternal salvation can be obtained. These things are the foundation and the criteria of our abiding in God and God in us, namely, the communion of the Spirit, spoken of 1Jn 4:13, and the confession of the Son, 1Jn 4:15.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A believer’s abiding in God and God’s abiding in him or her become evident by the demonstration of love that comes "of" (lit. "out of") God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of the abiding believer’s love just as He is the source of our obedience (cf. 1Jn 3:23-24).