Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 John 4:15
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
15. Whosoever shall confess ] This was what the false prophets refused to do: see on 1Jn 4:2-3: also on 1Jn 5:1.
dwelleth in him ] Better, abideth in him: see on 1Jn 2:24.
and he in God ] The communion is of the closest description: comp. 1Jn 3:24; Joh 6:56; Joh 14:20; Joh 15:5. Even Apostles, who have beheld and borne witness, can have no more than this Divine fellowship, which is open to every believer.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God – In the true sense, and from the heart. This will always prove that a man is a Christian. But the passage cannot mean that if he merely says so in words, or if he does it insincerely, or without any proper sense of the truth, it will prove that he is a Christian. On the meaning of the sentiment here expressed, see the notes at 1Jo 4:2. Compare the notes at Rom 10:10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Jn 4:15
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God
Confessing Jesus as the Son of God
This implies–
1.
A deep and living conviction, a true perception of mind and heart, that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins and the only Saviour for lost mankind.
2. A vital belief in His salvation, in the efficacy of His blood, and the power of His grace.
3. A hearty and full acceptance of the gospel of the Son of God; a resting in all the doctrines, a waiting for all the promises, an observance of all the ordinances, an obedience to all the commandments.
4. A proclaiming of the Lord as our Divine Redeemer in the face of the world. (J. Slade, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Whosoever shall confess] Much stress is laid on this confession, because the false teachers denied the reality of the incarnation; but this confession implied also such a belief in Christ as put them in possession of his pardoning mercy and indwelling Spirit.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This discourse is most studiously and observably interwoven, of these two great things, mentioned 1Jo 3:23, faith in the Messiah, and the love of one another, as being the principal antidotes against the poisonous insinuations of the apostates. Of confessing: See Poole on “1Jo 4:2“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. shall confessonce forall: so the Greek aorist means.
that Jesus is the Son ofGodand therefore “the Saviour of the world” (1Jo4:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God,…. The only begotten of the Father; that he is not a mere man, as the Jews, and Ebion and Cerinthus said, but a divine person, equal with the Father; which contains all that relates to the dignity of his person, and his fitness for his office as a Saviour, and which was the test of faith in those times, and the grand article of belief: not that a bare assent to this had what followed annexed to it; for the devils believed and owned that Jesus was the Son of God; and so might, and did, unregenerate persons, as the centurion at the cross of Christ, who know nothing what communion with God is; but this confession is such as is attended with a believing in Christ from the heart unto righteousness, life, and salvation, and a cheerful obedience to his ordinances and commands, from a principle of love to him, and faith in him, things not to be found in devils and carnal men; see Ro 10:9.
God dwelleth in him, and he in God; [See comments on 1Jo 4:13]; this should encourage to an open and hearty confession of Christ as the Son of God, and Saviour of sinners, and to a public profession of his name, and faith in him, and an holding it fast without wavering.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Whosoever shall confess ( ). Indefinite relative clause with modal (=an) and the first aorist active subjunctive, “whoever confesses.” See 1John 2:23; 1John 4:2 for .
That (). Object clause (indirect assertion) after . This confession of the deity of Jesus Christ implies surrender and obedience also, not mere lip service (cf. 1Cor 12:3; Rom 10:6-12). This confession is proof (if genuine) of the fellowship with God (1John 1:3; 1John 3:24).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Whosoever [ ] . Lit., who if there be any.
Shall confess. See on 1 9.
Son of God. See on 1 7.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God.” (Greek hos ean) whoever confesses’ that Jesus is the Son of God. In order, this confession of true heart nature, always follows belief – it is not a mere concession that Jesus is the Son of God. Rom 10:10.
2) “God dwelleth in him and he in God.” The confession, to be genuine, must be a fruit of salvation and follow belief from the heart. Rom 10:10; God, the Trinity, (Greek meni) abides, dwells, or remains in him and he in God. Act 10:46-47.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15 Whosoever shall confess He repeats the truth, that we are united to God by Christ, and that we cannot be connected with Christ except, God abides in us. Faith and confession are used indiscriminately in the same sense; for though hypocrites may wisely boast of faith, yet the apostle here acknowledges none of those who ordinarily confess, but such as truly and from the heart believe. Besides, when he says that Jesus is the Son of God, he briefly includes the sum and substance of faith; for there is nothing necessary for salvation which faith finds not in Christ
After having said in general, that men are so united to Christ by faith, that Christ unites them to God, he subjoined what they themselves had seen so that he accommodated a general truth to those to whom he was writing. Then follows the exhortation, to love one another as they were loved by God. Therefore the order and connection of his discourse is this, — Faith in Christ, makes God to dwell in men, and we are partakers of this grace; but as God is love, no one dwells in him except he loves his brethren. Then love ought to reign in us, since God unites himself to us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
1Jn. 4:15. Son of God.St. John was jealous of the double truth of the person of JesusHis Divinity and His humanity.
1Jn. 4:17. Made perfect.Or reaches its purpose and end. The sign of its being fully developed in us will be the removal of fear in relation to the day of judgment. We shall no more fear it than Jesus did. Enter into sonship, and all thought of judgment day passes away from us. Children are not afraid of their father.
1Jn. 4:20-21.A recapitulation, in a vivid form, of the truth and the duty contained in 1Jn. 4:10-11. The love of our neighbour cannot be separated from the love of God, of which it is a distinguishing and essential mark. Sight is the great provocative of love. The difficulty of our loving God as an unseen being is met by the manifestation of God in His Son. This commandment.Mat. 22:37-39.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Jn. 4:15-21
The Triumphs of the Perfect Love.There is considerable repetition of statement in this epistle, the repetition of a man who has a few main truths which he holds tightly, and loves to brood over. He delights in the sound of them, and so goes over them again and again. The additional thought here is, that when our loveour love to God, and to our brotherhas grown into such strength that it can fairly be called perfect, that is, perfect within the measures of the human, it proves to have a splendid power in our lives, elevating us to meet all occasions, freeing us from all fear, giving us grand inspirations, and even making us bold to meet the testings of the judgment day. Then, as if it were to him an absolutely essential point, he urges again on attention that the love he means is only that love which comes by the conviction and persuasion of Gods love in Christ to us, and finds its natural and befitting expression in self-sacrificing love to the brethren. 1Jn. 4:18 is proof of the preceding statement that perfect love will give us boldness, by showing the mutually exclusive nature of love and fear. Love moves towards others in the spirit of self-sacrifice; fear shrinks from others in the spirit of self-preservation. The two are to be understood quite generally; neither love of God nor fear of God is specially meant. In all relations whatever, perfect love excludes fear, and fear prevents love from being perfect. And the two vary inversely: the more perfect the love, the less possibility of fear; and the more the fear, the less perfect the love. But though as certain as any physical law, the principle, that perfect love excludes all fear, is an ideal that has never been verified in fact. Like the first law of motion, it is verified by the approximations made to it. No believers love has ever been so perfect as entirely to banish fear; but every believer experiences that as his love increases his fear diminishes (A. Plummer, D.D.).
I. Loves triumph in the judgment day.What can there possibly be to condemn in a life ruled and toned by love? That can be answered by asking another questionWhat was there to condemn in that human life which was lived by the Lord Jesus, and was ruled and toned by love? It is inconceivable that the Lord Jesus could fear any attempt to appraise, or test, or judge His human life. Then, in the degree in which we have the perfect love, it can be said of us, As He is, so are we in this world, and therefore we need fear judgment no more that He did.
II. Loves triumph over the inward distress of fear.Perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. It worries us, causes fretting and anxiety, because it keeps our thoughts circling round self and self-interests. There is no fear in love, because it takes us out of ourselves, and makes us spend ourselves in the service of others. And anxiety about them is altogether different from fear, which concerns ourselves. If we live in this serene atmosphere of pure sympathy with God and man, Christ is in us, and we in Him, because God is love itself. Sharing His nature, therefore, we must be like Him; and the more completely we allow this Divine love towards our Father and our brothers to transform our whole being, the more we shall be like our Judge, and the less cause we shall have for dread. The more perfect this disposition of serene sympathy becomes, the less share can any form of anxiety have in it. Where it is a well-grounded sympathy with a perfect being, its serenity is all the more complete in proportion to its sincerity.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
1Jn. 4:15. The Divinity of Christ a Test Doctrine.Jesus is the Son of God. Compare 1Jn. 4:2, which demands the confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, or took upon Himself a veritable human body. But this comparison brings to view a distinction not always recognised. Belief in the humanity of Christ is absolutely demanded as a condition of being a Christian at all; but no such absolute demand is made in relation to belief in Christs Divinity. What is said about that is that it is essential to the higher Christian life, it belongs to the higher experiences; the man who can see in Christ the Son of God enters into the more advanced privileges; God dwelleth in him, and he in God. When this distinction is set before us, we remember that our Lords disciples had Him first in a human fellowship, and apprehended Him, and believed in Him as the Messiah-man Christ Jesus. It even appears that they only very slowly grew into the idea of His Divine Sonship. St. Peter was manifestly in advance of them all with his confession. But none of them entered into the higher life of relations with Christ until they did fully grasp the truth of the Divine Sonship. To be saved men must believe in the human Saviour, in Christ come in the flesh. To be sanctified, to attain the higher life, men must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So the test of the regenerate life wasand perhaps, if we stated things aright, we should see that it still isbelieving that Christ is come in the flesh. And the test of Christian attainment is the sign of the cultured soul-power that can grip the truth, that Jesus is the Son of God.
1Jn. 4:16. God is Love.There is one form of worship that is universal and involuntary, and that is the resemblance which the deity and the devotee are certain to bear to one another. They who worship an idol are like to the idol in the beginning, for they fashion it after the model of something in themselves; but they grow more and more like to it afterwards, by sharing and copying the qualities with which they fancy the false god to be endowed. No man is better than what he burns incense to, but every man takes on more and more of the character of his favourite divinity. How came human parents by their love? Through the being made in the image and likeness of God. Parental love is a valuable salvage from the wreck of the Fall. This is our subjectthe divinity of Love, and the love of Divinity.
I. The strong representation, God is love.There is a most vital difference betwixt the conduct of any being and the character of any being; and there is a yet further distinction between character and essence. This emphatic languagethe calling the Being the attributeis a dignity reserved for this one attribute alone. I read that with God is terrible majesty, but I have no recollection of being told that God is majesty. (See, however, the expression God is light.) How could love have been embodied so richly as it was in the Seeker and Saviour of the lost, the Friend of little children, the Companion of sorrowful women, the Comforter of penitent outcasts, the Refuge of publicans and sinners, and the Sacrifice in body and blood for the world of the ungodly? Surely, herein is love. This text is Immanuel in print. We want both the love and the God. Call Christ God, or call Christ Love, as you need Him at the moment, for He is both. Being both makes Him the Mediator.
II. The extraordinary language touching the relation of the Christian with Christ.We are, first, the inhabitants, with Christ for a dwelling, and then we are the houses, in which Christ makes a home. Two very different ideas, but both equally beautiful and equally instructive.Henry Christopherson.
1Jn. 4:18-21. Perfect Love casteth out Fear.(This outline is given as an illustration of the evangelistic method of dealing with the passage.)
I. The state of an awakened soul.Fear hath torment. There are two kinds of fear mentioned in the Bible. The one is the atmosphere of heaven, the other of hell.
1. There is the fear of love.
2. There is the fear of terror. Deal with the latter, and explain its rise in the soul.
(1) A natural man casteth off fear, and restrains prayer before God.
(2) When the Spirit of God opens the eyes, He makes the sinner tremble.
(3) The Spirit makes him feel the greatness of sin, the exceeding sinfulness of it.
(4) Then the sense of corruption working in the heart torments the soul.
(5) The Spirit also convinces the soul of his inability to help himself.
(6) And then the man fears he shall never be in Christ.
II. The change on believing.The love here spoken of is not our love to God, but His to us; for it is called perfect love.
2. But where does this love fall? On Jesus Christ.
III. His love gives boldness in the day of judgmentBecause then
1. Christ shall be our Judges 2. The Father Himself loves us.
IV. The consequences of being in the love of God
1. We love Him.
2. We love our brother.R. M. McCheyne.
1Jn. 4:18. Two Kinds of Fear.The Bible speaks of two kinds of fear. One is terror, fright, dread,the lively apprehension of evil to come; the crouching and crying of the dog in anticipation of the lash whose whistle in the air he already hears. The other is reverence, respect, adoration,the awe that fills the mind as it stands in the presence of errorless Wisdom; the instinctive tribute that weakness pays to Omnipotence; the admiration that human frailty cannot conceal, or suppress, when Gods flawless goodness rises before it; tho impression of the Divine on the human; the worshipful stoop of the soul before God, not because it is frightened, not because God has thunder-bolts in His hands, and legions of heaven-bright warriors, with swords that turn every way around Him, but because He is altogether lovely, because He has mercy for thousands, because He is holy and good, because He is Godbecause He is Love.J. Morgan Gibbon.
Love and Fear.In the epistles of the apostle of love comes out most broadly, most sternly, the principle that all mankind are divided into two great classes,the one, those that are of God; and the other, those that are of the world and of the devil. Whatever is not of light is darkness. There are only two motives, St. John says, that rule men in regard to Godonly two emotions: either love or fear.
I. The universal dominion of fear.Wherever there is not the presence of active love. This rests on the universal consciousness of sin. All men everywhere have some more or less active or torpid working of conscience. It is not made doubtful by the fact, that the ordinary condition of men is not one of active dread of God. Man has a strange power of refusing to think of a subject, because he knows that to think of it would be torture and terror. The fear which springs from the conviction of God as righteous, and the consciousness of individual sinfulness, varies in energy with the varying strength of these two convictions, and it assumes various forms. Sometimes it appears as a straining after forgetfulnessthat is fear wearing the mask of godlessness. Sometimes it assumes the very opposite shape, and becomes the underlying basis of vast and complicated systems of rigorous, joyless worshipthat is fear wearing the mask of godliness. Sometimes this fear takes the understanding into its pay, and appears as enlightened disbelief in God and immortality. Sometimes it takes the shape of vehement efforts to get rid of unwelcome thought by fierce plunging into business, or into wild riot. Whatever form it take, the fear which hath torment lies like a sleeping serpent in the hearts of all who think of God, and who cannot say, We have known and believed the love which God hath to us.
II. The fearlessness of perfect love.Love is no weak thing, no mere sentiment. The manliness of Christian love, and the putting away from ourselves of all fear, because we are perfected in love, is one of the highest lessons that the gospel teaches us, and one of the greatest things which the gospel gives us. Love and fear exclude each other. Fear is based upon a consideration of some possible personal evil consequence coming down upon me from that clear sky above me. Love is based upon the forgetfulness of self altogether. The love of God, entering a mans heart, destroys all fear of Him. All the attributes of God come to be on our side. The love which casts out fear rises in the heart as a consequence of knowing and believing the love which God hath to us. This love to God, which is built upon Gods love to us, is the all-powerful motive for every good thing. If you would grow in power, holiness, blessedness, remember this, Love is the fulfilling of the law. Perfect love is perfect man. And love, which destroys fear, heightens reverence and deepens self-distrust.A. Maclaren, D.D.
1Jn. 4:19. The Genesis of Christian Love.We love, because He first loved us. Spontaneous love, loving just because He is love, and must give out Himself, may be predicated of God, but it can be predicated of none else. Yet even the love of God can do nothing until it finds an object to spend itself upon. All love other than Gods is kindled by love. It is like lifeit cannot exist save by the contact of love. Nobody on earth ever loves unless he is loved. The love may be that of some one who loves us, or it may be the love of some one whom we love. In any and every case we love because somebody loves us. And St. John does not simply say that we love God because He loves us; but he urges the larger and altogether more searching truth, that the love of God to us cannot have its right influence on us unless it makes us lovingloving to the brethren, loving to everybody. The Christian love is precisely that feeling a man can alone have when he knows and believes the love that God hath unto him.
Love the Cause of Love.
I. The love of God to us as sinners is the sole cause of our love to Him.To make this fully appear, we may specify those other sources from which this disposition might be supposed to proceed.
1. Our love to God might be supposed to be the result of a superior discernment of the Divine character. But as that character is an object of dislike to all men in their natural, fallen state, it is obvious that this repugnance is not to be overcome by the exhibition of that character in a clearer light. An object of terror or dislike, so long as it is viewed as such, cannot be loved; and the more distinctly such an object appears, the more intensely will it be hated. The antipathy to it can only be removed by means of some new discovery, which shall place that object in an attractive light.
2. It might be thought that love to God, where it exists, is the result of some predisposition in the sinners heart towards God. Such partialities and predilections operate very generally among men. But since the heart of every man, by nature, is at enmity to God, our love to Him cannot be attributed to this source. If in any heart it might have originated thus, we should expect to find it in the amiable John. But he himself is no exception.
3. It might be supposed, again, that the principle of love to God is directly planted in the heart by the hand of God. But true love cannot be forced; it withers under the breath and touch of violence. No other source but the Divine compassion to us as sinners can give birth to this heavenly principle.
II. This love of God is the sufficient cause of our love to Him.The stoutest rebel must relent and love a Being whose mercy and compassion he has been brought to feel extends to himself.Anon.
1Jn. 4:20. Keeping with Brethren.To separate ourselves from our brethren is to lose power. Half-dead brands heaped close will kindle one another, and flame will sparkle beneath the film of white ashes on their edges. Fling them apart, and they go out. Rake them together, and they glow. Let us try not to be little, feeble tapers, stuck in separate sockets, and each twinkling struggling rays over some inch or so of space; but draw near to our brethren, and be workers together with them, that there may rise a glorious flame from our summed and collective brightness which shall be a guide and hospitable call to many a wandering and weary spirit.A. Maclaren, D.D.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
1Jn. 4:17. Perfect Love.We are along way yet from perfect love; it is too Divine a thing to be speedily fulfilled in the creature. But we are coming to it; and then, when we do come to it, we shall know more fully how great and blessed it is as the best wine, creations endless festival, by reviewing the ages upon ages of division and strife through which we have struggled on to the unity of love in Christ. The labours of God, the labours of the angels, the labours of the Church, the groans and contentions of all creatures and all elements, will go on, and never cease, until the redemption of mankind; for the perfect individual is essential to the perfection of love.Pulsford.
1Jn. 4:18. Love casting out Fear.The literal sense of this verse is as follows: (Slavish) fear exists not in this love, but perfect love (such as this) casts aside fear; for (such) fear carries with it terror (which is inconsistent with love), since he who feareth is not perfected in love, does not love perfectly and sincerely. , fear, here signifies a fear, not of displeasing God, but of incurring His punishment, which conscience raises. Casteth out fear refers to the previous verse, and is contrasted with a joyful confidence in the mercy of GodBloomfield.
1Jn. 4:19. Love-won Love.Have you seen a broad, straight path of silver brightness lying by night upon a smooth sea, and stretching from your feet away until it was lost in the distancea path that seemed to have been trodden by the feet of all the saints who have ever passed through a shifting world to the eternal home? Oh, that silver path by night across the sea, it glittered much; but it was not its brightness that lighted up the moon in the sky, neither was it the love to Jesus, trembling in a believers heart, that kindled forgiving love in Him! The love that makes bright a forgiven sinners path across the world was kindled by the light of life in the face of Jesus.W. Arnot.
CHAPTER 5
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
15. Confess In accordance with our testify, in last verse.
Jesus Son of God Not but that men may barely confess this one article and reject other truths, and thus be unsaved heretics. Our apostle simply gives this essential part for the whole testify; this being the test question between him and the heretics with whom he is dealing, Note 1Jn 4:2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Whoever will confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.’
God’s salvation is only effective through His Son. Each one who truly confesses Jesus as God’s Son, and as the Saviour of the world, believes in the fact that the only Son became flesh in the man Jesus and dwelt among us, and makes that confession as a response of faith in the light of all He has done for us in dying for us. Then as a result of this true faith he has God abiding in him, and himself abides in God. So salvation is through faith, and love for the brethren is one of the outwards signs of the reality of that faith and of our experience of God’s love.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Jn 4:15. Whosoever shall confess See on 1Jn 4:2. The confession here required must have been sincere, otherwise it would have been of no moment. Confessing Jesus to be the Son of God, or the Messiah, implied their taking him for their Head and Lord, whom they were to love, imitate, and obey. Together with confession of the mouth, there was to be faith in the heart, and a suitable behaviour in the life and practice. They were to confess that Jesus isthe Christ openly and publicly, even when danger and persecution attended that confession. Hence came afterwards the distinguishing name of confessors, to denote those who had suffered in part for their religion, and who were ready to have died as martyrs, rather than to have denied the truth. Such were undoubtedly the most likely to imitate Christ’s example, obey his commands, and rejoice in the prospect of his second coming. The connection of this verse with the context stands thus: It was intimated, 1Jn 4:14 that the apostles had known and clearly proved, that Jesus was the Messiah and Saviour of the world. Here it is to be observed, that whoever duly attended to the evidence which the apostles had brought, and thereupon with the heart believed Jesus to be the Son of God, and lived and acted accordingly, was a true Christian, and in the divine favour: Whence St. John makes the intended inference, 1Jn 4:16 namely, that whoever believed that astonishing instance of the love of God in sending his Son, would be inflamed with a just sense of it, and would sincerely love his fellow-christians. See Joh 17:22-23.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Ver. 15. Whosoever shall confess ] See Trapp on “ 1Co 12:3 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15 .] And recognition of this fact is a condition and proof of the life of God. Whosoever confesseth (the aorist can only be given by the English present and an exegesis, viz. that this present betokens not a repeated act and habit, but a great act once for all introducing the man into a state of . All futures, “ shall confess ,” and futuri exacti, “ shall have confessed ,” are objectionable; the one as losing the retrospective tinge, the other as making it unduly prominent, and indeed imparting a slight hue of transitoriness, which least of all belongs to the word.
The same remark holds good of this confessing, as before with regard to denying, ch. 1Jn 2:23 ; viz., that we must not bring into it more than the Apostle intends by it: it is not the “confession of the life ” which is here spoken of, but that of the lips only. Of course it would be self-evident that this is taken by the Apostle as ruling the life: but simply as a matter of course. He speaks of the ideal realized) that Jesus is the Son of God (i. e. receives the testimony in the last verse as true), God abideth in him, and he in God .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Jn 4:15 . , aor. of a definite confession born of persuasion. Such a conviction implies fellowship with God.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Jn 4:15-21
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19We love, because He first loved us. 20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
1Jn 4:15 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God” This is an aorist active subjunctive. For “confesses” see note at 1Jn 4:2. One of John’s three tests of a true Christian is theological truth concerning the person and work of Jesus (cf. 1Jn 2:22-23; 1Jn 4:1-6; 1Jn 5:1; 1Jn 5:5). This is also matched in 1 John and James with lifestyle love and obedience. Christianity is a person, a body of truth, and a lifestyle. See Contextual Insights, C.
The inclusive term “whoever” is the great invitation of God for anyone and everyone to come to Him. All humans are made in the image of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27; Gen 5:3; Gen 9:6). God promised redemption to the human race in Gen 3:15. His call to Abraham was a call to reach the world (cf. Gen 12:3; Exo 19:5). Jesus’ death dealt with the sin problem (cf. Joh 3:16). Everyone can be saved if they will respond to the covenant obligations of repentance, faith, obedience, service, and perseverance. God’s word to all is “Come” (cf. Isaiah 55).
SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH’s ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN
“God abides in him and he in God” This reflects the covenantal structure of God’s relationship with humankind. God always takes the initiative, sets the agenda and provides the basis for the covenant, but humans have the responsibility to initially respond and to continue to respond.
Abiding is a covenant requirement, but also a wonderful promise (cf. John 15). Imagine the Creator of the universe, the Holy One of Israel, abiding with (indwelling) fallen humans (cf. Joh 14:23)! See Special Topic on Abiding at 1Jn 2:10.
1Jn 4:16 “We have come to know and have believed” These verbs are both perfect active indicatives. Believers’ confident faith assurance of God’s love in Christ, not existential circumstances, is the basis of their relationship. See Special Topic: Assurance at 1Jn 5:13.
“which God has for us” This is a Present active indicative expressing God’s continuing love.
“God is love” This important truth is repeated (cf. 1Jn 4:8).
1Jn 4:17 “By this, love is perfected” This is from the Greek word telos (cf. 1Jn 4:12). It implies fullness, maturity, and completion, not sinlessness.
“with us” This preposition (meta) can be understood as “in us” (TEV, NJB), “among us” (NKJV, NRSV, NIV, REB), or “with us” (NASB).
“so that we may have confidence” Originally this term meant freedom of speech. John uses this extensively (cf. 1Jn 2:28; 1Jn 3:21; 1Jn 5:14). It speaks of our boldness in approaching a holy God (cf. Heb 3:6; Heb 10:35). See Special Topic at Joh 7:4.
“in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world” Christians are to love as Jesus loved (cf. 1Jn 3:16; 1Jn 4:11). They may be rejected and persecuted as He was, but also they are loved and sustained by the Father and the Spirit as He was! One day all humans will give an account to God for the gift of life (cf. Mat 25:31-46; 2Co 5:10; Rev 20:11-15). Judgment Day holds no fear for those in Christ.
1Jn 4:18 “There is no fear in love” When we come to know God as Father, we no longer fear Him as judge. Most, if not all, conversions to Christianity involve fear-fear of judgment, of condemnation, of hell. However, a wonderful thing happens in the life of redeemed humans: what starts with fear ends in no fear!
“fear involves punishment” This is a rare word used only here and Mat 25:46 (the verb form is in 2Pe 2:9), which is also an eschatological setting. The present tense verb implies that fear of God’s wrath is both temporal (in time) and eschatological (at the end of time). Humans are made in God’s image (cf. Gen 1:26-27) which involves aspects of personality, knowledge, choice, and consequences. This is a moral universe. Humans don’t break God’s laws; they break themselves on God’s laws!
1Jn 4:19 “We love” This is a present active indicative. The NKJV adds a direct object after “we love.” The manuscript options for a direct object are:
1. in one uncial Greek manuscript () “God” (ton theon) is supplied
2. in “Him” (auton) is supplied (KJV)
3. in the Vulgate “one another” is supplied
These direct objects may be later additions. The UBS4 gives the verb only an “A” rating (certain).
“because He first loved us” The is the repeated emphasis of 1Jn 4:10. God always takes the initiative (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65) but fallen mankind must respond (cf. Joh 1:12; Joh 3:16). Believers trust in His trustworthiness and have faith in His faithfulness. The loving, acting, faithful character of the Triune God is the hope and assurance of redeemed mankind.
1Jn 4:20 “If someone says” This is a third class conditional sentence which meant potential action. This is another example of John quoting the statements of the false teachers in order to make a point (cf. 1Jn 1:6; 1Jn 1:8; 1Jn 1:10; 1Jn 2:4; 1Jn 2:6). This literary technique is called diatribe (cf. Malachi, Romans, and James).
“‘I love God’ and hates his brother” Our lifestyle love clearly reveals whether we are Christians (cf. Mar 12:28-34). Conflict is possible, but settled hatred is not (present tense). See SPECIAL TOPIC: Racism at Joh 4:4.
“he is a liar” John calls several “supposed” believers liars (cf. 1Jn 2:4; 1Jn 2:22; 1Jn 4:20). John also states that those who preach false truths make God a liar (cf. 1Jn 1:6; 1Jn 1:10; 1Jn 5:10). There surely are self-deceived religionists!
1Jn 4:21 This verse summarizes the chapter! Love is the non-counterfeitable evidence of a true believer. Hate is the evidence of a child of the evil one. The false teachers were dividing the flock and causing conflict.
“brother” It must be admitted that the term “brother” is ambiguous. It could mean “fellow Christian” or “fellow human.” However, John’s recurrent use of “brother” for believers implies the first meaning (cf. 1Ti 4:10).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
confess, &c. See Mat 16:16.
Jesus. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15.] And recognition of this fact is a condition and proof of the life of God. Whosoever confesseth (the aorist can only be given by the English present and an exegesis,-viz. that this present betokens not a repeated act and habit, but a great act once for all introducing the man into a state of . All futures, shall confess, and futuri exacti, shall have confessed, are objectionable; the one as losing the retrospective tinge, the other as making it unduly prominent, and indeed imparting a slight hue of transitoriness, which least of all belongs to the word.
The same remark holds good of this confessing, as before with regard to denying, ch. 1Jn 2:23; viz., that we must not bring into it more than the Apostle intends by it: it is not the confession of the life which is here spoken of, but that of the lips only. Of course it would be self-evident that this is taken by the Apostle as ruling the life: but simply as a matter of course. He speaks of the ideal realized) that Jesus is the Son of God (i. e. receives the testimony in the last verse as true), God abideth in him, and he in God.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Jn 4:15. , the Son of God) and therefore the Saviour of the world, 1Jn 4:14.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
confess: 1Jo 4:2, 1Jo 5:1, 1Jo 5:5, Mat 10:32, Luk 12:8, Rom 10:9, Phi 2:11, 2Jo 1:7
God dwelleth: 1Jo 4:12, 1Jo 3:24
Reciprocal: Psa 31:2 – an house Psa 91:1 – dwelleth Isa 45:17 – Israel Mat 16:16 – Thou Mat 16:17 – but Mar 8:29 – Thou Joh 1:34 – this Joh 3:21 – that his Joh 6:56 – dwelleth Joh 9:35 – Dost Joh 12:42 – they did not Joh 14:23 – make Joh 17:3 – and Jesus Joh 20:31 – these Act 8:37 – I believe Act 9:20 – that Rom 1:3 – his Son Rom 10:10 – and with Rom 14:11 – confess 1Co 3:16 – the Spirit 2Co 6:16 – I will dwell 1Jo 2:5 – hereby 1Jo 2:23 – denieth 1Jo 4:13 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Jn 4:15. See the comments at verses 1-3.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Jn 4:15-17. Whosoever shall From a principle of loving faith, openly confess In the face of all opposition and danger, maintaining this profession with resolution and zeal, and acting in conformity to it; that Jesus is the Son of God The Christ, the Saviour of the world; God abideth in him, and he in God There is a blessed union between God and his soul, so that it is, in the language of Scripture, the habitation of God; who, as it were, lives and walks in him, Eph 2:22; 1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:18. And we have known and believed By the influence of the same Spirit; the love that God hath to us And hath manifested, not only by giving his Son to die for us, (1Jn 4:9-10,) but by making us his children in and through his Son, 1Jn 3:1. God is love The apostle repeats what he had declared 1Jn 4:8, where see the note; and he that abideth in love Namely, in love to God, his people, and all mankind; abideth in God, and God in him His union and communion with God are hereby continued and increased. Herein Or hereby, that is, by the continuance of this communion with God; is our love made perfect We are brought to love him with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves; that we may have That is, so that we shall have; boldness in the day of judgment When all the stout-hearted shall tremble; because as he, Christ, is, so are we Who are fathers in Christ; in this world Even while we live on earth, so far as the imperfections of this mortal life, to which we are here confined, will admit.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:15 Whosoever shall {h} confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
(h) With such a confession as comes from true faith, and is accompanied with love, so that there is an agreement of all things.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Confessing that Jesus is God’s Son is not the only condition for abiding in God. It is one evidence that one is abiding. One not abiding may or may not make this confession. Confession is the last step, the step of bearing witness (cf. 1Jn 1:9; 1Jn 2:23; 1Jn 4:3; Rom 10:9-10).
"The notion of God ’abiding’ in someone has rich associations with John’s Gospel, where meno occurs more than three dozen times. The word can mean simply to dwell somewhere; one’s domicile is where one ’abides’ (Joh 1:38-39 a; Joh 2:12; Joh 4:40 [2x]; Joh 7:9; Joh 8:35 [2x]; Joh 10:40; Joh 11:6; Joh 11:54). But there is a fuller sense. God’s Spirit descended and ’remained’ on Jesus, according to John the Baptist (Joh 1:32-33). The Spirit was Jesus’s constant companion. To ’remain’ or ’abide’ in Jesus’s teaching is to be his true disciple (Joh 8:31). A disciple will be informed and steered by all that Jesus commanded and taught. God the Father ’remained’ or ’abode’ with Jesus during his earthly days (Joh 14:10). The Father was the source of the very words he spoke, and Jesus ’remained’ continually in the Father’s love (Joh 15:10 b. ’Abiding’ describes a reality involving father, Son, and Spirit." [Note: Yarbrough, p. 252.]