Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 4:11 - 4:16

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 John 4:11 - 4:16


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Dwelling in God and in His love:

v. 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

v. 12. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth, in us, and His love is perfected in us.

v. 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit.

v. 14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

v. 15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God

v. 16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. The love which God showed to us in Christ is the eternal type and pattern of perfect love.

For that reason St. John asks us to become imitators of it: Beloved, if thus. God loved us, we also ought to love one another. If thus, if so greatly, with such a Wonderful love God loved us, if we have received the benefit of His unmerited favor in such rich measure, then it cannot fail, His love must inspire us, we must feel the obligation of passing on some of His love to the brethren, at least by way of reflection. We should never cease to learn from Him what pure, unselfish love really consists in, and how it becomes and remains active, an element that propels the Christian forward and to whose leadership he joyfully yields all his powers.

The apostle brings forward another argument: God, no man has ever seen Him;—if we love one another. God remains in us and His love is complete in us. That no man, no human being, has ever seen God face to face was stated by God Himself, Exo_33:20, and by John, Joh_1:18. This is a bliss which is being reserved for eternal life. But although we cannot see Him, yet we have evidence of His presence in us, by the brotherly love which we feel in our hearts. For it would be impossible for us to have this love and to give practical proof of its presence in us, if it were not for the fact that God has chosen us for His abode and that His love, which wrought the new spiritual life in us, has come to perfection in us, has made its home in our hearts.

All this is not a mere conjecture on our part: In this we recognize that we remain in Him and He in us, because of His Spirit He has given us. If it had not been for this fact, that God imparted to us of His Spirit, gave us some of His life and power, thus enabling us also to feel true brotherly love toward one another, then we could not be sure of our state as Christians. But our confidence rests upon the work of the Spirit in the Word; in this way we have gained the knowledge that we remain in God and God in us. The brotherly love which we feel is a strong bit of evidence for the fact that God has made His abode in us and that we have communication and fellowship with God. Thus we are recompensed, at least to some extent, for the fact that we cannot see God as long as we are in the flesh.

At the same time we have another source of encouragement: And we have beheld and do testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. St. John was not passing on to his readers what he had gotten merely by hearsay. He and his fellow-apostles had had abundant opportunity to behold the work of Christ in His ministry from every angle, to satisfy themselves as to the identity of Jesus of Nazareth and as to His work for the world. They beheld His glory, a glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, Joh_1:14. They all confessed as their heart's conviction that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah, Mat_16:17. John knew that there could be no mistake, that his testimony could not be questioned: Jesus of Nazareth was and is truly the Savior of the whole world, there is not one sinner excepted from His gracious salvation.

And another truth John wants to emphasize: Whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God is in him and he in God. It is necessary that the believers join in the confession of John, that they accept his testimony concerning Christ without doubt. This fact, that the despised Jesus, who died the death of a common criminal on the cross, is nevertheless the true, eternal Son of God, is the basis of Christian faith. No Christian can be sure of his salvation unless these facts are known to him. But where this belief is firmly established in the heart of a man, there that wonderful fellowship obtains whose glory John is continually setting forth, there God makes His abode in the heart, there the believer is in God, united with his heavenly Father by the bonds of such a perfect union as is unknown anywhere else. The apostle and all Christians are such people, for it is of them that John writes: And we have recognized and believed the love which God has in us. This glorious knowledge and certainty came to us by faith in Christ Jesus. We have realized, at least to some extent, what that love means which God has shown us in our Redeemer. Note: This love is a matter of experience, and yet also of belief, for it is so great and wonderful that it is impossible for any man fully to comprehend how much it comprises. We must keep on believing until we enter into that state where we shall see Him face to face and know Him even as we are known.