Exploring 1 John: Confessing and Believing the Love of God
1 John 4:15-16 - Take the two tests of your relationship with God!
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We 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.”
1 John 4:15-16 NASB1995
John repeats some of his key themes in these next two verses. Repetition is one of the best ways to ensure that your audience actually learns something. As I found out during my work days and when I did training, it was a good strategy to tell folks what you plan to tell them in your introduction, then tell it to them in detail, then tell it again at a summary level at the end. John is doing this effective strategy for the church centuries before scientists found out that repetition in learning helps establish neuron paths that are permanent in the brain (see this Article). I must not have done the proper repetitions during my calculus and differential equation classes, because I certainly could not perform those mathematical functions now, but I still remember a tiny bit of Spanish and a few other tidbits of trivia from many years of education.
John talks about confessing that Jesus is the Son of God again. It’s not enough to know about Jesus. You have to agree (confess) with God that Jesus is the Son of God (you might recall that confession in a word study I did means agreement). Then God abides in you and you in Him. I think that John Piper has an excellent commentary on this passage. Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God is basic belief and assurance of our salvation, not some advanced intimacy with God:
What does John mean by abiding in God and God abiding in us? Is it an intimate second stage of Christianity or is it just plain being a Christian? Jesus said in John 15:6, "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned." Abiding in Christ does not refer to a second level of maturity. It refers to whether you are in the vine or in the fire.
Confessing Jesus Is Basic Christianity
Or closer to home, consider verse 15 in our text. "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." Are we really supposed to understand from this that the way you attain to intimacy with God is by confessing that Jesus is the Son of God? Surely not. When John says here that the evidence of abiding in God is that we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, he means that the confession is the evidence that you are saved. Confessing Jesus as the Son of God is basic Christianity, not advanced Christianity. When John says, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God," he does not mean that whoever signs up for the softball team hits a homerun. He means that whoever signs up for the softball team is on the softball team. Abiding in God is being on the team. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God is saved.
I don’t think it can get any clearer than that, honestly. When we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, we are on His team. We are saved! We don’t have to do anything for the team other than confess and believe.
John continues in this passage and again reiterates that God is love and that the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in Him. I must do another extract from the excellent sermon that John Piper has on this passage, with the two tests that we can take to understand our relationship with God; this is seriously some of the best commentary that I have read that helps you know where you stand. If you struggle, I have also extracted a prayer that Piper has for my daily prayer below to help you:
Let's close by applying these two tests to our own lives.
The test of hearing and confessing the truth of the apostles' testimony that Jesus is the Son of God.
And the test of loving each other.
Let me suggest three questions for each test. Ask yourself these questions:
1. The Test of Hearing and Confessing
1.1. Does your heart incline to the testimony of the apostles and prophets? That is, do you have a persevering longing to read the Bible or to hear the Word of God?
The question is not: Do you never have dry times of indifference? The question is: Is the ongoing, customary desire of your heart to join Mary at the feet of Jesus and do the one thing needful, namely, listen (Luke 10:42)? "My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and they follow me" (John 10:27; cf. 10:16; 18:37). Do you long to listen to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles' teaching about him?
1.2. When your heart grows cool and you begin to drift away from the Word of God, do you feel a godly guilt that humbles you and brings you back broken to the cross for forgiveness and renewal?
1.3. When you hear the testimony of Scripture that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, does your heart confess this truth? That is, do you gladly affirm the divine greatness of Christ and how worthy he is of trust and admiration and loyalty and obedience? Does your heart exalt Christ as the greatest thing of all? For that is surely what it means to be "Son of God."
2. The Test of Loving Each Other
2.1. When you hear a description of love like 1 Corinthians 13 or when you contemplate the example of Christ's life of love, does your heart fill with longing to be like that, and do you make firm resolves to conquer unloving attitudes and behaviors?
2.2. When you fail in a resolve of love, does it grieve you and bring you broken to the cross pleading for forgiveness and seeking new strength to love again?
2.3. Is the current and pattern of your life to live for the eternal good of other people, or are your thoughts and dreams and daily choices generally aimed at merely making yourself comfortable and your name esteemed?
YIKES! Question 2.3 is one in particular that I might fail quite often, especially the part about being comfortable instead of sacrificing for others. We also need to listen and listen again to His Word to bring us to the realization that we are truly loved and saved. I plan to add these questions to our intercessory prayers when we pray supplication for ourselves.
My next devotional examines 1 John 4:17-18 - Perfect love drives out fear.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Here is the Prayer that John Piper suggests praying if you have difficulties with the two tests (hearing and confessing, loving each other):
Have mercy upon me, O God, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. I am prone to forsake you and go after other things. The eyes of my heart have been blind and I have not seen or cherished your truth and glory as I should. I am helpless in myself, O Lord.
Deliver me, I pray, from the terrible deceitfulness of my own heart. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and give me a spirit that is willing to believe in the truth and beauty of Jesus Christ. Fill me with joy and peace through the forgiveness of his cross and through the promise of eternal life. And free me from selfishness and pride so I can love the way he loved.
Into your grace I commit my life, merciful God. From this day on I will never call myself my own. I surrender myself to Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org.
In all cases of republishing, the following attribution must be included:
By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org