(Chapter 4:7–5:12)
John carries on with his proofs and counter-proofs in connection with another attribute of God’s nature and Being—love. He has touched on the subject of love already in the epistle, contrasting it with hatred (chap. 2:5-11; 3:11-23), but now he revisits it to take it up in depth. With love being mentioned about 35 times in this short section of the epistle, we are left without doubt that the subject before us is the love of God.
Genuine Love For One Another
(Vss. 7-8)
John begins this last section of the epistle with a simple exhortation for the children of God to love one another. He holds this up as a proof of a person having the divine nature. He says: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” As is so often the case with John’s abstract style, his point here is profoundly simple; those who love their brethren with genuine love prove that they are real believers, and those who don’t are not real. “Let,” means that we are to allow the new life in us to express itself naturally, which will be to “love one another.” This shows that it’s possible for us to get in the way of the new life acting in our lives, and thus, hinder its expression. The chief culprit is the flesh, but if we walk in the Spirit, it will not lift up its ugly head in our lives (Gal. 5:1616This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)). John concludes his short exhortation to love one another by stating the reason: “For God is love.” It is quite so that God is love, but that does not mean that the reverse is true. God is love, but love is not God. This kind of reasoning is dangerous; it can become a mystical thing wherein a person looks for a subjective experience within himself. Such endeavours have led men away from the truth.
The World’s Love Is Not Divine Love
The problem that the saints were facing in those days was that many false persons had entered the Christian ranks who professed to love the brethren—but they were not real. These persons were making a fair show of love, and the saints were in danger of being deceived into thinking that they were real children of God—but their love was not divine love that emanated from the divine nature. The Lord told the disciples that the world has its own love, but it largely loves for selfish reasons. It loves for what it gets in return (Luke 6:3232For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. (Luke 6:32); John 15:1919If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:19)). It sees something in its object that is worthy of its love and pity and loves on that basis (Rom. 5:77For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. (Romans 5:7)). Hence, we mustn’t think that every act of kindness and love among men is necessarily a proof that they are born of God and possess the divine nature. (There is also natural love that all men have, more or less—e.g. the love that parents have for their children. This, too, though amiable, is not divine love.)
Divine love (Greek – “agapeo”) loves even when there is nothing in its object that is worthy of its love. God’s love emanates from a settled disposition of His heart toward us; He sets His love upon man, seeking his blessing as a matter of choice (Deut. 7:7-87The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:7‑8)). God loved us when we were ungodly sinners! We were once “haters of God” and “enemies,” yet He commended His love toward us and in due time “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 1:29-31; 3:10-18; 5:6, 829Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (Romans 1:29‑31)
10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17And the way of peace have they not known: 18There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10‑18)
6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)).
The Qualities and Characteristics of Divine Love
Having stated that “God is love” (vs. 8), the question is: “How are we to know divine love from the love of the world? John, therefore, is led to speak of the qualities and characteristics of divine love by which we are given a benchmark to test all pretention to a person’s being born of God and having the divine nature. He speaks of the love of God in three ways:
• His love “to us” in regard to our past (vs. 9).
• His love “in us” in regard to the present (vs. 12).
• His love “with us” in regard to the future (vs. 17).
The Love of God to Us
(Vss. 9-10)
The first and foremost mark of divine love is that it sacrifices itself for the good and blessing of others. This is seen in God’s love to us in the sending of His Son to die for us. John says: “In this was manifested the love of God toward [to] us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” This was the greatest display of love that there ever was! God gave His Son as a sacrifice for sin to bring believers into the blessing of salvation. There has been no greater gift of love than this! (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)) The price that the Lord Jesus paid to redeem us (His atoning sufferings) only magnifies the greatness of His love. Reflecting on this incredible gift, the Apostle Paul said, “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)). Every believer can echo the same thankful sentiment (2 Cor. 9:1515Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)).
In these verses, John touches on two things for which God sent His Son into the world—that we might “live through Him” (vs. 9) and that He might be “the propitiation for our sins” (vs. 10). The first involves Christ’s incarnation and the second involves His death. In order for men to have life eternal, Christ had to come and reveal the Father (John 1:18; 14:918No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? (John 14:9)), for knowing God as our Father is the essence of that life (John 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)). But divine love didn’t stop at Christ’s coming. It carried Him on to the cross where He demonstrated its greatness in the supreme act of self-sacrifice (Heb. 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)). Christ willingly became the Sin-bearer; His atoning sufferings rendered a full satisfaction to the claims of divine justice in regard to sin (the meaning of “propitiation”). John’s point here is that divine love would not stop at anything to save sinners. It found a way to overcome the great barrier of sin that stood in the way of man’s blessing, even though it cost God the giving of the dearest Object of His heart! This love did not originate with us; its source is God Himself, for He is love. Hence, John says, “Not that we loved God, but that He loved us.”
The Love of God in Us
(Vss. 11-16)
John proceeds with a second characteristic of divine love—it manifests God, and when enjoyed in the soul, it leads the believer to testify of the grace of God to others. This has to do with the love of God being in us. He says: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” Knowing that we are objects of God’s love should create a response in us to “love one another,” and in doing so, we manifest the invisible God, because “God is love” (vs. 16).
When Christ was here, the unseen God was manifested in Him (John 1:18; 14:918No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? (John 14:9)). But now since Christ has gone back to heaven, John tells us that we are to manifest God here in this world. This, he says, is done by loving one another. When we love one another, “the love of God is perfected in us” (vs. 12), and we are thus given a profound sense in our souls that we “dwell in Him” and “He in us” (vs. 13a). Could there be anything more blessed than to dwell in God through communion and to have God dwell in us through possessing His life and nature? John says that this is made possible “because He hath given us of His Spirit” (vs. 13b). The love of God in us quite naturally wells up and overflows in grace and benevolence toward others, and thus, leads us to “testify” to all around that “the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (vs. 14).
As a result, people are led to “confess that Jesus is the Son of God,” and those that do so prove that “God dwells in them” and they “in Him” (vs. 15). And they know from their own experience that “God is love” and abide in His love (vs. 16).
We see from this second great feature of divine love that it reproduces itself in those who receive it. We are not the terminals of God’s love; we are the channels of it. What a privilege it is to be able to commend God’s love to this poor world!
The Love of God With Us
(Vss. 17-21)
The third characteristic of divine love that John focuses on is its power to give the believer peace and confidence concerning the judgment of his sins. This has to do with God’s love with us. He says, “Herein has love been perfected with us that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that even as He is, we also are in this world” (vs. 17). As we look ahead to the judgment seat of Christ (“the day of judgment”), we have perfect peace and boldness in regard to our sins. As we have seen in verses 9-10, divine love has undertaken to settle that account righteously once and for all in the atoning death of Christ. The Spirit, received upon believing the gospel of our salvation (Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)), has made us conscious of our eternal security in Him (John 10:27-2827My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:27‑28)). Thus, we do not have to wait for that day to know this blessed truth because “as He is, so are we in this world.” That is, as Christ sits accepted in heaven with all the favour of God resting upon Him, “so are we” likewise accepted, even though we are still here “in this world.” This is because His acceptance is the measure of ours and we are “accepted in the Beloved!” (Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)). The KJV says that “our” love is made perfect in this, but that word should not be in the text. John is not speaking of our love, but of God’s love being made perfect in us. Enjoying His love, we can look to the future with the utmost confidence, knowing that as He is beyond judgment, so are we!
(Vs. 18)
John explains how this is so; he says: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” Living in the enjoyment of God’s love, the believer cannot possibly have fear, for the love that fills his heart displaces all fear and doubt; the two can’t exist there at the same time.
(Vs. 19)
Having given us some of the great qualities and characteristics of divine love, John brings us back to its beginning. He says, “We love because He first loved us” (vs. 19). God is the source of love; it is the activity of His nature. His love has begotten love in us, for as we have seen, divine love delights in reproducing itself in its objects. As a result, we love others with that same love. (The KJV says, “We love Him ... .” But it should simply read: “We love ... .” It’s true that we love Him, but the manifestation of divine love in us is broader than that; it goes out to others as well.) Thus, divine love will express itself in genuine love toward others. I do not love my brother because of what he is, but because of what I am. He might have some irksome fleshly traits that are quite unlovable, naturally speaking, but because I have the divine nature which loves with agape love, I love him undeservedly and unconditionally.
Divine Love Proved by Our Love for One Another
(Chap. 4:20–21)
Since divine love expresses itself in the children of God by their love for God and their love for His children (their brethren), this can be used as a test for all who profess to be such. John says: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (vs. 20). The test is simple; if a person cannot love his brother in this divine way, there is good reason to question whether he is a real child of God. But when a person loves even a fleshly brother, it is evidence that he has the divine nature, for only those who have that nature can love with agape love. By doing so, he proves that he is a real child of God.
In verse 21, John brings in an additional reason as to why we are to love our brother. He says, “And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” We love our brother not only because agape love dwells in us, but also because we have a “commandment” from God to do so. In other words, we love our brother, firstly because we have a nature in us that wants to, and secondly, because we have a command from God to do so.
Divine Love Proved by Our Obedience
(Chap. 5:1-3)
This naturally leads to John’s next proof—the test of obedience. He says: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.” If a person is truly born of God, he will believe in Christ and love God; he will prove his reality by loving all who are begotten of God—i.e. his brethren (vs. 1). Note: John does not say that a person becomes born of God through believing that Jesus is the Christ. That would be “putting the cart before the horse.” It would be making new birth a result of a person’s receiving Christ. The truth is that a person does not believe on the Lord Jesus to get born again; he believes on Him because he has been born again (John 1:12-1312But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12‑13)). As to the order of these things, God begins the work in a person’s soul by sovereignly imparting life through new birth, whereupon the person is given faith to believe the gospel and be saved (Eph. 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)). Without this initial work of God in souls in new birth, no one would come to Christ to be saved (John 6:4444No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)).
We prove that we love God and His children by our obedience to the commandments of God (vs. 2). Love that compromises principles is not divine love. Divine love will never supplant obedience. If we truly have the love of God in us, we will obey the principles of His Word, even if it means that we have to rebuke or separate from a self-willed fellow-believer. To the person who loves God and possesses His nature, His commandments will not be “grievous” because he has a new nature that wants to do the will of God (vs. 3). When His will is made known to us through His commandments, the new life in us delights to do it. To be asked to do something that we want to do is not burdensome.
Thus, we have three things here that mark every true child of God:
• Faith in Christ (vs. 1a).
• Love for God (vs. 1b).
• Love for those born of God (vs. 2).
Divine Love Proved by Overcoming the World
(Chap. 5:4-5)
John passes on to speak of one final thing that is a proof that the love of God dwells in a person and that he is a real child of God—when enjoyed in the soul, it delivers the believer from the world and its attractions. John says: “For whatsoever [all that] is born of God overcometh [gets the victory over] the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh [gets the victory over] the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (The word “For,” here, connects these two verses with the foregoing passage concerning the love of God.)
We learn from this passage that “victory” over the world and its power to draw us away from doing the will of God is effected by two things: Firstly, there is what God does in communicating divine life to us through new birth. This new life has the capacity to enjoy divine things which are infinitely better than the things of this world. Secondly, there is what we are to do, which is to have the eyes of our faith fixed on Christ the Son of God, the center of the world above. This shows that our overcoming the world is not all God’s doing; we have a responsible part in it too. We are to participate with Him in this victory.
We see from this that possessing divine life is not enough in itself to deliver a person from the world; that life needs an Object—“Jesus ... .the Son of God.” When the believer’s faith lays hold of that scene above, which the Lord called, “That world, and the resurrection” (Luke 20:3535But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: (Luke 20:35)), this present world loses its charm. Having a brighter Object before our souls, the attractions of this poor world lose their pull on us because we have tasted something incomparably better.
O worldly pomp and glory, your charms are spread in vain!
I’ve heard a sweeter story! I’ve found a truer gain!
Where Christ a place prepareth, there is my loved abode;
There shall I gaze on Jesus: there shall I dwell with God.
L.F. #16 App.
The “faith” that John speaks of here in this 4th verse is not the faith to get saved from the penalty of our sins, but faith to live the Christian life (2 Cor. 5:77(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (2 Corinthians 5:7); Gal. 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)), which has for its goal Christ in glory (Phil. 3:1414I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)). We also learn from this that victory over the world is not accomplished by withdrawing ourselves from society—i.e. secluding ourselves in a monastery. Isolation is not the answer. Nor is it secured by binding legal injunctions and rules of conduct upon ourselves, which are mere outward appliances. As John shows here, it is a matter of the heart being engaged with Christ and the love of God. When faith is operative in our lives and we, through communion with divine Persons, enjoy heavenly things, the influence of the world loses its power over us, and we gain victory over it by turning away from it.
God’s way of victory over the world can be seen in the life of Moses. “By faith he forsook [left] Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:2727By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)). His faith laid hold of Him who is invisible, and he esteemed it to be “greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,” and thus, he was led to step away from Egypt (a type of this world). Having something before him that was greater than anything Pharaoh had to offer, the choice to give up Egypt and to separate from it was simple.
This divine principle can be used to test a man’s profession. If divine love enjoyed in the soul delivers the believer from the world, the converse will be true as well. If a person professes to be a child of God but lives habitually in the pursuit of worldly things and lives on worldly principles, it is a strong indicator that he may not be real, but an empty professor.
A Summary of What the Love of God Does
• It brings life eternal to us (chap. 4:9).
• It effects propitiation for our sins (chap. 4:10).
• It reproduces itself in its objects, causing them to manifest God and testify of His grace (chap. 4:11-16).
• It gives us boldness and confidence regarding judgment by casting fear out of our hearts (chap. 4:17-18).
• It delights in loving the brethren (chap. 4:19-21).
• It takes pleasure in obedience (chap. 5:1-3).
• It overcomes the world (chap. 5:4-5).