Abiding in Christ 1 Jn 4:13-16

Abiding in Christ
1 John 4:13-16

Introductory Thoughts

· John now poses a series of tests that combine the features of the tests of love, life, and doctrine.
· These are ways that a believer can be fully assured of his/her salvation—from here on out through the rest of the letter, John continually repeats ways of assurance.

1. We Know We Are Saved Because of the Indwelling Spirit of God—1 John 4:13 "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."

a. Language

(1) “we know…” ginwskw in the present tense—we know continually, and by experience.
(2) Abide—present tense
(3) “…Spirit…has given…” perfect tense

b. Exposition

(1) By this—the often-repeated phrase which introduces new sets of tests in 1 John.
(2) Our knowledge is continual, and it is experiential—this is not theory; the true believer can have assurance
(3) Abide—we in Him and He in us…The God of Relationship relates to His people individually and corporately
(4) Spirit—It is the Holy Spirit Who is the only one who may give assurance of salvation—Rom 5:5

“…The Christian’s consciousness of the fact of God dwelling in him is due to the Spirit of God whom God has given (dedoôken, perfect active indicative here, though the aorist edoôken in 3:24). This gift of God is proof of our fellowship with God…” ATR

2. The Testimony of the Apostles—1 John 4:14 "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world."

a. This is talking about a literal seeing—this is talking about the apostles—They were the witnesses

Luke 24:48 ""And you are witnesses of these things."

Acts 1:8 ""But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.""

Acts 2:32 ""This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses."

Acts 3:15 ""and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses."

Acts 5:32 ""And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.""

Acts 1:21-22 ""Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 "beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.""

Acts 10:39 ""And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree."

Acts 10:41 ""not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead."

b. The apostolic message

(1) We have seen—same word as 4:12—no one has seen God with their eyes, but the apostles have seen Jesus, and their eyes beheld Him crucified, dead, buried, risen, and ascended.
(2) It is also perfect tense—what they have seen is an accomplished fact.
(3) And testify…present tense—continual testimony
(4) The Father sent the Son—perfect tense—it is a done deal
(5) The Savior of the world

3. The Doctrinal Test, Again—1 John 4:15 "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."

a. The proper response to the apostolic witness—faith in Christ

b. Language—Whoever confesses (aorist)

c. Light From Romans—The First condition of salvation—Confess the Lordship of Christ— Rom 10:9 “…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,…”

(1) Confession is listed first. Why? Because it is the first thing we see outwardly—

(2) Certainly, faith must come before confession. Real faith and true confession happen at about the same time! When a person really believes, confession will inevitably follow.

(3) Confess—light from the Greek: (Aorist, active, 2nd, sing, )

(a) It is something that happens at a point in time

(b) It is “active voice,” it is something that you do

(c) It is something that you, individually, personally, do

(4) Confess—what the word means! The word in the original language is homologeo: to say the same thing as, or to agree with totally. It also means to make a commitment. Here is a use of the word in that way:

(i) Mat 14:7 "Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask."

(ii) “…This agreement expresses itself in an act of commitment, promise, or confession in a court or legal contract.”[1]

(iii) “…To confess the Lord Jesus means therefore to be in agreement with all that these two names imply…”[2]

(iv) You confessed your spouse when you said “I do.”

(5) Biblical examples:

(a) Mat 10:32 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven."

(b) John 12:42 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:"

(c) Heb 11:13 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

(6) So, to confess means to agree totally with what the Bible says about Christ and about us, but that isn’t all.

(7) To confess also means that with the agreement there is a commitment to a covenant—if we confess Christ, we identify with Him, and pledge that He will be our Lord.

“…This confession of the deity of Jesus Christ implies surrender and obedience also, not mere lip service (cf. 1 Cor 12:3; Rom 10:6-12). This confession is proof (if genuine) of the fellowship with God (1:3f.; 3:24)….” ATR

d. What to confess? That Jesus is the Son of God.
(1) Deity
(2) Sonship
(3) Person and Work—virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, bodily ascension, present intercession, literal, bodily return

e. What is the result of this confession? “…God abides in him, and he in God."


4. God’s Love and our experience—1 John 4:16 “…And we have known and believed the love that God has for us…”

a. Language

(1) Two equal things—“have known and believed…”
(a) Known—ginosko, to know by experience
(b) Perfect tense
(c) ATR—“…we have come to know and still know…”, we have come to believe and still believe.
(2) “…The Love that God has for us…” “…has…” is present tense.

b. Exposition

(1) First of all, what does it mean when it says “…the love that God has for us…” ? This has been missed!
(2) The love that God has for us is everything He has done for us! What believers know and believe is the whole plan of redemption!
(3) And, love is present tense—God is still doing things for us!
(4) And this is what we have come to know by experience (and still know), and what we have come to believe (and still believe)—this is the heart of our faith.



[1] NIDNTT, Volume 1, page 344.
[2] Kenneth Wuest, Romans In The Greek New Testament, page 177-178.