1 John, verse-by-verse

Session 13 | 1 John 4:12-17

1 John 4:12-21 | Love Perfected

• Verse 12 —

  • The author begins with a statement: No man hath seen God at any time. This statement is also given or echoed in 1 John 4:20 and John 1:18., and Exodus 33:20. This statement is helpful when interpreting several Old Testament passages, including:

    • Genesis 32:30 - Jacob having wrestled with God.

    • Exodus 24:10-11 - The 70 elders of Israel having seen God.

    • Numbers 12:8 - God speaking to Moses face-to-face.

    • Isaiah 6:1-3 - Isaiah's vision of the Lord.

      
      

  • Because of the consistent truth expressed in Scripture that God cannot be seen, we must therefore conclude that all manifestations of God are manifestations of the Second Person of the Trinity, who alone is visible.

  • Two passages serve as supplementary evidence that the above four passages are not manifestations of God the Father: 1 Timothy 1:17 and Hebrews 11:27.

  • The statement about seeing God seems somewhat random, sandwiched between two statements about love. However, it should be taken as follows: We are to love one another (v. 11, 12), and in doing so we perfect the love of God, who Himself cannot be seen.

  • The verse makes the further claim that God's indwelling is dependent upon the recipient's love for one another. As many times before in this epistle, such a claim is simply impossible to take in the plain sense during this age of grace. Sadly, rather than concluding that the words must be written to those in another dispensation (i.e.: rightly dividing), most Christian writers have redefined the meaning of God dwelleth in us“we have fellowship with God." When taken in its full context, the Jewish nation is told of the requirement to love one another as one of the prerequisites for God to fulfill His promises and to dwell among them in truth as well as in spirit.

    
    

• Verse 13 -

  • The nation of Israel should have the presence of God. Prior to its full manifestation in the millennium, it will have a spiritual presence of dwelling in Him and He in them. The sign of this spiritual manifestation is that he hath given us his Spirit. This refers to the provision of the Spirit to the nation at Pentecost, and the result that each believing Jew had a manifestation of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7).

    
    

• Verses 14-15 -

  • The Jewish nation was promised a Savior, but one who would ultimately be the Saviour of the world. The epistle restates this promise and pins the identity of the Savior on Jesus. The claim then comes forth in verse 15 that Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God dwells with God and God with him.

  • It seems too far a stretch to make confess that Jesus is the Son of God to be the same as Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31). The word confess comes from the Greek ὁμολογέω [homologeo], which is literally, to say the same thing. Thus, the word confess“agree with this statement." But there are many who reject an orthodox Christian gospel yet still believe that Jesus is the Son of God. As in 1 John 4:3, which requires a confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, such confession only has validity after the rapture has concluded the age of Grace. At that point, any alignment of Jesus would come at tremendous political, social, and economic cost and only those who have dedicated their lives to an illegal worldview (as faith in Jesus Christ will be in those days) would make such a claim.

    
    

• Verse 16 —

  • The author speaks of we, those who have known and believed the love that God hath to us. As from the beginning of the letter, he is writing to Jews who were not so convinced.

    Though not the first time it has been stated, here the writer adds to the confession requirement, he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.
    ooks like 1 John.
    

• Verse 17 -

  • The confession and the love being asked of the nation would not be made perfect without boldness in the day of judgment. Consistently, the nation of Israel is commanded to stand by God and her fellow Jews all the way through to the end. Thus, their love is made perfect when the day of judgment (which takes place at the Second Coming) takes place, and their love is found to have been unbreakable.

  • In this way, as he is, so are we. Jesus was made perfect through sufferings (Heb. 2:10). The nation of Israel, predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29), will be seen to be like Christ in every way. This is why the suffering servant passage of Isaiah 53 is said by some (namely Jews) to be a passage about the nation and by others (namely Christians) to be about the Messiah.