The Journey of Spiritual Fatherhood

I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake.

I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.

I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.

I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the world.

(1 John 2:12-14)

The apostle John is a contemplative sort, and there is often a lyrical quality to his writing. This passage is, perhaps, a song — a hymn about how one grows in the Lord from new-born babe, to mature faith, and on to fatherhood in the Spirit. He considers four stages of enlargement:

Little children. The Greek word is teknion. John is addressing recent converts, newly born from above through faith in Jesus Christ. Their sin’s are forgiven because of Jesus, and they are now in the family of the Lord, being reconciled to the Father.

Little children. A different Greek word, paidion, is used in the second instance. This refers to those who are receiving instruction in the Lord. They are new disciples, in training, novices weaning away from the ways of the world. Having known the Lord as God-Who-Forgives (El Nasa, Psalm 99:8), they are now leaning into the heart of their Father and learning from Him. Their Father has now become their Teacher.

Young men. These are men and women who are well into their discipleship. They are vigorous and bold in their faith. They have entered into service, been tested and tried, and their devotion is sound and effective. The Word of God is strong in them and so they are strong in their walk with the Lord. Jesus promised His disciples, “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). The Word is established and at home in them and these “young men” know how to appropriate the promises of God to get things done. They are now powerful overcomers—they have overcome the wicked one. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and these “young men” know how to walk in that authority and enforce His victory upon the enemy.

Fathers. These are those who were once new-borns in the Lord. They began their instruction in the “School of the Father’s Heart” and grew up into a strong, vibrant faith. This did not happen overnight, but came about through a continual focus of the heart upon God and His Word, a “long obedience in the same direction” (to quote Eugene Peterson).

John addresses them twice, but he says the exact same thing both times: “You have known Him who is from the beginning.” That is, they have come into a deep and pervasive experience of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have taken His yoke upon themselves and learned of Him, and have found rest for their souls. They have learned to know Him, not only in the power of His resurrection, but also in the fellowship of His sufferings.

And now they are fathers. They are passing the inheritance they have received in the Lord on to the next generation. They are bringing forth sons and daughters into the kingdom of God and releasing them into their divine destiny. By their manner of life they teach us that there is no higher calling than to come into intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. This relationship only gets richer and deeper, far beyond the ability of human words to describe.

Where do you find yourself in this hymn? Have you received forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ? Have you come to know God as your Father and to learn of Him? Is the Word of God so established and at home in your heart that you know how to walk in the victory the Jesus has won over the world, the flesh and the devil? Have you come to that place in your faith life where all you want is to know Him more and more, and to bring others to that same place because you realize that there is no greater joy, no higher calling?

The Commandment of Love

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. (1 John 4:20-21)

You cannot love God and hate your brother. It’s impossible.Once, a man who was skilled in the Law of Moses came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus answered:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Notice that Jesus said, “The second is like it.” The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is not given in addition to the first commandment, it is inherent in it. The second is just like the first. They are twins joined together. Break the one and you have broken the other.

If someone does not love his brother, or his neighbor, whom he has seen, then how can he say he loves God, whom he has not seen? The author of Hebrews tells us that “the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). If we do not love our brother, who was created by the God who is invisible, then we do not love the God who created him.

It’s time to get serious about love. On the night He was betrayed, He spoke to the intimate gathering of His disciples and said, “These things I command you, that you love one another.” The day before Good Friday is known as Maundy Thursday in commemoration of this. Maundy means “commandment” or “mandate.”

On the next day, Good Friday, Jesus powerfully demonstrated His love for God and man through His obedience and sacrifice.

Love God and one another.

The Flow of Bold, Perfected Love

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:17-19)

What is the love of God all about in our lives? That we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Boldness is outspokenness, assurance, confidence. As we stand before God, both now and forever, we can have boldness and confidence.

“Because as He is, so are we in this world.” Jesus has boldness before the Father because He is in a perfect love relationship with the Father. This relationship never had need to be perfected, as does our relationship with God, but has always abided in perfection.

In verse 12, John revealed that the love of God has now been perfected in us, if we love one another. Therefore, just as Jesus walked the earth in the perfect love of the Father, so now do we. It is not about what we have done or deserve, it is about His love. There is a tremendous freedom in that, and an empowerment to show forth the love of God in mighty ways, just as the Lord Jesus did.

Just as that perfect love relationship continues between the Father and the Son, so does it continue for us on this planet. The Lord Jesus taught us to pray for the kingdom of God to keep coming forth and the will of God to keep being done on earth as it is in heaven. Now we see that this is actually the flow of God’s love perfected in us. It is the bringing together of heaven and earth, “because as He is, so are we in this world.”

“There is no fear in love.” Fear is the opposite of boldness. There is no confidence or assurance in fear. There is only torment. Fear does not bring torment — fear is torment, and that does not come from God.

If you have fear in your life, it is a sign that you are not yet letting the love of God have its way fully in your life. But you do not have to subject yourself to fear. You can, instead, resist it by bringing it before God, who is love. In the presence of perfect love, fear withers and dies and is no more. Perfect love renders its judgment on fear — and casts it out!

“We love Him because He first loved us.” Here is the perfection of love — He first loved us, and now we love Him. The circle is complete. To love Him includes loving all those whom He loves. There is no torment in that, no fear of judgment, only bold confidence before God. As He is in heaven, so are we on the earth.

If there is any fear, we just need more revelation of God’s love. So ask the Father to reveal it to you. Embrace His love, and meditate upon it. Let it flow into you. Be very intentional about it: “Father, I receive all the love You have for me. I yield myself to the work of Your love in my life. I let go of fear and lay hold of the boldness which comes through Your love.” Be very intentional, also, about letting God’s perfect love flow through you to others by your words and deeds.

Believing the Love

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

Notice that he is not simply saying, “We have known and believed God.” Rather, he says, “We have known and believed the love that God has for us.”

This knowledge is not theoretical, but experiential. John is declaring that we have experienced the love God has for us. And in experiencing the love of God, we have experienced God Himself, for God IS Love.

The author of Hebrews said, “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). John is not the author of Hebrews, but if the Holy Spirit had used him to write it, I believe this verse might well have read, “He who comes to God must believe that He is Love.” And then we would see clearly that the reward that comes to those who diligently seek God actually comes forth from His love — and is there anything that love withholds from its beloved?

There is a great confidence that comes from experiencing the love of God. To paraphrase, We have experientially known and entrusted ourselves to the love God has for us. When we open ourselves to the love God has for us, there is no doubt. All the questions are settled. We quietly abide in faith and in God.

Paul said that faith expresses itself through love (Galatians5:6). This is because, in a very real sense, faith is created and formed by love. In another place, Paul said that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Since God is Love, we may also say it this way: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Love.

We abide in faith, we abide in love, we abide in God.

Signs of Abiding in God

By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:13-15)

Are you abiding in God? Is He abiding in you? The Bible says you can know, and the apostle John shows us how.First, remember that this is in the context of the love of God working in us and through us. In verse 12, John said, “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.”

Now in verse 13, John asserts, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He is us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” Both verses speak about God’s abiding in us and our abiding in Him. But other than that, what do these verse have to do with one another? What does the Spirit have to do with love? Everything. For the love that has been perfected in us, that works through us and flows to others, is the love that comes by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Remember that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is “Love, joy, peace …” Love is at the head of the list. Love is the highest expression of everything God is. In fact, as John tells us, God IS Love. So the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Love.

God has given us His Spirit, the Spirit of Love. When we walk in that love and let it flow toward others, the Love of God is doing its work and become a witness to us that we are abiding in Him and He is abiding in us.

But there is also another work the Spirit of God does in us by which we can know that God abides in us and we in Him. For John continues in verse 14, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”

In his Gospel, John recalls Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). That is what the role of the Holy Spirit is in us—to glorify Jesus and take the things that belong to Jesus and reveal them to us. He is a witness, resident within us, of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Love that is the fruit of the Spirit is the same love demonstrated by the Lord Jesus when He laid down His life for us. (In John 17, we learn that it is the same love with which the Father loves the Lord Jesus, and the exact same love with which the Father loves us.) In the Book of Revelation, John tells us, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” In other words, whatever the Holy Spirit says and does in us is always about Jesus.

The Holy Spirit testifies, or gives witness, to us that the Father send the Son to be the Savior of the world. Having this witness within us, we begin to testify to the same thing, and that testimony itself become a sign that we are dwelling in the Father and He in us.

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (v. 15). The apostle Paul reminds us that “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Since that is so, the heartfelt confession that Jesus is Lord again becomes a witness to us that we are abiding in God and He is abiding in us.

Is the Spirit of Love at work in you bringing forth love to others? Is the Spirit of Prophecy speaking forth in your life, bearing witness to the testimony of Jesus? These are the signs by which you be confident that you are dwelling in God and God is dwelling in you. If these signs are obscured in your life, repentance and crying out to Jesus are wonderful opportunities for renewal.

Seeing God Through Eyes of Love

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. (1 John 4:12)

God is invisible — that is, He cannot be seen with the human eye. We often tend to value that which can be seen over that which is invisible. But in fact, all that can be seen was made by Him who cannot be seen. So don’t let the invisibility of God throw you.

Now, notice what John does here. He says, “No one has seen God at any time.” Then he follows it up with “If we love one another …” Does that seem abrupt to you? A non-sequitur? I mean, what does loving one another have to do with “No man has seen God at any time?”

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). God is invisible, He cannot be seen with the human eye — and yet, it is still possible to see God.

Or what did Jesus say to Nicodemus in explaining the new birth by the Spirit? “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Jesus is talking about the wind and the Spirit (the Greek word for “wind” and “Spirit” are the same — pneuma).

We cannot see the wind but we can perceive it at work. In the same way, we cannot see God with the human eye, but that doesn’t mean we cannot perceive Him at work. This kind of seeing has to do with purity of heart and with love. “No man has seen God at any time,” John tell us. And yet, “If we love one another, God abides in us.” Not only that, but John adds, “and His love is perfected in us.”

What does love have to do with seeing God? Everything. But it is not just about our love for God or even His love for us. It is about His love working through us — being perfected in us.

If we love one another, God abides in us. This does not mean that God comes to abide in us when we love one another, for we cannot love one another until God does come to abide in us. Rather, our love for one another is the sign that God abides in us and that His love is doing its perfect work in us, fulfilling its mission in us.

In other words, when we love one another, we are seeing God at work. Even though we do not see Him with our physical eyes, we see His love doing its thing. We are experiencing God at a deeper level than our eyes can ever reveal.

Now, go back to the beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To be pure in heart means to have an undivided heart, one that is all for God. A divided heart fences off sections from God and from others. It is holding back from God and others and keeps us from loving them freely. God does not hold back His love from us, but we can hold back His love from flowing through us to others. It is only when our hearts are undivided, and we give God free reign in us completely, that we begin to perceive His love perfected in us.

Welcome the rule and reign of God in your heart, giving yourself completely to Him. Let His love do its perfect work in you, reaching out to love one another. Then you shall see God.

The Algebra of Stillness

Be still and know that the LORD is God and God is love.
(Psalm 46:10; 1 John 4:8)

The Flow of Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

Remember that there are two parts to God’s commandment (1 John 3:23):

1. Love God by believing on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
2. Love one another.

In the first part of chapter 4, John deals with the first part of that commandment, discerning the of truth and the spirit or error on the basis the Lord Jesus Christ, His humanity as well as His divinity. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Any spirit that denies this confession is not of God (1 John 4:2-3).

Now John is addressing the second part of the commandment. “Beloved, let us love one another.” Here in the space of six words, he presents us with two instances of love. First, there is his love for those to whom he is writing, the love of a father for his children. Second, there is the love he exhorts them to have for one another. Why? Because love is of God. John then gives us a third instance of love, and it is the most important one, for it identifies the source of all love — God.

This has practical ramifications, for John says, “He who does not love, does not know God.” This knowledge of God which John talks so much about is not only an intimate experience of God, and the discerning between truth and error, it is also a knowledge that transforms.

Before we go further, note that John is not here disregarding faith in the name of Jesus Christ as the basis of knowing God. Rather, he is assuming it, since he has just written about the importance of that very thing. But it is not enough to say, “I love, therefore I know God,” because love must be defined.

John’s point is this: It is incongruent for someone to say that he knows God if he does not practice love. That is, it does not jibe. Why? Not only because love is of God, but more importantly because God is love.

Love is more than an attribute of God which can be described by an adjective (i.e., God is loving). It is part of God’s very essence — who He is — described by love as a noun and demonstrated by love as a verb. There are only a few instances where God is spoken of in such crisp, ontological terms: God is Spirit, God is a consuming fire, God is love.

“God is love” not only tells us about who God is, but also tells us why God does what He does. He acts in love, grace and mercy precisely because that is what He is. He would be going against Himself to act in any other way.

God’s love is transforming, so that, a person who does not love, really has not yet come to know God, to have intimate revelation of who God is and what He is like.

So, John tells us that love is of God and that God is love. Then he goes on to define love even closer, to show what love looks like on the ground, “on all fours.”

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

Here we see that John has not departed at all from the first part of the commandment (believe on the name of Jesus Christ), because when he starts talking about love, we discover that it is defined for us by what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.

This is God’s love in action — made known, manifested, revealed, defined — God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. It is the Gospel in a nutshell, the essence of life to all who believe it and receive Him, even in the midst of a world that has fallen into death.

God is love, and it is the very nature of love to give and to serve. Giving and serving are not works which are alien to God, works which He assumes on a temporary basis for strategic purposes. No, they are native to God, the outworking of who and what He really is.

It is what I call the “algebra of love”: God is love. Love gives and serves. Every true instance of loving, giving and serving ultimately traces back to God, for “love is of God.”

Love is of God and not of us, at least not in a primary way. God always takes the initiative. As John defines it for us, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” Our love is a response to God’s love made know to us.

God first loved us and sent His Son to be the “propitiation for our sins.” God’s love solved the problem of sin for us, not in a theoretical way, but in a very real way. God’s love did not just provide a cover for sin, papering it over in an “out of sight, out of mind” sort of way.

There must be some actual basis for dealing with sin. A debt cannot be forgiven without the cost being borne by the forgiver. So God, in His love, has dealt with the sin of the world by directing His wrath on sin fully toward the Lord Jesus Christ, who took our sin and was nailed with it to the Cross.

So God bore the cost of forgiveness of sin by giving His Son. Jesus bore the cost by giving His life. All this has been done for you and me out of love. So John concludes this matter with the perfect logic of love:

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11)

Once again we discover that it is all about God. Even love is all about God because it is the love of God with which we love one another, and even love God Himself. Love comes from God and returns to God in a perfect circle.

Father, give us more revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how You made Your love known to us through Him, so that we may love You more perfectly by trusting Him more fully, and that we flow with Your love to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

“You are of God.” That means that they are those who confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. That is the definition the Apostle John has just established in verses 2 and 3.

“Little children.” John is speaking very tenderly with them, as a father with his children. This not only indicates John’s advanced age, but more importantly, the well-established relationship he bears, for he has been a father of the faith to them.

“And have overcome them.” These little children, who are “of God,” have overcome those who deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Jesus is the great dividing line. Those who confess Him in His humanity and historicity, as well as in His divinity, overcome those who do not. They are not deceived.

The cause of this decisive victory is not themselves, but God in them. He abides in them because they have believed on the name of His Son Jesus Christ. What is more, He is the source of their faith in Jesus Christ, and of the confession they make concerning Jesus Christ.

However, there is also one who is in the world, who is the source of unbelief and denial. This is the devil, and he is the source, not of the created earth, but of the world-system that is in rebellion against God.

He seeks to hinder and obscure the revelation that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. He will allow one confession or the other, but not both together, because that sounds the death knell for him. In the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, God and Man are reconciled and heaven and earth are brought together. That means destruction for what the devil is trying to do. But that is indeed why Jesus came, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

The truth and the cause John brings forth is this: God in us is greater than he who tries to influence us from the world-system.

They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us: he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:5-6)

John has already stated that those who deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh are not of God. What is the source of their unbelief and denial, then? It comes from the rebellious world-system. They speak as of the world because they have listened to the lie of the world and believed it. Because they listen to the world-system and speak what it says, the world-system, in turn, receives them and their words.

“We are of God,” John boldly counters. But how can he be so audacious as to say such a thing? It is because he has seen Jesus with his own eyes, heard Jesus with his own ears, touched Jesus with his own hands. He comes as an personal witness to the life and ministry of Jesus, declaring both the humanity and divinity of the “Word of Life” (1 John 1:1-4).

“He who knows God hears us.” Just as those who are of the world-system receive the unbelief and denial of the world-system, so those who are of God receive the confession that comes from God, and those who make such confession. Those of the world receive the witness of the world. Those who are of God receive the witness of God. The witness of God is greater because He who is in us is greater than he who is in the fallen world-system.

Those who have the witness of the Holy Spirit in them hear and receive the teaching of the Apostles. Or to put it another way: Those who know God, who are growing in personal relationship with Him and who increasingly discern, or recognize His voice, hear those who come speaking that which is of God.

John concludes the matter: By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. That is, those who receive the spirit of truth — who believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and confess that He has come in the flesh — are of the truth of God. Those who do not, are of the error the world-system.

There is a conflict in the world today between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. It is a conflict between the God who created heaven and earth, and the fallen system of a world in rebellion. The outcome is certain, for God, who is the source of our faith in Jesus Christ, dwells in all those who confess Jesus Christ, and He is greater than the one who foments the rebellion of the world against Him.

Discerning the Spirits

By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 John 3:23).

God has given His Spirit to be a witness to us of God’s presence abiding in us. “By this we know.” In the Bible, knowledge is not merely theoretical, it is experiential. That is, we know something by experiencing. Here, the experience is one of discernment. It requires an awareness of sources.

So what is this witness of the Spirit to which John refers? We discover that in 1 John 4. (There are no chapter divisions in the Bible, those were added later.)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antiChrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)

The spirits themselves need to be discerned. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul talked about the gift of discerning the spirits. There is the Holy Spirit, who is true and speaks truth. There are also false, demonic spirits. Then there is the human spirit.

You and I are human spirits who have souls and inhabit bodies. Altogether, that is what we are — spirit, soul and body. Now, it is possible for the human spirit to be influenced by the Holy Spirit. God designed us that way. In fact, His purpose is for us to be filled with and indwelt by the Holy Spirit — God Himself present in us.

Unfortunately, since the Fall of Adam, it is also possible for us to be influenced by false, demonic spirits. That is why we need to test the spirits. For there are pseudo-prophets (Greek, pseudoprophetes) who are bringing false messages, influenced by spirits which are not of God.

So how can we tell the difference between the witness of the false spirits and the witness of the Holy Spirit? John lays it out very simply:

1. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.
2. Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.

Once again, it is all about Jesus. The role of the Holy Spirit is to take what belongs to Jesus and reveal it us — to show us Jesus. He speaks the truth to us about who Jesus is and who we are in Him.

So this is how you tell the difference. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo and means to “speak the same thing,” that is, to speak in agreement.

Now, John was addressing an issue that was becoming very controversial in his day, but it also has serious ramifications for us today. You see, there were teachers and groups who, though they taught that Jesus was divine, they denied that He was truly human. They agreed that He was spirit, but they denied that He was also flesh and blood.

There are groups today who will speak of the “Christ-Spirit within” but who will deny the humanity of Jesus. They affirm a philosophical Christ, an ideal that is vague and ethereal, but deny the concrete reality of the historical Jesus. John says that will not do. Their teaching does not come from God. It does not represent the witness of the Holy Spirit.

Why is this important? Because John writes to give witness to “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of Life” (1 John 1:1). John was not presenting philosophical ideas but declaring that which he personally experienced, saw, heard and touched — a historical person, Jesus Christ, Son of God, fully human and fully divine.

It is a matter of fellowship. “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). You cannot fellowship with an idea or a philosophy. You can only have a personal experience with a person. We have fellowship with the Father because have been reconciled to Him by the humanity of Jesus Christ, and the historical event of the Cross and Resurrection.

A philosophical idea may be a fine solution if the problem at hand is philosophical. But our problem is historical — the Fall of Adam, of which every one of us has been a part. Historical problems require historical solutions. Of course, there are those who deny that the problem is historical at all. They deny that there was ever such an event in history known as the Fall. They deny the true nature of the solution because they deny the true nature of the problem. So they deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

John definitively declares that their witness does not come from God. In fact, he identifies it as the spirit of antiChrist. That is, they are coming against Christ. It matters not that they may profess a “Christ-Spirit” within. If they do not confess the humanity and historical reality of Jesus, then they are actually denying Christ.

The Apostle John has given us an important dividing line between what is true and what is false. The witness of God’s indwelling Spirit is that Jesus Christ has indeed come in the flesh, that He is fully man, that He has entered into our time and space existence as a historical human being. It is by this same Spirit that we understand, discern and experience the presence of God abiding in us.

The Abodes of God

Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 John 3:24)

The commandments of the Lord are these: Believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another (1 John 3:23). On our own, these are very difficult — in fact, they are impossible. But with God they are simple: Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), so it becomes easy to believe in Him when we have received His Word. And God is love (1 John 4:8), so with Him at work in us, it becomes easy to love one another. The Bible says that faith expresses itself through love (Galatians 5:6).

It is really not a matter of doing a work, but of receiving a gift. It is letting His Word and His Love be at work in you. It is not your work, it is His work in you. It is allowing God to be who He is in you. That is why John said, “He who keeps His commandments abides in Him,” because it is all about God living and working His way in you. By faith, we become His dwelling place. Not only do we abide in God, John says, but God abides in us.

God abides in us. That’s potent, or perhaps I should say omnipotent (seeing that we are talking about God).

Remember in John 14, when Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions. …I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2) The translation “mansions” lead us in the wrong direction. We think of mansions as huge houses set apart. That is not at all what Jesus was talking about. He was not picturing places of separateness, but places of intimacy. The Greek word is mone, and refers to dwelling places — abodes. The NIV says “rooms.” Jesus has prepared rooms for us to dwell within our Father’s house.

This is not “end time” truth, or about when we die someday. It is about right now, in this life.

Jesus continued, “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (v. 3).

Jesus went to prepare a place for us — He did this at the Cross. He was gone for three days, and then He returned (the Resurrection) to receive us to Himself.

Now our abiding place is in Him, and we dwell in His Father’s house. Right now. Not only that, but Paul says that we are now seated in Christ Jesus at the right hand of the Father, far above all principalities, power, might and dominion (Ephesians 2). That is, not only do we dwell in our Father’s house, we rule and reign from there as well.

Again, Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

The Greek word for “home” is mone. The KJV renders it, “make our abode with him.” This is the word translated “mansion” in verse 2. These are the only two places in the Bible where this particular Greek word is used.

Jesus also promised this:

I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)

The Greek word for “abide” is meno (closely related to mone). God has prepared a place for us in His house, and a place for Himself in us, and He dwells in us by the Holy Spirit.

Remember that, in his epistle, John said that we would know that God abides in us, and this knowledge would be by the Spirit whom He has given us. This is the Spirit of truth whom God has given to dwell in us. He knows us and we know Him, because He dwells in us.

When we keep God’s commandments (believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and walk in love) we know that we are abiding in God and God is abiding in us, and He gives this witness to us by His Spirit. Enter into this love relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Believe and abide. Be at home in Him and enjoy His abiding presence in you. These are the abodes of God — us in Him, and Him in us.

Outspokenness Toward God

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (1 John 3:21-23)

“Beloved.” John is speaking very tenderly and pastorally to his readers. “If our heart does not condemn us.” To condemn (Greek, kataginosko) is to “know against,” to find fault with. This is not the nagging of an overly scrupulous conscience or some kind of pathological introspection. Those things will never give you any peace. No, as we will see, John has something very simple and specific in mind.

“We have confidence toward God.” The English word “confidence” derives from two Latin words: con, “with” and fide, “faith.” Confidence is acting with faith and assurance. The Greek word in our text carries the same idea and literally means “outspokenness.”

“Because we keep His commandments and do those things which are pleasing in His sight.” Here we learn the issue in which we should have clear conscience and confidence toward God: keeping His commandments. Now, John is not talking about the Ten Commandments, or the 613 precepts of the Mosaic Law, or any kind system of rule-keeping or point-scoring at all. After all, John is not known as the Apostle of Law, but as the Apostle of Love. So what are these commandments John has in mind, which will lead us into bold assurance with God? They boil down to one commandment with two facets. This is His commandment:

1. Believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
2. Love on another.

Life does not get any simpler than that. But when did God ever give this commandment?

It happened one day when a scribe started paying attention to what Jesus was preaching and teaching. Quite taken with how well Jesus had answered the controversial questions of the Sadducees, this scribe went up to Jesus and asked, “Which is the first commandment of all?”

Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.… And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

Jesus went right to the heart of the matter and addressed the matters of the heart. This simple commandment, “Love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself,” is what all the commandments of God are actually about. In fact, it is what the whole kingdom of God is about. That is why, when the scribe received this revelation and fully embraced it, Jesus declared, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

This is what John was talking about in his epistle. The commandment to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is rendered by him as “Believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.” “Love your neighbor as yourself” corresponds with “Love one another.”

This is what we live by: Love — love for God (believing in His Son) and love for each other. If we are living by love, then our hearts have no reason to find fault with us.

Therefore we can have a holy outspokenness toward God. This is not a law relationship but a love relationship, a divine mingling of God’s love toward us and our love toward Him. It is a relationship of trust and assurance. In such a relationship it is then quite natural that we can ask of God and expect to receive from Him whatever we ask.

Is this not what Jesus meant when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness [i.e., love God and love one another], and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Its not about what you know. John was addressing people who had been exposed to an early form of gnosticism, a false teaching which prized “secret” forms of knowledge (“Gnostic” is derived from the Greek verb ginosko, “to know”). Notice how John turned that on its ear:

We do not ask and receive from God on the basis of some secret knowledge that we have acquired. In fact, it is more about what we don’t know — i.e., our heart does not know anything against us. Rather, our confidence towards God comes out of being in a love relationship with Him.

In other words, its not about what you know, its not even about who you know. Its about who you love.

When we walk in love for God and each other, committing ourselves to Jesus, then we have come into a wonderful place of outspokenness toward God, a place where we can joyfully call out for Abba, Father — Daddy! In that place we can ask God whatever we like and fully expect to receive it from Him.

Ignore, Deny or Confess: Dealing with Sin by Engaging the Word of Life

Reading in First John, chapter one.

John opens with a brief exposition of Jesus Christ, whom, “We have heard …we have seen with our own eyes … we have looked upon and our hands have handled.” He is the Word of Life made known in the flesh. Now John bears witness and declares that same Word of Life who was with the Father in heaven and manifested on the earth. But there is more, and it makes for fullness of joy—there is fellowship with the Father and with the Son.

Then John goes after some theological ideas which were incorrect, which do not line up with the fellowship we have in the Father and the Son. It has to do with sin, our teaching about it, our attitude toward it. What do we do? Ignore it, deny it, or confess it.

Ignoring sin. There was a teaching going around that said sin does not matter, that we can safely ignore it and live as we please — and still have fellowship with the Father. John responds clearly, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Therefore, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Our darkness has nothing in common with the God of light. There is no place where they can connect together, and so, by definition, there can be no fellowship. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” We must acknowledge the light of God, and let it direct us, then the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from all our darkness.

Denying sin. There was a teaching going around that sin is not a reality at all, but a deception, and that this is the truth which sets us free. But that actually turns the truth on its head. John said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” To say we have no sin, that it is not a reality, is a self-deception. It is a denial of God’s Word. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

Confessing sin. Instead of ignoring sin, or denying it, take it to the Lord. He is bigger, greater, and much more powerful than our sin, and He has already provided the solution for it. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo, which means to “say the same thing.” To confess our sins means to say the same thing about it that God says. It is coming into agreement with God about our sin: that it is real, that it is wrong, that it is darkness, that it does not belong in our life. When we come into agreement about the nature of the problem, then we are ready to receive the solution that God has prepared. The Bible says that God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is why, when we confess our sins, God can rightfully forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is about Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

It is not faith to ignore or deny sin, because that is contrary to what God has said. Faith approaches God with repentance and confession, believing that He is full of faith to forgive and cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very Word of Life.