14/03/21 – 1 John 4:17-21
1 John 4:17 – Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as
he is, so are we in this world.
made perfect – perfect tense, therefore an already
completed action in the past; we have already been made perfect (not actual but imputed).
boldness – parrhesia (freedom in speaking; boldness
to speak out; openly; frankly; confidence; plainly) It is derived
from pas (all) + rheo (to
pour forth; utter; speak), thus to be free to speak all without holding
anything back.
Herein is our love made perfect – literally (online interlinear) “In
this has been perfected love with us” or (Green’s interlinear) “By
this love has been perfected with us”
Cambridge suggests: “Herein
is love with us
made perfect”
It therefore would have the idea of God’s love perfected in us (at
salvation) so that we are able to be confident (have boldness) regarding where
we stand in the day of judgment.
It is impossible for anyone to have agape love in their lives
unless they are genuine Christians. Those that don’t have this love cannot know
God.
1 John 4:7-8 – 7Beloved,
let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth
not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Therefore if one can
demonstrate agape love in his life, then he must by logical deduction be
a genuine Christian. Genuine Christians are going to heaven because, when they
are judged, their faith will be accounted as righteousness (Romans 4:5). Pseudo or
non-genuine Christians are not going to heaven because, when they are judged, without
faith they will be declared in debt to God (Romans 4:4). In this way John can say that it is because
God’s love has been perfected with them at salvation that they may have no fear
when facing the judgment.
Thus we should not fear the future. Nor should
we fear even the present.
Hebrews 13:5-6 – 5[Let
your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be]
content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee. 6So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is]
my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Vs 17 above must relate to the context of Vs 18 below which associates
God’s agape love with a lack of fear, and this lack of fear would then
be associated with our confidence in the coming judgment such that we have a
sure hope for the future as per Titus 2:13-14 – 13Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who
gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
It would also relate to the mutual indwelling of us in God and God in us
(1 John 4:15-16). It is therefore
that mutual indwelling which can only occur because of God’s love which has
been perfected in us when we were saved.
as he is – Note that John has already stated that we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2). If we are
genuine Christians, we will be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), a process that
will be completed in the day when He shall appear. “…. we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) This process of
being conformed to His image must begin when we are saved and continue
throughout our earthly life, and those around us should see this in our lives.
Thus, “as he is, so are we” means that even while we are yet in this
world others around us should be able to see some of that image in us, just as
“they took knowledge of (Peter and
John), that they had been with Jesus.”
Acts 4:13 – Now when they saw
the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had
been with Jesus.
In particular, this image that others should see in us will be associated with that love which has been perfected in us such that we should have no fear of the future (including the judgment). And, because agape love has to be mutual (see “love one another” = a mutual or reciprocal love for each other – 1 John 3:23) then it could read “Herein has our love been made perfect with (or among) us.”
Also note the same in John 13:34-35 – 34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
This then leads into mutual brotherly love – Vss 20-21 below.
1 John 4:18 – 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.
fear – phobos (fear;
dread; terror) We get our word “phobia” from this term. A phobia is more than just
being a little bit afraid. Terror would be closer to the mark, even unreasonable
or irrational terror. A phobia is an unreasonable fear that can be very hard to
deal with, if at all. When we think of a phobia, we can bring up ideas that
have no rational basis at all.
The noun form is phobeo (to
put to flight by terrifying; fear; be struck with fear; be seized with alarm;
be terrified)
phobos is translated “fear” twice in Matthew 10:28 – And fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. which teaches
that such fear is not for physical harm, but for spiritual destruction in hell.
Thus
“fear” (in Vs 18 above) can be associated with the unimaginable terror of
standing before God as Judge and knowing that you have no way of escaping
eternal destruction; knowing also that you could have escaped the destruction
if you had only called upon the name of the Lord to be saved while you had the
opportunity (Romans 10:13 and 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 – 1We
then, [as] workers together [with him], beseech [you] also
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2(For he saith, I have
heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured
thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day
of salvation.))
For “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3)
Also, as a side note, “that ye receive not the grace of God
in vain”
(2 Corinthians 6:1 above) does
clearly indicate that there are those who receive God’s grace in vain; that is,
they hear the gospel and see its truth by the grace of God, yet refuse to
respond.
torment – kolasis (correction;
punishment; penalty) It is derived from kolazo (to
lop or prune as trees and wings; restrain; chastise) This is in turn
derived from kolos (dwarf) which has the
idea of being cut down to size. Thus this torment (the
punishment that condemns us to death) cuts down those who do not have agape
love.
kolasis is only used twice in the NT, here, and in Matthew 25:46 (And these shall go away into everlasting punishment (kolasis): but the righteous into life eternal.) where the punishment is to be condemned to hell for eternity.
fear hath torment – Just as a phobia can bring torment to someone’s
life, the fear of those facing judgment without God’s perfect love can torment
them.
Thus “There is no phobic (or irrational) fear for those in whom God’s
love has been perfected, because perfect love (namely agape love)
removes from our lives that which we could have feared the most: the judgement
throne of God which condemns the unsaved to everlasting punishment or torment
in hell. Phobic (irrational) fear is associated with this punishment, and he
who fears this has not had God’s love perfected in him (or does not demonstrate
the perfecting of God’s love in him).”
This is painting a picture of those who face God’s judgment without
Christ. Those who are without Christ are also without that perfect love which
is only given to those who are in God and God in them (that is, genuine
Christians). That perfect love is the evidence of that person’s salvation (and
therefore that person’s lack of condemnation as per Romans 8:1 – [There
is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Only genuine Christians can have perfect love. Only Christians can have
no fear concerning the coming judgment.
All others do not have perfect love, and therefore should quite
rightly fear the coming judgment. So if you fear the
future, or dying, or the judgment, then you are not demonstrating perfect love
and therefore may not be a genuine Christian.
1 John 4:19 – We love him,
because he first loved us.
Romans 5:8-10 – 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
This is an interesting point of logic, for Christ died for His enemies while they were still His enemies. God’s enemies were reconciled to Him through the death of Christ. In fact, not one of those for whom Christ died was initially His friend. All were once enemies, which implies that all hated God at the same time as God loved them. God loved them in spite of them being His enemies and hating Him. Emphasising all this does demonstrate one thing: that if God unconditionally chose those whom He would send to heaven, they would still have been His enemies and hated Him until they were regenerated.
God committed Himself fully before anyone would be asked to commit themselves in return. God effectively put all His cards on the table before man had put any.
1 John 4:20 – 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?
If we claim to be genuine Christians yet hate our brethren, then we are still in darkness (unsaved). If we are truly saved (that is, in the light), we will love our brethren.
1 John 2:9-10 – 9He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
Christians walk in the light because God is light. If we do not walk in the light, then we are lying if we claim to be Christians.
1 John 1:5-7 – 5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we are genuine Christians who have passed from death to life, we will love our Christian brethren. If we do not love them, then we remain in death.
1 John 3:14 – We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.
Christians will love God, for if they don’t, then they do not have love and therefore cannot be Christians.
1 John 4:7-8 – 7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love God, and keep His commandments, then we will love our Christian brethren (“the children of God”).
1 John 5:1-2 – 1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
Also, if we love God we will obey Him. If we do not obey God, then logically we do not love God.
John 14:15 – If ye love me, keep my commandments.
While Jesus was seen (as the Word of life) ……
1 John 1:1 – 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, of the Word of life;
…. to this point God has not been seen, by anyone.
1 John 4:12a – No man
hath seen God at any time.
So, if you say you love God (whom you have never seen), yet do not love your brethren whom you have seen, you cannot love God. The bottom line here is that if you truly love God, you will also love your brethren. To say you love God and not love your brethren makes you a liar.
1 John 4:21 – And this
commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God
love his brother also.
1 John 3:23 – 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.
If you love God, then you will keep His commandments (John 14:15). This is a commandment from God, so obey it. John focuses upon a particular commandment: That if you love God, then you will also love your Christian brethren.
John talks about love as a serious business indeed. This sort of love could get you a whole lot of trouble. This sort of love will cost you, even your life!
John 15:12-13 – 12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Romans 5:6 – For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Real love such as John is writing about is more than just a nice feeling for someone else. It is a whole of life commitment that can never be backed away from once you have taken that step to be saved. It is not always easy to love Christian brethren; there will always be those who are by nature “unlovable”.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 also says a lot about the unselfish nature of real love.
The problem is that a lot of this teaching is left out of discipling new Christians. They are told today that once they have prayed the sinners’ prayer, they have gained eternal life in heaven which they cannot lose, ever. But it is very much stacked in favour of the sinner, isn’t it. Today’s evangelism paints God as a salvation salesman, as if God is saying, “But wait, there’s more!” when trying to “sell” His salvation gospel, offering extra freebies to better entice those cunning sinners in the door. Just see what you can get: forgiveness (pardon for all sin), eternal life (not only that but in a 10-star hotel for ever), no sickness, no health problems, one big holiday at a special resort that will never end………
But why would God have to pander to the needs of sinful mankind as if He desperately needed their custom to somehow justify the effort He has put into producing their salvation? As Boettner teaches, that God required man to sin to justify having set up his plan of redemption. “And since the plan of redemption is thus traced back into eternity, the plan to permit man to fall into the sin from which he was thus to be redeemed must also extend back into eternity; otherwise there would have been no occasion for redemption.” (“The reformed doctrine of predestination”)
And ones like Piper teaching that God needs man to sin in
order to fulfil His glory, quoting Jonathan Edwards: “Thus
it is necessary, that God's awful majesty, his authority and dreadful
greatness, justice, and holiness, should be manifested. But this could not
be, unless sin and punishment had been decreed; so that the shining forth
of God's glory would be very imperfect, both because these parts of divine
glory would not shine forth as the others do, and also the glory of his
goodness, love, and holiness would be faint without them (sin and punishment); nay, they could scarcely shine forth at all.” (“Is God less glorious because he ordained
that evil be?”)
But, isn’t it man who should be desperately pleading with God to rescue him from the coming destruction? After all, when anyone stands before the great white judgment throne of Christ, it’s very clear that he/she will be tormented by knowing that he/she failed to make the right decision while he/she was yet on earth. So, isn’t it man who should be pandering to God’s will to be able to escape the destruction looming ahead of him? God bends over backwards to give man the only thing he needs for eternity and cannot get because of his sin. And man thinks that God can just keep on bending over backwards in an effort to woo man into His kingdom? Does man think he can play the bargaining game with God?
The gospel says that we must believe with our hearts and confess with our lips that God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 10:9) and that on this basis, if we call upon the name of the Lord to be saved, we will be saved (Romans 10:13). God promises this, so, if we genuinely do this, God will deliver. It is man who has won the jackpot here, if only he could open his eyes and see how much he is offered for so little from man himself.
But what does God get out of it apart from a warm fuzzy feeling that there will be people in heaven praising Him for eternity?
Well, God is expecting a few things too. Things like we should love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and if we love Him we should obey His commandments (John 14:15). We should forsake the world and take up our crosses, without which we cannot be Jesus’ disciple (Luke 14:27, 33), nor are we considered worthy of Him (Matthew 10:38). We should love God more than anything else, even our families (Matthew 10:37). We should present ourselves a complete living sacrifice, laying as it were ourselves on the sacrificial altar (Romans 12:1). We should accept suffering as part of our service for God (1 Peter 2:21) and not a burden to be endured but a rejoicing that we might be counted worth to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:41). And so on.
In 1 John, John has been listing the boxes to tick if we are genuine Christians. In fact, if we have genuinely prayed the sinners’ prayer, then we’ll tick most if not all boxes that are the measure of a genuine Christian.
So if we truly prayed the sinners’ prayer and meant it, then our lives will show it clearly. We’ll be obedient, we’ll love our brethren, we’ll share our worldly goods with them, in fact, we’ll go all out to carry out our side of the salvation contract. God honours His commitment immediately. He gives us a lifetime to fully honour our side of the bargain. But if we prayed the prayer yet, like so many, decided that we’d just have a bit more worldly pleasure first before we denied it, then possibly we didn’t really mean our prayer! It’s like giving up an addiction like smoking; too many will say that they’ll give it up but they’ll just finish the packet first. And when that happens, they’ll try to justify buying just a little more and then they’ll give up forever, ……. but never quite get to actually giving it up. The truth is that if you pray the sinners’ prayer, you must start giving up the world from that point onward. Lock and bolt the doorways back to the world we have left behind. Burn those bridges that cross back over to the world that we should no longer love.
Any delay in that commitment will inevitably keep the old life rolling on because the point of giving it up is always after the little bit more …… and not needing to be brought back from that world over and over again by teachers when you should have now become teachers yourselves (but you just won’t leave the world behind!).
Hebrews 5:12 says it all: For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
That is, you should have walked forward in your Christian life, maturing as you go ……
1 John 2:6 – He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Praying the sinners’ prayer is not just mouthing a few words. If you mean what you prayed, then you’ll live like a Christian should live. And 1 John is all about how to live such a life and how to assess how well you are living it (or if, indeed, you should actually fail).
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