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Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:16-21; 5:1-3
In this message we shall consider 4:16—5:3, the last message on the virtues of the divine birth to practice the divine love.
In 4:16 John says, “And we have known and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” Here John says that we have known and believed the love which God has in us. This love is God’s love in sending the Son to be our Savior (4:14).
It is significant that in 4:16 John puts the word “known” before “believed.” As we pointed out in the foregoing message, this knowing involves experience and enjoyment. The fact that according to 4:16 we know and then believe indicates that first we experience and enjoy, and then we believe. However, our concept may be that first we believe, and then experience. However, if we do not have much experience and enjoyment of God’s love, we shall not be able to believe this love very much. But after we enjoy it and experience it, we surely believe the love which God has in us.
The words “in us” mean in our case, or in regard to us. Therefore, we have known and believed the love which God has in regard to us.
In 4:16 John again says, “God is love.” That God is love has been manifested in His sending His Son to be our Savior and life (4:9-10, 14).
In 4:16 John says that he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. To abide in love is to live a life that loves others habitually with the love which is God Himself so that He may be expressed in us. To abide in God is to live a life which is God Himself as our inward content and outward expression so that we may be absolutely one with Him. God abides in us to be our life inwardly and our living outwardly. Thus, He may be one with us in a practical way.
In 4:16 we see that there is an organic union between us and God. This organic union is indicated by the word “in.” It is interesting that John does not say that God is love and that he who abides in God abides in love. Instead, he says that he who abides in love abides in God. To us, the former may seem more logical. But the latter is more practical and real. To say that we abide in God when we abide in love means that the very love in which we abide is God Himself. This indicates that the love that we have toward others should be God Himself. If we abide in the love which is God Himself, we then abide in God, and God abides in us.
In verse 17 John continues, “In this has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of the judgment, because even as that One is, so also are we in this world.” In our abiding in the love which is God Himself (v. 16) the love of God is perfected in us, that is, perfectly manifested in us, that we may have boldness without fear (v. 18) in the day of judgment.
In verse 17 John speaks of the love of God being perfected with us. The word “perfected” is a translation of the Greek word teleioo, to complete, to accomplish, to finish. The love of God itself is perfect and complete in Himself, but it still needs to be perfected in us. In order for God’s love to be perfected in us, we need to experience this love. In our experience the love of God is perfected.
John says that if the love of God is perfected in us, we may have boldness in the day of judgment. The Greek word for “boldness” is parresia, meaning boldness of speech, confidence. In 3:21 boldness is for us to contact God in fellowship with Him. In 4:17 the boldness is for us to face the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) at His coming back (1 Cor. 3:13; 4:5; 2 Tim. 4:8). The judgment at the judgment seat of Christ will not be for eternal perdition or eternal salvation, but rather will be for reward or punishment. If we love the brothers with God as love, we shall have boldness in the day when Christ judges His believers at His judgment seat.
In 4:17 John indicates that “as that One is, so also are we in this world.” As in 3:3 and 7, “that One” refers to Christ. He lived in this world a life of God as love, and now He is our life so that we may live the same life of love in this world and be the same as He is now.
As in 4:1, “world” does not refer to the universe or the earth, but to human society on the earth, to the people, who are the components of the satanic world system.
In verse 18 John goes on to say, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear, because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love.” A literal translation of the first part of this verse would be, “Fear is not in the love.” “Fear” does not refer to the fear of offending God and being judged by Him (1 Pet. 1:17; Heb. 12:28), but to the fear that we have offended God and will be judged by Him. “Love” refers to the perfected love mentioned in the preceding verse, the love of God with which we love others. Perfect love is the love that has been perfected in us by our loving others with the love of God. Such love casts out fear and causes us to have no fear of being punished by the Lord at His coming back (Luke 12:46-47).
In 4:18 John tells us that he who fears has not been perfected in love. This means that the one who fears has not lived in the love of God so that it could be perfectly manifested in him.
First, John says in 4:12 and 17 that God’s love needs to be perfected in us. Then in 4:18 he speaks of being perfected in love. This indicates that we and the divine love are mingled. When love is perfected in us, we are perfected in love, for we become the love, and the love becomes us.
Verse 19 says, “We love, because He first loved us.” God first loved us in that He has infused us with His love and generated within us the love with which we love Him and love the brothers (v. 20). First John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” He who hates a brother habitually proves that he is not abiding in the divine love nor in the divine light (2:9-11). When we abide in the Lord, we abide both in the divine love and in the divine light. We do not hate the brothers but love them habitually, living the divine life in the divine light and the divine love.
In 4:21 John says, “And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also.” The commandment here is the commandment of brotherly love (2:7-11; John 13:34). It is possible to summarize John’s writing here in a simple way: God is love, and if we abide in Him, we shall love the brothers with Him as our love. This is John’s basic thought in these verses.
In 5:1 John goes on to say, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God, and everyone who loves Him who begets, loves him who has been begotten of Him.” The Gnostics and Cerinthians did not believe in the identity of Jesus and the Christ. Hence, they were not the children of God, begotten of God. But whoever believes that the Man Jesus is the Christ, God incarnate, (John 1:1, 14; 20:31), has been begotten of God and has become a child of God (John 1:12-13). Such a one loves God the Father who has begotten him and also loves the brother who has been begotten of the same Father. This explains, confirms, and strengthens the word in the preceding verses (1 John 4:20-21).
In 5:1 we have an indication that brotherly love is actually a triangular love, that is, a love that involves three parties. As a child of God born of Him, we surely love our Father, the One who has begotten us. Then according to 5:1, if we love the begetting Father, we shall also love those who have been begotten of Him. Here we have a triangular love, a love involving God, ourselves, and those born of God. This triangular love is in the organic union with the very God who is love.
John emphasizes the divine birth (1 John 5:1, 5:1, 4, 18; 2:29; 3:9; 4:7). How is it possible for us to love God and to love others? This is possible only because we have had the divine birth. We have been born of God, begotten of Him, and because of this birth we are able to love others. As we have pointed out, this is a triangular love. Therefore, the triangular love is related to the divine birth. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God. Now we love not only the One who has begotten us, our begetting Father, but also the ones begotten of Him. This is the triangular love related to the divine birth as revealed in 5:1.
In 5:2 John continues, “In this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and practice His commandments.” Loving God and practicing His commandments are the prerequisite of our loving the children of God. This is based upon the divine birth and the divine life.
In 5:2 John speaks of practicing the Lord’s commandments. The Greek word rendered “practice” is poieo, a word that denotes doing things habitually and continually by abiding in the things; hence, it is used in this Epistle in the sense of practice. This word is used in 1 John 1:6; 2:17, 29; 3:4 (twice), 1 John 3:7, 8, 9, 10, 22 and here in 1 John 5:2.
Verse 3 is the conclusion of this section: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” The Greek word for love here is agape, denoting the love which is higher and nobler than phileo. Only agape with its verb forms is used in this Epistle for love. “The love of God” here denotes our love toward God, which is generated by His love within us.
In 5:3 John says that the love of God is that we keep His commandments, commandments that are not burdensome. Keeping the commandments of God constitutes our love toward Him and is an evidence that we love Him. Literally, the Greek word for “burdensome” means heavy. To the divine life with its capability, the commandments of God are not heavy.
In all these verses John is actually speaking concerning the issue of the fellowship of the divine life. When we are in the fellowship of the divine life, that is, in the enjoyment of the Triune God, this enjoyment will have a certain issue or outcome. The outcome of the enjoyment of the Triune God is the divine love. When we enjoy the Triune God, this enjoyment issues in the divine love. Such a result will certainly come out of this enjoyment. With this divine love we spontaneously love others. In particular, we love all those who are organically related to our begetting Father. We have been begotten of this Father, and many others also have been begotten of Him. If we enjoy Him, the result will be that we love all His children. Therefore, loving the brothers is the issue of enjoying the Triune God.
The Triune God as revealed in this Epistle is not only life, light, and love; He is also the all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit dwells in us and moves in us so that we may enjoy the Triune God. As we enjoy the Triune God, His essence becomes our being. As a result, we have life, light, and love, and we live by this life and in this light and love. Spontaneously, we live a life that loves the children of God. This is John’s thought in this Epistle.
However, when we read 1 John, we may not have this understanding of loving the brothers. We may see only that we are told that God is love and that we are charged to love one another. Then in a natural, religious, and ethical way we may try to love others, imitating God’s love. In our nature as human beings there is the tendency to love in this way. But this kind of love may be ethical, natural, and even cultural.
Many have been taught to love others and to be kind to them. Many Christians, of course, are under the influence of such teaching. But these Christians may not see the matter of the anointing in this Epistle. They may not realize that within them there is a divine moving, working, and saturating. They may emphasize teaching, but they may fail to emphasize the inner anointing. The word “anointing” is a key word in this Epistle. This word implies that today the Triune God is the compound ointment moving within us. This ointment includes the process through which the Triune God has passed: incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. All the steps of this process are the ingredients of this compound ointment.
The anointing is the function of this ointment. This means that the function of this ointment is to anoint us with the Triune God. Therefore, the anointing anoints us with the Father, the Son, the Spirit, incarnation, humanity, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Hence, when we are anointed by the moving of the all-inclusive Spirit within us, we are anointed with all these elements. This means that the different elements of the compound ointment are anointed into our being. Just as the elements of paint are applied to something that is painted, so the elements of the divine paint, the all-inclusive Spirit, are imparted to our being.
As indicated by the word anointing, the teaching of the apostle John in this book is very subjective and is related to our organic union with the Triune God. Whereas many Christians today emphasize objective doctrine, God’s economy, His dispensation, emphasizes the anointing. The anointing within us is saturating us with all that the Triune God is, with all that He has done, and with all that He has obtained and attained.
Although 1 John presents a subjective revelation, those who are preoccupied with doctrine, creeds, and objective belief neglect the subjective revelation, and even condemn us for teaching it. Our teaching concerning the anointing may be different from traditional teaching, but it is definitely scriptural. Even if this teaching is different from the traditional teaching, it is not different from what is revealed in the Bible.
Now that we have covered this Epistle from 1:1 to 5:3, we can see that what is revealed in this book is altogether related to the anointing. We need to remember what the anointing is. The anointing is the moving, the working, the saturating, of the processed Triune God within us to be our life, our life supply, our enjoyment, and our everything. This anointing, which is fully realized in the fellowship of the divine life, is the subject of this Epistle.
