This Is Love - Part 3

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Well, it has been our joy this morning to sing about God's holiness and to celebrate that great attribute of God. And now as we study His Word together, we have the opportunity to consider another of his great attributes or perfections, His love. I invite you to turn with me to 1 John, chapter 4, as we continue to make our way through this magnificent letter.

Perhaps the largest and most expensive gift that's ever been given on this planet, by a human to another, was given to someone who had already died. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains; “The Taj Mahal was built by an emperor to immortalize his wife who died in childbirth in 1631, having been the Emperor's inseparable companion since their marriage in 1612.” It goes on to describe it as one of the most beautiful structural compositions in the world. The Taj Mahal is also one of the world's most iconic monuments visited by millions of tourists each year; it really is a sort of testimony to his love for his wife. It's estimated that about twenty-thousand workers built the structure and to underscore that it is the most valuable gift ever given by one human to another, the building is valued at around $827 million today. That is a really expensive gift.

But if you're a Christian, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, in salvation you received a number of gifts that are far greater than that from your heavenly Father; here are two of them. First of all, eternal life. Romans 6:23, “…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If our Lord delays His coming, someday the Taj Mahal will decay to the point perhaps even of rubble, but eternal life is, by its very definition, eternal. The other gift, that I would highlight for you this morning that you received at salvation that is of incalculable value, is the Holy Spirit. John, chapter 14, verse 16, Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” And then in verse 26, he says that “…Helper, (is) the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name.”

In the passage that we begin to study today, John focuses on the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit. Just to remind you of context, we're studying the third movement or the third cycle in this letter of “The Three Tests of Eternal Life.” And in our text for the third and final time, John emphasizes “The Social Test of Eternal Life.” And it's this, “Do you claim to know Christ?” If so, “Do You Have a True Love for God and a True Love for His People?” This test runs from chapter 4, verse 7, down through the end of the chapter. Let's read it together, 1 John 4, verse 7:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he and God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Now John begins this third section on love with a clear statement of his theme, and it's an exhortation, notice verse 7, “Beloved, let us love one another.” That's really the theme of this entire passage, “Let us love.” As John has consistently, throughout this letter, he urges us here to consistently love. It's in the present tense, be continually loving, and express that love to one another, that is to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. That's “The Exhortation.” Now, beginning of the middle of verse 7, and running down through the end of this passage, verse 21, John provides us with three compelling reasons that we should love one another.

We've already considered two of those reasons; let me just review them for you. In verses 7 and 8, we learned that we should love one another because of “God's Unchanging Nature of Love.” He is love, He's the source of love, and, therefore, those who have been born of God should love as well.

Last time, we considered “God's Unparalleled Demonstration of Love.” This is the second reason we should love, “God's Unparalleled Demonstration of Love.” That's the point of verses 9 through 12. Now, in verses 9 and 10, he “Explains that Demonstration.” First of all, in verse 9, he says “God Demonstrated His Love in Christ's Incarnation.” Look at verse 9. “By this the love of God was manifested (It was demonstrated.) …that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world (There's the Incarnation.) so that we might live through Him.”

Secondly, in verse 10, he says, “God Has Demonstrated His Love (Not only in the Incarnation, but) in Christ’s Propitiation.” Notice, he says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He (God) loved us and (He) sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” He sent His Son to satisfy His own just wrath against our sins. This is how God demonstrated His love. God is love, and He demonstrated it in and through His Son, through the Incarnation and through His propitiation, His death on the cross.

Now in verses 11 and 12, he “Applies” that to us. First of all, in verse 11, he says in light of what Christ has done, that is in light of what God has done in and through Christ, “It Is Our Moral Obligation to God” to love one another. Verse 11, says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” And then, he says in verse 12, that “It Is Our Christian Witness to the World.” Verse 12 says, “No one has seen God at any time; but if we (as Christians are loving) one another, (then) God abides in us, and (We put the love of God on display.).” As Jesus said, “They (That is the world.) will know you are My disciples, by your love for one another.” So, we actually put the love of God in Christ on display in our lives as we love one another. So, those are two reasons that we should love our fellow believers.

Today, we come to a third reason that we should love both love God and love His people. And it's because of “God's Unspeakable Gift of Love,” God's unspeakable gift of love. This is the message of verses 13 to 21.

Now, let me show you the flow of John's thought here. In verses 7 and 8, we learned that God is love in His very nature. It is one of His perfections; He is love. And then in verses 9 through 12, we learned that God demonstrated His love by sending His Son, and through the external work of His Son for us on the cross, He demonstrated that love. In verses 13 to 21, we're going to learn that God demonstrated His love by sending His Spirit; and through the internal work of the Spirit in us, He demonstrates that love. So, we could summarize it this way. Because the Father is love, verses 7 and 8, He sent the Son, verses 9 through 12, and He gave the Spirit, verses 13 to 21. So, let's look at this amazing, unspeakable gift.

In verse 13, we learn about “The Gift of The Holy Spirit,” the gift of the Holy Spirit. John ended the previous paragraph on the demonstration of God's love in Christ's incarnation and propitiation, by addressing the abiding presence of God with the believer. Look back at verse 12, notice he says there, “…God abides in us.” Now in verse 13, he begins this new paragraph by picking up on that theme of God's abiding presence in the believer and developing it. In fact, he refers to the indwelling presence of the Spirit three times in this paragraph. Notice verse 13, “(He) abides in us;” verse 15, “…God abides in him,” that is the believer; verse 16, “…God abides in him,” that is the believer. How? Through His Spirit, as he introduces us in verse 13. So, the focus of these verses, then, is on the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. So, look at verse 13, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

Now, John alluded to the work of the Holy Spirit back in chapter 2, verses 20 and 27, as “The Anointing.” The Spirit is, is “The Anointing” in the sense that He's the One within us Who protects us from believing damning error. That was the point of those passages. In chapter 3, verse 24, we have the first explicit reference to the Holy Spirit. Look back at chapter 3, verse 24, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He (The Father) abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” Then he mentions the Spirit again in chapter 4, verse 2, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”

Now, here in our text in verse 13, John returns to the Holy Spirit again, and notice how he introduces his comment about the Spirit. Literally he says, “In” or “By this we are knowing that we are remaining in Him and He is remaining in us.”

Now let's take that apart. Let's start with the expression, “we are knowing.” We (meaning all Christians, all believers) know (Literally, in the Greek text, ‘are knowing,’ present tense, this is the shared common knowledge of all true believers.). We are knowing that we are abiding in Him (That is, ‘in the Father.’).” Now what does it mean that “We are abiding in Him?” The Greek verb translated ‘abide’ here occurs twenty-four times in this letter, and it's not something mystical.

When I was a young Christian, I read some books about abiding in Christ, and it was this idea of this sort of mystical thing that you sort of feel, you know, God, and you feel His presence. That's not what this idea is at all. The word ‘abide’ literally means ‘to stay or remain.’ Here's the leading Greek Lexicon, defining this word. It says, “not to leave a certain realm or sphere; remain or continue.” And to make it very clear that this isn't mystical, in 2 John, verse 9, there he talks about “abiding in the teaching about Christ.” That's not mystical; that's objective. It means ‘to continue or to remain believing what you learned about Christ.’ In 1 John, chapter 2, verse 19, a key verse in this epistle, he uses this word, and there he says that false Christians went out from the true churches there in Asia Minor rather than ‘remain’ (abide) with us.

So, it's not something mystical. Some Christians interpret this idea of abiding as though it's some elite spiritual level that only a few Christians enjoy. But 1 John makes it clear that God abides in all Christians, and all Christians abide in Him. Whatever this is, it's something that's true of every Christian. Look at verse 13, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, (There it is.) because He has given us of His Spirit.” Let me say it differently, “If you have the Holy Spirit, you abide in Him and He abides in you.” Look at verse 15, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he and God.” In other words, if you have believed in the biblical Jesus, then God abides in you, and you abide in God. So, this is not some elite level for special Christians, you know, “Only if I could reach the level, you know, I’ve been saved, I'm a Christian, but if I can only learn to abide in God.” That's not what this is at all! If you're a Christian, you abide in Him and He abides in you.

Burdick, in his commentary on 1 John, says this, “The word ‘abides’ does not describe a closer, more intimate relationship with Christ, sometimes referred to as the ‘Abiding Life’ enjoyed only by the more devoted Christian.” And then he puts it this way, “All believers are in God and abide in Him.” So, verse 13, then, to “abide in the Father” means that we are staying, we are remaining in a relationship with God as Father. Verse 13 adds, “and we are knowing that He abides in us, that He, the Father, is remaining in us, that we continually experience His abiding presence with us.” (Summary Paraphrase). So, let me summarize it then. When John says that “We are knowing that we abide in Him and He in us,” you know what he's really saying? We know that we're really Christians; that's what he's saying. How? How can we know that we're really Christians? By this, by this means, and the means by which we know this is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. In fact, look at verse 13, and let me change the word order to make the meaning clear. You look at verse 13, let me read it this way, “We know that we abide in Him and He in us (that we're truly Christians) by this, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (Literal).

Jesus promised that the Father would send the Spirit. In the Upper Room Discourse, I love these verses, turn with me to John, chapter 14, verse 16. He says:

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Another ‘parakletos,’ another one called alongside to help you, and a comforter, an advocate, an intercessor. He will give you another Helper.) that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

Jesus says, “The Father is going to send the Spirit in a new manifestation to New Testament believers. He's going to continue in you in an abiding presence.” And I love verse 18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” You know what He's talking about? Through the Holy Spirit Whom He would provide. Jesus hasn't abandoned us. He's not in heaven completely cut off from us. He's in heaven, still ministering and serving us through another Helper, the Spirit whom He and the Father have sent.

Now, look over at chapter 15, verse 26, and Jesus puts it a little differently here. He says, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father (Notice how He includes now the Spirit is being sent by Christ and the Father.), that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.” By the way, this is where the classic statement of the nature of the Spirit comes from, that “He proceeds from the Father and the Son.” He comes to us through the Father and the Son. So, the indwelling Spirit, then, going back to our text, the indwelling Spirit is the gift of God's grace to every believer. Notice how John puts it here in verse 13, “He has given us,” has given; He gave in the past and we continue to have the Spirit.

So, the question is, “When did God give us His Spirit?” Well, notice verse 13 is clear, “…He has given us (believers) of His Spirit.” Now, here's a quiz. If God has already given every believer the Spirit that John's writing to, that is every believer here, if every believer already has the Spirit, then when does that mean we get the Spirit? At salvation, has to be because no matter your spiritual age, no matter when you came to faith in Christ, you have been given the Spirit, which means it has to be at regeneration. And that's exactly what the Scriptures teach. Go back to the Old Testament to the promise of regeneration in The New Covenant in Ezekiel 36, verse 27, God says, as part of a regeneration, that moment that you're given new life, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” So, at the moment of the New Birth, we received the Spirit.

And Paul makes this point a little differently in Romans, chapter 8, verse 9, where he says, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, (if you're a Christian) if indeed, the Spirit of God dwells in you.” And then he says this, “…But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” In other words, if you're a Christian, you have the Spirit, and you received the Spirit at regeneration, at the new birth. So, the Father, then, has given an “Unspeakable Gift of Love” to every Christian; He's given His Holy Spirit to be with us and to live in us.

Now, you know as believers, we rightly celebrate the gift of Christ, that God has given us His Son, “He so loved the world that He gave His Son.” We love that, we celebrate that and rightly so. But when's the last time you celebrated the fact that God, in an amazing expression and unspeakable expression of His love, has given you His Spirit? In the rest of this passage, John then goes on to explain the work of the Holy Spirit. Verse 13 is “The Gift of the Holy Spirit;” verses 14 to 21, is “The Work of the Holy Spirit.”

Now, let me break it down for you; we won't get to all of it today, obviously. But in verses 14 through the middle of verse 16, we see “The Spirit’s Saving Work,” that is what the Spirit does in salvation. And then beginning in the middle of verse 16 and running down to verse 21, we'll see “His Sanctifying Work” that He is going to continue the work He began to perfect us and John's concerned with a couple of specific ways that He sanctifies us, and we'll get there when we get there. Alright? No spoilers, alright?

So today, we're just going to consider “His Saving Work,” in verses 14 to the middle of verse 16. Let's read it again, John writes:

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, (There's that abiding presence again, through His Spirit.) and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.

Now, notice in those verses the clear reference to the Trinity. The Father, the first person of the Trinity, sent the Son, the second person of the Trinity into the world as the Savior, and He sent His Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, into our hearts. They're all engaged, the three persons of the Trinity, engaged in the work of salvation.

Now, first of all, we discover this about the Holy Spirit, who is “The Unspeakable Gift of the Father's Love.” In verse 14, we learned that “The Spirit inspired the writers of the gospel.” Now remember, verse 13, sets the tone for all that's unfolding after that. The Spirit inspired the writers of the gospel. Look at verse 14, “We have seen and testify.” Literally, “We ourselves have seen,” that's the lingering impact of being eyewitnesses, “We were eyewitnesses and that continues in what we saw, and we are testifying, what we saw drives us to continually bear witness.”

Now that raises a very important question and that is, “Who are the ‘we’ who have seen him,” in verse 14? Well, it almost certainly refers to John and the other Apostles. Why? Because they were actual eyewitnesses, and they were uniquely qualified to testify. In addition, these same two ideas, these same two concepts, “have seen and testify” appear in the prologue to this letter. Go back to 1 John, chapter 1, as John describes what it was to be an eyewitness of Jesus. He says:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, (Listen, you haven’t touched Jesus with your hands, these are the Apostles!), concerning the Word of Life–and the Life …was manifested, and we have (here it is, we have) seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. (Now, “have seen” here in Greek is a different Greek word for ‘see.’ But the concept is here, “We have seen and are testifying, and are proclaiming to you,” verse 3.) what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you … may have fellowship with us.

So, it is the Apostles who were eyewitnesses of His majesty. As John puts it in John 1:14, “…the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we (the Apostles) saw (Beheld what?) His glory.” They beheld it personally with their actual eyes; we only behold the glory of Christ in their written word in the Gospels. In John 15:27, Jesus said to the Apostles, “…you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” In Acts, chapter 1, verse 8, and this is, you know, we take this by application to refer to us and that's okay, that's a legitimate application. But the primary point of Acts 1:8 is for the Apostles, “…you will (shall) receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” And if you doubt that, look at Acts, chapter 10, as Peter preaches the gospel to Cornelius and his household, he says this, Acts 10:38:

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, (Notice verse 41.) not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

So go back to our text. Here's the point that John is making in verse 14, you and I heard the gospel through the testimony of the Apostles, Jesus’ official proxies. Specifically, through their written testimony and that was Christ’s plan. In the High Priestly Prayer in John 17:20, Jesus prays, “…for those also who (will) believe in Me through their (the Apostles’) word;” that was Jesus’ plan all along. But here's the question, “What was the source of the Gospels they wrote?” What was the source of their recorded eyewitness testimony? And the answer is “The Holy Spirit,” which is exactly what Jesus said would happen. John 14:26, “…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, (This is spoken to the Apostles now, not to you and me.) He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” That's a promise to guide their writing. The Spirit would guide their writing of the Gospel story. In John 16:13, Jesus says:

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you (the Apostles) into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (It was a promise to them as the writers of the Scripture.)

That's why in 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 21, Peter writes, “…no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” And what was this gospel message? Look back at verse 14. Here in verse 14 is the essence of the gospel the Apostles proclaimed under the inspiration of the Spirit, “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” There is the gospel in a nutshell. We already saw back in verses 9 and 10 that the mission of the Son was driven by the Father's love for us. And because of that, the Father has sent the Son, His only begotten Son, and He sent Him for this purpose, for salvation.

The expression “Savior of the world” occurs only one other time in John's writings; it occurs in John, chapter 4, verse 42. You remember the story of the Samaritan Woman where Jesus shares the gospel with that woman; she comes to trust in Him. And then she tells everybody about who she's met, about Jesus and who He is. And here in John 4:42, those who heard the woman's message and believed in Jesus, because of that, say this, “…It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” What was their point? Their point was that Jesus was not just the Savior of the Jews; He was the savior of the Samaritans; He was the savior of the world. There is no other Savior for those who are sinners, estranged from God, who are God's enemies, and under His wrath; there's only one Savior. John 12:32, “…if I (be) lifted up…(I) will draw all men to Myself.” John defines Jesus’ work here in verse 14, His mission, in a single word. You see it? ‘Savior!’ And notice, He is a Savior; this isn't just what He does, this is who He is. Jesus is the Savior.

But you know, we don't use that word ‘Savior’ very often in our language. You probably haven't used it in months outside of the church. So, what is that word? What does it mean? Well, let me use a different word that we do use quite often that is a synonym for the word Savior; it's ‘Rescuer.’ He is the Rescuer of the world. You know what the point is? You can't save yourself; you can't rescue yourself! That's what's implied in the statement. You know, there are a whole lot of people who think they're going to get to heaven, and God is going to say, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” And their response is going to be, “Well, you know, I've tried to do the best I can, I’ve tried to be a good person, I…”. Listen, there's only one Rescuer, and it's not you. You cannot rescue yourself. I cannot rescue myself. We need rescuing, and there's only One of those.

If you're here this morning and you have not come to trust in Jesus Christ, you need to understand that you only have one hope; there is only one Savior, there's only one Rescuer. Nobody else is showing up, nobody else has the power or capacity to rescue you. The question is to rescue you from what? What does He save us from? Well, the answer is right here in the context look at verse 9, the Father sent the “…Son…that we might (live).” Jesus saves us; He rescues us from spiritual death. You and I are born to this world dead to God. If you're an unbeliever here this morning, you don't know God. He's a stranger to you. You have no relationship with God, and you have no hope of having a relationship with God outside of Christ. He is the only One who can save you from the spiritual death that makes you a stranger to God your Creator. And verse 10, “He was sent “…to be the propitiation for our sins,” the satisfaction of God's wrath against our sins. In other words, Jesus rescues us not only from spiritual death, but from God's wrath against our sin. You see, my sin deserves eternal hell, and if I'm left to myself, that's what I get. I need a Rescuer. I need a Savior. And that's why He came.

In the New Testament, the Father is called the Savior eight times out of twenty-four times because the Father originated the plan. And you see that back in verses 7 through 12, don't you, or at least 7 and 8? And the Son is called the Savior because He accomplished the plan through His death and resurrection. It's used that way sixteen times out of twenty-four times in the New Testament. And you see that here in verses 9 through 12. But as we are learning, the Spirit is the Savior because He applies the work of Christ to our hearts. But the heart of the Apostles’ gospel isn't that the Father is the Savior or that the Spirit is the Savior. It's that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Christ's death is the rescue, the only propitiation for all people everywhere. It's the only way anyone on this planet can be saved from God's wrath. He's the only Savior for this planet. That doesn't mean everyone's going to be saved. He is the Savior of the world, not for everyone without exception, but for everyone without distinction. His satisfaction of God's wrath is the only propitiation for all people everywhere. He's the only Savior.

In the simple statement of the gospel there in verse 14, listen carefully. In the simple statement, in verse 14, we learn that John didn't choose the three tests of eternal life in this letter. He didn't choose them at random; they're not arbitrary. You say, “Where did John come up with these three tests?” And the answer is, “In the very gospel message!” These three tests, as one writer puts it, “arise inexorably from the central Christian revelation, that is, from the gospel.” Think about this, the doctrinal test, “Faith in the Biblical Jesus and His Gospel.” Verse 14 tells us it was the only begotten Son whom God sent in the flesh to be the Savior. That's the doctrinal test. The ethical test of “Obedience to Christ and His Word.” Listen, if Christ came to be our Savior to rescue us from our sins, then we are called to forsake the very sins that He came to rescue us from. The social test of “Love for God and Others.” God's love, a reflection of His nature demonstrated in sending His Son, obligates us to love God and each other.

You see, all three tests arise from the gospel. John Stott writes, “Grasp the truth of verse 14 and we shall acknowledge Christ, obey His commands, and love one another.” But don't miss John's main point in verse 14. It's that without the work of the Spirit, inspiring the writers of the gospel, you would never have heard that gospel message. It's only the Spirit. What a gift the Father gave us in the Spirit.

But there's a second part of the “Spirit’s Saving Work,” verse 15, “The Spirit granted believer’s faith in the Gospel,” the Spirit granted believer’s faith in the Gospel. We've already learned that the Spirit produces regeneration, the new birth in our hearts back in verse 7. Here we learn that it's through the work of the Spirit that we even believe the Apostles’ testimony in the Gospel. Look at verse 15, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God,” whoever confesses.

This ‘confesses,’ by the way, is not a sort of public statement of theological facts. It is a confession of personal trust. It points to a decisive public confession connected to salvation, but the verbal confession is merely the expression of the living faith that's already in the heart. By the way, if one's initial confession of faith at salvation is real, then it will turn into a life of faith in God's only Son.

So, look again at verse 15, “Whoever (There are no exceptions.) confesses that Jesus (the human person, the human man) is the Son of God.” In other words, Jesus is God incarnate, so this is a confession of the divine human person of Jesus, verse 15; who has come “to be the Savior of the world,” verse 14; by offering Himself as a “propitiation for our sins” in His death,” verse 10. That's who we're confessing. He says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” Whoever confesses, in personal trust, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, who's purchased forgiveness by dying as the satisfaction of God's wrath, that person is a genuine Christian, God abides in him, and He abides or remains in a relationship with God His Father.

But how did you and I come to make that confession? How did you and I come to believe in the gospel? Spoiler! It wasn't because you were smart; it wasn't because you had the inherent ability to do so. No! You came to believe in the gospel through the work of the Holy Spirit. Look back at chapter 4, verse 2, “By this you know the Spirit of God: (Here's where you know the Spirit of God is.) every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” In other words, the only way somebody confesses Jesus, in the biblical sense, is because the Spirit is there. Or take 1 Corinthians 12:3, “…no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ (Doesn't mean you can't say it verbally; it means you can't say it in the biblical sense owning Jesus as Lord.) except by the Holy Spirit.” He's the One who produces faith in the human heart. What a gift the Father gave us in the Spirit; He gave us the gospel in the written Word, and He caused us to believe it.

There's a third part of the Spirit's work in our salvation, and that's “The Spirit convinced believers of God's love through the gospel,” the Spirit convinced believers of God's love through the gospel. Look at the first half of verse 16, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.” Literally, “We ourselves,” and here, it's not the Apostles; it has to refer to all who've made the confession of verse 15, to all believers, “We have come to know.” That is, you have to know certain basic things about the gospel, before you can believe them. And here, notice what we believe, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.” John's point is this, “Through the Spirit's revelation in the gospel, we have come to know and have believed God's love for us.” But specifically, how?

How did the Spirit personally convince us of God's love for us? Two ways. Number one, by the objective revelation about God's love that's contained within the gospel message itself. In other words, the Spirit put in the gospel message the very concept of God's love for us. John 3:16, the most famous verse in the Bible, “…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” That's at the heart of the gospel. But the Spirit also convinced us of God's love, not only by giving us that objective revelation of God's love within the gospel message, but then subjectively convincing us personally of God's love through the message of the gospel. In other words, you didn't just read that verse and go, “Yeah, that's true for somebody else.” The Spirit convinced you that “God so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son so that you wouldn't perish but you would have everlasting life.” Through the Spirit, “We have come to know and have believed God's love for us,” in the gospel.

I love verse 16, “the love which God has for us,” literally “the love which God is having for us.” God loved us, when in eternity past, He chose us for His Son as a love gift. God loved us when He sent His only begotten Son into the world in the flesh. God loved us when He gave His Son on the cross to be the satisfaction of His own wrath when He crushed the Son for us. God loved us when He allowed us to hear the gospel through the writings of the Apostles. God loved us when His Spirit produced faith in our hearts in response to that gospel message. And God loved us, when at the moment of salvation, He gave us His spirit as His abiding presence with us. And He still loves us, and He always will! “The love which God is having for us.”

So, let me ask you as a believer, how can you know if you have truly come to really grasp and understand the love of God for you? You're a believer, you've trusted in Christ, but have you really come to full grips with that reality? Martyn Lloyd-Jones suggests ten tests; let me just give them to you; these will be on the slide on the website, you can find them later and meditate through them. But let me just give you the list. Here it is. Here's how you can know.

First of all, you have “A loss of the sense that God is against you.” That's how unbelievers think, but you have a loss of that sense.

Number two, you have “A loss of the fear and the sense of terror of God, while a sense of fear in the sense of awe remains, respect and reverence.” Yes, but not terror.

Number three, “A sense that God is for you and that God loves you.”

Number four, “A sense of sins forgiven.” Do you understand and have a sense that God in Christ has forgiven your sins and He doesn't hold them against you?

Number five, “A sense of gratitude and thanksgiving to God.” You see, you can't have experienced God's love in Christ and in the Holy Spirit without being fully thankful in your heart because you know you had nothing to do with it. God loved you because He loved you. And that breaks forth in praise and adoration.

Number six, “An increasing hatred of sin.” You can't love the God who loves you and understand God's love and not hate what He hates.

Number seven, “A desire to live a holy life that pleases Him because of what He's done for you.”

Number eight, “A desire to know Him better and draw closer to Him.” You see, you can't really understand the love of God and want to keep Him at arm's length. When you really understand God's love for you, it draws your heart out after God because He loves you in a way no person ever has or will.

Number nine, “A conscious regret that our love to Him is so poor and the desire to love Him more.” You find yourself saying, “Father, I do love You, but my love is so far from what it ought to be, what You deserve because of the love You've shown me. And I want to love You more.”

And number 10, “A delight in hearing these things and hearing about Him.”

Now, here's a question for you. “Why is it important for you to understand and grow in your knowledge of God's love for you? Why does this matter?” Past the gospel, past believing; why does it matter? Well, there are a number of reasons, but let me give you one, and this is a bit of a spoiler because I'm going to deal with this next week. But I love this quote from Horatius Bonar, listen to this.

The love of God to us and our love to Him work together for producing holiness. Terror accomplishes no real obedience. Suspense brings forth no fruit unto holiness. No gloomy uncertainty as to God's favor can subdue one lust or correct our crookedness of will. But the free pardon of the cross uproots sin and withers all its branches. Only the certainty of love, forgiving love can do this. Free and warm reception into the divine favor is the strongest of all motives in leading a person to seek conformity to Him who has thus freely forgiven Him all of his transgressions.

In other words, and this is a spoiler, when you really understand God's love for you in the gospel and you grow in your understanding of that love as you mature, you will love God and you will love your fellow Christians.

Let's pray together. Father, we are overwhelmed by Your love for us. Lord, I feel so inadequate to explain the depth and breadth and height of your love, but I pray that Your Holy Spirit would do what He did even when we first heard the gospel, and initially convinced us of Your love. May, as we study and meditate and reflect on this passage and on its truths, Lord, may our understanding of Your love for us only grow deeper and more profound, and may we respond, may we love because You first loved us, may we love You, increasingly, and may we love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Father, I also pray for those who are here this morning, who have never truly understood and experienced Your love in the Gospel. Lord, I pray that, this morning, You would, by Your Spirit, convict them of their sin, help them to see their desperate need of a rescuer, and help them to see there's only One, the Lord Jesus Christ, and may they throw themselves on Your mercy. May Your Spirit convince them personally of the truth that “You so loved the world that You gave Your only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” May Your Spirit do that for the glory of Your Son who deserves the reward of His suffering? It's in His name that we pray, Amen.