God is Love (Part 3)
Abiding Love Vs. 15-16
It is a confession of public conviction and acknowledgment that reveals an inward commitment: “Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in him. I trust in him not just as the Savior of the world, but as my Savior. I personally trust in him as the Savior, the Son sent from God.”
The natural reaction of someone who genuinely believes that Jesus is the Son of God is to join his life with his in all that means.
To live or abide in God (“live” is present tense) is a vital, intimate, continuous, and growing reality. The believer has a new and invisible power for the fulfillment of his work on earth: “God is in him.”
When one abides in the love of God, his knowledge of God grows, and his faith in God grows. The more we love him, the more we understand him, and in turn we trust him more and our faith increases.
We must have a true if limited knowledge of the object of faith before true faith can exist; and true faith opens the way to fuller knowledge. A general faith in Christ and self-surrender to Him prepared the disciples for a loftier apprehension of His character. The actual experience of love includes the promise of a larger manifestation of its treasures
“The love which dwells in the community of God’s children and which they show to one another is His love imparted to them. More than that: the God of love imparts Himself to His people, so dwelling within them that they, in their turn, dwell in His love and dwell in Him.”
Perfected Love Vs. 17-18
The “function of love in the believer’s life is the impartation of a bold confidence that will enable him to stand before the judgment seat of Christ without fear or shame.”
This does not mean that we have attained his perfection, but we stand in relation to God the same way that Christ does, and in this way we are like him.
Literally John says, “Fear not is in love.” The believer can have full “confidence” based on this assertion.
Robertson calls this phrase a powerful metaphor and notes that this can mean “to turn out-of-doors.”
This deficiency of love causes one to dread the day of judgment for fear of permanent departure from the presence of God.143 Therefore if one fears this day, he is not being perfected in love.
Demonstrated Love Vs. 19-21
Source of Love (19)
Plummer gives three reasons why this fact is significant:
1. Our love owes its origin to God’s love.
2. Love is characterized by fear when there is a doubt it will be returned. We have no fear of this since God’s love was prior to ours.
3. Affection can easily flow from a heart filled with gratitude for God’s initiation of love toward us.
False Love (20)
One may possibly claim to love God and deceive others since God cannot be seen and others are not able to prove the truth of the declaration. The visible manifestation of an individual’s love for God, however, will eventually show up in his dealings with his brothers and sisters in Christ, who indeed are very visible.
The unloved brother has been and continues to be in sight, while God has been and remains out of sight.
Love for God and hatred for a brother cannot coexist in the same heart
The words “God” and “brother” are juxtaposed to emphasize the fact that one must have the same love for both.
True Love (21)
Loving one’s brother is not just a spiritual requirement; it also is a command. The reason that it is impossible for the inconsistency stated in 4:20 to remain is that the command to love God and the command to love one’s brother are two parts of one command. They are inseparable.
God the Father as the final source of the commandment. Disobedience to this commandment demonstrates a false love toward God that results in failure to love the brethren.
