First John: 1 John 3:24b-The Spirit Confirms with the Obedient They Are Experiencing Mutual Fellowship with the Father Lesson # 141

1 John 3:24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. (ESV)

“And by this we know that he abides in us” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) preposition en (ἐν), “by” (3) dative neuter singular form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “this” (4) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb ginōskō (γινώσκω), “we know” (5) conjunction hoti (ὅτι), “that” (6) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb menō (μένω), “he abides” (7) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (8) genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “us.”

The conjunction kai is a temporal marker, which means it is introducing an assertion which identifies something which takes place simultaneously when the Father is living in fellowship with the believer who conscientiously obeys His commands.

The demonstrative pronoun houtos means “this” and is “kataphoric” which means that it is referring to the prepositional phrase ek tou pneumatos hou hēmin edōken (ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος οὗ ἡμῖν ἔδωκεν), “by the Spirit whom he has given us”), which immediately follows it.

This word houtos is the object of the preposition en which is a marker of means indicating the means by which the action of the first person plural present active indicative form of the verb ginōskō, “we know” is accomplished.

Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates the means by which the believer can confirm that the Father is in fact living in fellowship with him and correspondingly the Father is living in fellowship with them when they conscientiously obeying His commands.

Consequently, this prepositional phrase en toutō (ἐν τούτῳ), “by means of this” indicates that the Holy Spirit is the instrument the Father employs to confirm with the believer that they are living in fellowship with Him and He is living in fellowship with them when they conscientiously obey the Father’s commands.

The verb ginōskō means, “to confirm” since John is attempting to instruct the recipients of First John as to how they can be assured that are living in fellowship with the Father and correspondingly that the Father is living in fellowship with them.

The first person plural form of this verb means “any one of us” or “each one of us” since the word is an “inclusive” we and it is used in a distributive sense.

The former is expressing is unity and solidarity with the recipients of First John while the the latter is emphasizing no exceptions, which indicates that the spiritual truth presented here in verse 24 is emphasizing that there are no exceptions which means that it is applicable to every Christian including the apostle John.

The present tense of ginōskō is a gnomic present used to describe something that is true any time.

It expresses the idea that any believer can “at any time” confirm by means of the Spirit that they are indeed living in fellowship with the Father and correspondingly the Father is living in fellowship with them when they conscientiously obey the Father’s commands.

The verb menō means, “to live” expressing the idea of the Father living in fellowship with the believer who conscientiously obeys His commands.

The genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego means “any one of us” since the word refers to John and the recipients of this epistle as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive emphasizing no exceptions.

It is the object of the preposition en, which means “in fellowship with” since the word is functioning as a marker of association expressing the idea of the believer living in association with or in fellowship with the Father as a result of conscientiously obeying His commands.

“By the Spirit whom he has given us” is composed of the following: (1) preposition ek (ἐκ), “by” (2) articular genitive neuter singular form of the noun pneuma (πνεῦμα), “the Spirit” (3) genitive neuter singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), “whom” (4) dative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “us” (5) third person singular aorist active indicative form of the verb didōmi (δίδωμι), “he has given.”

The noun pneuma means “the Spirit” and refers of course to the Holy Spirit and is the object of the preposition ek which means “by means of” since it is functioning as a marker of means implying source.

The word is indicating that the Holy Spirit is the instrumentality the Father uses to confirm with the believer that they are living in fellowship with each other as a result of the believer conscientiously obeying His commands.

The verb didōmi means “to bestow as a gift” since the word pertains to giving someone something which is of great value and as a gift and speaks of giving someone something as an expression of generosity.

Here it is expressing the idea that the Holy Spirit was given by the Father to the believer as a gift at the moment of their justification.

The dative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego means “each one of us” since the word refers to John and the recipients of First John as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.

1 John 3:24 Consequently, the one who at any time does conscientiously obey His commands is living in fellowship with Him. Correspondingly, He Himself is living in fellowship with him. Simultaneously, by means of this, each one of us can at any time confirm that He is living in fellowship with any one of us: By means of His Spirit whom He has bestowed upon each one of us as a gift. (My translation)

After he assures the recipients of First John that they are living in fellowship with the Father and vice versa as a result of conscientiously obeying the Father’s commands, the apostle John employs a temporal clause.

It asserts something which takes place simultaneously with their conscientious obedience to the Father’s commands.

It asserts that by means of the Spirit the believer does confirm that the Father is indeed living in fellowship with them and vice versa.

John is teaching that the Holy Spirit is the instrumentality the Father uses to confirm with the believer that they are living in fellowship with Him and vice versa as a result of the believer conscientiously obeying the Father’s Spirit inspired commands.

Consequently, through the believer’s obedience to the Father’s commands, which He communicated to the believer, the Holy Spirit confirms with the believer that they are a child of God.

This is the first of six explicit references to the Holy Spirit in First John (cf. 1 John 4:2, 6, 13; 5:6, 8).

He is described by John in 1 John 2:20 and 27 as “the anointing.”

Therefore, the apostle John is teaching that when the believer is living in fellowship with the Father and vice versa when they conscientiously obey the Father’s commands, simultaneously the Spirit is confirming for them that this is the case and He is the source of this confirmation.

In other words, at the same time, the believer is conscientiously obeying the Father’s Spirit inspired commands, the Holy Spirit is confirming they are experiencing fellowship with the Father and vice versa.

The Spirit confirms with the believer that they are experiencing fellowship with the Father and vice versa because through this obedience, the Spirit is reproducing the character of Christ in their life, i.e. the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22-23).

Through, their obedience, He also provides the believer the omnipotence required to live the Christian way of life which demands a supernatural means of execution.

The believer’s obedience to the Father’s Spirit inspired commands is the result exercising faith in these commands (cf. Heb. 11:8), and which faith appropriates for them the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit (cf. Matt. 21:21-22).

The Spirit confirms with the believer that they are experiencing fellowship with the Father and the Father with them through the fulfillment of their prayer requests, which they offered up to the Father.

He also confirms with them that they are experiencing fellowship with the Father and the Father with them by enabling them to experience a peace which is beyond human comprehension (cf. Phil. 4:6-7).

The Spirit is able to confirm the obedient believer is experiencing fellowship with the Father and vice versa because He inspired these commands which originate with the Father.

In other words, the Spirit communicates these commands to the believer through John’s apostolic teaching which is inspired by the Holy Spirit and originates from the Father and was communicated to them by the Son through the Spirit.

To “confirm” means, “to acknowledge with definite assurance.”

Therefore, John is teaching that by means of the Holy Spirit any believer can have definite assurance that they are living in fellowship with the Father and the Father with them when they conscientiously obey the Father’s Spirit inspired commands.

To “confirm” also means, “to establish the truth, accuracy, validity or genuineness of, corroborate; verify.”

Thus, by means of the Spirit they can establish the truth, the validity or genuineness of, corroborate and verify as to whether or not they are living in fellowship with the Father and the Father with them when they conscientiously obey the Father’s Spirit inspired commands.