First John: 1 John 4:13a-The Means By Which the Child of God Can Confirm They Are Living In Fellowship with the Father and Vice Versa Lesson # 176

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (ESV)

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Tuesday July 10, 2018

www.wenstrom.org

-The Means By Which the Child of God Can Confirm They Are Living In Fellowship with the Father and Vice Versa

Lesson # 176

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (ESV)

“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us” is composed of the following: (1) (ἐν), “By” (2) dative neuter singular form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “this” (3) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb ginōskō (γινώσκω), “we know” (4) conjunction hoti (ὅτι), “that” (5) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (4) dative third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him” (5) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb menō (μένω), “we abide” (6) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (7) nominative third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “he” (8) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (9) dative first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “us.”

The demonstrative pronoun houtos is referring back to obedience to the command to love one another in and is the object of the preposition en which is a marker of means indicating the means by which the action of verb ginōskō (γινώσκω), “we know” is accomplished.

Now, 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 they are living in fellowship with the Father and correspondingly that the Father is living in fellowship with them.

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

Therefore, John is teaching that by means of obedience to the command to love one another, any child of God can have definite assurance that they are living in fellowship with the Father and the Father with them.

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

Thus, by means of obedience to the command to love one another, 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.

The present tense of ginōskō is a gnomic present used to describe something that is true any time and expresses the idea that any believer can “at any time” confirm by means of obedience to the command to love one another that they are living in fellowship with the Father and He is living in fellowship with them.

The first person plural present active indicative form of the verb menō (μένω) means “to live” expressing the idea of the child of God living in fellowship with the Father by means of obedience to the Spirit inspired command to love one’s fellow-child of God.

Now, in , the intensive personal pronoun autos means “Him” referring to the Father since he is the word’s nearest antecedent since the Father is the referent of the noun theos, “God,” which appears twice in and the intensive personal pronoun autos, “His” which also appears in this verse.

This intensive personal pronoun autos is the object of the preposition en which is a marker of association.

This is expressing the idea of the believer being in the state of experiencing fellowship with the Father by means of obedience to the His command to love one another, which was communicated to them by the Lord Jesus Christ through the Spirit He asked the Father to give them.

The conjunction kai is a marker of correspondence which means that it is introducing an assertion which corresponds to the previous one which asserts that the believer can confirm they are living in fellowship with the Father by means of obedience to the command to love one another.

Once again, we have the intensive personal pronoun autos but this time it is in the nominative third person masculine singular form and means “He Himself” since it emphasizes the identity of the Father in contrast to the child of God who is obeying His command to love one another.

The word is functioning as a nominative subject which means that it is performing the action of the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb menō (μένω), which is deliberately omitted by John, though, it is clearly implied from the context, because he is using the figure of ellipsis.

This verb again means, “to live” but this time it speaks 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 “us” since the word refers to John and the recipients of this epistle as a corporate unit.

It is the object of the preposition en, which means “in fellowship with” since the word is again functioning as a marker of association expressing the idea of the Father living in association with or in fellowship with the child of God as a result of the latter obeying His Spirit inspired command to love one another.

By means of this, each one of us can at any time confirm that we are living in fellowship with Him and correspondingly, He Himself is living in fellowship with us. Specifically, by means of His Spirit as a source who He has bestowed upon each one of us as a gift. (Author’s translation)

contains three assertions.

The first teaches that the child of God can at any time confirm they are living in fellowship with the Father by means of obeying the command to love one another.

The second corresponds to the first and teaches that they can at any time confirm the Father is living in fellowship with them by means of obeying the command to love one another.

The third identifies specifically for the recipients of First John the means by which they can confirm at any time they are living in fellowship with the Father and vice versa.

It asserts that it is by means of the Spirit as a source whom the Father bestowed upon them as a gift at the moment of justification that they can have this confirmation.

Therefore, this third assertion is related to the command to love one another.

The implication is that when the child of God obeys this command they will be able to confirm that they are living in fellowship with the Father and vice versa.

This epexegetical clause is thus identifying the ministry of the Holy Spirit as the ultimate source behind the command to love one another.

The Spirit confirms with the child of God that they are living in fellowship with the Father and vice versa when they obey the Spirit inspired command to love one another.

John is emphasizing with these assertions the critical importance of obeying the command to love one another since it is the means by which the child of God can confirm that they are living in fellowship with the Father.

He is also emphasizing the critical importance of the Holy Spirit in this confirmation since He confirms with the child of God that they are living in fellowship with the Father and vice versa when they obey His command to love one another.

The Spirit reproduces God’s attribute of love in the believer who obeys His command to love one another.

This reproduction of the love of God in the child of God is called “the fruit of the Spirit” by the apostle Paul in .

In , the apostle John is once again employing the verb menō (μένω) which expressing the idea of the child of God living in fellowship with the Father by means of obedience to the Spirit inspired command to love one’s fellow-child of God.

This verb is also expressing the idea of the believer being alive in the Father.

It is also speaking of the believer maintaining himself or herself in the Father or finding their subsistence in Him.

The concept of occupying a place or dwelling in a place is found here in this verse in that the Christian is occupying or dwelling in the Father.

The idea of attaining eternal life is also expressed here by this verb in that the Christian experiences eternal life while in fellowship with Father.

The concept of conducting one’s life is also present in that John is saying that the believer must conduct their life in fellowship with Father.

The idea of having a life rich in experience is expressed by the verb menō as well in the sense that experiencing fellowship with Father or conducting one’s life in fellowship with Him by obeying His command to love one another is a life rich in experience.

This is the first time in First John that the apostle John employs this verb μένω with the prepositional phrase ἐν αὐτῷ to express the concept of living in fellowship with Father.

He has used them several times already to express the concept of experiencing fellowship with Jesus Christ since he uses this expression in the same manner in , , and 24.

Also, as was the case in , the apostle John here in is bringing out the concept of reciprocation when he asserts that the believer is living in fellowship with the Father and the Father is living in fellowship with them as a result of obeying the Spirit inspired command of the Lord Jesus Christ to love one another as He loves and which command originated with the Father.

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines the noun reciprocation, “a mutual exchange, a return in kind or of like value; alternating motion.”

They define the verb reciprocate, “to give and take mutually; to return in kind or degree, compliment gracefully; to make a return for something.”

If we paraphrase these definitions and apply them to what John is teaching here in , we could say the following:

With reference to the believer’s relationship with the Father, there is to be a mutual exchange, a give and take between the believer and the Father.

The believer must obey the Father’s command to love one another, if the Father is to reciprocate and live in fellowship with them.