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1 John Lesson Nine

1 John Lesson Nine: 1 John 4:13-21 – Combining a Right Belief and a Right Attitude

This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son as the world’s Savior. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 

17 In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because He first loved us. 

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother. (HCSB)

In this section, John continues with his theme of love. In this passage, John outlines the duality of our love for God, as well as our love for fellow believers. To make it easier, I’ll break this passage into three sections.

  • Our assurance of Jesus as God’s Son – verses 13-16.
  • Our confidence for eternity – verses 17-19.
  • Love reveals the heart – verses 20-21.

Our Assurance of Jesus as God’s Son

In John’s time, there were many who physically saw Jesus. That is not the case for present-day believers. So what do we base our belief in that Jesus is who we claim Him to be? Let’s dig deeper into that argument.

  • The Apostles and the larger group who followed Jesus all saw Him in the flesh.
  • But it wasn’t just His followers who saw Him.
    • The Jewish religious leaders saw Him but, out of jealousy, plotted and succeeded in killing Jesus.
    • There were those not associated with the religious establishment who saw Jesus but chose to reject His message. One example is the rich young ruler.
    • There were those who cried out for His crucifixion and who saw Jesus.
    • The Roman leaders and soldiers in Judea saw Jesus and were complicit in His crucifixion.
  • It’s much easier to place our faith in something we can see or touch. Those alive in the first century benefitted from being eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life and ministry. How do we support our belief in Jesus?
    • Predominately through faith. But what supports our faith?
      • Belief in the testimony of eyewitnesses who lived with Jesus, saw His death, and witnessed His resurrected body.
      • Scripture testifies to the truth of Jesus and His works.
      • We’ve experienced the impact of Jesus on our lives when we submit to His Lordship.
      • We’ve seen the change in those around us as they submit to Jesus. In some cases, we may have witnessed an extraordinary change in the behavior of others.
      • Maybe we’ve witnessed miraculous healing that doctors can’t explain. 
    • One of the definitions of “faith” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” As Christians, we need to be careful and not ascribe to that definition for our belief in Jesus. There is ample “proof” of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and His earthly ministry. 
  • The main basis of our faith is the Holy Spirit.
    • The Holy Spirit is the one who reveals the truth of the Gospel to the lost.
    • As believers, one of our roles is to evangelize the lost. However, we can’t “convert” a person. We can only speak of the truth of the Gospel. It’s the role of the Holy Spirit to “open the eyes and ears” of the lost.
    • The indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives us assurance we are part of God’s family.
    • Paul speaks of the assurance given by the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:16 – The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children.
  • Building from previous lessons in 1 John, we remember that love and truth are mutually inclusive.
    • There is a relationship between God and the person testifying that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
    • Those who hold fast to this belief will do all they can to build this relationship to the fullest extent possible.
    • Those who have a heretical position on the identity of Jesus don’t have a relationship with God. Therefore, they have no relationship to build.
  • To remain or abide in God is a present tense verb.
    • It infers a vital, intimate, continuous, and growing relationship.
    • The believer understands they have an invisible power, through the Holy Spirit, to fulfill their kingdom work on earth.
    • The believer understands that physical life is a temporary one. Their real home is in heaven.
  • This section of the passage ends with a theme presented earlier; God is love, and those who live a life of love, live in God and God in them.
    • In John’s writings, this is the true test of Christianity.
    • The basic character of God is love.
    • We should experience love in our relationship with God.
    • Others should experience this type of love in their relationship with us.
    • It’s the reason God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, to have our love relationship restored with Him.
    • When we don’t live a life of love towards God and others, we need to reexamine our relationship with God.

Our Confidence for Eternity

John returns to the subject of the judgment seat of Christ, which he previously mentioned in 1 John 2:28. 

  • The judgment seat can bring either hope and peace or fear and anxiety.
    • When God’s love is perfected in us, we can live in confidence; we don’t need to worry about our future judgment.
      • Our lives should be filled with peace and hope.
      • We extend God’s love to others as we shine the light of Christ.
      • When a believer lives as an example of Jesus, there is no fear as they approach the judgment seat of Christ.
    • However, when we don’t live in a spirit of love, thinking about future judgment may unsettle us.
      • Our lives will be filled with fear and anxiety about the future.
      • Instead of shining the light of Christ, we will carry an air of gloom.
      • Believers who live without extending the love of Christ to others will approach the judgment seat of Christ with fear as they expect the loss of eternal rewards.
      • A believer who fears the judgment seat of Christ demonstrates that God’s love has not reached maturity in their lives.
  • The reason we love others is because God loves us first.
    • God commands us to love others.
      • 1 John 3:11.
      • John 13:34-35.
      • John 15:17.
      • Colossians 1:4.
    • Christian doesn’t mean we’ll always agree with what others do or their viewpoints.
      • It does mean we still extend that love because He first loved us.
      • Read James 4 to understand what happens when selfishness overshadows love.
  • The perfecting of God’s love in our lives happens in stages. It’s not a sudden change.
    • Before a person comes to saving knowledge of Jesus, they lived in fear and knew nothing of God’s love.
    • After submitting to Jesus, a person discovers a combination of fear and love in their heart.
    • As a believer grows in fellowship with the Father, the fear gradually decreases, and their heart becomes more controlled by His love.
    • An immature Christian bounces between fear and love.
    • A mature Christian rests in God’s love.
    • As a believer’s confidence in the presence of God grows, it’s an indicator that their love for God is maturing.
  • In verse nineteen, John makes a comparison between our love for God and God’s love for us. Let’s consider three reasons why this is significant.
    • Our love for God and others originates in God’s love for us.
    • Love is tainted by fear when there is a doubt it will be returned. A believer has no fear in this area since God’s love occurs before ours.
    • Affection flows from a heart filled with gratitude for God loving us first. The Father sent the Son to die for each of us.
  • God’s love is perfected in us when we extend unbridled love in three directions.
    • A believer’s love toward God.
    • A believer’s love toward others.
    • A believer’s love toward themselves.

Love Reveals the Heart

In the last two verses in this passage, John points out that our words and actions need to match. It also drives home the point that the theology of the false prophets and antichrists is refuted. 

  • If we remember back toward the beginning of this letter, one of the doctrines of the false teachers is that it was ok to sin as our spiritual being was not affected by what our physical body was doing.
    • Their theology was in disagreement with the idea that love for God requires obedience to God.
    • In disagreeing with Scripture, it proved their theology was a lie.
  • John also points out that it’s difficult to prove our love toward God as He is a spirit being, and we can’t “see” how others act towards God.
  • However, we can see how people act toward each other.
    • When we love others, it’s a reflection of our love for God.
    • Scripture gives us the command, “The one who loves God must also love his brother.”
    • Jesus also made this point in Matthew 25:40, “I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.”
  • An example of spiritual hypocrisy is found in Acts 5, the narrative of Ananias and Sapphira.
    • They sold some of their property and brought a portion of it as an offering.
    • However, to the church, they made it seem as if they were bringing the entire proceeds of the sale.
    • The sin wasn’t keeping back a portion for themselves. Peter was clear in the passage that they could have kept part of the proceeds for themselves.
    • The sin was in lying about it. They were trying to make themselves appear more generous and spiritual than they were.
  • Pretending is an act for children, but it isn’t a characteristic of a mature adult.
  • Adults must know and be themselves, fulfilling the purpose for which Christ saved them. Their lives must be characterized by honesty.
    • Spiritual honesty brings peace and power to a person.
    • They don’t need to keep track of their lies or spend energy covering up those lies.
  • Paul drives home the point about love in Galatians 5:14 – For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Applications

  • Do you practice love or legalism? While rules and standards are important, they can also create problems. The biggest issue Jesus had with the religious leaders in Israel was legalism. The question we need to consider is whether rules can inspire a life of devotion, service, and worship. Additionally, does a framework of legalism cultivate a lifestyle of reflex activity instead of a lifestyle of love and devotion? There’s a quote from C. S. Lewis where he says, “Love is that which forgives the most and condones the least.” The challenge for us is to love others while keeping to the standards outlined in Scripture.
  • Can we extend a love that is too generous? This idea is a branch of the first point. A love without expectations and consequences is a love that can be exploited. Sometimes it is a fine line we walk between extending love and holding people accountable. It’s always possible that we can go too far in extending love. When we consider this idea in dealing with fellow believers, we need to be careful and look to the example of Paul in Galatians. Paul is quick to point out the hypocrisy of disciples who fail to mature, yet he never threatens them with the idea that God will abandon them.
  • Do we have a proper awe of God? When we think about God’s love for us, it’s not difficult to go too far and think of God as too personal or approachable. God is not our “friend.” God is our all-knowing and all-loving Father, but He’s also infinitely holy and righteous. As our infinitely holy and righteous Father, He also is against sin. Sin can’t exist in the presence of an infinitely holy God. We need to understand who God is and live in reverent fear of Him.
  • Do we claim our Christian victory and life in a spirit of confidence? For many churches, especially in Western society, the Holy Spirit is the “forgotten God.” We often hear or read about the Father and the Son, but the Holy Spirit only makes an occasional appearance from the pulpit. Jesus told His original followers they would receive power in Luke 24:29, “And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.” We can’t live in victory and accomplish the work set before us if we aren’t empowered and led by the Holy Spirit.
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1 Peter Lesson Eight

1 Peter 3:13-22 – Undeserved Suffering

13 And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, 15 but honor the Messiah  as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused,  those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 

18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, 

the righteous for the unrighteous, 

that He might bring you to God, 

after being put to death in the fleshly realm

but made alive in the spiritual realm. 

19 In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits  in prison 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 22 Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God’s right hand with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

This passage breaks down into two parts. The first is verses 13-17, and the second is 18-22. The first is relatively straightforward to interpret, while the second part is quite challenging, with theologians having dozens of interpretations of the meaning. 

Before we break down the individual verses, let’s summarize the first section. The promise of eternal fellowship with God overrides the trials and distress of the present life. When contrasted against eternity, the span of our lives is a mere blip on the timeline. That doesn’t mean that our struggles are easy, but when viewed through the lens of comparison, we should weigh future glory as priceless compared to the short-termed pleasure of ease of life.

Verse 13

Peter is presenting a rhetorical question. No one is able to harm believers on the day of judgment as God will reward them for their faithfulness. Yahweh will look favorably on the righteous but is against those who practice evil. A believer should never fear what the world can do to them for being obedient to God. Romans 8:31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

God will vindicate believers on the day of judgment.

Verse 14

The word “but” at the beginning of the verse provides further clarification and could be understood to mean “indeed.” Peter’s underlying point here is that regardless of what happens to our physical bodies or the trials we suffer through in this life, we are still blessed because of our future destination. There are two implications to Peter’s point.

  • Since believers are blessed (eternal implication) by God, they shouldn’t fear what unbelievers can do to them.
  • They should fear (respect) God and be obedient. True fear of Yahweh removes the fear of anything else.

Verse 15

A reminder from 1 Peter 1:22 and 3:4 is that the heart is the origin of our human behavior, and character and everything we do flows from our heart. Because of this, if Jesus occupies our heart, our behavior will reflect His character as we live out our faith regardless of our circumstances. Every believer should be able to explain why they have joy and hope regardless of their trials or struggles. We should be able to explain the basics of our faith. Our response to difficulties will be noticeable to unbelievers and demonstrate that our hope is in God and not anything of this world.

Verse 16

Will the previous verse explained what we should; this verse explains how to do it, why you do it, and the result of right behavior.

  • Always interact with others in a spirit of gentleness and respect.
    • We should never be arrogant.
    • We should never argue.
    • We aren’t prosecuting attorneys or a judge. There is only one judge, and none of us are qualified to sit on that throne.
    • The point isn’t to win an argument; it is to bring the lost to Jesus.
  • Believers do this because the Spirit of God lives within us, and we are to reflect the character of God in our lives.
  • When believers live in a righteous, not self-righteous, manner, those who abuse them will be ashamed. 
  • There are two viewpoints on what “shame” means in this verse.
    • It could be the shame of realizing that believers are acting in a righteous manner and the unbeliever is not.
    • It could be the shame and humiliation that unbelievers will experience on the day of judgment.

Verse 17

The correct understanding of this verse is that it is better to suffer in this life for doing good than to suffer on the day of judgment, and for all eternity, for doing evil.

Verse 18

Peter’s intention here is not that believers should focus on imitating Christ in their suffering, although we may suffer for being a follower of Jesus. Instead, Peter is calling on the reader to focus on Christ’s victory over suffering and death. 

  • We can never suffer to the extent that Jesus did as He bore the sins of the world.
  • Suffering is a prelude to future glory for each believer.
  • Emphasizing Jesus’ victory reminds us that our troubles are of a temporary nature, but our future glory is permanent.
  • Though Jesus suffered death, the Spirit raised Him. In the same manner, we will suffer a physical death but will share in Jesus’ resurrection.

Verse 19-22 The second portion of the passage is quite challenging, with many different interpretations. 

Verse 19 – The three main views are:

  • Descent into hell.
  • Preexistent Christ.
  • Triumphal proclamation over the spirit-world.

The third view is the most widely accepted, and a proper understanding of the text would lead one to agree. It also fits the overall context of vindication presented in the passage. 

In the New Testament, the word “spirit” is used to describe angels or demons, not humans. Peter also used the term “people” in verse 20, so to use a different term to refer to humans in both cases doesn’t make sense.

The point of verse 19 is that Jesus proclaimed His victory over evil.

Verse 20

The reason the spirits were imprisoned is that they were disobedient. The act of disobedience is not crystal clear, but some explanation is provided in Jude 6-7 and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions, just as angels did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 

It also ties into Genesis 6:1-4, indicating that angels had sexual relations with women. In this context, it is possible to view what occurred in Genesis 6 as the climax of sin, prompting Yahweh to release His judgment on the world. In the same way that the water killed almost everything on the earth, the water saved Noah and his family by separating them from the evil in the world. Once the waters receded, they entered a new life.

Verse 21

An important to bring up at the very beginning of the discussion on this verse is that baptism by itself does not lead to eternal life. Peter is using an illustration here. The flood serves as an illustration of baptism in the New Covenant and for the church. New Testament baptism should be understood and being immersed in water. Anyone who goes completely underwater will eventually die. The illustration is that baptism represents death to the old life, and once lifted from the water, the new life begins. Baptism doesn’t remove our sin (filth of the flesh), but it is an outward expression of an inward change (good conscience toward God). Placing our faith in Jesus and repenting of our sin is the only way to eternal life. Although baptism is something that every believer should do after placing their faith in Jesus, it is not a requirement for eternal life. The narrative in Luke 23 with the two thieves is proof of that. Jesus told the one that he would be with Jesus in paradise, but there was no chance for the thief to receive baptism.

Verse 22

The culmination of this passage, Jesus’ victory over His enemies. There is a reference to Psalm 110:1 This is the declaration of the LORD to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The conclusion to draw is that even in the suffering that believers experience, Jesus reigns and rules. By His death and resurrection, Jesus has triumphed over all the forces of evil, and His followers will reign with Him together for all eternity. The theme here is vindication. Jesus occupies a position of royal dignity and authority beside God the Father. Jesus has broken the power of evil. He has authority over good and bad spirits (good and bad angels), as well as authorities and powers in the spiritual realm. All of creation is subject to the lordship of Jesus.

A summary of the passage includes the following principles:

  • Jesus, as Messiah, has fulfilled the hope of Israel by defeating all the evil spiritual powers of the world.
  • All the wickedness and corruption from the beginning of time are overthrown.
  • Regardless of our struggles or persecution, we should never lose sight of the victory we share with Jesus. 
  • We need to be a witness of our hope and the truth of the Gospel regardless of our circumstances.

Applications

  • Are you committed to pursuing goodness and righteousness regardless of the cost or consequences? If you falter in this area, you may have a faith problem. Pray for your faith to be strengthened.
  • Are you bold in sharing your faith? Are you proactive in finding those opportunities, or are you reactive, only sharing when confronted or asked? We are called to be proactive in our witness and do it with a humble spirit and gentleness.
  • Do you have complete confidence and trust in the victory of Jesus? If not, pray that you would completely trust in Him. 
  • Your behavior should demonstrate a spirit of joy, victory, and humility to the world around you. Jesus doesn’t need arrogant or self-righteous victors. He wants victors who bask and are filled with love and joy at the victory He secured by going to the cross, paying our debt, and redeeming us from all unrighteousness.