First John 4:12

John is continuing on the great theme of love. We were told already in First John that “God is love.” We were told that the greatest manifestation of God’s love was the sending of His Son to die for the sins of the world. Those who believe are the special objects of God’s love. The believers in Jesus have entered into God’s love as no one else has. The obvious result of having received such love should be to show that love. If you know love, then certainly you will show love, especially to God’s children. The Bible says in First John 4:12, “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, because he hath given us of His Spirit.” We may not have seen God the Father, but we have seen the Son spiritually speaking, and Jesus has the body of a man. We may not have seen the Father, but we have seen man who is created in the image of God. Love man, and then you are loving God who made man. Love man, and then the love of God is proved to be in you. The verse says that the proof that God is in you is the love that you have. Show love and you are showing that God is in you. God is love.

We know that we are true believers because the love of God is shown through us. That love for the brethren cannot be manufactured. It comes from the Spirit. It is spiritual love, and therefore can only be shown by those who have the Spirit. That is the second great proof that you are a true believer: you have the Spirit. If you love the brethren, then you are a true believer in the One true God. If you have God’s Spirit within you, then you are a true believer in the One true God. In the next two verses a third thing is mentioned that all true believers have: an acceptance of the person of Jesus Christ. It says in First John 4:14-15, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”

In verse 12 John wrote, “No man hath seen God.” Now John writes in verse 14, “And we have seen…” There is a difference between seeing with the eyes and seeing with the Spirit. You can “see” by the Spirit things that no eyes have ever seen. You can “see” that Jesus rose from the dead and that He stands before you with open arms. There are some who are blind and yet they “see” more clearly than some others who have 20/20 vision. Because John saw, he spoke: he “testified.” Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. We are honest witnesses. We must do what John did. We must say what we have seen and experienced by the Spirit concerning Jesus Christ.

If you truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, then you are saved. No one can believe that truth in their heart except by the Spirit. Paul wrote in Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” John wrote, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” Belief in Christ, true belief in Christ is what gives salvation. Of course, true belief goes far beyond only believing certain facts about Christ.

Some people will go to verses like Romans 10:9 and First John 4:15 in order to emphasize what is a true Christian. But we will not do that because we have been going through First John verse by verse, and we know that the Apostle John by the Holy Spirit also said such things as is recorded in First John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” First John 3:15 says, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” And so we must conclude that it is both belief and love for the brethren that characterize a true Christian. No one would ever say that a true Christian is someone without this type of belief in Christ. Of course not. The point that the Apostle John is making over and over again in the book of First John is that no one should be considered a Christian who does not love all of his brothers and sisters in Christ. That is why John mentions both belief and love in First John 3:23, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

In First John 4:16 one more time love and faith are tied together. The Bible says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” The word “and” ties verse 16 back to verse 15. Verse 15 focused on our belief in Jesus Christ and the result that such belief has: God dwells in us and we dwell in Him. Verse 16 takes the same circumstance, dwelling in God, and relates it to love instead of to belief. In other words both faith and love are given the same emphasis by the Holt Spirit. Maybe there is a reason that faith is mentioned first and then love. You must have faith in Christ before you ever will know His love and before you ever will be able to show it to anyone. John is really making the exact same message that James made: “Faith without works is dead.” And to John there is one great work: love, love for the sons of God. John is saying, “Faith without love is dead.”

For every action there is a consequence. What are the consequences to having love for God and love for the sons of God? Two great results to love are mentioned. One result of loving others is mentioned in verse 17. It has to do with the future judgment. Another result has to do with the present. What effect will love have in the life of one who shows love? First John 4:17 says, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in the world.” We know that there will be a judgment of Christians. One day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, and judgment will start at the house of God. The judgment is coming. Get ready for the judgment. Paul wanted to be ready for the judgment. Paul wrote in Second Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Paul mentioned the importance of faith and faithfulness at the judgment in order to receive a reward. John mentioned the importance of love at the judgment in order to have confidence. Why will love be something for which we will be judged when we stand before the Christ? The Apostle John gave the answer to that question. He said in verse 17, “because as he is, so are we in this world.” Christ was in the world and He loved. Love was the reason that He came into the world. He knew what the world was with its corruptions and its failures, but He loved. “Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end.” He loved us before we knew Him. We who believe in Christ have a debt to pay to the world: the debt of love. We have experienced Christ’s love. We must show Christ’s love to a dying world. At the judgment we will be judged according to a very high standard: the love of Christ. Show as much love as you can to the children of God. If you do, you will “have boldness in the day of judgment.”

One of the great benefits to showing love occurs in this life. The Bible says in First John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” One of the things that plagues the human race is fear. We know that there are fears of every possible sort: fear of heights, fear of water, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of darkness, the fear of the unknown, the fear of change, and we could go on without limit. President Roosevelt rightly said during World War II to motivate the citizens of America, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” Jesus said to His disciples on more than one occasion, “Fear not.” Fear is a terrible thing just based upon what it does to the heart and mind of someone who has fear. Like it says here, “Fear hath torment.” Fear also has many other negative consequences. For some people fear paralyzes them into inaction. For other people fear motivates them to do the wrong thing: to strike against those whom they fear. Every human being will be plagued by fear in some way unless they find the solution to fear.

By the Holy Spirit the Apostle John tells us what is the solution to fear. John wrote in verse 18, “There is no fear in love.” That means that if you fear something, the real problem is that you do not have enough love. Think about it. Fear has to do with my thoughts being centered on myself and worrying about what will happen to me in some situation or another. But love has to do with selflessness: being centered on someone else instead of myself, so that the more that I love God and others, the less that I fear. The greatest commandment is to love. God’s commandments are not grievous. You will not lose when you love and give of yourself. You will gain. You will become more complete as a person: generous and brave and noble.

What a great example that God made for us: the example of love. Love starts with God. John wrote in First John 4:19, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” If any man loves God, and we can safely say that the Apostle John loves Him, then it is only because God loved first. Someone may introduce you and say to another, “This person loves the Lord.” Hopefully, if they say such a thing, it is true. If it is true, it is only true because Jesus loved you first. The best people in the world are those who learned to love with true love that comes from God. But God is the one who gets the glory for even that because the love started with God. It is God’s love that has eventually found a way into and through that person.

How do you know if you really love God or not? What is the test? Is it what you say? The Bible says in First John 4:20, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” Notice the two things that are mentioned: love and hatred. There is no middle ground. You are involved with one or the other. You are characterized by one or the other. God cannot be seen, and you say that you love Him that is invisible. If you love Him that is invisible, then certainly you can love someone that you can see. The one that you can see, any other human being and any other brother or sister in Christ, was made in the image of God. You cannot say that you love God, and then not love the one made in God’s image. That is not true. That cannot be.

The Bible says in First John 4:21, “And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” That is the commandment that Jesus gave to His disciples. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” Once again in John 15:12 Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” Evidently when Jesus told the disciples to love one another, John took it seriously. John did not just pass over this commandment. It is evident from all of the things that have been said in the book of First John that by the Holy Spirit the Apostle John thought that this commandment given by Christ was the most important of all of His commandments. John used this commandment to love one another as the one great commandment that proves if you are a Christian or not. Only Christians love the Christians. Only true believers love all the other believers. The people who are in darkness do not love the believers.

If you are a believer in Christ, automatically you will have love for other believers. In First John 5:1 the Bible says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” The first phrase of this verse tells the simple truth of the gospel. It tells how a person becomes born again: through belief in Christ. To believe means to trust or to depend upon. You become born of God by believing in Jesus Christ. You trust in Christ and the result is that you are born anew. You have the new birth from Christ. You are spiritually born through Christ. Everyone who has bowed at the feet of Jesus and trusted in Him has been given this new birth. It was not good works that brought the new birth: the new birth came only because of this total trusting in Jesus. But good works are involved because good works always follow after such true belief. As John points out over and over again the most important of the good works is to love all the other believers. John puts it this way in verse 1 of chapter 5: if you have been begotten of God then you will love the others who have also been begotten of God. “Everyone that loveth him that begot loveth him also that is begotten of him.”

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