1 John 4:15-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“15If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.”
A Caution
Before you draw any conclusions about what this is teaching,
please read all of 1 John, for it is very easy to misread what this is teaching
if you do not read this in its full context. For this word “confesses” is not
just about a verbal confession (admission) with your lips that Jesus Christ is
Lord. The word means to agree with God, to be of the same mind as God, to speak
to the same conclusion as God. So it means to agree that Jesus is not only the
Son of God but that He is God, for God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have
fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we
claim that we know God, but we do not obey His commandments, in practice, we
are liars. For it is not the one who claims He is “in Christ” who is “in
Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and
who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in practice,
and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God
in heaven.
So please understand that lip service alone is not enough
for us to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and to be saved from our sins
and to have the hope of eternal life with God. Just because we claim it with
our lips doesn’t make it a reality in our lives. We may know all the right
words to say, but if we are not living what we profess with our lips, then it
is just garbage. It is just dung to be flushed down the toilet. For it is words
spoken that have no backing to them. For we must deny self, die to sin, and
obey God in practice.
Abiding in Love
God is love. So to abide in love is to abide in God. And to
abide in God is to obey God, to follow Jesus Christ wherever He leads us, to
die to sin, and to comply with God and with His commands (New Covenant). It
means we conform to, adhere to, act in accordance with, and we continue in the
will and purpose of God for our lives which we are taught in the Scriptures,
which we must read in their full and appropriate biblical context to get the
correct understanding of what they are actually teaching us.
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our
own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ
to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as
slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
So, if we want to have confidence on the day of judgment
that God abides in us, and us in Him, and thus we have salvation from sin and
the hope of eternal life with God, we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die
daily to sin), and obey God and His commands as a matter of life practice, all
in the power of God, and as being led by the Holy Spirit. For not everyone who
calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying)
the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Whoever Abides in God
An Original Work / November 8,
2026
Christ’s Free
Servant, Sue J Love
Seek the Lord
Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark
Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“Come to Me all you
who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and
eat what’s good today,
And your soul will
delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and
you will live.
I have made an
eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of
the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while
He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked
forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the
Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons
him.
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My
ways,”
declares the Lord,
our God.
“My word that goes
out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return
to Me unfulfilled.
My word will
accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal
I intend.
You will go in joy
and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will
burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees
clap their hands.”
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