1 João 4

Bob Utley · Citado em PreceptAustin

1 João 4:1

Utley says do not believe "usually means to stop an act already in process. The tendency of Christians is to accept strong personalities, logical arguments, or miraculous events as from God. Apparently the false teachers were claiming (1) to speak for God or (2) to have had a special revelation from God. The King James Study Bible (borrow) makes an interesting comment that "The Spirit gives assurance (1Jn 3:24). But how do believers know it is God’s Spirit, and not a lying one, who is assuring them? John acknowledges the presence of numerous spirits. Christians must be wary that they not be misled.' John saw a war raging in the unseen world between the Spirit of God and the spirit of Antichrist. -- Apologetics Study Bible (online) Every spirit (pneuma) raises the question of whether John intends this phrase to refer to human spirits or spiritual beings who influence the human spirit? The context supports the interpretation that behind the false prophets with false Christology is the spirit of the antichrist, and ultimately the spirit of the consummate liar Satan (1Jn 4:3), and behind the spirit of believers to which he is writing is the Spirit of God. (Compare the phrase "the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" in 1Jn 4:6b) Since one cannot see a spirit, spirits is a metonymy for the the human agents (and their teachings) who manifested the antichrist spirit. The false prophets are the ones who willingly spoke error. It is notable that John uses the word spirit when he could have just said "do not believe every false prophet" but he did not. In using the word spirit (pneuma) he was calling attention to the spiritual war that is raging in the unseen world, the spirit of error on one side and the Spirit of truth on the other. We need to be alert and not let the invisibility of our enemy lull us into complacency and indifference regarding our absolute necessity to daily, moment by moment "Put on (aorist imperative = Do it now! Do not delay! The need is urgent!) the full armor of God that (we) may be able to stand firm against the schemes (see Greek word methodeia) of the devil, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places!" (Eph 6:11-12+) Christian faith is not spiritual gullibility. -- ESV Study Bible In a parallel passage in 1Ti 4:1+ Paul says that "the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." How are those "doctrines of demons" propagated, except by human agents who are in a sense the "missionaries" of the evil one! In 1Cor 14:32+ Paul writes " the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets." D Edmond Hiebert adds that "The reality of extraordinary and powerful spirits speaking through human beings as their mouth-piece, proclaiming varied and sundry messages, was well known in the pagan world of John’s day." (1 John 4:1-6) You cannot believe truth without rejecting error... “God help us to be unbelievers in error as well as believers in truth.” In fact Ray Stedman entitles his sermon on 1Jn 4:1-6 “When Unbelief is Right” stating that "every Christian is also called to be an unbeliever. There is a time when unbelief is the right thing and the only right thing. The very same Scriptures which encourage us to believe likewise urge us not to believe. In fact, they not only urge us, they command us not to believe. This is no contradiction, any more than to say that in order to live it is necessary both to inhale and to exhale. These are contradictory things: You cannot inhale and exhale at the same time, but both are absolutely necessary to maintaining life. You cannot inhale unless you exhale, and you cannot exhale unless you have inhaled. It is the same with this matter of belief and unbelief. You cannot believe truth without rejecting error. You cannot love righteousness unless you are ready to hate sin. You cannot accept Christ without rejecting self. "If any man come after me," Jesus says, "let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me," Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34). You cannot follow good unless you are ready to flee from evil. So it is not surprising, therefore, that the Scriptures tell us we are not to believe, as well as to believe. This is what John declares in the first three verses of Chapter 4. (In Stedman's closing words he says) “God help us to be unbelievers in error as well as believers in truth.” (Ed: And all God's people said "Amen!") (When Unbelief is Right) NET Note - 1 John 4:1–6 form one of three units within 1 John that almost all interpreters consider a single unit and do not divide up (the other two are 1Jn 2:12–14 and 1Jn 2:15–17). The subject matter is so clearly different from the surrounding context that these clearly constitute separate units of thought. Since the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit active in the world, the author needs to qualify for the recipients how to tell if a spirit comes from God. The “test” is the confession in 1Jn 4:2. David Smith - The apostle has just said that the Spirit begets in us the assurance that God abideth in us (1Jn 3:24+). And this suggests a warning. The Cerinthian heresy had much to say about the spirit. It boasted a larger spirituality. Starting with the philosophical postulate of an irreconcilable antagonism between matter and spirit, it denied the possibility of the incarnation and drew a distinction between Jesus and the Christ. Its spirit was not ‘the Spirit of Truth’ but ‘a spirit of error,’ and thus the necessity arises of ‘proving (testing) the spirits.’ (1 John 3 - Expositor's Greek Testament Commentary) W E Vine - While we have the assurance that Christ abides in us by the Spirit which He gave us (1Jn 3:24+), yet we are to be on our guard against deceptive spirits. Our assurance should be the means of increasing our powers of discernment in regard to contrary influences. The tense of the verb is continuous, it suggests that we are to be in the habit of refusing to believe every spirit. Not that all who come to teach us are to be regarded as false simply because we are unacquainted with them and their antecedent associations. There must be discernment. (The Collected Writings) Jeremiah recorded a similar warning from Jehovah to Judah "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream." (Jer 29:8) Comment - Notice that the goal of false prophets was deception, as it was in John's day and as it is in other day. The best "antidote" for their lies and errors they propagate is a sure knowledge of the truth. John is saying do not gullibly buy into their lies, but test them with the acid test of 1Jn 4:2-3. Every cult...of our day that seeks to solicit support, religiously speaking, does so in the name of love Ray Stedman goes on to observe that "It is significant that this warning comes in the midst of John's discourse about love (Ed: Love is major subject in preceding [1Jn 3:10-24] and following sections [1Jn 4:7-21]), because it is rather evident that the false spirits which are abroad make a great deal of the subject of love… It is significant and striking that every cult, every deviant group, every movement of our day that seeks to solicit support, religiously speaking, does so in the name of love… There is no word, perhaps, in our language, that is capable of being stretched in so many directions as this word, love. Yet so many people seem utterly gullible about it. If someone comes talking about love, this to them is the earmark they must be of God, they must be "of the truth," despite the fact that the oldest trick in Satan's bag is to show a spirit of friendly concern and to appear to offer the fulfillment of love and desire… But the Scriptures warn us that the mark of childish immaturity is to be caught up and taken in by that kind of approach, "to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14), every new teaching that comes along. It is childish to gullibly swallow every slick line and go along with it. It is quite true, therefore, that a mark of maturity is unbelief, as well as belief. It is as important that you do not believe certain things as it is that you do believe others, and John is making that clear. Notice, he indicates that this is a widespread problem. "Many false prophets," he says, "have gone out into the world." In Matthew's Gospel, the Lord Jesus warned of this: "beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves," (Matthew 7:15). Wolves in sheep's clothing -- outwardly appearing to be loving, tender, and concerned, but inwardly desiring only to wreck and ravish and to ruin. There are many false prophets, says John. Here again we have underlined for us the fact that we live in a world of deceit. We live, in many respects, in a hostile environment in which falsehoods are widely accepted, and we are greatly pressured to conform to these things."(When Unbelief is Right) Steven

1 João 4:2

Utley - The Greek term “confess” is a compound from “the same” and “to speak,” meaning “to say the same thing.” This is a recurrent theme in John (cf. John 1:9; 2:23; 4:2–3; 4:15; John 9:22; 2 John 7). This term implies specific, public, vocal acknowledgment of one’s affirmation of and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ...This was not a minor issue. Jesus is truly one with humanity and one with God. Marvin

1 João 4:3

Utley adds that "Like 1Jn 2:18, this phrase (it was coming....already in the world) reflects that the spirit of the antichrists has both already come and will come. These gnostic false teachers form a chain of false information, false lifestyles and false professions through the ages, from the evil one of Genesis 3 to the manifestation of the incarnation of evil and the end-time Antichrist." Gary Burge compares 1Jn 4:1–3 with 1Jn 2:18–22 noting that “In the first section, having a right relation with the Father leads to a correct view of the Son. In the second, having a right relation with the Spirit leads to a similarly correct view of the Son. In each case the Son is central in all true contacts with God. Jesus Christ is the only point of communication between heaven and earth!” (See The Letters of John - Page 176) John Stott adds that "Comparing the two passages, 1Jn 2:18–23 and 1Jn 4:1–3 is instructive to observe the difference of emphasis. In chapter 2 our confession or denial of the Son determines whether we possess the Father or not, while in chapter 4, our confession or denial of the Son indicates whether we are inspired by the Spirit or not. The person of Christ is central. No system can be tolerated, however loud its claims or learned its adherents, which denies that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, in other words either his eternal deity or his historical humanity. Those who deny the Son have neither the Father nor the Spirit." (See The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary - Page 155) Henry Morris gives an excellent summary of the significance of every spirit that does not confess Jesus as having come in the flesh - The supreme test of the spirits, and the teachers whom they influence, is their teaching concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. If, in any way, they try to separate Jesus from "the Christ," denying either the full deity or perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are not from God. Some attempt to make Jesus a mere man upon whom "the Christ-spirit" came. Some argue that everyone can be "a Christ" in the same sense Jesus was (See What is the Christ consciousness?). Many deny His miraculous conception, bodily resurrection or both. "Jesus" means "Jehovah our Savior" and "Christ" means "The Anointed One" which means God's anointed prophet, priest and king. Unless Jesus Christ was perfect man, He could not die for our sins. Unless He was God, He could not defeat death and thus could never save us. Any doctrine less than that of Jesus Christ as the God/Man, God and Man perfectly, united in the hypostatic union, is deadly heresy. Further, since He is the Creator and His Spirit inspired the Holy Scriptures, any dilution of the doctrines of special creation and Biblical inerrancy comes dangerously close to heresy and has often led their proponents into outright apostasy. It is thus extremely important to try the spirits to see whether they are of God. THOUGHT: Do not try to "logically" separate Jesus' Deity from His Humanity! The truth that Jesus is fully God and fully Man at the same time is a divine, glorious mystery, one that is received by faith and not by intellectual reasoning! David

1 João 4:9

Utley - Love as an action, not just a feeling. Believers must emulate it in their daily lives. To know God is to love as He loves. John Stott - love (agapē) is self-sacrifice, the seeking of another’s positive good at one’s own cost, and a greater self-giving than God’s gift of his Son there has never been, nor could be (Borrow The Letters of John) Bruce Barton - The world thinks that love is what makes a person feel good and that it is all right to sacrifice moral principles and others’ rights in order to obtain such “love.” But that is the opposite of real love—selfishness. Real love is holy, just, and perfect, like God. Those who truly know God will love as he does. (See 1, 2, and 3 John) Agape love does not depend on the world’s criteria for love, such as attractiveness, emotions, or sentimentality. Believers can easily fall into the trap of blindly following the world’s demand that a lover feel positive toward the beloved. This is not agape love, but is a love based on impulse. Impulsive love characterizes the spouse who announces to the other spouse that they are planning to divorce their mate. Why? They reason “I can’t help it. I fell in love with another person!” Christians must understand that this type of impulsive love is completely contrary to God’s decisive love, which is decisive because He is in control and has a purpose in mind. There are many reasons a proper understanding of the truth of God's word (and of the world's lie) is critical and one of the foremost is Jesus' declaration that "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love (agape) for one another." (John 13:35+). Agape in 1 John - 1 John 2:5, 15; 3:1, 16-17; 1Jn 4:7-10, 12, 16 (3x), 1Jn 4:17, 1Jn 4:18 (3x) 1Jn 5:3 (Also in 2John 1:3, 6; 3John 1:6) Might live (2198)(zao) refers literally to natural physical life (opposite of death, Acts 22:22, 25:24, 28:4, Ro 7:1-3, 1Cor 7:39, of Adam = 1Cor 15:45; 2Cor 4:11 = refers to natural lives of believers; Php 1:22 - "to live on in the [physical] flesh"; 1Th 4:15,17 = believers physically alive at time of Rapture; Heb 2:15; Heb 9:17; James 4:15 = "we shall live" physically if God so wills it!). To live is used frequently as a metaphorical description of one's behavior, lifestyle or daily conduct. Zao means to come to physical life after death (Mt 9:18) or to recover life after sickness (Jn 4:50). Zao refers to supernatural, spiritual life (cf Jn 11:25, 26), Paul explaining that Christ "lives because of the power of God." (2Cor 13:4) In Rev 16:3 "living thing" refers to the biological life of all the sea animals. In Rev 19:20 the Antichrist and his False Prophet will be "thrown alive into the lake of fire," indicating they will have conscious awareness of their torment (forever and ever). Zao speaks of the believer's source of a brand new quality of life, a supernatural life in Christ (Ro 6:11, 13; Gal 2:20, Gal 5:25; 1Thes 5:10 = "live together with Him" = speaks of glorified state) and in the Spirit in contrast to living in the unregenerate state (in the flesh) (Ro 8:13). Zao refers to the believer's present "resurrection life" ("alive from the dead" - Ro 6:13). Heb 12:9 emphasizes that godly discipline encourages us and lead us to live godly lives. JOHN'S USES OF ZAO Jn. 4:10; Jn. 4:11; Jn. 4:50; Jn. 4:51; Jn. 4:53; Jn. 5:25; Jn. 6:51; Jn. 6:57; Jn. 6:58; Jn. 7:38; Jn. 11:25; Jn. 11:26; Jn. 14:19; 1 Jn. 4:9; Rev. 1:18; Rev. 2:8; Rev. 3:1; Rev. 4:9; Rev. 4:10; Rev. 5:8; Rev. 7:2; Rev. 10:6; Rev. 13:14; Rev. 15:7; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:4; Rev. 20:5 QUESTION - What does it mean that Jesus is God's only begotten son? WATCH VIDEO ANSWER - The phrase “only begotten Son” occurs in John 3:16, which reads in the King James Version as, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The phrase "only begotten" translates the Greek word monogenes. This word is variously translated into English as "only," "one and only," and "only begotten." It’s this last phrase ("only begotten" used in the KJV, NASB and the NKJV) that causes problems. False teachers have latched onto this phrase to try to prove their false teaching that Jesus Christ isn’t God; i.e., that Jesus isn’t equal in essence to God as the Second Person of the Trinity. They see the word "begotten" and say that Jesus is a created being because only someone who had a beginning in time can be "begotten." What this fails to note is that "begotten" is an English translation of a Greek word. As such, we have to look at the original meaning of the Greek word, not transfer English meanings into the text. So what does monogenes mean? According to the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG, 3rd Edition), monogenes has two primary definitions. The first definition is "pertaining to being the only one of its kind within a specific relationship." This is its meaning in Hebrews 11:17 when the writer refers to Isaac as Abraham’s "only begotten son" (KJV). Abraham had more than one son, but Isaac was the only son he had by Sarah and the only son of the covenant. Therefore, it is the uniqueness of Isaac among the other sons that allows for the use of monogenes in that context. The second definition is "pertaining to being the only one of its kind or class, unique in kind." This is the meaning that is implied in John 3:16 (see also John 1:14, 18; 3:18; 1 John 4:9). John was primarily concerned with demonstrating that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31), and he uses monogenes to highlight Jesus as uniquely God’s Son—sharing the same divine nature as God—as opposed to believers who are God’s sons and daughters by adoption (Ephesians 1:5). Jesus is God’s “one and only” Son. The bottom line is that terms such as "Father" and "Son," descriptive of God and Jesus, are human terms that help us understand the relationship between the different Persons of the Trinity. If you can understand the relationship between a human father and a human son, then you can understand, in part, the relationship between the First and Second Persons of the Trinity. The analogy breaks down if you try to take it too far and teach, as some pseudo-Christian cults (such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses), that Jesus was literally "begotten" as in “produced” or “created” by God the Father. Kenneth Osbeck - Borrow Amazing grac LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 (Play hymn) This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. (1 John 4:9) We must never underestimate the power of love in our human relationships—whether marriages, family, business associations, or friendships. The divine love of God for man far excels all other forms of love. “Love Divine …” is another of the more than 6500 hymns by Charles Wesley, the “sweet bard of Methodism.” This fine text—written in 1747—touches various elements of Christian doctrine. It extols the love of God as expressed in the incarnation of Christ. Then it refers to the Wesleyan concept of entire sanctification—that any believer might live without consciously sinning and thereby find the promised “rest” mentioned in Hebrews 4:9. The “Alpha and Omega” of verse two (first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) also reflect this Wesleyan teaching, that the experiences of conversion and sanctification are thought of as the “beginning of faith” and the “end or object of faith.” The third stanza emphasizes the truth that the Spirit of God indwells the temple or body of each believer, while the fourth stanza anticipates the glorious culmination of our faith when “we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.” Although Christians may have differences of interpretation regarding the doctrine of sanctification, we can agree on this basic truth: It ought to be a normal desire for each believer to grow in the grace of our Lord. Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n, to earth come down; fix in us Thy humble dwelling; all Thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, Thou art all compassion; pure, unbounded love Thou art; visit us with Thy salvation; enter ev’ry trembling heart. Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit into ev’ry troubled breast! Let us all in Thee inherit; let us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning, Alpha and Omega be; end of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. Come, almighty to deliver, let us all Thy life receive; suddenly return, and never, nevermore Thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, serve Thee as Thy hosts above, pray and praise Thee without ceasing, glory in Thy perfect love. Finish then Thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be; let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee. Changed from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place, till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love and praise. For Today: John 3:14–21; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 1:28; 1 John 3:11–24 God’s love must dominate our hearts, minds, and wills. Pray that this will become increasingly true in your life. Carry this portion of the hymn with you— THE HISTORICAL JESUS - John

1 João 4:10

Utley - The NT is unique among the world religions. Typically religion is mankind seeking God, but Christianity is God seeking fallen mankind! The wonderful truth is not our love for God, but His love for us. He has sought us through our sin and self, our rebellion and pride. The glorious truth of Christianity is that God loves fallen mankind and has initiated and maintained a life-changing contact. Justice demanded the propitiation, but love applied it. Charles Haddon

1 João 4:10

Utley - Love as an action, not just a feeling. Believers must emulate it in their daily lives. To know God is to love as He loves. Bruce Barton - The world thinks that love is what makes a person feel good and that it is all right to sacrifice moral principles and others’ rights in order to obtain such “love.” But that is the opposite of real love—selfishness. Real love is holy, just, and perfect, like God. Those who truly know God will love as he does. (See 1, 2, and 3 John) R C H

1 João 4:15

1 João 4:18

Utley - When we come to know God as Father, we no longer fear Him as Judge. Most, if not all, conversions to Christianity involve fear—fear of judgment, of condemnation, of hell. However, a wonderful thing happens in the life of redeemed humans: what starts with fear ends in no fear! Alfred Plummer - No believer’s love has ever been so perfect as entirely to banish fear; but every believer experiences that as his love increases his fear diminishes.” Henry Alford on there is no fear - Confidence in (or as understood, as to) that terrible day (1Jn 4:17+) presupposes the absence of fear: and this casting out of fear is the very work of love, which in its perfect state cannot coexist with fear. An immature Christian is tossed between fear and love; a mature Christian rests in God’s love Warren Wiersbe on there is no fear - Fear is actually the beginning of torment. We torment ourselves as we contemplate what lies ahead. Many people suffer acutely when they contemplate a visit to the dentist. Think of how an unsaved person must suffer as he contemplates the day of judgment. But since a Christian has boldness in the day of judgment, he can have boldness as he faces life today, for there is no situation of life today that begins to compare with the terrible severity of the day of judgment.....The perfecting of God’s love in our lives is usually a matter of several stages. When we were lost, we lived in fear and knew nothing of God’s love. After we trusted Christ, we found a perplexing mixture of both fear and love in our hearts. But as we grew in fellowship with the Father, gradually the fear vanished and our hearts were controlled by His love alone. An immature Christian is tossed between fear and love; a mature Christian rests in God’s love. A growing confidence in the presence of God is one of the first evidences that our love for God is maturing. (Bible Exposition Commentary) The person who lives in unhealthy fear of God is not spiritually mature John Stott - The same truth (ED: Of 1Jn 4:17+) is now stated negatively. The love that spells confidence banishes fear. There is no fear (i.e. no servile fear) in love. That is, ‘there is no room for fear in love’ (NEB). The two are as incompatible as oil and water. We can love and reverence God simultaneously (cf. Heb. 5:7+), but we cannot approach him in love and hide from him in fear at the same time (cf. Ro 8:14,15+; 2Ti 1:7+).(Borrow The Letters of John) Love prompts us to seek others; fear causes us to shrink from others. Fear brings its own punishment to the one who has not perfected (completed) his love. --Charles Ryrie No (servile) fear (phobos) - John use the negative particle (ou) which signifies absolutely NO FEAR. Marvin