15

Manifesting Perfect Love
(1 John 4:7-21)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (4:7-21)

The Trinity is an unfathomable and yet unmistakable doctrine in Scripture. As Jonathan Edwards noted, after studying the topic extensively, “I think [the doctrine of the Trinity] to be the highest and deepest of all Divine mysteries still, notwithstanding anything that I have said or conceived about it” (An Unpublished Treatise on the Trinity’). Yet, though the fullness of the Trinity is far beyond human comprehension, it is unquestionably how God has revealed Himself in Scripture—as one God eternally existing in three persons.

This is not to suggest, of course, that the Bible presents three different gods (cf. Deut. 6:4). Rather, God is three persons in one essence; the Divine essence subsists wholly and indivisibly simultaneously and eternally, in the three members of the one Godhead—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures are clear that these three persons together are one and only one God (Deut. 6:4). John 10:30 and 33 explain that the Father and the Son are one. First Corinthians 3:16 shows that the Father and the Spirit are one. Romans 8:9 makes clear that the Son and the Spirit are one. And John 14:16, 18, and 23 demonstrate that the Father, Son, and Spirit are one.

Yet, in exhibiting the unity between the members of the Trinity, the Word of God in no way denies the simultaneous existence and distinctiveness of each of the three persons of the Godhead. In other words, the Bible makes it clear that God is one God (not three), but that the one God is a Trinity of persons.

In the Old Testament, the Bible implies the idea of the Trinity in several ways. The title Elohim (“God”), for instance, is a plural noun, which can suggest multiplicity (cf. Gen. 1:26). This corresponds to the fact that the plural pronoun (“us”) is sometimes used of God (Gen. 1:26; Isa. 6:8). More directly, there are places in which God’s name is applied to more than one person in the same text (Ps. 110:1; cf. Gen. 19:24). And there are also passages where all three divine persons are seen at work (Isa. 48:16; 61:1).

The New Testament builds significantly on these truths, revealing them more explicitly. The baptismal formula of Matthew 28:19 designates all three persons of the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” In his apostolic benediction to the Corinthians, Paul underscored this same reality. He wrote, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God [the Father], and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). Other New Testament passages also spell out the glorious truth of the triune God (Rom. 15:16, 30; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Eph. 2:18).

In describing the Trinity, the New Testament clearly distinguishes three persons who are all simultaneously active. They are not merely modes or manifestations of the same person (as the heresies of Modalism or Sabellianism and the more modern Oneness theology incorrectly assert) who sometimes act as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometimes as Spirit. At Christ’s baptism, all three persons were simultaneously active (Matt. 3:16-17), with the Son being baptized, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking from heaven. Jesus Himself prayed to the Father (cf. Matt. 6:9), taught that His will was distinct from His Father’s (Matt. 26:39), promised that He would ask the Father to send the Spirit (John 14:26), and asked the Father to glorify Him (John 17:5). These actions would not make sense unless the Father and the Son were two distinct persons. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit intercedes before the Father on behalf of believers (Rom. 8:26), as does the Son, who is our Advocate (1 John 2:1). In the gospel of John, the apostle reports that Jesus said the Holy Spirit would abide in believers (14:16), that He Himself would abide in them (vv. 18, 20-21), and that the Father would abide in them (v. 23). Again, the distinctness of each person is in view.

The Bible is clear. There is only one God, yet He exists, and always has existed, as a Trinity of persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (cf. John 1:1, 2). To deny or misunderstand the Trinity is to deny or misunderstand the very nature of God Himself.

The doctrine of the Trinity is crucial on an infinite number of levels, since it is at the very heart of the doctrine of God. As one writer explains:

It is very significant that the Trinity has implications not only for what believers think about God, but also for how they relate to Him and to one another. After all, it is the truth of the Trinity that explains God as a relational being. From eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have enjoyed the fullness of interpersonal relationships. They have always gloried in the infinite closeness that they share. To put it simply, God has never been lonely but has always been satisfied in the perfect fellowship of inter-Trinitarian bliss. As John Piper explains:

Based on that flawless relational model and His perfect desire and purpose to have fellowship with His creatures, the triune God designed man as a relational being. Man’s creation in the image of God gave him self-awareness and the ability to think rationally, appreciate beauty, acquire wisdom, feel emotion, and understand morality. But the most significant aspect of the image of God is seen in man’s capacity to love others—as demonstrated through his relational fellowship with God and with other human beings. Though only a shadow, human love (both for God and for others) is a reflection of the perfect inter-Trinitarian love that has characterized God from before time began.

The Trinitarian origin of perfect love brings the apostle’s theme in 1 John 4:7-21 into sharp focus. Four times in the passage (once in verse 12, once in verse 17, and twice in verse 18) John refers to perfect or perfected love. The New Testament mentions many kinds of love (Matt. 5:44; 22:37-38; John 13:34; 14:15, 21; 15:12; Rom. 12:9-10; 13:8-10; 1 Cor. 8:3; 13:4-8, 13; 2 Cor. 5:14; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:25, 28, 33; Phil. 1:9; Col. 3:14; 1 Thess. 4:9; 2 Thess. 3:5; Heb. 13:1; James 2:8; 1 Peter 1:22; 4:8; Jude 21), but the supreme love is the perfected and completed love that comes from God at salvation. In Romans 5:5 Paul wrote, “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” It is a love that does not derive from mystical experience or attach to emotional sentimentality, but that originates in salvation (cf. Rom. 8:28-30) and demonstrates itself in the good works of sanctification (cf. Eph. 2:10; Heb. 10:24). The fullest expression of it occurs when believers obey the Lord: “Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected” (1 John 2:5; cf. 5:3).

This passage is actually the third time John discusses love in this letter. First in 2:7-11 he presented love as a proof of true fellowship. Then in 3:10-17 John discussed love as evidence of believers’ sonship. This third discussion of love is an example of John’s cycling back through the letter’s moral and doctrinal proofs of salvation, each time providing his readers with greater depth and breadth.

In this passage, John discusses the nature of perfect Trinitarian love as it relates to the character of God, the coming of Christ, the Christian’s claim of faith, and the Christian’s confidence in judgment.

PERFECT LOVE AND THE CHARACTER OF GOD

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (4:7-8)

John addressed his audience as beloved (agapētoi, “[divinely] loved ones”) (cf. 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 11) whom he urged to love one another. Again, unlike emotional, physical, or friendship love, agapē (love) is the love of self-sacrificing service (Phil. 2:2-5; Col. 3:12-14; cf. Rom. 14:19; 1 Cor. 10:23-24; 13:4-7), the love granted to someone who needs to be loved (Heb. 6:10; 1 Peter 2:17; cf. Rom. 12:15), not necessarily to someone who is attractive or lovable.

The first reason believers are to extend such sacrificial love to one another is that love is from God. Just as God is life (Ps. 36:9) and the source of eternal life (1:1-2; 3:1-2, 9; 5:12; 2 Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:2), and just as He is light (1:5-7; 2:8-11; cf. Isa. 60:19), He is also love (cf. 4:16). Therefore, if believers possess His life and walk in His light (righteousness and truth), they will also both possess and manifest His love, since everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Because they are God’s children, manifesting His nature, they will reflect His love to others.

As alluded to earlier, the love John refers to is the divine, perfect love that God gives only to His own. The verb rendered is born is a perfect passive form of gennaō and could be literally translated “has been begotten.” Everyone God has saved in the past continues to give evidence of that fact in the present. Those who possess the life of God have the capacity and the experience of loving. In contrast, the one who does not love does not know God. Those whose lives are not characterized by love for others are not Christians, no matter what they claim. The Jewish religionists (scribes, Pharisees, and other leaders) of Jesus’ day, as well as the false teachers in the church of John’s day, knew a lot about God, but they did not really know Him (cf. 1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 3:7). The absence of God’s love in their lives revealed their unregenerate condition as conclusively as did their aberrant theology.

God by nature is love, and therefore He defines love; it does not define Him. People constantly impose on God a human view of love, but He transcends any such human limitations. That God is love explains a number of things in the biblical worldview. First, it explains the reason He created. In eternity past, within the perfect fellowship of the Trinity, God the Father purposed, as a love gift to His Son, to redeem a people who would honor and glorify the Son (cf. John 6:39; 17:9-15). Thus, though God existed in perfect Trinitarian solitude, He created a race of beings out of which He would love and redeem those who would in turn love Him forever.

Second, the truth that God is love explains human choice. He designed sinners to know and love Him by an act of their wills (cf. John 7:17-18), though not apart from the work of His Spirit (cf. John 1:12-13; Eph. 2:5; Titus 3:5). God’s greatest commandment is that people love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:29-30).

Third, the reality that God is love also explains His providence. He orchestrates all the circumstances of life, in all their wonder, beauty, and even difficulty, to reveal many evidences of His love (Pss. 36:6; 145:9; Rom. 8:28).

Fourth, that He is love explains the divine plan of redemption. If God operated only on the basis of His law, He would convict people of their sin, and justly consign everyone to spend forever in hell (cf. Ps. 130:3). But His love provided a remedy for sin through the atoning work of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:21; Gal. 4:4-5) on behalf of all who repent of their sin and trust in His mercy (John 3:14-15). In the most well-known statement of His earthly ministry, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16; cf. 2 Cor. 5:19-20; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 3:4-5).

God’s general love for mankind manifests itself in several ways. First, He expresses His love and goodness to all through common grace. The psalmist wrote, “The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works” (Ps. 145:9; cf. Matt. 5:45). As part of this, God reveals His love through His compassion, primarily in that He delays His final judgment against unrepentant sinners (Gen. 15:16; Acts 17:30-31; Rom. 3:25; cf. Gen. 18:20-33). That compassion is further expressed in His myriad of warnings to sinners (Jer. 7:13-15, 23-25; 25:4-6; Ezek. 33:7-8; Zeph. 2:1-3; Luke 3:7-9; 1 Cor. 10:6-11; Rev. 3:1-3). He finds no pleasure in the damnation of anyone (Ezek. 18:23, 32; 2 Peter 3:9). Accompanied with His warnings, God extends His love to every part of the world through His general offer of the gospel (Matt. 11:28; John 7:37; 1 Tim. 2:4; Titus 2:11). As Jesus told the apostles, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15; cf. Matt. 28:19).

That general love, however, is limited to this life. After death, unrepentant sinners will experience God’s final wrath and judgment for all eternity (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:41; 2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 20:12-15). But God has a special, perfect, eternal love that He lavishes on everyone who believes. The apostle John aptly characterized that love Jesus displayed to the apostles when he wrote at the beginning of the upper room narrative: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1b, NIV). Paul later celebrated that special love in his letter to the Ephesians:

(For a complete discussion of the love of God, see John MacArthur, The God Who Loves [Nashville: Word], 1996, 2001.)

PERFECT LOVE AND THE COMING OF CHRIST

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (4:9-11)

Jesus Christ is the preeminent manifestation of God’s love (John 1:14; cf. Rom. 5:8); He is God’s only begotten (unique) Son (Heb. 1:5), who came to earth in the flesh (Luke 2:7-14; John 1:14, 18; Heb. 5:5). The incarnation was the supreme demonstration of a divine love that was and is sovereign and seeking; it was not that [believers] loved God, but that He loved [them] and sent His Son to be the propitiation for [their] sins. The term propitiation refers to a covering for sin (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17), and is a form of the same word (hilasmos) used in 2:2 (for a more detailed explanation of this important word and its background, see chapter 4 of this volume). Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet Isaiah foresaw His propitiatory sacrifice:

By this the perfect love of God was manifested in [believers], John wrote, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that [believers] might live through Him. The apostle’s point is that since God, in sovereign mercy, graciously displayed His love in sending Christ, the saints should surely follow His example and love others with sacrificial, Christlike love (Eph. 4:32). The Father not only gave His children a perfect love when He redeemed them (Rom. 5:5), but He also gave them the ultimate model in Christ of how that love functions in selfless sacrifice. The cross of Christ compels believers to such love. Thus John exhorted his readers: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (cf. John 15:13). The apostle really just restated his admonition from 3:16, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” No one who has ever savingly believed in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and thus been granted eternal life, can return permanently to a self-centered lifestyle. Instead such persons will obey Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to “be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph. 5:1-2; cf. 1 Peter 1:15-16).

PERFECT LOVE AND THE CHRISTIAN’S CLAIM OF FAITH

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (4:12-16)

In verse 12 John makes the simple point that if no one has seen God the Father at any time (cf. John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16), and Jesus is no longer visibly present to manifest Him, people will not see God’s love unless believers love one another. If they love one another, God will be on display, testifying that He abides in [them], and His love is perfected in [them] (cf. John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:24). The unseen God thus reveals Himself through the visible love of believers; the love that originated in God and was manifested in His Son is now demonstrated in His people.

In this section the apostle John also sets forth a key sequence of evidences to remind readers once again that they can know they are saved. Assurance begins with the work of the Holy Spirit (2:20, 27; Rom. 8:9, 14-16; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 1:13-14). Bruce Milne summarizes it for believers this way:

Therefore John assures his believing readers they can know that [they] abide in God and He in [them], because He has given [them] of His Spirit.

Having already focused on the Father and the Son within his discussion on perfect love, John now emphasizes the role of the Spirit. By noting the work of each member of the Trinity, the apostle underscores the Trinitarian origins of perfect love. Such love, which is accomplished through the work of each member of the Trinity and subsequently manifested in the lives of believers, finds its source in the triune God, who from eternity past enjoyed perfect fellowship as Father, Son, and Spirit. As those who abide in God, believers will reflect His love, because God abides in them and His Spirit is at work in their hearts.

Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to the wind (John 3:8) and said people can see only the Spirit’s effects; there are no visible, physical signs that guarantee that someone is filled with the Spirit. But the reality of their faith enables believers to know they have the indwelling Spirit, as John reminds his readers: We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. Belief in the gospel (the doctrinal test) provides evidence of the Spirit’s ministry and presence (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). Because sinners are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1, 5), they cannot come to God on their own (cf. Matt. 12:35; John 1:12-13). Saving faith is possible only because God grants it (Eph. 2:8). In John’s case, his own experience of seeing and being with Jesus verified his faith (1 John 1:1-3). He bore witness that the Father has sent the Son to be Savior of the world, but he would not have believed had the Father not chosen him (John 6:44; 15:16, 19) and the Spirit opened his eyes to the truth.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, knows that God abides in him, and he in God. The true believer has discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit, and has come to know and [has] believed the love which God has for us. Such persons understand the eternal love of God, who is love, for all believers. They can rest confidently in the assurance that the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. They will further demonstrate the genuineness of their salvation by loving the Father and the Son, loving righteousness and fellow believers rather than the world’s system, and even loving their enemies. In summary, they will increasingly love the way God loves (cf. Matt. 5:48; 22:37-40; 2 Cor. 3:18).

PERFECT LOVE AND THE CHRISTIAN’S CONFIDENCE IN JUDGMENT

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (4:17-21)

Confidence in the day of judgment is the experience of believers who not only know when they have an accurate grasp of the gospel and other biblical doctrines, but also when love is perfected within them (cf. 1 Cor. 13:10–13; Gal. 5:24–25; Eph. 5:15–21; Col. 3:12-17).

The day of judgment refers in the broadest sense to the final time of reckoning before God (cf. 2:28). John says believers can live their lives with confidence (literally, “boldness”) as they look to the day when Christ returns and they stand before God (1 Cor. 3:9-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; cf. James 1:12; Rev. 2:10). In 3:21 John used the same word (parrēsia) to refer to the confidence believers can have that God will grant their prayer requests. In the present verse the apostle declares that boldness and lack of fear should characterize believers (cf. Rom. 5:2; Heb. 6:19) whenever they think ahead to God’s time of judgment (cf. Titus 2:13).

Why can believers have such confidence? Because as He is, so also are we in this world. This stunning statement means the Father treats the saints the same way He does His Son Jesus Christ. God clothes believers with the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:21-22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), and grants the Son’s perfect love (Matt. 9:36; John 10:11, 14-16; 13:1; 14:21) and obedience (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 18:37). Someday believers will stand before God’s throne as confidently as their Lord and Savior does. When they reach that final accounting, they will see the fulfillment of 1 John 3:26, “We [believers] know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

Those whose perfect (complete, mature) love demonstrates the reality of their salvation need have no fear of the return of Christ or God’s judgment, because perfect love casts out fear. That kind of love dispels fear because fear involves punishment, and believers perfected in love do not face final punishment (Rom. 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; cf. Eph. 5:6). However, anyone who fears God’s judgment is not perfected in love. Someone who professes Christ but fears His return evidences that something is seriously amiss, because all true saints love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8; cf. James 1:12).

The motive for those who have such confident assurance regarding the future is obvious: we [Christians] love, because He first loved us. It was God’s perfect and eternal love that first sovereignly drew believers to Him (4:10; John 15:9, 16, 19; Acts 13:48; Rom. 5:8; Eph. 1:4), thus enabling them to reflect His love to others.

The apostle repeats his warning (cf. 2:4, 9; 3:10, 17; 4:8) that anyone who claims to love God but does not love others is a deceiver: If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. It is absurd to claim to love the invisible God but at the same time not show love to His people. John counters that hypocritical notion with a closing command: this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. Brotherly love seeks nothing in return; instead it unconditionally forgives (cf. Matt. 18:21-22), bears others’burdens (Gal. 6:2), and sacrifices to meet their needs (Acts 20:35; Phil. 2:3-4). Yet it is also a righteous love that tolerates neither false doctrine nor habitual sin (1 Tim. 5:20; cf. 2 Thess. 3:15).

God’s perfect love is a blessing for believers to know and a joy for them to manifest to others. Although it enhances and enriches the emotional love they have for other people, perfect love far transcends any kind of feeling the world might experience. It is a complete, mature love that reflects the essence of God and the work of Christ and flows through believers to anybody with a need (3:17; Matt. 25:34-40; 2 Cor. 8:1-7; 9:7-15; James 1:27; cf. Matt. 5:16; Acts 9:36; Titus 3:8), especially others in the family of God (Gal. 6:2, 10; cf. 1 Tim. 5:8; Heb. 6:9-10). This love, which has characterized the triune God from eternity past, is also the mark of His children (John 13:35). Because this love so clearly comes from Him, those who love like Him can be assured that He is their Father. As the hymn “I Am His, and He Is Mine” so aptly expresses: