64 - 1Jn 4:13-16
Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος αὑτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν· καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα, καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκε τὸν υἱὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου. Ὃς ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ Θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ Θεῷ. καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐγνώκαμεν καὶ πεπιστεύκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν. ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστὶ, καὶ ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἐν τῷ Θεῷ μένει, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ.
It has been shown already that the following four verses give a recapitulation: 1Jn 4:13 summing up the substance of the whole section 1Jn 4:1-12, parallel with 1Jn 3:24, while the two particular sub-sections, 1Jn 4:1-6 and 1Jn 4:7-12, are taken up again by 1Jn 4:14-16. But it will be plain, on the other hand, if we examine carefully, that we have by no means a mere resumé; though what is found to be added may be explained by the consideration that the apostle is here in the act of gathering up the threads of his whole discussion from 1Jn 2:28 downwards. Hence at the very beginning of 1Jn 4:13 we have the double expression ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν [“we abide in him and he in us”], while in the last section, and in the theme of 1Jn 3:24 corresponding to it, only the latter part of it comes forward. But if it is remembered that the last section is only the substructure or pendant of the third chapter, which treats of our abiding in God, we shall perceive how fitly the apostle, in his recapitulation here, combines the two thoughts, and that in each of the three resuming clauses. Even the γινώσκειν [“to know”] enters here again very appropriately; for the whole of the second part of the Epistle treats of no other than the tokens by which the sonship of Christians may be discerned. The thing here adduced is ὅτιἐκτοῦπνεύματοςαὐτοῦδέδωκενἡμῖν [“that he has given us of his Spirit”]: the same words as in 1Jn 3:24. That this is in fact the matter contained in 1Jn 4:1-12 can, after the exposition we have given, be no longer questionable. For, to set out from the last sub-section, 1Jn 4:7-12, where it is said that all human loving rests upon the infusion of the divine fire of love, what does that mean but that it rests upon the Holy Spirit? And in 1Jn 4:1-6 the subject is expressly the confessing of the God-man as a sign of possessing the Holy Ghost. What 1Jn 4:14 brings in as new, as also in 1Jn 4:16, are the two introductory clauses each emphasized by καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”]. That these aim to exhibit the contents of the section as the experience of Christian life, is clear enough; but it is not so evident to what end the experience is here introduced. Is it alleged as the guarantee of the truth of what St. John had said, just as the apostles collectively, and St. John in particular, elsewhere adduce the experience of Christ’s resurrection as the demonstration of the truth? But that would suit only the first καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”], and not the second; for, as to the love which God has in me, my faith in that love gives me no certain assurance, since it might be an erroneous faith. Nor does there seem any absolute necessity for a pledge of the truth of the assurance, ὁΘεὸςἀγάπη [“God is love”]. Rather are the clauses καὶἡμεῖς κ.τ.λ. [“and we, etc.”] necessary, and absolutely necessary, to show that the theme of 1Jn 3:24, 1Jn 4:13 has been demonstrated. We read there, δέδωκενἡμῖνὁΘεὸς ἐκτοῦπνεύματος[“God has given us of his Spirit”], which expresses an experience that the readers had known. Now in the development of 1Jn 4:1-12 nothing is said of this actual gift and experience; only abstract and no concrete relations are treated of: he who confesses Jesus has the Holy Ghost; he in whom the love of God is manifested must love the brethren. Whether this was actually the case with the readers is certainly not said here; if, therefore, the δέδωκενἡμῖν [“given us”] was really to be established, there must be at least a single word to express the evidence of this fact. Now that we find in the clauses before us: confession of Jesus is necessary, and we have it; love is necessary, and it is found in us,—therefore we have received the Holy Ghost.
Granted that we have now come to a general understanding as to our verses, we are far from understanding them yet in detail. The first question is, to whom the ἡμεῖς [“we”] emphatically standing at the outset refers. Primarily, it appears, to the apostles; for in 1Jn 1:1 these are made prominent as θεασάμενοι [“those who have seen”] and μαρτυροῦτες [“those who bear witness”]; and, even if we took the θεᾶσθαι [“look upon”] in a figurative sense, yet the μαρτυρεῖν [“to bear witness”] demands ever a personal eye-witness. Equally clear is it that the second καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”] refers to the whole congregation inclusive of the apostles; for what would be the meaning of saying that the apostle or the apostles had known by living experience of faith the divine love ruling within them? Certainly the object with St. John is not to show that he had received the Holy Ghost, but that all, even the whole church, had received Him. But here again there is a difficulty; as it seems to be asserted that the first καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”] refers to the apostles without including the church, while the second refers to both: in each case the καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”] is so emphatic, and they are both put in the beginning as so manifestly corresponding to each other, that it is almost matter of necessity to take them in the same meaning. To this must be added, that even in 1Jn 4:14, and equally in 1Jn 4:15, as we have perceived also in 1Jn 4:16, the apostle aims not to show that he has the Spirit, but that the church has: that is, the emphasis cannot rest on the θεωρία[LSJ] [“contemplation”] of the apostles, but only upon the ὁμολογία [“confession”] (1Jn 4:15) of the congregation. The former is brought forward only for the sake of the latter. Our confession of Jesus as the Son of God rests indeed in the first instance on the μαρτυρία [“testimony”] of the apostles, their μαρτυρία [“testimony”] again on their being eye-witnesses: by this they became μάρτυρες [“witnesses”], not merely announcers, but trustworthy announcers, of the truth. Thus, by means of their testimony we obtain a participation in what they had first personally beheld and spiritually apprehended. This observation makes it plain that the two καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”] are perfectly parallel, and how they are so. For, in the first, the apostles are not regarded in contradistinction to the church, but as the principle of the church’s ὁμολογία [“confession”]; their θεᾶσθαικαὶμαρτυρεῖν [“to look upon and bear witness”] was the ground and essence of that confession; in their personal experience concerning the mission of the Son of God, the experience of the church was as it were involved. Thus, as the καὶἡμεῖς [“and we”] in 1Jn 4:16 refers to the apostles and the church, so essentially it is in 1Jn 4:14, although that verse formally embraces the apostles alone. So the meaning of 1Jn 4:14-15 is: we have the Holy Ghost; for we have the token of this, the confession of the mission of the Son as Saviour of the world,1 on the ground of apostolical testimony; and consequently we have perfect mutual fellowship with God. As if he would make evident at once the reciprocity of the connection between God and man, the apostle changes the arrangement of the words in 1Jn 4:13, 1Jn 4:15-16: now the μένομεν ἐν αὐτῷ [“we abide in him”] comes first, now the αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν [“he in us”]. The historical fact of the manifestation of Christ, belonging to the domain of the visible world, could be established only by the experience of testimony; the internal fact, on the contrary, of the love of God ruling in us can only be inwardly experienced: hence here the ἐγνώκαμενκαὶπεπιστεύκαμεν [“we have come to know and to believe”]. That which is known and believed is love, the love ἣνἔχειὁΘεὸςἐνἡμῖν[“which God has in us”]. The expression has already been dealt with on 1Jn 4:9: it is the divine love, which is in God, but which He, by virtue of the mission of His Son, implants in our hearts, so that it now is also ἐνἡμῖν[“in us”]. It must first be known and then believed: for I can believe in the biblical sense, that is, enter, with all the soul and perfect trust, only into that the existence of which I know. So St. John says: we have known, it has become plain to us, that divine love has taken up its dwelling in us; and, after we came to know this, we have also believingly apprehended it. Let it not be wondered at that we are said to believe in what is after all ἐνἡμῖν[“in us”]. As certainly as I must believe in the power of God which is mighty in the weak,—this, however, being in myself,—so certainly must I believe in the love of God which abides in me. Without such faith neither can that power nor this love approve itself mighty within me. The following clause, ὁΘεὸςἀγάπηἐστίν [“God is love”], is quite necessary for the conclusion that we, in virtue of this love, have perfect fellowship with God. It might, indeed, be conceived that he who loves, he who has the divine love in himself, may in some degree enter into communion with God; but not on that account into a full and complete fellowship. This argument, however, is very plain, when it is said that God is love, and only love, and altogether love. For, if the whole nature of God is love, it follows that he who has this love participates in the whole nature of God; he who possesses the love of God has God entire. This we may establish also in other ways. If the apostle’s proposition, that by means of love we have absolute fellowship with God, is correct, it may equally be averred that we also have everything else which may be said concerning Him: for instance, the light-nature of God may assuredly become the portion of him who loves. This also is quite true; for we have seen in 1Jn 4:8 that love in its nature is diffusion of good, this latter being presupposed; and, as the love of God presupposes His light-nature, so does loving on our part presuppose that we participate in this nature of light. Similarly, it follows from the declaration that both the confession of Christ and the love of the brethren exhibit full and complete fellowship with God, that both these are perfectly involved in each other. And so indeed it is. For the confession of Christ rests, according to the exposition in presupposed; and, as the love 1Jn 4:1-6, on the impartation of the Divine Spirit, or, more strictly, of the Spirit of the incarnate Son of God; and love rests upon the communication of the same Spirit,—that is, as He is the Spirit of love. Confession and love are therefore only the outbeamings of one and the selfsame Spirit; each of the two pledges the perfect unity with God. Neither is a true avowal of Christ possible without brotherly love, nor is this latter possible without the former; either both are wanting or both are present: at least, that is, in their germ.
Let us now look at the position of the track in which we now find ourselves. The theme of this division of the Epistle was said to be, in 1Jn 2:28 ff., μένεινἐναὐτῷ ἵναπαῤῥησίαν ἔχωμενἐντῇπαρουσίᾳαὐτοῦ [“abide in him so that we may have boldness at his coming”]. This parrhesia, according to 1Jn 2:29, was to spring from the consciousness of divine birth, or being born out of God, and this consciousness to rest upon the sign of works. The concluding proposition in 1Jn 2:29, πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγένηται [“everyone also who practices righteousness isborn of him”], is thus the argument of proof for the main proposition in 1Jn 2:28. This last-adduced proposition is now developed in two directions: first, in 1Jn 3:1-24, that he who is born of God must practise righteousness; secondly, in 1Jn 4:1-21, that this practice of righteousness (especially brotherly love) can only proceed from a divine new birth. For, as chapter 4 expounds, all νικᾶντὸνκόσμον [“victory over the world”], and thus all opposition to sin, as also all love, depends upon the infusion of the Divine Spirit. Thus we may say that in 1Jn 3:1-24 it is demonstrated ὅτι ὁγεγεννημένοςἐξαὐτοῦτὴνδικαιοσύνην ποιεῖ [“that everyone born of him practices righteousness”]; in 1Jn 4:1-21, on ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγένηται [“that everyone who practices righteousness isborn of him”] Finally, it is shown, especially in the resumé of 1Jn 2:13-16, how, in this communication of the Holy Ghost, that μένεινἐναὐτῷ [“abide in him”] comes to perfection which was spoken of in 1Jn 2:28. It remains now that the apostle should disentangle the knot he created, by showing that thus the παῤῥησία [“boldness”] is attained in the final judgment. He does this in the following verses. They are the quod erat demonstrandum. footnotes
1It must not be unnoted that St. John has the expression σωτήρ [“Saviour”] only twice (Jn 4:42, in the mouth of the Samaritans), but each time with the addition τοῦ κόσμου [“of the world”]. Elsewhere the word occurs always as connected with ἡμῶν [“of us”] (that is, Christians) or absolutely; St. Paul alone speaks of the Father once as σωτὴρπάντωνἀνθρώπων [“Saviour of all people”] (1Tim 4:10). Even in this otherwise insignificant peculiarity St. John shows his predominant tendency to give prominence to the universality of the divine purpose of redemption.