#101 To the Family in-Christ | Part 2; 1 John 4-5

First, the premise of “LOVE.”

1 John 4:9-12 – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have 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 ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Second, the premise of “his LOVE is perfected in us.”

1 John 4:13-16a – By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his 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. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

Coming to “know and to believe the love that God has for us” is the perfection of LOVE. Do not reverse the process. We can’t LOVE God and abide in him until we come to know and believe the LOVE he has for us.

That knowing begins when we confess Jesus is the Son of God and receive his Spirit. And in doing, we abide in LOVE and in God and God abides in us. John explains.

1 John 4:16b-17 – God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Perfected LOVE: “As he is – so also are we in this world.”

Grace and Peace,

DrZ

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