FollowA Letter to the Children (Part 12)
© 2025 by C. O. Bishop
Notes on the Agapé Love
1st John 4:14-21
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Introduction:
We have seen quite a bit about the Love of God in the last several weeks. Specifically, we saw that the only form of love discussed in John’s epistles, is the agapé love. We saw the difference between that love and other words. We also saw that agapé is a huge part of our testimony as believers. What do people see when they look at our lives?
Notice that verse 14 does say that “we testify”…this is normal behavior for believers. We testify that God the Father sent God the Son (Jesus) “to be the Savior of the World!” (Not “the elect”) As a result, we offer eternal life to whoever is interested.
We offer that life on the basis of the shed Blood of Jesus. We offer the Grace of God, not a “contract” of some sort, whereby people can “earn” eternal life. Finally, we offer the Gospel as the gift of God. It was freely offered to all who will put their faith in Him. Romans 3:25 says that Jesus is the “propitiation” (the satisfaction of God’s Holiness and Justice) specifically through faith in His Blood.
A “Package Deal”
However, there seems to be a “package deal” here. Anyone who possesses the Son as their Savior will also confess that Jesus is the Son of God. But these are also the same people who confess that Jesus is truly the Creator God, in human flesh. They confess that He willingly sacrificed Himself for the entire human race. So, those who place their faith in Him are those named in verse 15. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God…”
This confession is not a “magic password” that somehow “gets you in the door.” It is a symptom of believers. Those believers are the ones who are “in God.” God dwells in them, and they dwell in God. When we compare some of the other passages regarding the indwelling Spirit, we see that this verse corroborates everything we have learned regarding the deity of Christ, the deity of the Holy Spirit, and the Mystery of the Trinity, (which in scripture is simply called “the Godhead.” See Colossians 2:9; Romans 1:20.)
What about the Virgin Birth?
Verse 15 also means that I have to confess that the Virgin Birth is a fact. It is not a myth or a legend. Verse 15 means that I must admit that Sin was (and is) the “bad news” in this world. The Bad News necessitates the “Good News” of the Cross. Jesus bled and died, there, and satisfied the Holiness and Justice of God regarding our sin…the sins of the whole Human race.
Without a complete break in the procreational chain, to escape the sin nature transmitted through the man, we could not escape our old nature. Jesus had no Human father, and was truly the Physical offspring of God. He provided that “break” in the “chain-reaction” of Sin. Through rebirth, He gave us a new nature. (Which is why 1st Corinthians 15:22 says we are either “in Adam” as our old spiritual head, or “in Christ,” as our New spiritual head.)
Yes, the Virgin Birth was absolutely necessary, and is not a “light doctrine,” unimportant to salvation. If He is not literally the Son of God, then we have no savior! It is that simple. There is an amazing amount of information tied to this passage that is not explained here, but requires further reading on our part.
Knowing and Believing the Love of God
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Remember that the only “Love” mentioned in 1st John is the Agapé Love. Also, that the only “knowledge” mentioned in this chapter, is the “ginosko” knowledge…the ongoing, experiential relationship sort of knowledge. Now another word is introduced: “Believe.” We entered into our walk with God by faith, and we also walk with Him by faith, believing in His goodness, and His Love and His faithfulness to care for us.
And, John says “we have personally experienced the Agapé love that God HAS (present tense) for us.” Some false teachers claim the Bible only says that God loved us” (past tense,) but that it does not say that He loves us (present tense.) I don’t know why they teach that.
Yes, God loved us (past tense) by dying for our sins: that is the teaching of John 3:16. But John 14:21 says (Jesus speaking) “He that loveth Me shall be (future tense) loved of my Father.” And 1st John 4:16 just taught us that we experience the agapé love that He has for us…(present tense.) God’s Love covers our past, present, and future!
He loved us in the past, before we knew Him, by laying down His life for us. As believers we daily experience His love, in this present life, as He answers our prayers, encourages our hearts, and teaches us to trust His Will through the truth of His Word, by His indwelling Spirit. And we look forward to a future encounter, where we will be received into Eternity with Him, as His Love envelops us completely, and we never again fear judgment.
How Agapé Love Finds Completion
17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect [completed] love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
As Jesus taught in John 5:24, a believer needs no longer fear the coming Judgment, as He promised, “He that heareth My Word, and Believeth on Him that sent me HAS everlasting life, and SHALL NOT come into condemnation, but is PASSED from death unto life.” Notice that the Salvation Jesus offers us also covers our past, present and future!
For those who have placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior, those three promises are all secure. We will never be condemned with the World, as we are no longer of the World. We have a new citizenship, in Heaven. (Philippians 3:20)
That is why John can encourage us to set aside timidity and fear. We have no further cause to fear anything in this World. Why? Because God has “declared Himself in,” on our behalf! Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against?” 2nd Timothy 1:7 echoes this, saying “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of Love and of a sound mind.” The word translated as “fear” is the Greek word “phobeo.” It where we get our English words “Phobia, phobic, and all the words with the suffix, “-phobia.”
Many of us have secret fears, or phobias. Some have become enslaved to those fears, so that they are effectively crippled by fear. God offers us freedom from that enslavement, and across the board, He offers freedom from fear.
Love is Entirely From God.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
No one starts out with even the capacity to “love God.” Many claim to do so by nature, but the reality is that we may love the idea of a “loving, compassionate God,” but we cannot Love Him as He truly is, because we are sinners and God hates sin, and judges sin. And we hate judgment!
The only reason we can claim to love God, as natural humans, is that we have “redefined God” to fit what we think He ought to be. We describe Him as all-loving, to the extent that we deny His Holiness, and His Justice and His supreme Authority as the Creator. We have redefined Him into a “nice, lovable, old man,” or worse.
What Do We Really Believe?
Nowadays, many people use the Impersonal word, “Universe,” to supplant the Person of God, as though, somehow, all the uncountable, non-living particles, asteroids, suns, planets, comets, etc. are deity! They believe that the unimaginable physical mass of the combined non-living galaxies, somehow collectively possess an intelligent will, and that collectively, as “the Universe,” they can together exert that will in our lives, for better or worse.
They deny the Creator, as an intelligent creator, and they then declare that the physical creation itself somehow has a collective intelligence, and a will. Romans 1:22, 23 says, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the Glory of the incorruptible God into an image, made like unto…” and then it lists various parts of the living creation “men, birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” But we have gone a step further and have chosen to redefine God as a huge collection of Non-living things. There is a word for that: It is called “pantheism,” meaning that “everything is God,” or that everything is a part of God.
We Have No Authority to Redefine God
But we do not have the authority to “redefine God” at all! One of the names by which He introduced Himself to Abraham and, to the Pharaoh, and to all the ancient world was “I AM.” He said, “I am that I AM!”
He is who He is, the self-existent, uncaused cause of all things! God is the only truly immortal being, with neither beginning nor end. He defines Himself as the Judge of all the Earth, in John 5:22.
“The Universe” has nothing to do with authority or intelligence, except that it stands as a witness to His eternal authority and unimaginable intelligence. The universe itself has no intelligence of its own, and no will of its own. He is all of the Authority, and the entire Universe bends to His Will alone!
So, the only reason it has become possible for us to truly “Love God” is that He extended the true Agapé Love to us at the Cross. We saw last week, in 1st John 4:7, that God is the only source of this love. Those who have received Him as Savior also have received the indwelling Holy Spirit, and thus (whenever the Spirit is in control) we are able to experience and demonstrate this Love. We love Him only because He first loved us!
The Final Test of Agapé Love
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
There is a logical necessity here: the Agapé Love has only One Source. But Agapé Love has a necessary outlet: we are to extend it to others. If we decide that someone is “beyond hope, and unworthy of love” then we need to remember that God loved us when we were “beyond hope, and unworthy of love!” Ephesians 2:11-12 spells that out: When God reached out to us, we were without God and without Hope, in the World!
So, if we persist in thinking that way about others, and persist in acting on those thoughts, then, when we claim that we “love God,” we are lying. (Does that sound harsh?)
Here is what is really harsh: It is us, when we forget that God accepted us in all our rotten rebellion and pride, but we reject other believers for lesser offenses! Remember that Unity and Love are two of the three criteria that Jesus gave, by which the World is invited to judge the Church.
The Bottom Line
21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
This is not an “optional” thing. There is no one to whom God says we do not owe the Agapé Love. In fact, Romans 13:8 says, “Owe no man any thing, but to Love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the whole law.” The implication is that we DO owe every human the Love of God.
How does that work out in reality? We are not called to “feel nice feelings” about others. The descriptions in 1st Corinthians 13:4-8 have nothing to do with feelings. They are all actions words: What are you doing, as a result of your commitment to serve the Lord? How are you being a blessing to those around you? Are you pouring yourself out to do what God has called you to do? Or are you primarily concerned with how you feel and whether your needs are met?
Does everyone have the same needs? No, of course, they don’t. So, the way Jesus met the need of the Woman at the Well (in John 4) was very different from how he spoke to Nicodemus, and met his need, in the previous chapter. In the same manner, we are called to be perceptive as to what are the real needs of people around us.
Be discerning, but still be looking for opportunities to love with the Agapé Love. That is the commandment Jesus gave in John 13:34, 35, and John reiterates it here, once again.
Lord Jesus, please help us to understand Your word. Help us to understand and experience Your Love, and to pass it on to others.