Alive To God

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here. https://stevehusting.com/alivetogod/meditations-on-1-john-11-4-with-notes/

Chapter 5 (CSB–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.)

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “But the experience described there [4:11-19], with its astounding concept of boldness on the day of judgment, can be reached only in a most practical way.” The concluding verses are a summary of that way.

v. 1, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) How do I know he’s a Christian? He believes that Jesus is the Christ. “5:1-3a. … Whether or not a believer exhibits an admirable life, he should be an object of his fellow Christian’s love.”

(ESV) “5:1-5 Faith Keeps the Commandment of God. The road to love—such a great concern of John’s—is paved with faith in Christ.” (Recovery) “The Gnostics and the Cerinthians did not believe that Jesus and the Christ were identical.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

God’s Love and Ours (cont.), 4:16-21 NIV

v. 16, And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “We know and rely on (lit., ‘have come to believe’) … Living in the atmosphere of mutual Christian love produces a personal knowledge of God’s love and fresh experience of faith in that love. … John again affirmed the reality of the abiding experience enjoyed by all Christians who love.”

(ESV) “Assurance of salvation, while never an arrogant presumption, can become a settled state of mind and heart.” (Recovery) “God abides in us to be our life inwardly and our living outwardly. Thus He can be one with us practically.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

God’s Love and Ours (cont.), 4:7-15 NIV

v. 11, Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “4:9-11 … Nothing less than God’s love in Christ is the model for the love Christian should have toward one another.”

v. 12, No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “4:12-13. In His divine nature and essence, God has never been seen by any living man. … Yet in the experience of mutual love among believers, this invisible God actually lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”

(Vincent’s II) “His Love. Not our love to Him, nor His love to us, but the love which is peculiarly His; which answers to His nature.”

(Life) “Jesus … has revealed God to us. When we love one another,  the invisible God reveals himself to others through us, and his love is made complete. … If God sees that we are ready to love others, he will bring them to us.”

(Moody) “When believers love one another, it shows (1) that God abides in us—i.e., it is evidence of our relationship with an invisible God; (2) that His love is perfected in us—i.e., we display divine affection toward others.” (Recovery) “His love here denotes God’s love within us that becomes our love toward one another, and it is with this love that we love one another. … This love is perfected and completed in its manifestation when we express it in our living by habitually loving one another with it.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

God’s Love and Ours, 4:7-15 NIV

v. 7, Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “4:7-8. … the subject of love …, like faith in God’s Son (v. 13), is a product of the Spirit. As a confession of he incarnate person of Christ marks one off as being actuated by God (i.e. ‘from God’, vv. 5, 6) so does love, since love comes from. God. Hence, one who loves … has been born of God … and he knows God.”

(Vincent’s II) “Of God. Flows from God.”

(Life) “4:7ff . … God is the source of our love … Jesus is our example of what it means to love … The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love. … How well do you display your love for God in the choices you make and the actions you take?” (ESV) “Love is presented here as a consequence of, not a precondition for, being born of God.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

Chapter 4 (NIV–the verses in this chapter were taken from this version. Each chapter will be from a different version to avoid copyright issues.)

On Denying the Incarnation, 4:1-6 NIV

v. 1, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “4:1-3. To begin with, the Spirit of God must be distinguished from false spirits. … The touchstone … is their attitude toward the incarnate person of Jesus Christ.”

(Life) “4:1-2 … we shouldn’t believe everything we hear just because someone says it is a message inspired by God.” Other tests: 2:19, 3:23-24, 4:6.

(ESV) “Christian faith is not spiritual gullibility. … The unseen spiritual influences … can be ‘tested’ by observing their doctrine and conduct as well as by the gift of spiritual discernment.” (Recovery) “The expressions every spirit and the spirits refer to the spirits of the prophets, which are motivated by the Spirit of truth, and the spirits of the false prophets, which are actuated by the spirit of deception.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

What Love Does for Believers, 3:19-23 Bible Knowl Comm NT

v. 19, And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “probably refers back to verses 17-18. By practical acts of love in which the needs of others are met, Christians can have a basic assurance that they are participating experientially in the truth.”

v. 20, for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (Bible Knowl Comm NT) “If he has been engaged in the kind of practical acts of love which John enjoined, his guilt-ridden heart can be persuaded by realizing that God is well aware of his fundamental commitment to the truth.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

What Love Is Bible Knowl Comm NT

v. 16, By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “So far is it from the spirit of murder that its essence lies in giving one’s life for others rather than taking lives. This was exemplified in Jesus Christ.”

(Moody) “3:16-19. A common way of demonstrating affection is assisting the needy materially.”

(Life) “How can we lay down our lives? By serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return.” (ESV) “Jesus’ path to the cross marks the selfless, self-giving way of life to which his followers are called.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

The Imperative of Love, 3:10-14 NKJV

v. 10, By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “3:10a. … Because a child of God is sinless at the core of his being, he can never be ‘manifest’ through sin as can a child of the devil. While an unsaved person can display his true nature through sin, a child of God cannot. When a Christan sins, he conceals who he really is rather than making it manifest.” (Bible Knowl Comm NT) “3:10b. Rather than taking verse 10a as introductory to verse 10b, it is better to regard 10a as the conclusion of the previous paragraph.” “ ‘of God’ … a person so described does not find the source of his actions in God. … By joining together the idea of righteousness … with love .. John formed a ridge to a new discussion. … Love is righteousness in action.”

For an explanation of this layout and the key to the books referenced, read here.

Sin and the Child of God, 3:4-9 NKJV

v. 4, Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

(Bible Knowl Comm NT) “(Lit., the first clause in v. 4 is, ‘Everyone who commits wickedness.’) Sin must not be taken lightly.”

(Moody) “Those who make a practice of sin disregard the divine standard and resort to their own measuring stick.” (Life) “A believer who commits a sin repents, confesses, and finds forgiveness.” An unbeliever is not sorry and doesn’t confess and receive forgiveness.