1 John 4:12-14 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments

‘No man has beheld 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, and we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.'

We do not abide in God by seeing Him. Indeed no one has beheld God at any time. But His presence among us, and His abiding in us is revealed in the love that flows from us to our fellow-believers. Those who are surrounded and possessed by the God Who is love will become channels of that love, especially to those who are also the channels of that love. This love, which is the evidence that we have been begotten of God and know God, this oneness of heart with God's true people, this love of the truth and those who are in the truth, will result in God's love being perfected in us. As we love each other we come better to know the love of God. For intrinsic within this is the response to the truth proclaimed by those who are truly His.

But in the end we know that we abide in Him because of what we have come to believe, for it is God Who has wrought it in us. We know that He has given us of His Spirit, Who has entered our lives giving us new life and making us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). And above all we know that the Spirit has revealed to us that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. We have come to believe in the Father's love in giving His only Son, we have come to believe in His only Son, Jesus Christ, Who came into the world in the flesh and was crucified for our sin and rose again in order to offer salvation to the world.

He is ‘The Saviour of the world.' He is the One Whose sacrifice is sufficient for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). But that sufficiency is only effective for those who believe. So ‘our hope is set on the Living God Who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe' (1 Timothy 4:10). It is not a question of numbers but of quality. His sacrifice is totally sufficient for all, but can only be effective in those who respond. They alone will be saved. If we have experienced that salvation, how can we not love Him?

1 John 4:12-14

12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.