COMPLETE ASSURANCE (4:17-5:2)

At the risk of repeating myself, John continues walking us up the spiral staircase of faith, love and obedience: so that we can share the continuous fellowship he experiences, with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But we are nearing the top now. He has lately been focussing on how believing in the love and grace of God leads to us being indwelt by that love, and how it reaches consummation when it flows through the connections between believers. Just as a battery which isn't connected to a circuit of some kind, never fulfils its purpose; but once connected, its power can operate whatever appliance or motor its energy flows through.

Now he turns to show how this love flowing through us, changes our relationship with God, giving us a holy boldness in entering His Presence.

COMPLETE ASSURANCE

The context is that their assurance has been undermined by the secessionists claim to a deeper mystical knowledge of God. Assurance, says John, is not mystical or based on our feelings, but based on three-fold evidences that we are indeed indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Paul talks about a direct witness of the Spirit within our hearts: He is 'the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry "Abba, Father"'. John does refer to this direct witness (4:13) but perhaps because his readers are being undermined by those who claim more direct spiritual revelation, he is focussed on observable tests.

PERFECTED LOVE: IS SUCH A THING POSSIBLE?

The tenses are important here. John says their love ‘has been’ perfected: the perfect tense, meaning something which happened in the past and is ongoingly true. And ‘that we may have’ is present subjunctive: it is possible in the here-and-now, for us to face the Judgement Seat of Christ with boldness; and this is not presumption, because ‘as He is, so are we in this world’. As Jesus walked this earth in fellowship with His Father, so do we. And God’s love has so transformed us, that others look at us and see Jesus. We have been justified by His righteousness, but we have also been sanctified such that we are clothed with His righteousness; living in it every day.

This state is not something we can achieve, but something we are given by grace alone. A believer who still fears death and judgement, ‘has not yet been made complete’. When we are made complete, it is not because we love Him, but because He first loved us. This state comes from a revelation of the depth of God’s love for us, such as John Wesley had when ‘his heart was strangely warmed’.

This is what Paul prays for the believers in Ephesus. 'For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God' (Eph 3:14-19).

He knows that God is able to do this for them: 'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen' (Eph 3:20-21)

Nothing - neither death nor life, nor any spiritual attack however high-level, nor our present life circumstances, nor anything that might happen in the future - can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38,39).

JOHN'S TESTIMONY IS REPEATEDLY BACKED UP

Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, also prophesied “God has remembered His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life”. (Lk 1:72-74)

Jesus says He will give us His unruffled peace with God (Jn 14:27).

Peter writes that God has 'given us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust' (2 Pet 1:4).

The writer of Hebrews also attests this state. "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest" (Heb 4:9-11) “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22)

PERFECTED LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR! 

It is true that 'the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom': many live in ongoing sin without any fear of God or of judgement. But they often fear 'him who has the power of death, that is, the devil' (Heb 2:14) when they should fear 'the One who after death, has the power to cast into hell' (Lk 12:5). A proper 'fear of the LORD' has to do with eternal punishment: the only other NT example of this Greek word is found in Matthew 25:46. But many are already experiencing torment in this life, anticipating future judgement.

Jesus says, 'The Father has committed all judgement to the Son ... He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and shall not come into judgement, but has already passed from death to life' (Jn 5:23-24)

We are not talking about presumption or a lack of appropriate awe and reverence. It is foolish to assume that just because we have prophesied or cast out demons in His name, we are guaranteed entry into Christ's kingdom (Mt 25:31-46). What matters is a changed heart that without anticipating any reward, has compassion on the hungry, clothes the poor, visits the sick and the imprisoned.

But when we have experienced and come to trust deeply in the love of God, as John had, we no longer live in fear that we will be condemned to hell. We no longer condemn ourselves when we fall into sin, because we know that 'in my flesh dwelleth no good thing'; and that God knew every sin we would ever commit, before He ever began to draw us to Christ. 'He loved us before we ever loved Him' (v19): 'He chose us before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight' (Eph 1:4). His plan for our salvation begins with us coming to trust in Christ as our propitiation: but that is just the beginning. Imputed righteousness must develop into imparted righteousness. Christ has committed Himself to be our High Priest, and the Father will never give up on His work within us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we sin, we have only to confess our sin, and we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ - the only truly righteous One. He sprinkles us with the blood of His covenant, and our consciences are cleansed (yet again) from the hopeless struggle to live in our own righteousness, to serve the Living God. We experience afresh the love and grace of our heavenly Father, as He renews an upright spirit within us. And we realise ever more deeply, how utterly dependant on Christ we are.

THE DISABLING EFFECTS OF A WRONG FEAR OF GOD

Fear of death torments many; but it need not be so. When we get to this state of Christian completeness John is describing, in which we rely totally on the grace of God and not on any righteousness of our own, all fear of death and judgement evaporates. It utterly eradicates all fear and anxiety about meeting God after death.

But it also causes bondage, disables us for God's calling, prevents us loving others, and blocks our fellowship with God.

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb 2:14-15) 

Fear is a deeply disabling emotion, the exact opposite of faith. Being centred on our own wellbeing, it blinds us to others' needs, preventing us from loving them with agape love.

There are literally hundreds of bible verses that say, 'Fear not ...'. When Joshua was about to lead Israel into the Promised Land, the word of the LORD to him was 'be bold, be strong, for the LORD your God is with you'.

We only share our hearts with our most trusted friends. We are usually very guarded with those we think may harm us. Fellowship with God cannot be complete in the presence of fear of judgement. That is why confessing our sins to Him is so important; when we do so, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And loveless fear is transformed into fearless love.

John has previously spoken of how this inner confidence affects the way we pray: 'Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment' (3:21-23).

HOLY BOLDNESS, or PRESUMPTION?

John says that this awareness that we are indwelt by the love of God, enables us to approach death and judgement with complete assurance: because 'as He is, so are we, in this world'. But Jesus says that when He returns and separates the sheep from the goats, there will be many who say to Him, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" His response will be, "I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matt 7:21-23). They cannot understand why they don't qualify to enter the Kingdom of Heaven; but Jesus's criterion is not about spiritual signs and wonders. "I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me". They respond that they never encountered Him in such a state: but His response is, "In as much as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me" (Matt 25:41-46).

One might assume that their failure was a failure to see Christ in other people - to 'honour one another out of reverence for Christ'. But those whom Jesus does welcome into His kingdom are equally unaware that in their acts of mercy, they have been dealing with Christ Himself. The failure is not one of perception.

Rather, it is that their hearts have not been changed, to be like the heart of Christ during His earthly ministry. A heart that without being asked, raises the widow's son to life. That heals Jairus's daughter. That had compassion on the multitudes, whom He saw as 'sheep without a shepherd'. The same heart that laid down His heavenly glory and took the form of a man - even a slave; chose to be crucified for our sins and transgressions, and laid down His life for His friends.

Christian perfection, as we've seen before, is a state of the heart: not sinlessness.

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.” (1 Cor 13:1–7, MSG)

WE LOVE, BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US

'We love, because He first loved us'.  John is very clear that he isn't writing about something we achieve by our own efforts or devotions. The doorway into this state of grace, is complete abandonment of our own righteousness, and complete reliance on God's love and grace. In other words, it is by faith; and if it is by faith then as Wesley says, we must believe that God can do it, that He wants to bring us into it, and given it is not dependant on our state, there is no reason to delay trusting Him to do so.

During the 'experience meetings' of the Welsh Revival, members were regularly asked

"Have you:-

• Grasped your pitiful estate without God: hopeless, estranged, bound for misery?

• Abandoned comparing yourself with others, realising you are worse than all?

• Abandoned trusting your own reason and light, for supernatural enlightenment by the Spirit?

• Understood depth of your fallenness / inability to please God in thought or deed?

• Seen your total need to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness in the Presence of God?"

These questions might seem rather pious to us. But they were designed to help folk maintain their stance, or what Wesley would have called their 'Christian perfection'.

LOVE IS PERFECTED AMONGST THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS

Love has been perfected 'among us' (v17). [NB Some translations have 'with us' (AV, NIV, ESV)]. The whole tenor of John's letter is addressed to the loving community of the church. Just as expatriates in a given country tend to bond together strongly, the church is a community of aliens living in a foreign culture. And the stand-out difference is that 'they will know you are Christians by your love'. A contemporary secular author wrote, 'See how these Christians love one another'.

This means that the local church is where most opportunities for agape love arise; or the inverse, that it's where such love meets its greatest challenges and is stretched and developed!

TEARING OTHERS DOWN, BELIES ANY PRETENCE OF LOVE

John closes off this wonderful passage with a stark declaration that anyone who claims to love God, but hates his brother, is a liar. He's not naming names, but it's very clear who he is speaking of. Along with 'If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie' and 'Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?', it rounds off John's triad of tests of spiritual genuineness: moral, doctrinal, and grace-filled.

In recent years, enabled by the internet, there has been a proliferation of websites and social-media-based ministries which have sought to build their own reputation by tearing down other ministries and ministers. Sometimes there has been an element of justification where the person under attack has failed morally. Sometimes the issue has been about divisive theological issues on which Christians hold a spectrum of views. Sometimes it is even based on how pro-Israel a ministry is or isn't. But in the vast majority of cases, it is motivated by competition for recognition, rather than by love for the Church or for Christ.

Such teachers, preachers and evangelists should not be touched with a bargepole, if we are following John's prescription for discernment. 'He who loves God must love his brother also'. Rather, we should seek to restore one another. 'Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, lest you also be tempted. Bear one anothers' burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ' (Gal 6:1,2). Apart from Jesus's prescription for handling sin done directly against ourselves, the primary response should be prayer. 'If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death' (5:16)