EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2025 5:03 PM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-1 “Perfect Love And The Christian’s Claim
of Faith”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
1 John 4:12-16
Message of the verses: “12 No one has seen
God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is
perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because
He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has
sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that
Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to
know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one
who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
Let us look at verse 12 as it is quoted in the
paragraph above, and in this verse John makes the simple point that if “no one
has seen God,” and he is talking about the Father, so no one has seen the
Father at any time. (cf. John 4:24; 1
Tim. 1:17; 6:16), and also we know that Jesus is in heaven and so no one can
any longer see Him, then people will not see God’s love unless believers love
one another. Now if they love one
another, then God will be on display, testifying that He abides in [them], and
His love is perfected in [them] (cf. John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:24). The unseen God will thus reveal Himself
through the visible love of believers; the love that originated in God and then
was manifested in His Son is now demonstrated in His people.
MacArthur
writes “In this section the apostle John also sets forth a key sequence of
evidences to remind readers once again that they can know they are saved. Assurance begins with the work of the Holy
Spirit (2:20, 27; Rom. 8:9, 14-16; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 1:13-14). Bruce Milne summarizes it for believers this
way:
The heart of Christian
experience of the Holy Spirit lies in his bringing us into a living
relationship to Jesus Christ so that we share in his redemption and all its
blessings. All Christian experience can
be focused in this one gift of God to us through His Spirit, our union with
Christ. ( [Downers Grove, Ill.”
InterVaristy, 1982], 182)
“Therefore John assures his believing
readers they can know that [they] abide in God and He in [them], because He has
given [them] of His Spirit.
“Having
already focused on the Father and the Son within his discussion on perfect
love, John now emphasizes that role of the Spirit. By noting the work of each member of the
Trinity, the apostle underscores the Trinitarian orgins of perfect love. Such love, which is accomplished through the
work of each member of the Trinity and subsequently manifested in the lives of
believers, finds it source in the triune God, who from eternity past enjoyed
perfect fellowshipas Father, Son, and Spirit.
As those who abide in God, believers will reflect His love, because God
abides in them and His Spirit is a work in their hearts.”
I
think that I will complete this section in my next Evening Spiritual Diary even
though there is not a lot to do, but sometimes it is best to make my Spiritual
Diaries shorter so that the readers can think about the things that are in
them, and this one has much to think about.
2/21/2025 5:30 PM
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