> ‎Chapter 5‎ >  

 

 

1- 4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, for many lying spirits
are in the world today. We can recognize the Spirit of God in this
way: Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ, who is divine, has
come in the flesh is a spirit from God. And every spirit that does
not confess Jesus, is not from God. You have heard that he is
coming and he is now here. And such a one is an antichrist.

5-6: Those who are of the world speak in accord with the world ,
and the world listens to them. But we are of God. One who knows
God listens to us. One who is not of God does not listen to us. By
this means we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of lie.

7-10: Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God, and
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. One who does not
love does not know God, for God is love. (We explained above in
1:5 in what sense God is love).

The love of God was made clear in this, namely, that He sent His
Son into the world that it might be saved through Him (cf. John
3:16). We stressed above that to love is to will good to another
for the other's sake. But then, if in our effort to bring good to
the other, a small obstacle will stop us - our love is small. But
if even an immense or measureless obstacle will not stop us, then
our love is beyond measure. The Father sent His Son to a horrible
death to bring us the good of eternal life. --Really since even
the first instant of the incarnation was infinite in merit and
satisfaction, the Father could have stopped there. But even when
His Son begged in a sweat of blood to go no further-- farther than
needed--the Father's love still pressed on.

11-16: Beloved, if God has loved us in this way, we too must love
one another. No one has ever seen God, but yet, if we love one
another we know by this means that God is within us and His love
is perfect within us. A spirit does not take up space, but we know
He is present from the effects He is producing in us: we can tell
that by the effect His Spirit produces in us: love for one another
is an effect of the love of God, for love of God and love of
others are inseparable, as we explained in 1:5. speaking of
<koinonia>. We have seen and we bear witness that the Father has
sent His Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus
is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. --. We have
known and have believed in the love which God has in and for us.
For God is love, as we explained in comments on 1:5 above, and the
one who abides in His love has God abiding in him.

17-21: Perfect love brings it about that we have confidence on the
day of judgment, for as He is in the world so are we -- He is God-
man; we by grace become men-gods. He is in the world, not of the
world, so should we be. But then John advances: he has been
speaking of love and fear abstractly. Now in the concrete, if love
really is perfect, it eliminates all fear on the day of judgment -
- but in practice, love may not be entirely perfect. The ideal is
the realization of <koininia> with Him (cf. notes on 1:5)                

We love, for He has first loved us. --- We would not be able to
love, in fact, would not be, if He had not taken the initiative in
loving us. We recall the text of St. Irenaeus that God created not
out of need of anything, but to have someone to receive His gifts.

One who does not love his brother whom he has seen, will not love
God whom he cannot see. This does not mean that love of God must
include feeling -- rather John compares two things:. Loving what
we cannot see is more difficult than loving one we can see. Love
in humans includes two elements: the act of will in willing good
to the other for the other's sake, and the feeling that in human
affairs often goes along with it. The feeling is the somatic
resonance to real love, which resides in the will. There need be
no feeling in our love of God. In fact one might have strong
feelings toward God and have no love of Him: not obeying His
commandments.