1 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen 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. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 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. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.” 1John 4:7–17 This seems like a key item in our text to the whole process, but what exactly is it to “confess that Jesus is the Son of God”? Will I fulfill that requirement if I stand and say, “Yep – Jesus is the Son of God”?

2 You will all probably recognize the word if I say it if you can’t read it. It is made of two familiar word stems. This is the word “ ὁ μολογέω”. Does anyone know the two parts of this compound word? It is made up of “ ὁ μο” and “λογέω”. What happens to milk that is homogenized? Homogenized milk will not separate and will have the “same” consistency. What about “λογέω”? The word “λογέω” means to “speak” as “ε ὐ λογέω” (eulogy) from “ε ὐ ” meaning “good” and “λογέω” means to “speak good” or to “bless”.

3 You will all probably recognize the word if I say it if you can’t read it. It is made of two familiar word stems. This is the word “ ὁ μολογέω”. Does anyone know the two parts of this compound word? It is made up of “ ὁ μο” and “λογέω”. What happens to milk that is homogenized? Homogenized milk will not separate and will have the “same” consistency. What about “λογέω”? The word “λογέω” means to “speak” as “ε ὐ λογέω” (eulogy) from “ε ὐ ” meaning “good” and “λογέω” means to “speak good” or to “bless”. Thus our word “ ὁ μολογέω” means to “say the same” or to “agree with”. But is it just the verbal statement that triggers the condition of abiding?

4 We need to see this from two aspects. There is an aspect where once a person does in fact agree with God that Jesus IS His Son who was sent to take away the sin of the world, that God does, from that moment, abide in Him and he in God. There are many Christians today, in whom God abides, who are saved, but exhibit no love. While saved, they are not “at home in God” nor is God “at home” in them. A good example of this would be David. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed Uriah, couldn’t Nathan have said, “You know David, I’m not seeing God’s love in you, and there is no way that you are abiding in God right now.” He was living in sin like so many Christians today who confess Jesus as God’s Son, but are not at home with or experiencing Him as their life.

5 But when we confess with our mouths and our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God who came to give us His life, there will be evidence of that love that is intrinsically God, emanating from the life of the confessor and love will in fact be perfected in the one who confesses with the heart and not just the mouth.

6 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen 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. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 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. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.” 1John 4:7–17 This is a process that is very deeply layered. As we begin to confess Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior and abide in Him as a living practice, we actually come to know (experience) and believe the love of God for us. Let me tell you that believing, actually believing that God loves you, is the core of everything that makes life work. Without that reality as a foundation of life, living has absolutely no purpose. Let’s look at some insights from our grammar.

7 “We have come to know and have believed the love…” The two verbs “know” and “believed” are perfect tense. “The perfect tense signifies “an event accomplished in the past (in the indicative mood, that is) with results existing afterwards”. “The perfect is used less frequently than the present, aorist, future, or imperfect; when it is used, there is usually a deliberate choice on the part of the writer.” “The perfect tense is used for indicating not the past action as such but the present ‘state of affairs’ resulting from the past action.” Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics

8 “We have come to know and have believed the love…” The two verbs “know” and “believed” are perfect tense. The perfect tense signifies “an event accomplished in the past (in the indicative mood, that is) with results existing afterwards”. “The perfect is used less frequently than the present, aorist, future, or imperfect; when it is used, there is usually a deliberate choice on the part of the writer.” “The perfect tense is used for indicating not the past action as such but the present ‘state of affairs’ resulting from the past action.” Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics This means that “knowing” and “believing” the love of God is a choice that we made in the past that has ongoing dynamic impact all the way through to the present with the promise of continuation.

9 “We have come to know and have believed the love…” The two verbs “know” and “believed” are perfect tense. The perfect tense signifies “an event accomplished in the past (in the indicative mood, that is) with results existing afterwards”. “The perfect is used less frequently than the present, aorist, future, or imperfect; when it is used, there is usually a deliberate choice on the part of the writer.” “The perfect tense is used for indicating not the past action as such but the present ‘state of affairs’ resulting from the past action.” Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics It is like lighting the fuse on the bomb that God glued to the hand of your worst enemy, who viciously attacked you every day. Lighting the fuse isn’t really what fixed the problem. It is the bomb that took out your enemy, but the fact that you chose to light the fuse did play a role in new found freedom, joy and peace that you experience since then. Lighting the fuse in the past, played a role in the fact that your enemy can never attack you again in the present and the future. You are forever delivered from that enemy because of the impact of your choice to light the fuse. That is the sense of the perfect tense.

10 “We have come to know and have believed the love…” The two verbs “know” and “believed” are perfect tense. The perfect tense signifies “an event accomplished in the past (in the indicative mood, that is) with results existing afterwards”. “The perfect is used less frequently than the present, aorist, future, or imperfect; when it is used, there is usually a deliberate choice on the part of the writer.” “The perfect tense is used for indicating not the past action as such but the present ‘state of affairs’ resulting from the past action.” Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics But somebody is going to say, “But Mark, I do still get attacked by the enemy who was supposed to be blown up by God’s bomb that I ignited. You said I would never again be attacked by that enemy.” God says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom 8:38). So the feelings of being attacked are one of three possible things: 1.I am choosing to relive the memories of my past bondage that God eliminated for me in my faith. 2.I am choosing to go back under that dead life because I believe the lie that I can prosper in the lies. 3.God is using the enemy to drive me more deeply into grace and truth.