This article probes to enlighten this old truth of the revelation and experience of God’s love in a fresh, dynamic and different way, from the perspective of early Christian spirituality. How did the early Christians possibly experience the love of God existentially in their daily lives? Another question is, ‘What did they experience when they have read this text of 1 John 4:7–21? This article looks briefly at how the author of 1 John understands the character of God which is necessary for understanding the love of God. The article continues to express how the ‘love’ of God (according to 1 Jn), was experienced by the Early Church through the following modes of lived faith experiences that emerged from the text and existential life situations: faith experience, relational experience and mystical experience. The article shows how the contemplative reading of sacred texts can contribute to a deeper understanding and lived faith experience of God.
1 John 4 twice states explicitly and apophatically (4:12, 20)
The approach in this article is deductive. An exegetical analysis of verses 7–21 will be conducted. This text is probably the most important text in the New Testament that explains God’s love the best. The article starts to point out the peculiarities of the pericope to legitimise this research and chosen subject. Then it investigates briefly how the Elder portrays the character of God in 1 John. The third and largest part investigates how the children of God had and can have lived faith experiences of the ‘love of God’, which I want to phrase, a spirituality of love. This will be conducted investigating the following modes of lived experiences that emerge from the text: a faith experience of God’s love, a relational experience of God’s love, and a mystical experience of God’s love.
Characteristic in 1 John is the dialectic language that occurs throughout the epistle and the cyclic reasoning with regard to themes such as eschatology, love, commandments, sin, antichrist, revelation, fellowship, et cetera. Both these features (dialectic language and cyclic reasoning) occur in the selected text.
In this pericope (4:7–21), a high frequency of other text peculiarities also occur. The recognition of these peculiarities, on their own, creates spiritualties in the reading of the text. Only in this short pericope (4:7–21), in comparison with the rest of 1 John, there are three references to ‘God (Father) who sent (ἀποστέλλω) his Son’ (4:9, 10, 14; implied in 3:9); two references to the explicit and apophatic expressions that ‘No one has ever seen God’ or ‘God whom they have not seen’. The verb τελειόω [perfected] has been used only five times in 1 John of which four (4:12, 17, 18; adjective in 4:18) occur in this pericope regarding the perfection of love, and the other one in 2:5.
References to ‘love’ occur in the epistle in 2:5, 10, 15(3x), 3:1, 10, 11–23(7x), 4:7–21(27x), 5:1, 2(bis), 3(4x). This indicates that the highest frequency of occurrence of reference to love occurs in 4:7–21. In this pericope believers are also addressed as ‘Beloved’ (Ἀγαπητοί). This adjective occurs six times in 1 John of which two occurrences are in 4:7–21. Then references to ‘God’ are also the highest in this pericope in comparison with the rest of the Epistle. The only reference of the Father (4:14) as the one who sent his Son as the Saviour of the world occurs in this pericope. The noun ‘God’ is used 20 times in this pericope of 15 verses which is saturated by the concept of ‘love’ (27x). Love is an active part of the household of God where God features as Father. Four possible reasons can be offered: first, because God as deity is ontologically identified as ‘love’ (4:8); second, God’s love is here connected with the incarnation or salvation (4:9); third, through love this God dwells in believers; and fourth, through love this God is revealed (4:10).
The noun θεὸς [God] occurs 20 times and the genitive pronoun αὐτοῦ [him] seven times in this pericope which is a high frequency of occurrence in such a small pericope. This high frequency occurs only here in the
In this pericope the two most important aspects communicated about God are, ‘No one has seen God’ (4:12, 20) and ‘God is love’ (4:8, 16). The latter one (love) implies ‘God sending his Son’.
In this pericope both apophatic and kataphatic language occur. God is twice referred to be not seen, ‘No one has ever seen God’ (4:12); ‘God whom they have not seen’ (4:20). A literal translation of 4:12 is, ‘God no one has ever seen’. God is the object in this verse and therefore he is placed first. The emphasis is on God (Painter
no one has ever seen God; yet God can dwell in his children, and the sign and reality of this is to be found in their love for one another, and consequently for him. (Smalley
The denial here is to make clear that the only way of seeing God was in (concerning content) and through (instrumental) the revelation of the Son. This is the idea in John 14:8–11 and 1 John 4:7–12, 14. The love of the Father is made known in the ‘Son’ (Painter
The author of the Gospel of John has already stated that ‘God is Spirit’ (Jn 4:24) and the Elder that ‘God is light’ (1:5), ‘God is faithful and just’ (1:9) and ‘He is righteous’ (2:29). Now the Elder gives one more embracing statement concerning the nature of God, ‘God is love’ (ἀγάπη – 4:8, 16). From this text it becomes evident that to have a: ‘lived experience’ of the love of God is to manifest His love in the believer’s own life. Without manifesting God’s love in the believer’s own life, such a person cannot know God or ever have known the love of God (Akin
According to Smalley (
In 2:10, 15 the verb for love occurs three times and the noun once. In 2:10 the love of a brother and sister living in the light is the consequence of love, ‘Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light’. The rest occur in 2:15. The believer is exhorted not to love the world. Love for the world
This chapter revolves around the praise of love for one another. In 3:11–18 the verb occurs four times (3:11, 14 [2x], 18) and the noun twice (3:16, 17). In 3:23 the verb (ἀγαπῶμεν, subjunctive) functions as an exhortation to ‘love one another, just as he has commanded us’. Smalley (
The term ἐντολή [command] in the singular is used in the Johannine letters to refer to the one great commandment of love (cf. 2:7–8; 3:23; 2 John 5–6). In the plural the same word is associated with the deeds which give concrete form to the love command itself (cf. 2:3–4; 3:22, 24; 5:2–3; 2 John 6). (pp. 264–265)
Chapter 5 refers to a true believer as being a child of God who will not only love the Father, but also the Father’s other children. The Elder uses the metaphor of a parent and child to explain this (5:1). In his further explanation of this, he changes the word order of what he has said in 4:20. The logic seems to be the reverse (Akin
The first configuration of the spirituality of God’s love can be explained from the perspective ‘to believe that God has sent his Son as a Revealer and Savior’. The Elder believes that Jesus is the embodiment of the love of God. His portrayal of Jesus from three different perspectives (4:9, 10, 14) in this particular pericope (4:7–21) is to explain the phenomenology of God’s love.
For the Father to reveal Himself and be involved in the salvation of mankind (to communicate his light (φωτὶ – 1:7), he had to send His Son into the world. The Elder begins this epistle referring to how Jesus was physically experienced by Himself and others. They have seen him, heard him touched him (Hiebert
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins’ (4:9–10 – New Revised Standard Version [NRSV]; this relates to Jn 3:16).
An equivalent statement occurs also in 4:14: ‘14And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world’ (NRSV). A content comparison of these three verses indicates that they are similar in their reasoning:
9 ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεού ἐν ἡμῖν, ὅτι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν κόσμον
10 ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠγαπήκαμεν τὸν θεὸν ἀλλʼ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ
14 καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκεν τὸν υἱὸν
The phrase ‘God’s love was revealed among us in this way’ (4:9) serves in this context as an introduction to the rest of the content of these three verses. Thus, these three verses describe the revelation of God’s love for the world.
The content of these three texts complement each other.
In this pericope ‘love’ is a synonym for ‘life’. To ‘love’ is to ‘live’. To experience ‘the love of God’ is to experience ‘the life (eternal life) of God’, the life that is in God (see Jn 5:26 – ‘the Father has life in himself … the Son also to have life in himself’). To accept the sending of the Son is in effect to accept the Father’s love (4:9; Jones
When the Elder refers the third time to God sending his Son (4:14), he refers to God intimately as Father. With this use of ‘Father’ he makes the salvific event a more intimate personal experience of God’s love (a Father’s love). He uses the emphatic ‘we’ (ἡμεῖς)
In the very next verse (4:15 – ‘If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God’) the content of this confession is extended. It confirms communion between God and the person making the statement. It is a confession of public conviction and acknowledgment that reveals an inward commitment:
Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in him.
This confession proves to be the result of receiving new life resulting in a commitment to obedient trust (Marshall
When people, in the time of Jesus, encountered him physically or later through the hearing of the Gospel (cf. 4:14, 15) and consequently perceive not only the otherness and identity of this person,
The household vocabulary in 1 John refers to another configuration of the spirituality of God’s love. Here God is referred to as the Father (ὁ πατὴρ – 4:14), Jesus as his Son (τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ – 4:9, 10, 15) and believers are the children of God.
The Elder states that God loves His children; now they are challenged to love one another (4:7). The life and love of the Father (also the Son) becomes evident and experienced in the mutual love of the community and their faith (McPolin
In the text the Elder addresses his readers as ‘beloved’ (4:7, 11 – Ἀγαπητοί). According to Kruse (
Adams (
This convinces the strong rhetorical dynamic of the family metaphor used with regard to spirituality. Its application in particular situations to a certain group of people generates bonding and experiential powers. These powers then unite these people into a coherent group where the love of God is experienced. This lived experience of God’s love is further defined by the Elder as fellowship (Van der Merwe
The last configuration of the spirituality of God’s love occurs in the mystical references that occur in the text. Early Christian mysticism did not exist or was not practiced during the first two centuries of Christianity. Louth (
The
When the Elder introduces the need for mutual love in this text (see also 4:11, 12), he introduces a fresh idea by describing the fundamental
The
The most inner expression of ‘love’ is to give oneself for the benefit of others. In 3:16 the Elder states, ‘We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another’ (NRSV).
In his references about ‘Born of God’ and ‘knowing God’ (4:7) and ‘God lives in us’ (4:12) the Elder prepares the reader for the culmination of the mystical experience statements (mystical union?) in 4:13, 15, 16. We find a development in the Elder’s thoughts moving from the statement in 4:7 that ‘love is grounded in the nature and being of God’ to the reference that the prerequisite to ‘love one another’ is necessary (4:12) for mystical union as referred to in 4:13, 15, 16.
The
13 By this we know that
ἐν αὐτῷ μένομεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμῖν [μένει]
15
ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει ….. καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ θεῷ [μένει]
16 … he who abides in
ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ θεῷ μένει καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει
According to these three texts (4:13, 15, 16) the mystical immanence of God in the believer is constituted via the Spirit, confession and love.
The contemplation (religious meditation) of the presence of God and mystical union that occur in these texts are verified in the phrase ‘his love is made complete in us’ (4:12, 18). This happens or occurs when believers love one another. The verb (τετελειωμένη
In the pericope 4:7–22, a dichotomy between the invisibility and visibility of God occurs to constitute an existential tension. Two apophatic statements about God’s invisibility appear as well as two kataphatic statements that ‘God is love’. In a tactical way the Elder describes how God can become visible and experienced. This is possible through the ‘lived experiences’ of God’s imminent love in the incarnation of his Son and in the mutual love between believers. This article focussed on three aspects of the ‘spirituality of love’ that lies embedded in the text (4:7–22):
faith lived experiences of God’s love: God has sent his Son to reveal himself in his love and to bring salvation. The acceptance of this in faith creates a certain spirituality of God’s love; relational lived experiences of God’s love: God’s love is experienced when believers in the mystical lived experiences of God’s love: The culmination point of the mystical experience of God’s imminent love is expressed by the Elder as the reciprocal indwelling of God and believers when they love one another. The love of God will always evoke a
The author declares that he have no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
All references to 1 John will be indicated only by chapters and verses.
It is a privilege to dedicate this research to Jan van der Watt who was my supervisor in my doctoral studies. He was the person who formed my Johannine research and influenced me to fall in love with the
Hereafter refer to as Elder.
According to Scholer (
Due to the reading of the text from a spirituality perspective and due to the plethora of definitions of Spirituality, I would like to define Spirituality as to be used in this document. I want to look briefly at the notion of ‘spirituality’ in consulting the works of three most influential scholars in this field. Philip Sheldrake (
For this article a combination of the above and other related complementary definitions have been opted for. Spirituality, as used in this article, refers to ‘living a life of transformation and self-transcendence that resonates with the lived experiences of the divine’. This definition consists of two aspects: ‘a lived faith experience of the divine-human relationship’ and ‘living a life of transformation and self-transcendence that resonates with that of the divine-human relationship’ (Van der Merwe
In the rest of 1 John God is characterised as one with whom the believer can have fellowship (1:3, 6, 7); God is light (1:5); God is faithful and just (1:9); God is righteous (2:29); a close relationship exists between the Father and Son (2:23).
Discerning God is more than the practice of love in 4:7-12. Moreover, it is more likely that the Elder regarded love in the most absolute sense.
In the Torah (which influenced Johannine thought) it is noted how Israel experienced God’s love (provision and protection) during the Exodus from Egypt, provision of food and water in the desert, and protection against Israel’s enemies.
The noun κόσμος is used here for the second time in 1 John (see 2:2). It appears in the Johannine letters and Gospel with two basic meanings: ‘the created universe or life on earth (cf. 3:17; 4:17; also John 1:10); and human society, temporarily controlled by the power of evil, organized in opposition to God (cf. 5:19; 4:3–5; also John 16:11). It is the latter meaning which κόσμος carries in this verse and vv. 16–17 (where the word occurs six times in all)’ (Smalley
The verb ἐφανερώθη, together with the rest of 4:9, ‘God’s love was revealed among us in this way:
Rensberger (
Scholer (
Verses 9 and 10 are closer to each other than to 14, because of their wording.
This reality and manifestation of God’s love is experienced through the transformative existential encounter with the resurrected Christ. The Early Church readers came to a further spiritual experience of him. Now they experience him as God’s ‘Only Son’, ‘Son of God’, ‘Son as the Saviour’ and ‘Jesus’. These lived experiences let them experience the divine, the new life in God (cf. 4:9, 13, 16) and his love. The testimony of the Elder is about this new life and love. The Elder wants the readers to share this with him.
The personal pronoun ἡμεῖς precedes the verb, τεθεάμεθα at the beginning of 4:14.
For Scholer (
Schwöbel (
The verb μένει is in the present tense.
Only Son, his Son, Son of God, Son, Saviour and Jesus.
No references of believers as ‘children of God’ occur in this pericope, although elsewhere in the epistle.
This is due to Origen’s understanding of the soul’s ascent to God.
Wigner (
Merkabah mysticism – also kabbala mysticism. ‘Kabbalah refers to the connection between the physical reality and the spiritual essence that lies behind that physical reality’ (Kabbalah – Jewish Mysticis I
See Schnackenburg (
Arndt, Danker & Bauer (
According to Smalley (
The verb γινώσκειν relates closely to the Hebrew verb ידַָע which means to ‘gain knowledge of, learn of or about’ (Brown, Driver & Briggs
In 3:23 the Elder links the command to love directly to the demand for
This experience is expressed in 1 John as, ‘if we love one another, God lives in us’ (4:12 – NRSV), ‘God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God’ (4:15 – NRSV). In both of these texts a condition (ἐὰν) is expressed. Only when believers ‘love’ one another or ‘confess’ Jesus as the Son of God, God will abide in them.
In 1 John 4 the ‘giving’ is also expressed in this text by the verb ἀποστέλλω [to send], and the benefit by ‘that we might live through him’. In the Gospel of John the Evangelist uses the verb
This formula of immanence occurs throughout the Epistle: ‘we abide in him and he in us’ (3:24; 4:13, 15, 16; see also 2:14, 24; 3:9).
Rensberger (
This formula is strengthened by the phrase
The expression of mutual indwelling (ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ θεῷ) can also refer to a personal relationship which is the heart of Christian living. It relates closely with keeping the word or message of Jesus (cf. McPolin
Bass (
When their love becomes sacrificial love, it is then when believers empty themselves. In their emptiness they then become one or united with the divine. True believers are those ‘in whom Love expresses itself, incarnates itself, and unfolds itself in a visible, tangible way through all the dimensions of human life’ (Harvey
‘The first is found in 2:5, where completeness of love for God is expressed in obedience to his word. In 4:12 God’s love184 is made complete in believers when they love one another.’ More references are found in 4:17, 18, where God’s love is said to have completed its work in believers when they can face the Judgement Day without fear (Kruse
The word translated as ‘complete’ (τελειόω) can also be rendered to ‘bring to an end, finish, accomplish’ (Arndt et al.
In 4:17, 18 the Elder adds a new perspective connected to ‘complete love’: the theme of judgement. He refers to what he has just written. He informs the reader that the love one has for God has an effect on the future of that person. Both, the confession of Jesus as Lord and the mutual abiding between God and the believer sanction God’s love to have its full manifestation (cf. Hiebert
In verse 4:18 the Elder elaborates on what he has already stated in verse 4:17. He verifies why the believer needs not to fear. For him the relationship between the believer and God through Christ is based on love. In love ‘there is no fear’. The claim here is that love and fear are mutually exclusive. A severe disparity exists between the two. Only one can exist, because perfect love ‘drives out fear’. All fear is abolished from those in whom God’s love is being perfected. In conclusion: where there is perfected love, God can be seen and experienced and is there no fear (cf. Akin