The Spirit in God's Children Acknowledges the Incarnation

When John writes "we know," it probably refers to himself and the other apostles as 1 John 4:14 infers they knew they were in Christ because of the demonstrations of the Spirit in their lives. Eaton comments:

The words 'By this we know' look forward to the reference to the Spirit at the end of the sentence. When John says we 'know' that we remain in Him, he is not referring to persuading ourselves as a matter of logic or deduction that we are continuing in God; he rather means that we are consciously experiencing God. On another occasion, when Paul asked, 'Did you receive the Spirit when you believed?' (Acts 19:2), he was taking it for granted that they would be able to give a clear yes / no answer. All over the New Testament we find Christians who are conscious that they have the Holy Spirit. They are aware of His leadings. His presence is a foretaste of heaven. They are not 'deducing' that they have the Spirit; they know!

We often hear Christians today stating this truth in similar terms such as, "I know that I know I am saved." See WCF 18.3; WLC 80; HC 76.

John and the others to whom he refers literally saw Christ. As for the phrase "the Savior of the world" (cf. John 4:42), see "For whom did Christ die? - 1 John 4:9-11, 14," "For God So Loved - John 3:16-21," and "Definite Atonement: For Whom Did Jesus Die?" below.

If we live "in him" and "he in us" then we are joined to Christ's sufferings (Col. 1:24; Rom. 8:17; 2 Cor. 1:5; 6:10; Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 1:8; 2:10). John also calls himself "your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus" (Rev. 1:9).

John's "Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14) is now interpreted by John to mean only those who acknowledge "Jesus is the Son of God." There is a clear progression of thought leading to 1 John 4:14-15. John knew, as affirmed by Paul, that no man could truly call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). This is a Kingdom confession (Rom. 10:9-10), one given only by the Spirit of God (John 3:3, 5) to them that are born again (John 3:7). This leads to the obedience of love (1 John 2:3) and a love for God and others (1 John 4:7, 11-12, 16-21); love itself is the true confession of Jesus as inspired by the Spirit (cf. 1 John 4:2, 13) and the natural outcome of an intimate relationship with the God.

At least some Docetists maintained that Jesus was merely a human whom Christ the Son of God temporarily inhabited. And there were people in Ephesus who were also speaking about "knowing" God. As Eaton points out:

They said in effect: "Yes, John, we know about this dwelling in God. God speaks to us and gives us elitist knowledge above the common herd of humanity. We don't actually believe that 'the Christ' ever became flesh, but we know about supernatural 'knowledge' that gives us freedom from the material 'stuff' that this world is made of. We don't sin, and . . . " But John will have nothing of any supposed "knowledge of God" that bypasses the Son of God come in the flesh. He adds: "And we have seen and we bear witness that the Father sent the Son as the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4:14).

In rudimentary terms, if they are in the root they will produce the fruit; if they know Jesus, they will confess Jesus and the corresponding works of loving fellowship will follow. We should note that we are not speaking of perfect fruit (1 John 1:8-10), but maturing fruit. An engrafted branch may bring forth various qualities and sizes of fruit depending upon how much sun it receives (how much it fellowships with the Son) and the amount of nutrients it takes in (the Word of God), etc.