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September 7, 2025

Knowing, Believing, Abiding in the God of Love | 1 John 4:16-17

Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Scripture: 1 John 4:16–17, 1 Corinthians 8:4–6, John 4:24, John 6:69, 1 Corinthians 13:6–8, 1 John 4:7–10, Ephesians 2:3, Luke 3:38, 1 John 3:1–3, 1 Corinthians 2:16, 1 John 4:13, 1 John 3:24

Lord's Day: September 7, 2025  Preacher: Carlos Montijo  Series: First John  Topic: Love  Scripture: 1 John 4:16–17; 1 Corinthians 8:4–6; John 4:24; 6:69; 1 Corinthians 13:6–8; 1 John 4:7–10; Ephesians 2:3; Luke 3:38; 1 John 3:1–3; 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 John 4:13; 3:24

16And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this, love has been 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. 1 John 4:16–17

I.   “And we have come to know and have believed…”

  • Belief, or faith, requires knowledge, understanding
  • Faith in turn seeks a deeper understanding: Fides quaerens intellectum, “Faith seeking understanding” (Anselm)
  • Augustine: Crede ut intelligas, “Believe that you may understand”
  • Faith requires content, an object, something to grasp, something to "hold on" to

II.  What is “the love which God has in us”?

  • God is love (v. 16), and God loves us, His chosen people, we who have come to know and have believed God are the objects of God’s amazing love
  • The love which God has in us is a Redemptive, Restorative, Regenerative, Reformative Love

III. This passage is highly emphatic about God abiding in us and we in Him—in His love—united to Him in Christ

  • This mutually abiding union of love corresponds both to God and to us, and it must be true in both cases (God and us) and in the same sense (univocal)
  • Abiding in love does not mean to blindly obey God in fear, but to love and believe the truth, which is the foundation of our obedience, because true love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6)
  • “This intimate fellowship consists of having the same ideas, of thinking alike, of being in extensive agreement. Hence, intimacy with God, too, consists in knowing what God thinks. That is to say, in knowing a good bit of theology.”[1]
  • A Marriage of Minds

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Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com

[1] Gordon H. Clark, First John: A Commentary, Trinity Paper, No. 2, 2nd ed. (The Trinity Foundation, 1992), p. 143 <https://www.trinitylectures.org/first-john-p-85.html>.

other sermons in this series

Jun 28

2026

To Die or Not to Die? That Is the Question of Sin | 1 John 5:16-17

Preacher: Carlos Montijo Scripture: 1 John 5:11–17, Hebrews 7:25, Romans 5:9, Galatians 6:1, Proverbs 27:17, 1 John 2:19–20, Psalm 97:10, 1 John 2:9–11, 1 John 3:15–17, Romans 6:23, James 2:10 Series: First John

Jun 14

2026

The Will of God & Sin | 1 John 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:15–17

Preacher: Carlos Montijo Scripture: 1 John 5:14–16, Ephesians 5:15–17, Psalm 143:10, Colossians 4:12, Acts 20:27, Ephesians 1:7–10, Deuteronomy 29:29, 1 Corinthians 14:33, Isaiah 46:10–11, Job 42:1–2, Genesis 50:20, Acts 2:23, Acts 4:28, Colossians 3:11, Ezekiel 33:10–11, 1 Samuel 2:25, John 6:40, 1 Thessalonians 4:3–11, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 1 Peter 2:13–15, 1 John 2:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, John 17:17, 2 Peter 3:18, 1 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 10:24–25, 2 Samuel 10:12, James 4:13–17, 1 John 2:17 Series: First John

Jun 7

2026

To Boldly Ask According to His Will | 1 John 5:14-15

Preacher: Carlos Montijo Scripture: 1 John 5:10–15, Ephesians 6:18, Romans 13:12, Hebrews 4:14–16, 1 John 3:21–23, John 14:13–15, John 16:23–24, Matthew 6:7–13, Psalm 125:2, Psalm 22:3, Psalm 113:1–9, James 4:3, James 5:16 Series: First John