“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
(1 John 4:15)
There must be present in every believing soul the unshakeable faith that Jesus is who he says he is – the Son of God, one with the Father. And that unwavering belief, evidenced by true repentance and sound confession, is the only avenue through which this vital, mysterious union between God and man transpires. Paul states it this way, “If we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead,” we shall be saved, (Rom. 10:9). The word translated “confess” indicates consent, agreement. To confess Christ is to be in singular alignment with him, to say what he says. And this is only possible when God dwells in us in the person of his Holy Spirit.
The incarnation of Christ brought God to us, to dwell with us. Isaiah prophesied Messiah’s coming 700 years before the angel appeared to Joseph with the same message, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us,” (Matt. 1:23). John’s gospel further verifies, “The Word was God… and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” (John 1:1, 14).
However, the meritorious work of Christ – his life, death, resurrection, and ascension – opened the door that allowed God to dwell in us… in the person of his Spirit. This union with God where God comes to dwell in the believer and the believer, in turn, dwells in God is a spiritual phenomenon beyond human comprehension. And yet his divine indwelling presence is evidenced in the behavior and conversation of one who truly abides in Christ. “Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us,” (I John 3:24).
“Abide in me, and I in you,” Christ directs us. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing,” (John 15:4, 5). Aligning with Christ (confessing that he is the Son of God) and abiding in him (keeping his commandments) are only possible when almighty God indwells us.
Further, all the benefits and blessings available to us as God’s beloved flow directly from a fruitful abiding in him. For to abide in Christ is to confess his truth, “to persevere in the word both in the faith and practice of it to the end,” (John 8:31; 2 John 9).[1]
Contemplations:
- Lord, I declare you boldly before men as the true God and our Lord Jesus Christ and wait for Christ’s second coming with great hope of redemption. “I know my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth,” (Job 19:25).
- I will speak of your testimonies before men and will not be ashamed to profess the truths of the gospel always, “I am a companion of all them who fear thee,” (Ps. 16:2-3, 119:46, 63).
- I cannot abide in you, Lord, unless I dwell in you and you in me. And this is that new birth without which there is no entrance into the kingdom of heaven, namely, unless a man is “born of water and of the Spirit.” Only when we are born of the Spirit do we obtain remission of sins and an inheritance in Christ.
- Only when the Spirit of God dwells in a man and works gifts of spiritual graces in him can such a man live to God.
- At the point of salvation the Spirit of God unites my soul to Christ, which is a grand thought.
Further References for 1 John 4:15:
John 6:69; John 16:27; Deut. 7:8; Psalm 31:19
[1] Thomas Wilson, A Complete Christian Dictionary, (London: E. Cotes and are to be sold by Thomas Williams, 1661), 3.
