1 John 4:15 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.
This verse extends the thought of verse 14 and restates the central confession of Christianity. The apostles and other eyewitnesses experienced Jesus firsthand. They passed on their experiences through their testimony to people like the readers of this letter, who needed to respond with faith, accepting the truth of what the eyewitnesses said. However, the readers did not need to rely solely on human testimony because the Holy Spirit would confirm the truths about Jesus (verse 13). The indwelling of God within us and our experience of the Holy Spirit depends on what we believe about Jesus.
To experience Jesus, we must believe in him and accept his divinity. There are many skeptics today who are antagonistic to the gospel and outright persecute Christians, which has always been the case for God’s people. The darkness does not accept the light. To know God, we must turn to the Light of the World, the Son. Anything else is only a reflection of the Son’s light. Knowledge of the Son is expressed, confirmed, and experienced through confession of his identity. Confession can be used for sin (see 1 John 1:9) in a negative way, and it can be used for acknowledging Jesus in a positive way. The word confesses (homologēsē) means to be of one or the same word, thus, to be in agreement. We agree with the claim that Jesus is Lord and Savior. This confession is more than a mere thought statement of the mind; it must be expressed in our lives. How we live confirms what we believe. Do we believe deeply enough to act on it? Does our faith in Jesus show in our obedience to him?