WE ARE OF GOD
“We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” I John 4:6
The apostle John speaks with great confidence when he says, “We are of God.” This statement was not made in an arrogant way, but as a statement of fact. He could say this from several positions he held. As a child of God, born of His Spirit, John knew that he was of God. As a preacher of the gospel, called and sent by the Lord Jesus Christ, he could say, “We are of God.” Likewise, as an apostle, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he knew that he was “of God.” His message was not of this world. His words were not mere opinion.
It is with great assurance that we believe and cleave to the Word of God because we know it is not of human origin. It is with unwavering faith that we trust our eternal souls completely on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, because we know that He was not a mere mortal who was wrongly executed in the prime of His teaching career. He was God, who chose the path to Calvary as a loving and eternal sacrifice for our sins, and who was triumphantly raised from the dead on the third day.
There is a tremendous reaction and resistance in our world when a committed Christian claims that WE ARE OF GOD, and that our way is God’s way. We live in a very pluralistic society that wants theological views and dogma to always be tolerant of diverse and false teaching. However, this cannot be reconciled with the absolute values and doctrines of the Bible. There are not many gods, many ways to Heaven, or many true religions. Our God is the true God, the God of the Bible, the God who created everything with His spoken word.
John said, “he that knoweth God heareth us.” He was not speaking of an intellectual knowledge of God, but a practical and experiential knowledge of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who know Him as Savior, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, “heareth us.” Born-again Christians acknowledge and discern that our doctrine is from God. One of the real evidences of conversion is the recognition of truth and a readiness to receive the Word of God as it is faithfully declared.
By contrast, “he that is not of God heareth not us.” Those who are not born of God cannot hear God’s truth in their hearts.