Day 329 – Authority and God is Love

Today’s reading for study: 1 John 4

In today’s reading we see John state clearly that if you know God then you follow the Apostles:

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:6

Notice, it is your decision of whether to follow the Apostles that identifies whether you are filled with the spirit of truth or the spirit of error.  Like all verses of Scripture, we must ask how this verse applies to us today.  It follows; it can only be applicable today if the Apostles have successors.  We, of course, know that they do and they are the bishops of the Catholic Church.

In today’s reading, we also see the famous verse that, “God is love”:

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 John 4:16

This verse is often secularized by our society.  They use it to depersonalize God and make him into a force/feeling rather than a personal being.  They use “God is love” to mean that as long as we “practice” love and treat each other kindly then we are being “godly”.  However, as Catholics, we know that “God is love” is an insight into the Trinity.  The Father and the Son are in an eternal relationship with each other.  That relationship is a relationship of love and it begets the Holy Spirit. 

Tomorrow: 1 John 5