Devine Scripture

1 John 4:14

What does 1 John 4:14 mean?

A plain-English look at 1 John 4:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 1 John 4:14 means

John includes himself among the eyewitnesses who have seen and now testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. The gospel rests on public facts and apostolic testimony, not private imagination. The universal scope—“world”—shows the Son’s saving mission reaches beyond one people, offering salvation to all who believe. This proclamation anchors our faith: God the Father initiated, the Son accomplished, and the apostles bear witness. Believers do not invent their message; they receive and confess what God has done in history for the world’s salvation through Jesus.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And we have seen and give witness that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

And we--we have seen and do testify, that the Father hath sent the Son--Saviour of the world;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And we have seen and do testify that the Father hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And we have seen, and testify, that the Father has sent the Son [as] Saviour of the world.

Context

Following assurance by the Spirit (v. 13), John adds external confirmation: the apostolic eyewitness and testimony. Verse 14 reaffirms the sending of the Son and His saving mission, echoing verses 9–10. This leads into verse 15’s emphasis on the individual’s confession of Jesus as the Son of God, linking objective witness with personal faith that results in mutual abiding.

v.13hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

v.14This passage

v.15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • John 15:26

    But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me:

  • John 10:36

    say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

  • Acts 18:5

    But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

  • 1 John 2:1

    My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

  • 1 John 5:9

    If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for the witness of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son.

  • John 5:36

    But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

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