Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 John 4:14

"And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son [to be] the Saviour of the world." — 1 John 4:14 (ASV)

To whom does the “we” refer in the statement “we have seen and testify”? It certainly refers to all those, especially the apostles, who had direct knowledge of Jesus’ earthly life; but it probably ought not to be limited to them. It is the Spirit working in them and in us who permits us to “see” in the historic event of Jesus’ death God’s act for our salvation. Although “no one has ever seen God” (v.12) at any time, we do “see” (GK 2517) by faith that the cross of Christ was for our sins and for our salvation. We do “see” in Jesus our own Savior and Lord. We do “see” in the fellowship of faith the presence of his love. And because his Spirit in us gives us this “seeing” experience, we are commissioned to bear witness to the event (cf. Jn 15:26). Therefore, since there is such a close connection between seeing and testifying and the gift of the Holy Spirit, it is likely that the author meant his words to include his readers and to be applied to all Christians throughout history.