“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15 ESV). This is deeper and more profound than at first glance. We read it as instruction/formula for conversion; this is much much more; it is a profound insight about the nature of conversion itself. The confession, the cry, cannot be made in the absence of the Spirit, the God who abides in us. “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3b NKJV). The Spirit is in the middle of the new-birthing process in everyone born of the Spirit (John 3:8). “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15b ESV). Babies cry when they are born. The Spirit in our spirit is the new birth cry. It is not a mere wail; it is an articulate address to its Father. “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6 ESV). God abides in the “He-is-Lord” confessors and they abide in God.
