Bede, on 1John 4:15

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

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, etc. He speaks of the perfect confession of the heart, which can neither be corrupted by the deceit of heretics who wrongly persuade, nor be shattered by the tortures of pagan persecutors, nor falter by the examples of fleshly brothers, nor waver by the sluggishness of one's own weakness. For there are those who even deny by words that Jesus is the Son of God, of which many are reported to have been at that very time when John wrote this. Likewise, there are those who confess in words, but deny in actions. Hence it is well stated now: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God, he said a little above: If we love one another, God abides in us, surely insinuating that whoever has love for his brothers, he truly testifies that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.