7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:7-13 KJV)
Loving one another
As the Spirit of truth is known by doctrine (thus spirits are to be tested), it is also known by love; and so here follows a strong, passionate exhortation to holy Christian love: “Beloved, let us love one another” (1 John 4:7). The apostle seeks to unite them in his love so that they may be united in love toward each other.
This exhortation is urged with several arguments:
From the high and heavenly origin of love: “For love is of God” (1 John 4:7). He is the source, author, and command-giver of love; it is the sum of his law and gospel. “Everyone who loves”—whose spirit is shaped toward sincere, holy love—“is born of God” (1 John 4:7). The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. The new nature in the children of God comes from his love, and its character is love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22). Love comes down from heaven.
Love also shows a true and proper understanding of God’s nature: “He who loves knows God. He who does not love does not know God” (1 John 4:7-8). What attribute of God is more visible in the world than his generous goodness, which is love? The greatness and design of creation show his being and also his love. Natural reason, recognizing the excellence of the most perfect being, must conclude that he is supremely good. So the one who lacks love, whose knowledge of God doesn’t produce love, proves that the real knowledge of God doesn’t live in them. “God is love” (1 John 4:8)—his nature, his will, and his works are love. This is not the only way we should think of him—we are also told “God is light” (1 John 1:5)—and God certainly loves his own glory and perfection first. But love is natural and essential to God.
This is shown in how he has demonstrated it:
- He loved us even in our condition: “In this the love of God was revealed to us” (1 John 4:9)—to us mortals, us sinners. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
- He loved us so much that he gave his own Son for us: “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). He is the only-begotten Son in a unique and divine way. It is an amazing act of love that such a Son should be sent for us. Truly, “God so loved the world” (John 3:16).
- He loved us first and while we were unworthy: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10). He loved us when we were guilty and undeserving, in need of being washed from our sins.
- He gave us his Son for a specific purpose:
- To be “the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10)—to die under God’s law and curse, to bear our sins, to be crucified, pierced, and buried for us.
- So that “we might live through him” (1 John 4:9)—live forever, live in heaven, with God, in eternal glory.
Divine love should compel us to love each other: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). This is a powerful argument. We should imitate God as his children. If God has loved someone, should we not love them too? God’s general love for the world should inspire a universal love among people: “That you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). God’s special love for the church and the saints should produce special love among believers: “If God so loved us, we surely ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
Christian love shows that God lives in us: “If we love one another, God lives in us” (1 John 4:12). God doesn’t dwell in us through visible presence—“No one has ever seen God” (1 John 4:12)—but by his Spirit (1 John 4:13).
No one has seen God face to face, so he does not require our love through direct sight, but through the way he has chosen to reveal himself—through his people, the church, and the love among the brethren. In them, and in his presence with them, God is to be loved. So, “if we love one another, God lives in us.” Those who love the brethren are the dwelling places of God; his presence resides in them.
In this way, God’s love reaches its goal in us: “His love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). Not that God’s love is perfected in himself, but in what it produces in us. When love brings about its intended result—our love for God and for his children—then it is fulfilled. So just as faith is completed by works, love is completed by its actions. When God’s love shapes us into his image—loving him and his children—then it is completed, though not yet perfect in us.
How eager we should be for this Christian love when God sees his love perfected through it! After mentioning the great gift of God living in us, the apostle adds the sign of it: “By this we know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). This mutual indwelling is greater than we can fully understand. One might think it’s too lofty for mortals to speak of God dwelling in us and we in him, if God hadn’t said it first. What this fully means is beyond our reach for now, but we do know this: “He has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). The Spirit he has given us is his—it produces power, courage for God, love for God and others, and a sound mind—an understanding trained in the truth of God and his kingdom (2 Timothy 1:7).