1 John 4:19

Commentary

Text: “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NKJV)

1. Contextual Background

The Apostle John’s first letter is deeply pastoral, written to assure believers of their fellowship with God and to guard them against false teaching. Chapter 4[i] is particularly concerned with discerning spirits, affirming the incarnation of Christ, and emphasising the primacy of love as the evidence of genuine faith.

Verses 7–21 form a cohesive unit where John repeatedly stresses that love originates in God, is revealed in Christ, and is perfected in believers. Verse 19 serves as a summary statement: our love for God and others is not self-generated but is a response to God’s initiating love.

2. Exegesis of 1 John 4:19

• “We love Him” – The verb “love” (Greek agapōmen) is present tense, indicating ongoing action. Love here is not merely emotional affection but covenantal loyalty expressed in obedience (cf. John 14:15 [“If you love Me, keep My commandments.]).
• “Because He first loved us” – The causal clause grounds our love in God’s prior action. God’s love is sovereign, unearned, and unconditional. It is demonstrated supremely in the sending of His Son as the atoning sacrifice (1 John 4:9–10).

This verse reflects the Christian emphasis on divine initiative. Just as salvation begins with God’s electing grace (Ephesians 1:4–5 [⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,]), so too our capacity to love is awakened by His prior love. Human love is derivative, never autonomous.

3. Theological Insights

• God’s Sovereign Initiative: Love originates in God, not in human will. This guards against any notion that we earn God’s favour by loving Him first.
• Christ as the Revelation of Love: God’s love is not abstract but embodied in the incarnation and cross of Christ (1 John 4:9–10).
• Love as Evidence of Regeneration: Our love for God and neighbour is proof that we have been born of God (1 John 4:7). It is fruit, not root.
• Assurance of Salvation: Because God’s love precedes ours, our assurance rests not in the strength of our love but in the constancy of His.

---

4. Meditation Guide

Step 1: Reflect on God’s Prior Love

Spend time recalling how God has shown His love in Christ. Meditate on the cross as the ultimate demonstration of divine love.

Step 2: Respond in Worship

Let gratitude shape your prayers. Sing or pray words of thanksgiving, acknowledging that your love is a response, not a cause.

Step 3: Examine Your Love for Others

Ask: “Is my love for others reflective of God’s love for me?” Consider practical ways to show sacrificial love in family, workplace, and community.

Step 4: Rest in Assurance

When doubts arise, remember that God’s love is the foundation. Your love may falter, but His does not.

---

5. Application to Modern Christian Living

• In Relationships: In a culture that often treats love as transactional, Christians are called to love unconditionally because God has loved us unconditionally.
• In Church Life: Love must be the defining mark of Christian community. Division and bitterness contradict the gospel witness.
• In Mission: Evangelism flows from love. We share Christ not out of duty alone but because God’s love compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14 [For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;]).
• In Personal Assurance: Many believers struggle with insecurity. This verse reminds us that our standing with God rests on His initiative, not our fluctuating emotions.

---

[i] 1 John 4

New King James Version

Love for God and One Another

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Knowing God Through Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this 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 also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

The Consummation of Love

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.