1 John 4:16

Commentary on 1 John 4:16

The Text

1 John 4:16 (NKJV):
“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.”

Exegetical Commentary

Immediate Context

The Apostle John, writing to believers, emphasises the reality of God’s love as revealed in Jesus Christ. The broader chapter, 1 John 4[i], repeatedly stresses that true Christian faith is marked by love, because love originates in God.

1 John 4:7–8 (NKJV):
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

This sets the foundation: love is not merely an emotion or human virtue, but the very essence of God’s nature.

Key Phrases in 1 John 4:16

• “We have known and believed the love that God has for us”
  John stresses both knowledge and faith. To “know” is experiential, not merely intellectual. To “believe” is to trust and rest in God’s love. Together, they form the assurance of salvation.
• “God is love”
  This is not a sentimental slogan but a profound theological statement. God’s love is not one attribute among many; it is essential to His being. His holiness, justice, and sovereignty are all perfectly expressed in His love.
• “He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him”
  Abiding is a central Johannine theme (cf. John 15:4–5). It means dwelling, remaining, persevering. To abide in love is to live continually in the sphere of God’s love, expressed in obedience and fellowship.

Theological Insights

1. God’s Love Revealed in Christ
   1 John 4:9–10 (NKJV):
   “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. 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.”
   The cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love. Love is defined not by human effort but by God’s self-giving in Christ.
2. Assurance of Salvation
   Knowing and believing God’s love provides assurance. Christian theology emphasises that assurance is grounded not in human works but in God’s promises. John’s words echo this: believers rest in God’s love, not their own merit.
3. Union with God
   Abiding in love is evidence of union with God. This is not mystical absorption but covenantal fellowship. God dwells in His people by His Spirit, and they dwell in Him by faith.

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Meditation Guide

Reflective Reading

• Read 1 John 4:7–21 slowly, noting how often love is mentioned.
• Pause at verse 16 and consider: Do I truly know and believe God’s love for me?

Prayerful Meditation

• Thank God for revealing His love in Jesus Christ.
• Confess areas where you doubt His love or fail to show love to others.
• Ask the Spirit to deepen your abiding in God’s love.

Practical Application

1. Personal Assurance
   Rest in the truth that God’s love is steadfast. In seasons of doubt, return to the cross as the anchor of assurance.
2. Community Life
   The church is called to embody God’s love. In Australian society, where individualism often dominates, believers are to model sacrificial love in community.
3. Witness to the World
   Love is the apologetic of the gospel. As John writes:
   1 John 4:20 (NKJV):
   “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?”
   Genuine love for others validates our testimony before a watching world.

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[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.