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1 John 4:7–8
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Throughout our study of John’s first epistle, we have seen that assurance comes from a constant interplay between outward evidence and the inward testimony of the Spirit. When we keep Christ’s commandments, we know that we abide in Him, and yet our abiding rests finally on the Spirit’s work, not our own (1 John 3:24). The Spirit truly assures us that we belong to Jesus, but He never works apart from the outward evidences of faith. His presence is discerned both by His inward testimony and by our obedience to the commands that Jesus gave through His Apostles (4:6).
In recent days, we have considered the first of these commands: belief in the name of the Son (3:23; 4:1–5). Today we turn to the second command found in 3:23—the call to love one another as He has loved us.
Once more John presents love as a fundamental mark of authentic faith. The one who loves has been born of God and knows God (4:7); the one who does not love has not been born of God and does not know Him. “God is love” (v. 8)—love is essential to His very nature. If we have truly become partakers of that nature (2 Peter 1:4) and increasingly reflect God’s holy and loving character, we cannot help but love other people, especially our fellow believers. We who have been born of God will endeavor to love, and we will repent when we find that we have not loved as He commands. This does not imply that our love for God and for neighbor is perfect. Rather, it means that a new disposition has been created in us by the Spirit. We increasingly love what God loves and hate what God hates, even as we grieve when we fall short.
The biblical picture of God’s love is more radical than we often imagine. The proto-Gnostics troubling John’s original audience thought it made God too personal. Many today affirm that “God is love” while living as if Scripture did not require them to love even the most unlovable (Luke 6:32–36), and others recoil at the truth that God reserves a special, saving love for His people alone (Rom. 9:13). If we are to reflect God’s character, however, we must sacrificially love Christ’s people and strive to show love even to those “unworthy” of it, both inside and outside the church. Because God has loved us in Christ, we can in turn reflect His character in our love for others.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
When we confess that God is love, we must never treat His love as more important than His other attributes. The doctrine of divine simplicity teaches that His love never operates apart from His holiness, justice, or mercy. Let us ask the Lord today to help us apply His love rightly to every situation that we face.
For further study
- Exodus 34:6–7
- Psalm 103:8–13
- Ephesians 2:4–7
- Titus 3:3–7
The bible in a year
- Jeremiah 37–38
- Hebrews 2