1 John 4
1 John Chapter 4, Explained
First John 4 is the great chapter on the love of God. John urges believers to test the spirits, discerning true teaching by whether it confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. But the beating heart of the chapter is a single, world changing statement: God is love.
John shows what that love looks like. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Because we have been loved like that, we are to love one another, and as we do, the invisible God is made visible through us. Perfect love casts out fear, and we love because He first loved us.
Key verses from 1 John 4
“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
1 John 4:8
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1 John 4:10
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
The main point
First John 4 is about the love of God shown in sending His Son, and the love it awakens in us for others.
How 1 John 4 points to Jesus
God's love is not an abstract idea in this chapter; it has a name and a face in Jesus, sent as the sacrifice for our sins. We love because He first loved us, and His love is what casts out all our fear.
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Read 1 John 4 with its meaning · The book of 1 John: summary · All chapter guides