In 1 John 4:7-12, John, for the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] time, circles back to the subject of loving one another. Each time he developed the theme a little more. In 2:7-11 he noted that one of the signs of fellowship with God is the practice of love. In 3:13-24 he indicated that the conflict between love and hatred is an assuring sign of a vital Christian life. Now he turns to a fuller elaboration of the theme of true love as related to the nature of God Himself. This section, 4:7-12, is an exhortation to love one another, repeated 3 times. Each time gives us another reason that Christians should do so.
God Is Love (v.7-8)
The first reason Christians should love one another is that the very nature of God is love and is therefore demanded.
“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.
John says that love comes from God. He is the source of all love. The one who loves must do so with the love that comes from God, otherwise he proves he doesn’t know God. This love is rooted in the very nature of God. It is more than a gift or attribute of God. John says that God IS love. It is a statement about the essence of God's being. If we know God’s nature, we will love.
God gave His Love (v.9-11)
The second reason Christians should love one another is because God gave his Son Jesus Christ for our salvation.
“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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another”
God gave the best there was to give; His Son. Nothing could be greater than this. Nothing that can possibly be imagined can exceed this gift. The true nature of God’s love was manifested in the incarnation.
Not only did God give His Son, but He gave His Son to die. If God had sent Jesus into the world to merely teach us about Himself, or to provide us an example to live by, that would have a wonderful gift and more than we deserve. It would have been a good thing. But the wonderful thing is that God sent Jesus to die as a felon. So, not only was God’s true nature of love manifested in the incarnation, but also in the atonement.
God sent Jesus to die as a felon, but it was to die for sinners. For whom did Christ die? It was not a lovely, innocent mass of good folks. It was sinners, those who had rebelled against God and hated Him. In fact, it was those who would crucify His Son out of hatred for Him. And such were we all. And since God loved us that much, so we should love one another. If we know God’s Son, we will love.
God continues to Love (v.12)
The third reason Christians should love one another is because of “God’s present and continuous activity of love” (Stott).
“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.”
Love is to be seen as more than that which constitutes God’s nature and even more than that which is revealed at the Cross. It is also that which is continuously present as God continues to work in and through His people. Because even though no one has seen God, His Spirit lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
Whenever believers are motivated by the indwelling Spirit to practice a consistent ‘one-another’ love, then the love of God “is perfected” in them. Not that there were any imperfections in God’s love previously, but this means that God’s love has been brought to its goal. “The love of God displayed in His people is the strongest apologetic that God has in the world”(F.F. Bruce). If we know God’s Spirit, we will love.
These are the 3 reasons Christians are to love one another; first, because God is love and we are of God; second, because God loved us in Christ and so revealed His love to us; and third, because God is at work in us by His Spirit to bring that love to completion.
God Is Love (v.7-8)
The first reason Christians should love one another is that the very nature of God is love and is therefore demanded.
“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.
John says that love comes from God. He is the source of all love. The one who loves must do so with the love that comes from God, otherwise he proves he doesn’t know God. This love is rooted in the very nature of God. It is more than a gift or attribute of God. John says that God IS love. It is a statement about the essence of God's being. If we know God’s nature, we will love.
God gave His Love (v.9-11)
The second reason Christians should love one another is because God gave his Son Jesus Christ for our salvation.
“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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another”
God gave the best there was to give; His Son. Nothing could be greater than this. Nothing that can possibly be imagined can exceed this gift. The true nature of God’s love was manifested in the incarnation.
Not only did God give His Son, but He gave His Son to die. If God had sent Jesus into the world to merely teach us about Himself, or to provide us an example to live by, that would have a wonderful gift and more than we deserve. It would have been a good thing. But the wonderful thing is that God sent Jesus to die as a felon. So, not only was God’s true nature of love manifested in the incarnation, but also in the atonement.
God sent Jesus to die as a felon, but it was to die for sinners. For whom did Christ die? It was not a lovely, innocent mass of good folks. It was sinners, those who had rebelled against God and hated Him. In fact, it was those who would crucify His Son out of hatred for Him. And such were we all. And since God loved us that much, so we should love one another. If we know God’s Son, we will love.
God continues to Love (v.12)
The third reason Christians should love one another is because of “God’s present and continuous activity of love” (Stott).
“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.”
Love is to be seen as more than that which constitutes God’s nature and even more than that which is revealed at the Cross. It is also that which is continuously present as God continues to work in and through His people. Because even though no one has seen God, His Spirit lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
Whenever believers are motivated by the indwelling Spirit to practice a consistent ‘one-another’ love, then the love of God “is perfected” in them. Not that there were any imperfections in God’s love previously, but this means that God’s love has been brought to its goal. “The love of God displayed in His people is the strongest apologetic that God has in the world”(F.F. Bruce). If we know God’s Spirit, we will love.
These are the 3 reasons Christians are to love one another; first, because God is love and we are of God; second, because God loved us in Christ and so revealed His love to us; and third, because God is at work in us by His Spirit to bring that love to completion.