1 John 4:7-11 (NKJV) 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.
V7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” He addresses the readers as “beloved” because they are Christians whom John loves. It is family love ( Like human families (mother, father, and children), Christian are 1) born into a family (John 3:5), 2) food to live and grow (1 Peter 2:2), 3) mature (Hebrews 5:12-13), and 4) when mature bear fruit (Galatians 5:22-23 and Ephesians 5:9). “For love is of God” (literally for love is from God). Real love originated with God (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a) and is one of His character traits (1 John 4:16). We all need to have the character traits of our Father. We are naturally born children of the devil, that is, we have a sin nature (1 John 3:10, Matthew 13:38, John 8:44, and Acts 13:10). If we are Christians, we will have a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).
V8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Talk is cheap. The actions of real love are:
My rendering–1 Corinthians 13:4-8a Love is very patient and kind; love is not envious; love doesn’t brag about itself, is not haughty, doesn’t behave improperly, is not self-seeking; love isn’t easily aggravated, doesn’t keep a list of wrongs, doesn’t rejoice in injustice, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, calmly endures all things, love never falls away.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (Williams) Love is so patient and so kind; love never boils with jealousy; it never boasts, is never puffed with pride; 5 It does not act with rudeness, or insist upon its rights; it never gets provoked, it never harbors evil thoughts; 6 Is never glad when wrong is done, but always glad when truth prevails; 7 It bears up under anything; it exercises faith in everything; it keeps up hope in everything; it gives us power to endure in anything. 8 Love never fails; if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if now exist ecstatic speakings, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will soon be set aside;
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIrV) Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. 5 It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. 6 Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. 7 It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up. 8 Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away. If the character traits of God’s love are seen in our lives, we are believers. No one is perfect, so we all fail from time to time and need forgiveness. But, these verses are the standard of genuine love.
V9 “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.” The love of God was manifested, seen clearly, in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the only begotten Son. God the Father has no other begotten children in the flesh–only our Lord Jesus. Believers are born again (1 Peter 1:3) and adopted (Romans 8:15).
V10 “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.” God initiates salvation (John 16:8). God loved us. Us refers to Christians in a specific sense but all humans in a general sense (John 3:16). The Greek word “propitiation” is (G2434) ἱλασμός hilasmos, which means (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged – Little Kittel)) “The only NT instances are in 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10. Here it is God’s own gracious action, and hence denotes the removal of guilt (cf. the confession of sin in 1:8, 10, and paráklētos in 2:1). The result in us is confidence in the judgment (4:17) and victory over the sense of sin. Demonstrating love, hilasmós begets love (4:7, 11, 20-21).”
The Old Testament companion word has this application and use ((Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged – Little Kittel)) kipper [Hebrew word] and Ransom. In Ex. 21:30 there is reference to the noncultic expiation by which an injury may be made good and the injured party reconciled (cf. Num. 35:31; Ps. 49:8; Ex. 30:12). A relation between this and kipper is rightly perceived…In one or two passages the word occurs with sacrifice. Thus God is pleased in Gen. 8:20ff., and he abandons his wrath in 2 Sam. 24:25, but there can be no expiation by sacrifice for the serious sins of the sons of Eli in 1 Sam. 3:14.”
The Lord Jesus is the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).
V11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” The effect of God’s love, Jesus’s ministry, and our faith will produce love for other believers in particular and also unbelievers, even enemies.
We learn:
• About God’s love
• About love for other Christians
• About a life of love as our standard