1 John 4:7-21 - Love is not the main thing. It is the only thing
4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Background: If ever there was a timely Epistle it is 1 John! Here is the issue: people were leaving the church to join a new group that they felt was more spiritual (in terms of theology) and less restrictive (in terms of morality.) It was a cult that promised spiritual insight that they claimed was not possible in the church and practical benefits that they also thought the church lacked. The author of our letter was beside himself! How could they leave the apostle’s teaching? How could they forsake the full gospel for a partial one? How could people who had an authentic experience of the Lord leave the church in order to become a part of a fringe group with questionable practices? What are people looking for in the church that they are not finding? Those where the questions that distressed our writer. Are those not questions worth asking today as well?
About the letter: 1 John is a simple letter/book. It uses simple vocabulary, fewer Greek words than any other book in the Bible. It is also profound. John focuses and distills the whole of God’s revelation and in essence says, ‘This is what God has been trying to get across to us from the beginning.’ It is also a very practical book, dealing with a specific problem: defection from the church. It is also personally confrontive. It doesn’t just help us deal with those who have gone off track but calls us also to reflect on how we too have been influenced by things outside the gospel (culture, personal desires, etc.) and how those things have shaped our beliefs and ethics.
Who actually wrote this letter? The author is not named so whatever we conclude is based on speculation. Scholars do not agree. Some argue that it was written by John the evangelist. Others argue that the letter had to be written later than that. Both arguments are persuasive. What is clear is that the letter was written by a person with a strong Jewish background who lived and ministered in the Hellenistic world of the late first century. Probably it was written somewhere around 90 A.D. The earliest fragment of any portion of the New Testament to be discovered is a fragment from this letter. It was discovered in Egypt around 110 A.D. The letter would have to have been around for a good while to have been widely circulated and valued enough to make its way to Egypt. If it was written by John the Evangelist it was probably written in Ephesus where he ministered for many years.
Word Study
Vs. 7 – love – John uses this word 43 times in this letter, 32 times in this unit alone. The Greek word he uses is agape. That is not the general word for affection. Rather it means choosing the best for the other person. It means putting the other first, making sacrifices when needed. This is the word used to describe God’s love for human beings and for the whole creation.
Knows God – this means comprehends God. Why? John says that all acts of love reflect God’s nature. This does not include everything we today call love. It refers to self giving love that is unconditional.
Vs. 8 – God is love – this was totally unbelievable in the first century. The were used to thinking of God as harsh, tricky and difficult to please.
Vs. 9 – revealed – made clear.
God sent his son….true Love expressed itself in sacrificial action for the benefit of another without regard to cost.
Vs. 10 – not that we loved – John wants us to remember that love is initiated by God.
Atoning – this is the concept of being made right with God through sacrifice.
Sins – this word means missing the mark.
Vs. 11 – ought – this word implies ‘ought to owe.’
Vs. 17 – perfected – means made complete or whole
Boldness – confidence, freedom of speech
Because as he is, so are we – we are just like God in this world
Vs. 18 – no fear in love – the word for fear here is phobos. It means dread.
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. What are the implications of the statement “God is love?” What does that mean for us personally? For our relationships? For the church?
2. What if God were the opposite of love? What would that be like? How then would we live? Do you think we ever live as if we think that God is a God of judgment before love? How does that affect our ability to be loving?
3. What do you think makes it difficult for God’s love for us to truly take hold in our lives, church, community?
4. What do you think of the statement, “Love and fear cannot coexist?”