Yea, since love is his very nature, and that God is love, those that love (upon the account and in the way above expressed) are born of him, partake from him that excellent and most delectable nature, know him by a transformative knowledge: but they that love not, they are mere strangers to him, and never had to do with him. read more
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES1 John 4:7.—The previous verses are in some sense an “aside.” The apostle now resumes his proper theme. His main truth is this—Love is the mark of the children of God, who is love. Love to God is a delusion if it does not find expression in love toward one another as brethren. And love of the brethren is a sure test of our having the Spirit of God, for the spirit of antichrist is a self-seeking and self-serving spirit. “Just as it severs the Divine from the human in... read more
1 John 4:7-10 Love is of God; God is Love. I. "Love is of God." This does not mean merely that love comes from God and has its source in God, that He is the Author or Creator of it. All created things are of God, for by Him all things were made, and on Him they all depend. But love is not a created thing; it is a Divine property, a Divine affection; and it is of its essence to be communicative and begetting, to communicate itself and, as it were, beget its own likeness. "Love is of God." It is... read more
1 John 4:8 , 1 John 4:16 I. God is love. The text takes us up, as it were, above the veil; we are caught up through the door of this vision to the sanctuary of God's throne. We are suffered to know something, not of His working only, but of His being. We are led to the fountain of all good and joy. And that fountain is this, says St. John: "God is love." Is there not something to grasp, to embrace, in these words, "God is love," when within the glory of the Godhead we see the revealed love of... read more
Shall we turn now in our Bibles to I John chapter 4. As we go back to verse 1Jo 4:24 of chapter 3, the later portion, "Hereby we know that He abides in us by the Spirit which He has given us." I know that God abides in life. How do I know? Because He has given me the Holy Spirit.Paul said, "The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" ( Ephesians 1:14 ). We have been sealed, he said, with this Holy Spirit of promise; the seal was God's mark... read more
1 John 4:1-3 . Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God. Whether those teachers believe that Christ is come in the flesh, which to the present hour the unbelieving jews deny. Try them by the faith of all the holy apostles and confessors, whether they confess that Christ is the Son of the living God. Whether he be the glory that shone in the ancient church, and dwelt on the mercyseat. The Eternal Son, the Word, the Wisdom of God, crucified for sinners. False... read more
1 John 4:7-10Beloved, let us love one another A triune philosophyI.The philosophy of the new birth. “Everyone that loveth is born of God.” To begin to love deeply, truely, purely--that is to be born again, for he that loveth is born of God.II. The philosophy of the true knowledge of God. “Everyone that loveth, knoweth God.” Not in creeds but through love shall come true knowledge of God.III. The philosophy of the atonement. “Herein is love,” etc. (B. J. Snell, M. A.)Love is of God--God is... read more
1 John 4:8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love The love of God: the God of loveIs God knowable?The answer is no--and yes. No, He is not knowable to the intellect, with its prying and searching; provable, perhaps, but not knowable. Yes, He is knowable indeed to the heart. It is a poor kind of love that depends for its proof upon the skill of the logician. The love is lost by default that must hire counsel to take up its case and eloquently contend for its existence. Love must tell... read more
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Ver. 8. Knoweth not God ] If moral virtue could be seen with mortal eyes, saith Plato, it would draw all hearts unto it. If God were well known, he could not but be best beloved, and all that are his, for his sake. For God is love ] Not formally, but causally, say schoolmen; he is the fountain of love, and draws all hearts that have any knowledge of him. See 1 John 4:16 ; Song of Solomon 1:3 . See Trapp on " 1Jn 4:16 " See Trapp on "... read more
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Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 4:7-21
1 John 4:7-Ecclesiastes : . John returns to the theme of 1 John 3:14 ff., be cause if the Church is the home of truth, still more is it the home of love. The evidence for our Divine sonship is that the love manifested by God in sending His Son for our redemption— a fact to which the Church bears witness— issues in love on our part to God and to our brethren; love, when mature, casts out fear. Moreover the proof that we love the unseen God is that we love our brother, as Christ commanded us.... read more