In 1 Jn 4:7, John writes, “Beloved, let us love one another”.  As we have mentioned in each of these lessons on 1 John, John’s epistle reads like a continuation of John’s gospel.  The subject of 1 Jn 4:7-21 is a thorough discourse on what Jesus said in John 13:34-35.  

In Jn 13:34-35, immediately after Judas Iscariot left the other disciples to go out and betray Jesus, Jesus gave the disciples this new commandment, “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”. Therefore, let us love one another.

We are to love one another:

Because we are born of God, v.7-8.  Love is of God, v.7, and God is love, v.8.  It is the nature of God to love and therefore it is given to those who are born of God to love.  Because we are born of God, we have the capacity to love like God loves.  A person doesn’t love his brother doesn’t know God.  And this, like 1 Jn 4:1-6 and 1 Jn 3:10, is yet another way to distinguish between those who know God and those who don’t.

Because God loved us, v.9-11.  God’s love was manifested when he sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.  This is precisely what Jesus said in Jn 15:12-13, when he explained what “as I have loved you” means.  We should love one another to the point of laying down our lives for each other, 1 Jn 3:16.  Unless a person is born of God, he is not going to love another brother to this degree.

Because God dwells in us, v.12-13.  We know that God dwells in us because he gave us his Spirit.  Paul wrote in Rom 8:16, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God”.  Since God is love and he dwells in us, then it stands to reason that we should love like God does.  We are a conduit for God’s love. Let us love one another.

Because God saves others like he saved us, v.14-16.  We testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.   Jn 17:8, 1 Jn 1:1-3.  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.  The person who confesses this, as in 1 Jn 4:2, is your brother. This is another whom we are to love.  We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  We are his children and should love his children.

When we love one another:

Our love is made perfect, v.17-18. See v.12, God’s love is perfected in us.  As he is (God is love), so are we in this world (we are love).  To love like God does gives us boldness in the day of judgment, 1 Jn 2:28-29.  Our fear is cast out, v.18.  Paul said, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men”.  When you love perfectly, you can’t do better than that.  

Our love for God is sincere, v.19-20.  We love him, because he first loved us.  When you say that you love God and yet hate a brother, you don’t really love God.  Your love is not sincere (honest, pure, true).  John says that you’re a liar.  But when you love your brother, you know that your love for God is sincere. Therefore, let us love one another.

We fulfill his commandment, v.21. Jn 13:34, Jn 15:12, 1 Jn 3:23.  He commanded us to love one another as he loved us.  And when we do, we keep his commandment.

To study the prior lesson, see Try The Spirits. To study the next lesson, see Born of God.