1 John 4:16

16 And *we* have known and have believed the love which God has to us. God is love, and he that abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 John 4:16

And we have known and believed
Or have a full assurance and knowledge of, and faith in,

the love that God hath to us;
shown as in many instances, so more especially in sending his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, to be the Saviour of us, and that we might live through him.

God is love; (See Gill on 1 John 4:8):

and he that dwelleth in love;
who dwells by faith upon the love of God as displayed in Christ, and abides in the exercise of love to God and to the saints:

dwelleth in God, and God in him; (See Gill on 1 John 4:13); the last clause, "and God in him", is left out in the Syriac version.

1 John 4:16 In-Context

14 And *we* have seen, and testify, that the Father has sent the Son [as] Saviour of the world.

15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

16 And *we* have known and have believed the love which God has to us. God is love, and he that abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

17 Herein has love been perfected with us that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that even as *he* is, *we* also are in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has torment, and he that fears has not been made perfect in love.

Footnotes

• [a]. En, 'of which we are the objects;' but it is more than 'towards.'