1 John 4:16

16 So ¹we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ²God is love, and ³whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides 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 his Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Cross References

• 1. John 6:69
• 2. See ver. 8
• 3. ver. 12; 1 John 3:24