1 John 4:9-12

9 God's love was revealed among us in this way:^[a] God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the^[b] propitiation^[c] for our sins.

11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God.^[d] If we love one another, God remains in^[e] us and His love is perfected in us.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or revealed in us
• [b]. Or a
• [c]. The word propitiation has to do with the removal of divine wrath. Jesus' death is the means that turns God's wrath from the sinner; see 2 Co 5:21.
• [d]. Since God is an infinite being, no one can see Him in His absolute essential nature; see Ex 33:18-23.
• [e]. Or remains among