1 Johannes 4:11

11 Geliebte, wenn Gott uns also geliebt hat, so sind auch wir schuldig, einander zu lieben.

1 Johannes 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 John 4:11

Beloved, if God so loved us
As to send his Son to be a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, and to obtain eternal life for us through his sufferings and death: the apostle uses the same language his Lord and master did, ( John 3:16 ) ;

we ought also to love one another;
for those who are the objects of God's love ought to be the objects of ours; and if God has loved our fellow Christians and brethren to such a degree, as to send his Son to die for them, we ought to love them too; and if we are interested in the same love, the obligation is still the greater; and if God loved them with so great a love, when they did not love him, but were enemies to him, then surely we ought to love them now they are become the friends of God, and ours also; as God loved them freely, and when unlovely, and us likewise in the same manner, and under the same circumstances, then we ought to love, and continue to love the saints, though there may be something in their temper and conduct disagreeable: God is to be imitated in his love; and his love to us, which is unmerited and matchless, should influence and engage us to the love of the brethren, who have a far greater claim to our love than we can make to the love of God; and which indeed is none at all, but what he is pleased to give us.

1 Johannes 4:11 In-Context

9 Hierin ist die Liebe Gottes zu uns geoffenbart worden, daß Gott seinen eingeborenen Sohn in die Welt gesandt hat, auf daß wir durch ihn leben möchten.

10 Hierin ist die Liebe: nicht daß wir Gott geliebt haben, sondern daß er uns geliebt und seinen Sohn gesandt hat als eine Sühnung für unsere Sünden.

11 Geliebte, wenn Gott uns also geliebt hat, so sind auch wir schuldig, einander zu lieben.

12 Niemand hat Gott jemals gesehen. Wenn wir einander lieben, so bleibt Gott in uns, und seine Liebe ist vollendet in uns.

13 Hieran erkennen wir, daß wir in ihm bleiben und er in uns, daß er uns von seinem Geiste gegeben hat.