1 John 4:16

16 We have known and believed that God loves us. God is love. Those who live in God's love live in God, and God lives in them.

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 We have seen and testify to the fact that the Father sent his Son as the Savior of the world.

15 God lives in those who declare that Jesus is the Son of God, and they live in God.

16 We have known and believed that God loves us. God is love. Those who live in God's love live in God, and God lives in them.

17 God's love has reached its goal in us. So we look ahead with confidence to the day of judgment. While we are in this world, we are exactly like him [with regard to love].

18 No fear exists where his love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn't have perfect love.