1 John 4:11

11 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.

1 John 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 John 4:11 In-Context

9 This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him.

10 This is the kind of love we are talking about - not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

11 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.

12 No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us - perfect love!

13 This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit.