1 John 4:16

16 And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Those who live in 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 can testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living inside, and that person lives in God.

16 And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

17 This is how love is made perfect in us: that we can be without fear on the day God judges us, because in this world we are like him.

18 Where God's love is, there is no fear, because God's perfect love drives out fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear, so love is not made perfect in the person who fears.