Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LXIII) 04/15/22

^4:9 God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into this wicked world to bring us eternal life through His death.

William MacCallum Clow (1853-1930) tells us that Love, as the Apostle John tells us again and again, is to be seen and known only in what it does. Therefore, we should look at this Love of God disclosing itself in lovely deeds and rise step by step to see the supreme disclosure in the Cross of the Anointed One. There are six things that we can teach ourselves about Love to make it more meaningful and authentic:

            The first and simplest thing about love is this – love is a social passion. There cannot be love

                 without at least two, one to love and one to be loved.

            The second simple thing about love is this – love is creation. Love must create, and it must

                 create well-being. Love cannot be inactive.

            The third simple thing about love is this – love is forethought. Love cannot be content with

                 creation. It must pass on to care, and God’s care is His providence.

            The fourth and great thing about love is this – love is grace. It is where love makes its supreme

                  disclosure. Grace is love, dealing with wrongdoing.

            The fifth thing to say about love is this – love is discipline. Love’s supreme disclosure is the

                 Cross, but love which redeems must pass on to discipline. Love’s redeeming work was not

                 finished when the Anointed One confronted the gates of hell.

            The sixth thing to say about love is this – love is heaven. In Final Covenant teaching, that is the

                 issue of love’s work on the Cross and by the discipline of God. Love can never be satisfied

                 without the loved one’s constant presence and fellowship.[1] 

David Smith (1866-1932) states that the Incarnation is a manifestation of God’s agápe-love because it reveals divine nature, and divine nature is love. When we receive God into our lives, we experience His divine love.[2] The Apostle John applies the term exclusively to Jesus. It carries the idea of preciousness.[3] Notice the phrase “my precious life” in the Psalms.[4] The Incarnation manifested the agápe-love of God, and the love was displayed that we might have everlasting life. Eternal Life is not the future, but the present.[5] It is important to remember to take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, and faithful in everything God gave Him to do.[6]

Harry Ironside (1876-1951) shows us a mathematical clue on finding that God is love. First John. 1+1=2; 2+2=4; 4+4=8; 8+8=16. Thus, “God is love” is found in 1 John 4:8 and 16. That is where you learn that “God is love.” Creation called out God’s omnipotent power and wisdom, but creation could not tell about His agápe-love. But when God looked down upon a world of people groaning under the death sentence of sin, He saw a world of humanity who were alive to the things of this life but utterly dead toward the things of God, dead in trespasses and sins. God found it in His heart to go down and find a means of quickening whosoever will come into newness of life. He said, “I will give them the greatest gift anyone can give, My only-begotten Son. I am going to send Him into that world that they may have everlasting life through Him.” “In this was manifested the agápe-love of God toward us, because God sent His Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”[7]

Charles H. Dodd (1884-1973) notices that here, in verse nine, the Apostle John restates the great declaration he made in his Gospel[8] about God’s agápe-love. It reminds us that in speaking of God’s agápe-love, we think of love in action, definite, concrete, and recognizable on the historical plane. Verse ten underlines one point in this declaration: the Christian religion starts not with mankind’s love for God but God’s agápe-love for humanity and with God’s agápe-love expressed in specific actions in history.

Dodd then helps remind us that Judaism and Christianity were not the only religious philosophy prevalent in the world at the Apostle John’s time. And as much as we may want to isolate Christian thought from anything except that breathed by God through the Holy Spirit, those who penned what the Spirit inspired them to write were, nevertheless, influenced by such thinking.[9] In one case, Aristotle turns this aesthetic and passionate mysticism into a metaphysical doctrine of the relation of God to the world. God is absolute Reality and therefore changeless and unmoved. Yet, He is the cause of all change and movement in the universe. But how? “He moves the world as the Object of its love (or desire).”[10]

Love, therefore, becomes a cosmic principle, says Dodd, and the mystical craving for union with the eternal receives its philosophical basis. The type of religion to which this language belongs is everywhere. In such beliefs, love is essentially the love of humans for God – that is to say, the unquenchable craving of limited, conditioned, and temporal beings for the Infinite, the Absolute, the Eternal. Love for humankind cannot be attributed to God, for the Absolute must be passionless and unmoved.[11] Perhaps this enlightenment will help us better understand why the Apostle John was so adamant in his argument that it is not a case of God having Love, but that God IS Love.

Let us note, Dodd points out, that the Greek verb agapaō appears seven times in this chapter, translated as “loved” three times. All three places, 4:10, 11, and 19, are in the aorist active tense. That means our love for Him (verse 10); His agápe-love for us (verses 11, 19) has no beginning nor end. In other words, God’s agápe-love has no expiration date, and neither should ours.[12] Swedish Lutheran theologian Anders T. S. Nygren (1890-1978) clearly states that: Plato’s “heavenly Eros” is wrong. It is a human love for the Divine, a love of man for God.[13] Nygren insists that “There is no room for the ‘love of friendship’ in a God-centered relationship to God, for that love presupposes an equality between Divine and human love which does not exist.”[14] Then Nygren writes, “Christian love is something other than ordinary human love.”[15] He follows that with, “Jesus draws a sharp distinction between human love and Divine. When measured by the standard of Divine love; therefore, human love is not loving at all.”[16] He adds, “Divine love can no longer be used for human love.”[17]

F. F. Bruce (1910-1990) says that the Apostle John has already pointed to the Anointed One’s laying down His life for His people as the perfect manifestation of love.[18] He returns to the sacrifice of the Anointed One and presents it from the Father’s point of view in words similar to those of the Gospel.[19] The supreme act of God’s love was His sending “His only begotten Son into the world.” The purpose of His sending His Son is our blessing – “that we should receive life through Him.” Here the initiative lies entirely with God. Before there was any possibility of our exercising such love, He first manifested it when He “loved us and sent His Son as a ransom for our sins.”[20] [21]

Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) states that “He loved us” in verse ten refers to a specific action on God’s part in sending His Son. It distinguishes human love from perfected love.[22] Others think that the secessionist did not love their brothers and did not claim to love God. On the contrary, I would argue that both John and the antagonists claimed to love God and each other. John is arguing with the renegades not about a priority that they attribute to love for God, but about whether the atoning death of Jesus was a necessary part of God’s saving love.

David E. Hiebert (1928-1995) notes that the Apostle John announces the manifestation of redemptive love in the Incarnation here in verse nine. By using “in this” (“This is how” – NIV), it looks forward to and is interpreted by the following “because.” Thus, it clarifies that God’s agápe-love was revealed through the sending of His Son. It may also be understood as locative, [23] meaning that God’s agápe-love was embodied in sending His Son. Hiebert notes that Alfred Plummer (1746-1829) suggests that “for the sake of uniformity, [24] it would be preferable to render “herein” each time.”[25] Also, the verb “was manifested” is a favorite term with John. It means “to make visible, make clear, come out into the open.” This is contrary to the secular stories of romance, where “secret love” or “lovers” pursue their target until the right moment so that their suddenly revealed love will be a surprise. But verse nine implies that before the first coming of the Anointed One, “the agápe-love of God,” God’s agápe-love for humanity, had not been displayed in such a personal, dynamic manner. In Him, God’s message of love reached its climax.[26] [27]

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[1] Clow, William M: The Cross in Christian Experience, Hodder & Stoughton, New York, 1908, pp. 42-50

[2] Cf. Galatians 1:16; See Luke 7:12; 8:42; 9:38

[3] Cf. Psalms 22:20 (22:21 Jewish Bible); 35:17 (LXX)

[4] Ibid. New International Version

[5] Cf. John 17:3

[6] Hebrews 3:1

[7] Ironside, Harry A., The Epistles of John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 139-140

[8] John 3:16; 1 John 3:16

[9] Cf. Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Titus 1:12

[10] Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book XII, Part 7, ⁋2

[11] Dodd, Charles H., The Moffatt Commentary, Johannine Epistles, op. cit., p. 110-111

[12] See Anders Nygren “Agápe and Eros, the Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Part I, 1932; Part II, Vol. 1, 1938; Part II, Vol 2, 1939.

[13] Nygren, Anders, Agápe and Eros, Translated by Philip S. Watson, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1953 p. viii

[14] Ibid. p. 92

[15] Ibid. p. 93

[16] Ibid. p. 96

[17] Ibid. 128

[18] 1 John 3:16

[19] John 3:16

[20] See 1 John 2:2

[21] Bruce, F. F., The Epistles of John: A Verse-by-Verse Exposition, op. cit., Kindle Edition

[22] Brown, Raymond E., The Anchor Bible, op. cit., pp. 518-519

[23] Locative indicates place in or on which or time at which something occurred.

[24] See 1 John 4:10, 13, 17

[25] Plummer, Alfred E., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, op. cit., p. 148

[26] Hebrews 1:1-2

[27] Hiebert, David E., Bibliotheca Sacra, op. cit., January-March 1990, p. 73

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LXII) 04/14/22

^4:9 God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into this wicked world to bring us eternal life through His death.

John Stock (1817-1884) admires the beauties of nature that amaze us, but believes that God’s grace in our redemption surpasses His creative genius that defies description. In essence, wealth, power, goodness, perfection, wisdom, and unity are displayed everywhere in creation; but in the kingdom of God, added to all these excellencies are mercy, justice, and unspeakable love. God is incredible, and His works are done with grace and mercy. “Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty?”[1] That God the Father is love is seen in the mission of His co-equal and co-eternal Son in this evil world for our common salvation; loving us “While we were still His enemies,”[2] “when lost.”[3] and incapable of delivering ourselves, and without a desire to do so, being dead in trespasses and sins.[4] What a mighty God we serve. [5]

William Kelly (1822-1888) exclaims that God still sent His only-begotten Son into the world in the face of humanity’s depravity. What a truth! The bare facts are incredible, especially as it was in nothing but love. It was not something done in heaven. His Only-begotten Son He willingly sent to give life in this world was characteristic of the God who sent Him. But no work done even by the Son on high could suit either God or humanity. So, the way of love was that the Son should become human to glorify God and give life to humanity’s dead faith in His highest nature.

Jews and other nations already existed, says Kelly, but they were spiritually dead in their offenses and sins and angry children by their Adamic nature. As a people, they were spiritually dead while claiming they lived. They expressed no hatred for sin, no love for grace; not one trait inwardly or outwardly was right in them.[6] The Gentile concept of circumcision and the Jewish thought of uncircumcision were hostilities against God. Despite that, God sent His Only-begotten Son, the delight of the Father through all eternity, into the world, that we should live through Him; and the life given was His life.[7]

Daniel Steele (1824-1914) takes issue with the shallow and weak Unitarian explanation of the “best-beloved Son.” In vain, extreme liberalism teaches that all humans are incarnations of God to a lower degree than Jesus. “Only-begotten” denotes unique sonship, an unshared existence grounded in God’s nature, while mankind’s reality is grounded in God’s will. It is the difference between the generation of the Son outside of time limits, “before the world was,” and the creation of the universe by His choice. “The Anointed One,” says Steele, “is the One only Son, the One to whom the title belongs in a sense unique and singular, as distinguished from that in which there are many children of God.”[8] [9]

Brooke F. Westcott (1825-1901) states that God’s love is not simply “toward us,” but also “in us,” as to how it was revealed and effective “that we may live through Him.” The Christian shares the life of the Anointed One, and so becomes a secondary sign of God’s agápe-love. There is a sense in which creation shows God’s agápe-love, but this revelation becomes apparent through the new creation.[10] The manifestation of God’s agápe-love to humanity becomes a living power as they manifest His agápe-love to their fellow believers.[11]

William Lincoln (1825-1888) suggests that we look at three specific revelations mentioned in the Final Covenant. The first is here in verse nine – the manifestation of God’s agápe-love. The second is this – I will manifest myself to Him (speaking of the one who loves Him).[12] And the third is – when He will appear.[13]He begs us to remember that these three must be maintained in their divine order, their proper order. Otherwise, you may make mistakes. I have often heard people say, “I want a demonstration of the agápe-love of God,” but they forget that God not only does things, but He does them in order.

Lincoln adds that now we find that God’s phenomenon of His agápe-love[14] depends on our obedience. In this, the Anointed One is in unity with the Father. But here in verse nine, God sent His Son without any compliance on our part. That was in the past; the second is continually going on, and the third is in the future.[15] There is the divine order of the three expressions of God’s agápe-love, one past, one present, and one future. If anyone insists, “I still want a sign,” they must ask themselves, am I thoroughly established in God’s agápe-love as manifested? If someone wants a display before being saved. First, God has given them an overwhelming instance of His agápe-love by sending His Son. It would be a mocking of the revelation of Himself that He has already given. The second expression does not occur before the first. You must begin with the gift of God, the gift of His Son, His only Son. God DOES love us, and He HAS manifested that love.[16] What more do you need?[17]

Henry A. Sawtelle (1832-1913) takes the words, “That we might live through Him” as the intention of the Anointed One’s mission – a dependable, not dependent, purpose regarding believers. The object of the task, referring to our greatest good, impresses us with God’s agápe-love, as does the self-sacrificing means to effect it. The giving up of the Son, the giving Him to come into such a world, and the thoughtful, merciful object of the mission combine to provide the believer with an impressive view of the extent and the quality of God’s agápe-love. The “living” is the true immortality reached in regeneration and resurrection through the mediation of the Anointed One. The whole verse condenses a volume of truth. It is a remarkable statement of the mission of the Anointed One and its spring in the eternal agápe-love of God. It demonstrates the love-nature asserted in the previous verse.[18]

John James Lias (1834-1923) remarks that this great subject of love occupies us as far as chapter 5:3; but, as usual with the Apostle John, the divisions of his subject overlap each other, and the conclusion of his teaching on love introduces the topic of Love’s source, namely, faith. Here the fact of the Anointed One’s coming and the results of that coming, the life we have by His provisions, is regarded as a demonstration of God’s agápe-love. In other places, the Anointed One is pointed out as the manifestation of the fullness of the Divine essence.[19] The Revised Version “in us” is to be preferred to the Authorized Version (KJV) “toward us,” which cannot be defended.[20] The agápe-love of God is manifested in us because the Anointed One, His Son, who is One with Him, [21] is sent into the world, and He “dwells in our hearts by faith.”[22] [23] So, since the Son and Father are one, we become one with them when they come to dwell in us. How foolish, then, for anyone in union with God to even think of insulting Him by breaking His laws and grieving His will?

Lias then reminds us that the Anointed One’s coming was predicted from the beginning “at many times and in various ways.”[24] His method was expected.[25] A new covenant was to be made, not in the letter but the heart, including Gentiles. But, if Israel with Moses and the Prophets became grievously corrupt, how much more the rest of the world? Nor was there any remedy. Religion could not bring it, for religion was itself corrupt in every country of the world save one. Philosophy was unable to deliver it, for it did not rest on God’s testimony but men’s opinions. Even God’s painful judgments could not bring it. They pointed out the disease, but not the cure. Men knew that they were sinners, but they didn’t know how to forsake their sins.[26] The only thing that could bring a remedy was the Christian Gospel, telling about the Anointed One and His cross.

Erich Haupt (1841-1910) says that when we consider that all other acts of God in history and nature also manifest His agápe-love, though not in the same degree as this; but when we discern in these the tokens of love, our knowledge is at second hand: of all this, we might say that God’s agápe-love appears in us to the world. But it is otherwise in the mission of the Son. It had for its purpose and result that we might know God, for God is love – that is, we are to be transformed by it, the divine life is to be implanted in us, and thus most assuredly, the agápe-love of God is to be manifested in us because we are to be drawn into the fullness of this divine nature of love.

Therefore, says Haupt, agápe-love not only works with its energy for the world’s sake but for our very inner being. And under both aspects, His nature of love has been most perfectly revealed in the mission of His Son: by it, He has surrendered the whole fullness of His divine nature, all that He has; and so, surrendered it that He communicates it to us as a gift; it is not merely a power working for us and in us, but the power energizing within us has become part of our personality. Only when the Anointed One for us is the Anointed One in us do we exhaust the meaning of the words “God is Love.”[27]

One commentary suggests that the expression “in us” in verse nine may refer to an inward revelation of God’s agápe-love, because of the incarnation of the Son.[28] As such, it could be translated: “Therein the agápe-love of God made itself known in us.”[29]

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[1] Job 11:7 – New Living Translation (NLT)

[2] Romans 5:10

[3] Matthew 18:11

[4] Ephesians 2:1

[5] Stock, John: Exposition of First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 343-344

[6] Psalm 14:3; cf. Romans 3:10-12

[7] Kelly, William: An Exposition of the Epistles of John the Apostle, op. cit., Logos, loc. cit.

[8] See John 1:12-14

[9] Steele, Daniel: Half-Hour, op. cit., p. 105

[10] 2 Corinthians 5:17

[11] Westcott, Brooke F., The Epistles of St. John, op. cit., p. 148

[12] John 14:21

[13] 1 John 3:2

[14] John 14:21

[15] 1 John 3:2

[16] Ibid. 4:10

[17] Lincoln, William: Lectures on the Epistles of St. John, op. cit., pp. 114-115

[18] Sawtelle, Henry A., An American Commentary, Alvah Hovey Ed., op. cit., pp. 49-50

[19] John 1:18, 14:6; Colossians 2:9

[20] See also the change of “in us” (RV) and “to us” (AV)

[21] John 10:30

[22] Ephesians 3:17

[23] Lias, John James: The First Epistle of St. John with Exposition, pp. 312-313

[24] Hebrews 1:1

[25] See Jeremiah 31

[26] Lias, John James: The First Epistle of St. John with Homiletical Treatment, pp 310-311

[27] Haupt, Erich: The First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 261-262

[28] Cf. Romans 5:5; 2 Corinthians 4:6

[29] Revised English Scriptures with Notes, The First Epistle of John, American Bible Union, New York, 1854, p. 45

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LXI) 04/13/22

^4:9 God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into this wicked world to bring us eternal life through His death.

William Burkitt (1650-1703) points out that it was a remarkable instance of God’s agápe-love, that He considered our case and concerned Himself for our happiness, as nothing is more helpful to human nature than love. Therefore, if no love assists more than some people exercised with great disdain after a provocation, it does not match God’s agápe-love to offending sinners.[1]

Johann Bengel (1687-1752) explains that in verse nine, “toward us” – that is, God’s agápe-love, which is now ours throughout our whole spiritual experience, “because” – this motive of love is derived from verse three. It is said respecting Jesus the Anointed One, who is come in the flesh, mutual love is inferred in verse seven. The consequence is proven from the agápe-love of God towards us, as we see in verse nine, who sent His Son, that we might live. It is proof of God’s agápe-love towards us: it is a motivating factor for our mutual love for each other.[2]

James Macknight (1721-1800) says that the Apostle John says here in verse nine is an allusion to our Lord’s words in John 3:16. The Anointed One is called God’s only begotten Son to distinguish Him from all others, who are called the sons of God in Scripture. It is to intensify our idea of God’s agápe-love to us, in giving a Person of such dignity, and so beloved of God, to die for us. It is possible that by John giving the Anointed One the title of God’s only begotten Son, he intended to overturn the error of the Ebionites, [3] and Cerinthus, [4] who avowed that the Anointed One was not God’s Son by nature, but that, like other distinguished men, He was honored with the title of God’s Son on account of His virtues; in which opinion these founders of heretical sects have been followed by some into modern times. However, those who hold this opinion should show why the only begotten nickname is applied to the Anointed One.[5]

William Jones (1726-1800) is sure that God’s Word is weightier than any human testimony. The Apostle John’s meaning is that if we feel it obligatory not to reject human testimony when clear and adequate, that much more should we consider it binding on us to receive God’s testimony, especially when it concerns the Anointed One. What John says here in verses nine and ten is more significant than any human testimony could be. In what sense? It is more meaningful because of its origin – God. Some unbelievers might, and probably would say, “Granted, God’s testimony is greater than mankind’s. But since it’s God’s testimony, is there any way to prove that it’s true.” John would answer, “No one is asking you to believe it blindly; that’s why God proved it by showing it to the world. He sent His Son to communicate His Word.”

Rev. Jones concludes with lyrics from an old Church hymn sung in the 1700s that express the sentiments of both sinner and saint:

Hence and forever from my heart

I bid my doubts and fears depart;

And to those hands, my soul resign

Which bear credentials so divine.[6]

English Philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) acknowledges that “at the back of all things there is an infinite energy.”[7] Spencer said that if the energy is infinite, it can let us know something about itself as a starting point. (1) If the infinite energy consents to tell us something about itself, it must be through such channels of life, thought, and words as we can apprehend. (2) The fact that the communication channel may be human is entirely consistent with the origin of communication being Divine. (3) When this is the case, such human communication has to be interrogated and tested as to where it came from and how. (4) If it stands this test, namely, if (a) it claims to be from God, if (b) it justifies that claim, [8] and if (c) there is nothing inconsistent with the claim, – then the proof of the validity of its testimony is complete.[9]

Richard Rothe (1799-1867) points out that there was no better way for God to reveal that He is love than to send His only Son into the world with a message of that love. In doing so, God also established that love is a gift. In many commentaries, I read that love is a “free” gift. If it is a gift, it has to be free; otherwise it is not a gift. So, there is no used in using “free” with gift. You cannot buy it, merit it, bargain for it, nor earn it. True agápe love is a gift from Love Himself, by which He gave Himself to the world through His Son. So, if you accept His Son, you also accept His agápe-love.

Consequently, says Rothe, it is only through a revelation, which factors in mankind’s ethical nature and ethical needs, that the agápe-love of God can be exhibited to us in its true light.[10] In other words, Rothe points out that no one knew of God’s agápe-love until He showed it. The same is true of us. We can talk about love, think about love, define love, preach love, etc. But until we manifest the existence of love in our hearts, it does not exist. Love is an act of our will, not a concept of the mind or emotion.

Alfred Plummer (1841-1926) says that we see the uniformity of verses 10, 13, and 17 with what the Apostle John says here in verse nine. We have the same Greek pronoun, toutō, in all four verses. “Herein” plainly refers to what follows.[11] John tells us that “In this was manifested the agápe-love of God.”[12] Here is another reason for our loving one another. We must do this (1) because love is the very essence of Him whose children we are; (2) because of the superior way in which His agápe-love was manifested. The context shows that “the agápe-love of God,” which usually in this Epistle expresses our love to God, here means His agápe-love to us.[13] [14]

Albert Barnes (1798-1870) gives us another outline to consider in determining the measure of God’s agápe-love. He died that we might have eternal life through the merits of His sacrifice. The extent of that love, then, which was manifested in the gift of a Savior, is to be found (1) in the worth of the soul; (2) in its exposure to eternal death; (3) in the greatness of the gift; (4) in the greatness of His sorrows for us; and, (5) in the immortal blessedness and joy to which He will raise us. Who can estimate all this? All these things will magnify themselves as we draw near to eternity, and in that eternity to which we go, whether saved or lost, we will have an ever-expanding view of the beautiful agápe-love of God.[15]

Thomas K. Arnold (1800-1853) tells us that the Apostle John had no doubt; neither do we need any, though some doubt it, thinking that God’s justice and hatred of sin interfere with His agápe-love. But justice does not interfere with God’s love. On the contrary, justice and love are compatible with humankind and God. The Cross of the Anointed One reveals and establishes the harmony between righteousness and mercy. There, justice gets its own, love has its way, God is a “just God and a Savior,” and “grace reigns through righteousness.” The Anointed One’s Cross is not the cause, but the consequence, of God’s agápe-love. The text asserts God’s agápe-love before He sent the Anointed One; affirms the Anointed One’s mission to be the manifestation of God’s agápe-love. There is no need for doubt, then, as to the fact that God loves us, has loved us. But more than this, the text not only implies that God is loving and loves us, but asserts that He is love. Love is the sum and harmony of all His attributes, His divine essence.[16]

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) asks what a ministry source is opened to us! It is the agápe-love of God in the Anointed One towards poor sinners. This agápe-love was fulfilled[17] in the death of the Son of man, who descended into the lowest depth of mankind’s misery. He who was glorified as God is now celebrated as a man. What a glorious function, and how small we feel as we kneel before Him. It is, indeed, the ministry of the Spirit and righteousness. Since God’s agápe-love is the source and the subject of the Anointed One’s passion, then God’s justice is accomplished in glorifying the Son of man upon the earth. He more than re-established all that glory of God (which was falsified and, in appearance, contradicted by the victory of Satan in the Garden of Eden and the ruin introduced into God’s creation); this righteousness also becomes its foundation. And because of this glorification of the Anointed One in power, there were also healings and miracles attached to this ministry, for miracles were likewise a confirmation of the essential part: the life-giving Word.[18]

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[1] Burkitt, William: Notes on N.T., op. cit., pp. 730-731

[2] Bengel, Johann: Critical English Commentary, op. cit., p. 321

[3] Ebionite, member of an early ascetic sect of Jewish Christians. The Ebionites were one of several such sects that originated in and around Palestine in the first centuries AD, and included the Nazarenes and Elkasites. The name of the sect is from the Hebrew ebionim (“the poor”); it was not founded, as later Christian writers stated, by a certain Ebion.

[4] Cerinthus, (flourished c. AD 100), Christian heretic whose errors, according to the theologian Irenaeus, led the Apostle John to write his New Testament Gospel.

[5] Macknight, James: Literal Paraphrase, op. cit., pp. 91-92

[6] “Behold the Blind Their Sight Received” Lyrics by Isaac Watts (1707); Music by Frederick Marc Antoine Venua (1810)

[7] Article in Nineteenth Century Magazine, a publication of the Victorian Society in America, January 1884

[8] The claim might be justified (1) by the glory of pure moral teaching; (2) by the purity of personal character; (3) by mighty works. Jesus the Anointed One appealed to all three. This, however, is now regarded by some as an additional hindrance rather than a help. To such, we would offer the following hints. (a) The New Testament miracles are not merely wonders, but signs. They harmonize with a great redemptive plan. (b) If the evidence afforded by the noble moral teaching is sufficient, well, be it so, and wait for further light on what you deem miraculous, only remember: (c) That when we believe in one God and Father of all, we do in that one article of faith cover vastly more supernatural ground than all the recorded miracles put together. (d) Certainly there have been days when miracles were the very helps that men required. Our Lord did not prefer this. He complained of it. Apostles put miracles in the fourth place. But if to some minds they were the most efficient helps, it was very kind of the Father thus to stoop to teach His children in their infancy.

[9] Jones, William: First Epistle of John, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, op. cit., Homiletics, pp. 149-150

[10] Rothe, Richard: The Expository Times, op. cit., February 1894, p. 232

[11] Cf. 3:16, 19

[12] See 1 John 1:2; 2:19, 28; 3:2, 5, 8

[13] 1 John 3:16

[14] Plummer, Alfred: Cambridge Commentary, op. cit., p. 148

[15] Barnes, Albert: Notes on N.T., op. cit., p. 4863

[16] Arnold, Thomas; The Church Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., Vol. 12, p. 297

[17] 1 John 4:9

[18] Darby, John N. On Ministry: Its Nature, Source, Power, and Responsibility, p. 12

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LX) 04/12/22

^4:8 If a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that they don’t know God – for God is love.

Karen H. Jobes (1968) points out that this is the third time the Apostle John mentioned: “the one who does not love.” Such a person remains in spiritual death.[1] Therefore, they do not have eternal life. The essence of that life is knowledge of God and the One He sent.[2] The failure to love is not simply an ethical failing, but means that one remains in the ignorance of sin, apart from salvation’s Light. Those who fail to love are outside the Christian community and have no truthful testimony of God, for they have no actual knowledge of God. As God defines it, personal understanding of God and agápe-love for others are inseparable. John’s appeal, therefore, implicitly demands self-examination.[3]

David Guzik (1984) notes that the love the Apostle John speaks of comes from the ancient Greek word agápe; it is the concept of a self-giving love that gives without demanding or expecting re-payment God-kind of love. Since this is God’s kind of love, it comes into our life through our relationship with Him. If we want to love one another more, we need to draw closer to God. Every human connection is like a triangle. The two people in the relationship are at the triangle’s base, and God is at the top. As the two people draw closer to the top of the triangle, closer to God, they will also draw closer to one another. Weak relationships grow stronger when both people draw near to the Lord![4]

4:9       This is how God showed His agápe-love to us: He sent His only Son into the world to give us life through Him.

EXPOSITION

In the opening of his Gospel, the Apostle John states, “The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw His divine greatness – the greatness that belongs to the Father’s only begotten Son. The Word was full of grace and truth.”[5] Then, later on in his story about Jesus and Nicodemus, John remarks: “God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost but have eternal life.  Yes, God sent His Son into the world, but He did not send Him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through Him.”[6]

When Jesus fed the 5,000, He spoke about Himself as living bread and what partaking of the bread means, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give my body so that the people in the world can have life.”[7]  And when speaking about Himself as the Good Shepherd as opposed to those who claim to be shepherds, our Lord pointed out, “A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life-life that is full and good . . . I give My sheep eternal life. They will never die, and no one can take them out of my hand.” And when the Master wanted to comfort His followers in light of His leaving them for a short time, He told them this, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”[8] [9]

So, it is clear that God meant for His expression of love to provide life.  However, no one should mistake John’s use of the word “love” here as the same as what the world calls “love.”  But love is like a light switch.  It is something we turn on and off at will.  It will not turn on by itself.  It cannot be programmed to turn on at a particular time to become automatic. But, when we turn it on, it can light up the room. People can see better and discern their environmental surroundings more clearly. It also gives warmth. When dealing with other people, we can turn love on or off. But when it comes to God, the switch is always on, day and night. King David gave an illustration of love for God and His word in Psalm One.

The phrase “in this” refers to what follows. John shows how the nature of God’s agápe-love concretely exhibits itself. God’s agápe-love for His Son existed for all eternity, but He manifested His agápe-love for us by sending His Son to earth to die for our sins.  God now shows how He demonstrates His agápe-love.  His best demonstration is in sending His Son to die for our sins.  God’s agápe-love is not motivated by any worthiness in us[10] but by His character. God “sent” His Son into the world.  The word “sent” carries the idea of being commissioned with a mission. God sent His Son on the unique mission to pay for our sins.[11] Sending God’s Son into the world was no passing act of sentimentality. This phrase does not imply that Jesus was reluctant to come into the world to die for our sins.  On the contrary, He was willing to come.[12] The standard of God’s agápe-love is the ultimate sacrifice. 

The words “only begotten” pertain to what is unique in being the only one of the same kind or class – unique. The Son is the One-of-a-Kind. He is incomparable to anyone else. God calls His Son “only begotten” five times in the Final Covenant. All five times occur in John’s writings, four in his Gospel and once in his first epistle. “Only-begotten” speaks of Jesus’ uniqueness rather than His origin. Jesus is the one-of-a-kind agent of the Father and the Father’s plan for salvation. God did not have another Son born of a woman. The Son of God is the Great One-of-a-Kind.

The word “that” expresses purpose. Without God’s purpose of sending His unique Son, the one-and-only Son, into the world to save us, we would be spiritually lost and subject to the Second Death, eternal death.

John sets the word “live” in stark contrast to the idea of spiritual death. It is to live in the absolute sense—to live forever with God. God loved us so that we could experience eternal life, His life. God loved us so that we might live eternally. Physical life came through creation, but spiritual life comes through the death of the Anointed One. God fully manifested His unconditional love to us at Calvary. 

Verse nine is similar to what John said in chapter three, verse sixteen. Also, “in this” refers to what follows and introduces a concrete and crucial example of love. Beware of the inadequate and misleading rendering “towards us.” It means in us and belongs to “manifested.”[13] We must not connect “the love of God in us,” still less “the love of God toward us,” is one idea. “In us” means “in our case,” and we can paraphrase the whole thing to read: “A transcendent manifestation of God’s love has been made regarding us, in that he has sent,” etc. The verse might serve as a summary of John’s Gospel. The word “only begotten” as applied to the Anointed One is peculiar to John; it and “we might live” are the keywords of the passage. This is love indeed; God’s only Son He sent to give us eternal life.

COMMENTARY

In his epistle to the Philippians, Polycarp (69-155 AD) urges them to remain in hope and patience. He encourages them to persevere in hope continually and the seriousness of right living, which is Jesus the Anointed One, who bore our sins in His body on the tree, [14] who did not sin, neither was there any artificial word coming from His mouth, [15] but endured all things for us, that we might live in Him.[16] Let us then be imitators of His patience, and if when persecuted for His name’s sake, [17] let us glorify Him. For He has set Himself as an example, [18] and we believe that such is the case.[19]

John Calvin (1509-1564) tells us that the agápe-love of God towards us testifies with many other proofs. For if someone asks why the world was created, tell them we have been placed here as stewards of the earth, we are preserved in life to enjoy innumerable blessings; we are endued with Light and understanding; no other reason can be adduced, except the gratuitous agápe-love of God. But the Apostle John chose its principal evidence, and what far surpasses all other things. It was not only an immeasurable love, that God spared not His Son, that by His death He might restore us to life; but it was His marvelous goodness which ought to fill our minds with wonder and amazement. Then, the Anointed One illustrates so memorable and singular a proof of divine love towards us that whenever we look upon Him, He fully confirms to us the truth that God is love.[20]

John Trapp (1601-1669) says that the manifestation of Jesus, God’s Son, the very seat of His tenderest compassion, is laid open to us.[21] God so loved His Son that He gave Him the world for His possession, [22] but He so loved the world that He gave Son for its redemption.[23]

John Owen (1616-1683) says that all those who believe that God’s love and grace are offered as the only way and means that Jesus the Anointed can provide for our recovery and salvation. That’s why they become, or God in them, the supreme efficient cause of our justification.[24] Therefore, being justified through the redemption in the Anointed One, Jesus.[25] Through this, the Lord the Anointed One directs our faith continually, referring all to Him that sent Him and whose will He came to do.[26] [27]

The word “Atonement” is too limited in its significance for its purpose, says Owen. It does not express all that Scripture declares that the Anointed One did to “satisfy all the demands of God’s law.” It properly signifies the ransom price for sin and nothing more. It represents only that satisfaction which the Anointed One rendered to the justice of God on our behalf by suffering the penalty due to our sins.[28]

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[1] 1 John 3:10, 14

[2] Cf. John 17:3

[3] Jobes, Karen H., 1, 2, and 3 John (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on The New Testament, Book 18), p. 190

[4] Guzik, David: Enduring Word, op. cit., loc. cit.

[5] Revelation 1:14

[6] Ibid. 3:16-17

[7] Ibid. 6:51, 57

[8] John 10:10, 28

[9] Ibid. 14:6

[10] Romans 5:5-9

[11] John 3:17, 34: 5:37-37; 7:29; 8:12; 10:36; 17:3, 18; 30:21

[12] Romans 5:8

[13] See John 9:4

[14] 1 Peter 2:24

[15] Ibid. 2:22

[16] 2 Timothy 2:10; See 1 John 4:9

[17] Acts of the Apostles 5:41; 1 Peter 4:16

[18] 1 Peter 2:21

[19] Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Ch. 8

[20] Calvin, John: Commentary of the Catholic Epistles, op. cit., loc. cit.

[21] Trapp notes a comparison to a surgeon opening up a patient’s abdomen for all to see its contents. That is why he uses the term “bowls” as the place where we will find God’s tenderest compassion.

[22] Psalm 2:7

[23] Trapp, John: Commentary upon all books of New Testament (1647), op. cit., p

[24] See John 3:16; also, Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9-10

[25] Romans 3:24; 5:1; Ephesians 1:6-8.

[26] Hebrews 10:5

[27] Owen, John: The Doctrine of Justification by Faith, op. cit., pp. 144-145

[28] Hodge, Archibald Alexander: The Atonement. Pneuma Press. Kindle Edition.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LIX) 04/11/22

^4:8 If a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that they don’t know God – for God is love.

Judith M. Lieu (1951) believes that by the Apostle John putting verses seven and eight together, he reinforces the non-negotiability of love as the mark of those who claim to relate to God. A relationship is expressed in terms already familiar in the letter: “born of God”[1] and “knowing God.”[2] The structure suggests that they may have been influenced by the earlier opposing formulations or have come from a common source:

               Everyone who does justice has been born from him (2:29)

               Everyone who loves has been born from God (4:7)

               Everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him (3:6)

               The one who does not love does not know God (4:8)

Therefore, says Lieu, these two celebrated verses are embedded within the whole letter’s thought and argument. In order to trace the inspiration or sources behind them, there is no need to look outside the ideas and influences that have shaped the letter so far, the Scriptures and later Jewish thought, as well as some concepts and language shared with other early Christian writings, distinctive to the Johannine tradition.[3]

Ben Witherington III (1951) points out that in Greek literature before the Final Covenant was complied, the verb agapaō had no importance or even implications in the Apostolic writings. How can we explain this rare usage? In its verb form, agápe indicates “be content with,” “like,” “esteem,” and “prefer.” It is a comparatively calm and colorless word. The translators of the First Covenant preferred agápe as a noun to describe God’s love for humanity and mankind’s response. They began to fill it with the unique content for which paganism, even in its highest forms, had no proper expression.

Interestingly, when pagan religious writers speak of a god who loves, they frequently use the Greek word Eros, which usually refers to sexual desire and sexual intercourse. This word has no place in the apostolic writer’s vocabulary in defining God’s love for humanity or His character. From the Jewish point of view, a deity is not a human being with more power and life. The God of the Bible is the creator God, who is wholly other and is not a being who takes His cues from human behavior. God is the definition of what goodness, truth, life, light, love, and holiness mean. God does not conform to human definitions of these things.[4]

Vincent Cheung (1952) states that the LOVE of God is a favorite topic, but it is also one of the most abused and distorted Christian teachings. Although it is said that “God is love,” very few people understand what this means. An adequate exposition of the doctrine will entail corrections to common misunderstandings. Knowledge of God comes from His verbal revelation and not from non-verbal means of religious exercises. Most people who resist theological studies have not thought through these questions. Yet, they perform prayer and worship by assuming the object and manner of these spiritual practices, often without understanding and in error. Still, others might say we get to know God by walking in love. But again, the idea of love remains undefined until there is a theological reflection on the matter. Even the relationship between knowing God and walking in love originates from the Bible, as we see in verses seven and eight.

Without biblical passages like this, says Cheung, a person cannot justify their claim that knowing God is to walk in love or that it is to know God. Also, does John say that we are born of God and know God before we love one another, or that we love one another before we are born and know God? Clearly, we are born of God and know God before we love one another. It is precise because we are born of God that we are able to love, and it is because we know God that we realize what love means. Those who claim to know God by walking in love are doing nothing other than being kind to each other. They only define kindness according to non-Christian norms rather than scriptural principles. They possess only an illusion of knowing God.[5]

Bruce G. Schuchard (1958) notes that John is not speaking to Christians who are uncertain about their failures, sins of weakness, lovelessness, or need to do better. John is not suggesting that being loving is a good sign that someone is born of God. Instead, John focuses again on the problem of “us” (Christians) versus “them” (the secessionists). We need to identify what distinguishes those in the Church from those in and of the world. John speaks once more of the failure, of the lovelessness of those who abandoned their faith and fellowship. Because God shows Himself to be a God of love, to refuse to love – as the secessionists did when they forsook the love of the community of the beloved – “is the very nature of those who do not know Him.”[6]

Marianne Meye Thompson (1964) says it is typical of the Elder Apostle John that, having stated his case in positive terms, he then states it negatively: “Whoever does not love, does not know God. Where there is a lack of love for fellow Christians, there is neither love for nor knowledge of God.” The same is true today; you cannot preach about heaven unless you include hell. It is incomplete to proclaim salvation without pointing out what it means to be drowning in sin. John’s statements about those who do not love are probably directed at the secessionists in their historical context. Although these people undoubtedly claimed to know God, John deems such a claim impossible, for how can one who lacks love for God’s children be said to know the God who is love? Their lack of passion shows that the dissidents are not in touch with the source of love.[7] Furthermore, they do not imitate the model of love given to them on the cross.[8] They have disobeyed the command of Jesus.[9] In short, their claim to know God is hollow.[10]

Peter Pett (1966) says that the next question we must ask is, what is meant by “love?” It is not romantic love. Nor is it mutual affection within the Christian community. It is a special kind of love, as exemplified by the Apostle Paul.[11] It is a noble love. It is an attitude that intends well to its brother or sister, even when they are undeserving. God’s love is a mutual oneness based on being in the light and fellowship with God. It is a holy love. It is agápe Love. We may not like all our fellow believers, they may even annoy us sometimes, but we still love them, direct our thoughts to their good, and bear with them.

Because they are in the Light as we are, says Pett, we still seek their sanctification. They are our fellow travelers on the way to perfected Love, our fellow workers in the purposes of God, our fellow citizens of Heaven with whom we will spend eternity.[12] It is the same kind of love described in the commandment, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” yet it goes deeper because it is between God’s children. But it is not necessarily deep affection, but a proper attitude of heart and mind. Although in the case of loving one’s neighbor, this agápe-love reaches out beyond our Christian community.[13]

Duncan Heaster (1967) reflects that to know God in the Hebraic sense of having a relationship with Him will focus on love – His unique, self-sacrificial love, which led to the events of the cross as their pinnacle. To “see” or “know” both the Father and Son are to become like them; beholding their glory results in the glory of their person and Name shining off from our faces.[14] So a litmus test of false brethren is whether they have love. And so often, those who appear the most conservative in their teaching fail the agápe test. To experience God is to know Him. So often, the Hebrew prophets speak of “knowing God” as meaning “to experience God intimately.”[15] Because God is love, to love is to know God. How deeply we have loved shows the depth of our comprehension of God – and vice versa. And that love is worked out in the very earthliness and worldliness of human life in practice.[16]

David Legge (1969) addresses the subject of love. He points out that one of the signs of Christian fellowship, and take assurance as children of God that we belong to the Lord, is that the love of God is in our hearts and outflows from our hearts to others who are our brothers and sisters in union with the Anointed One. John adds that “if we do not have God’s love, we are probably not God’s children,” for this is their chief characteristic. But now he’s bringing us to the point of flinging open the throne room doors to let us see that we are to have love and show love because our God is love! Then, of course, we found out that this love that John describes is not a sentimental love that the world has, it is not erotic love, it is not just an emotional friendship love, it is not even a family love – but it is what the Greeks call, agápe love, God’s love. It is not something we can make or try to imitate, but actually, allow God to love others through us.

Therefore, says Legge, we must know why we should love one another, the source and the signs of this Christian love. John gives us the first reason in verses seven and eight: it is simply God’s nature. Now notice John doesn’t say “God has love,” of course, God loves. John is talking about the origin and the source of this agápe love. But that’s not his chief thought here; he’s telling us that God’s essence is love. John repeats this in verse sixteen. So, John is not now saying that love is a gift from God or love is even an attribute of God, but love in its essence. We see this most clearly in the Apostle Paul’s statement that the fruit of our reborn spirit begins with love that influences its expressions, such as Joy, Peace, and Goodness.[17]

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[1] Cf. 1 John 2:29; 3:9

[2] Cf. Ibid. 2:3-4; 3:1-6

[3] Lieu, Judith, The New Testament Commentary, op. cit., pp. 177-178

[4] Witherington III, Ben: Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: op. cit., loc. cit., (Kindle Locations 7145-7155)

[5] Cheung, Vincent. Systematic Theology, op. cit., (Kindle Locations 223, 1723)

[6] Schuchard, Bruce G., Concordia Commentary, op. cit., pp. 444-445

[7] 1 John 4:8, 16

[8] Ibid. 3:16; 4:10

[9] Ibid. 2:7; 4:21; John 13-34-35; 15:12, 17

[10] Thompson, Marianne M., The IVP New Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 121

[11] 1 Corinthians 13

[12] Philippians 3:20

[13] Pett, Peter: Commentary on the Bible, op. cit., PDF, loc. cit.

[14] See 2 Corinthians 3:18

[15] Jeremiah 9:11-13, 23-24; 31:33-34; Daniel 11:32

[16] Heaster, Duncan: New European Commentary, op. cit., 1 John, pp. 31-32

[17] Legge, David: 1,2,3 John, Preach the Word, “Christian Love: Its Source and Sign,” op. cit., Part 13

CYNICS may ask, how many people actually follow the advice found in the numerous proverbs and maxims of forethought available for centuries? They conclude that they are only used after some hopeful venture has gone “horribly wrong.” When, for instance, a person gambles and loses all they have, including their house, they should have remembered the old Scottish proverb which declares that “willful waste leads to woeful want.” But didn’t the gambler know this well-worn saying from earlier years? But, what good, then, did it do? Are the maxims of morality useless because people disregard them? For Christians and Jews, the Book of Proverbs is a great example. But what about other religions?

Here is one to consider by Salmān al-Fārisī, (flourished 7th century, born near Esfahān, Iran), popular figure in Muslim legend and a national hero of Iran:

“I asked an experienced elder who had profited by his knowledge of the world, ‘What course should I pursue to obtain prosperity?’ He replied, ‘Contentment – if you are able, practice contentment.’”

This sounds very much like one of King Solomon’s proverbs, in which he says, “A content heart leads to a healthy body; envy is like cancer in the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30)

THE DANGERS OF INTELLECTUAL CHARISMA

Just like the seasons of nature, we have spiritual seasons. Admittedly, sometimes we’re hot with excitement and, at other times, emotionally cold. Occasionally, we produce a lot of spiritual fruit, and at other times all we have are leaves. So, in our obedience to God’s Word, we should not put too much trust in our intellect to produce the Fruit of the Spirit.

Do not obey an advisor because they can argue more forcibly or speak more feelingly than others. Instead, because they are providentially assigned to you, or because apart from all else, you feel that they more than others can help you conquer your fears and lead you to putting God first in your life.

Remember what the Apostle Paul says, “Our dedication to the Anointed One makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in the Anointed One.”[1] 1t would be best to see no wisdom in you but that of grace, which leads faithful souls in the sure way when they do not yield to temper, passions or self-will, or any merely natural impulse. To such faithful souls, all that the world calls talent, taste, and good reasoning is as nothing, nothing.

Let me repeat: Beware of your intellectual gifts and those of others; judge no one according to them. God, the only wise Judge, takes a very different approach: He prefers children and the childlike mind.[2] Therefore, read nothing out of mere curiosity or to confirm your opinions. Rather, read with a view to foster a robust spirit of humility and submission.

Be as frank as a child toward those who counsel you. Make no list at all of your revelations or spiritual gifts. Instead, abide in simple faith, content in obedience to God’s commandments. Act on whatever God may make known to you through others, and humbly accept whatever may seem unique to you.

Self-forgetfulness should take the shape of crushing our self-will, not neglecting the watchfulness that is essential to the absolute love of God. As the great preacher of the First Covenant stated: “Don’t try to be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself?”[3] There’s nothing more upsetting than a conceited Christian.

The greater your love, the more jealously you will watch over yourself so that nothing unworthy of that love may creep in.[4]

Archbishop François Fénelon

 (1651-1725)

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[1] 1 Corinthians 4:10

[2] Matthew 18:3

[3] Ecclesiastes 7:16

[4] Fénelon, François: Paraclete Giants, The Complete Fénelon, Translated and Edited by Robert J. Edmonson, Paraclete Press, Brewster, Massachusetts, 2008, p. 53; Vocabulary and grammar redacted by Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LVIII) 04/08/22

^4:8 If a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that they don’t know God – for God is love.

Warren W. Wiersbe (1929-2019) points out that it is one thing to “know” something, but that is only the beginning of gaining intimate knowledge. For example, the verb “know” is used in Torah to describe the intimate union of husband and wife.[1] To know God means to be in an in-depth relationship with Him – to share His life and enjoy His agápe-love. This knowing is not simply a matter of understanding facts; it is perceiving truth.[2]

Wiersbe then offers this illustration: Someone stole a large quantity of radioactive material from a hospital. When the hospital administrator notified the police, he said, “Please warn the thief that he is carrying death with him and that the radioactive material cannot be successfully hidden. As long as he has it in his possession, it is affecting him disastrously!” A person who claims to know and be in union with God but continues to hate a fellow believer will be devastatingly affected by this relationship. A Christian ought to become what God is, and “God is love.” To argue otherwise is to prove that one is not serious about knowing God![3]

Simon J. Kistenmaker (1930-2017) says that verses seven and eight are among the treasured passages of the entire epistle. They speak of love that originates in God, describing the believer as someone who loves and knows God. By contrast, unbelievers do not love because they do not know God. When the Apostle John compares the believer with the unbeliever, he observes that knowledge of God is nonexistent when love is absent. The person who fails to commune with God in prayer and neglects to read the Bible cannot be the instrument through which God demonstrates His divine love. The unbeliever has not even begun to know God. Without knowledge of God, there is no love. Love and knowledge of God are two sides of the same coin.[4]

Stephen S. Smalley (1931-2018) mentions that Love cannot be the measure of knowing God; similarly, a lack of love does not prove that no relationship with God exists. But because God’s nature is Love, the knowledge of God should lead to love for others. The positive implication here is more important than the negative. The vital thing to keep in mind is that anyone who enters into a personal relationship with a loving God can be transformed into a caring person.[5]

Edward J. Malatesta (1932-1998) feels that the Apostle John wants to impress his readers that Love is not just some physical emotion or mental projection. Instead, it shows that they have a personal relationship with God, who is Love. And with Him now being present in their lives through the Spirit, Love is an act of the will in obedience to God’s command.[6] By contrast, says John, if you do not love your fellow man, especially God’s other children, you don’t have a personal relationship with God. Therefore, since it’s entirely about Love, it’s all about God.[7]

Ian Howard Marshall (1934-2015) notes that “God is Love”[8] is rightly recognized as one of the high peaks of divine revelation in this Epistle. Logically, the statement stands parallel with “God is Light”[9] and “God is Spirit”[10] as one of the three great Johannine expressions of the nature of God. Some theologians give the impression that the present statement is superior to the other two, but give no reason why. There is also no need to enter into a historical survey of the teaching of Scripture on this point. It would demonstrate that this statement is simply the most precise expression of a doctrine of the nature of God that is proven throughout its pages. Equally, it would show no similar picture of God outside the Scripture. God is all-loving and, equally, all-holy.[11] These two characteristics do not stand in opposition to one another but belong together and determine His actions. Consequently, it is not surprising that John does not stay on the level of abstract theological assertion, but proceeds directly to speak of the practical way God showed His agápe-love.[12]

Messianic writer David Stern (1935) notes that this simple sentence embodies the most profound religious truth. Yet, it can be perverted into a meaningless slogan, in which God is pictured as some sort of floating fuzz-ball of love, accepting everything and judging nothing. It is wrong for two reasons: (1) God’s agápe-love is not a mere feeling but action, as the familiar teaches:[13] (2) God is not only loving; He is also justice, pouring out wrath on those who reject His mercy.[14] Therefore, believers must proclaim God’s love and hatred for sin and His intolerance of human pride that presumes on God: God is not mocked.[15] [16]

Muncia Walls (1937) says that we should be aware that love alone does not define God for us. Nor can we express love in the same way we would explain our feelings toward our loved ones. It would not be proper to say that two people in love are manifesting God. Their passion may be strictly carnal, without any thought of God involved in their relationship. So, in this manner, we could say that love does not define for us what God is.[17] In other words, “GOD” is another way to spell “LOVE.”

Stanley L. Derickson (1940) points out that we must keep in mind that God is love: “Those who do not love do not know God because God is love.”[18] God’s very nature is that of love. He exudes love in all that He does for humanity. Even in judgment upon the earth after the fall, He left us a beautiful planet to behold. He gave us many things to enjoy in this life.

As a fellowship, we pledge to walk in Christian love, remember each other in prayer, aid one another in Christian living[19] and help those sick and in need.[20] There should be no gossip, backbiting, or anger, being slow to take offense and quick to reconcile, keeping unity and peace.[21] So loving one another was not a pet doctrine of the Apostle John. On the contrary, all the apostles emphasized it as a hallmark of Christians living in love.[22]

Michael Eaton (1942-2017) notes that the person who does not love may still be a Christian (for every Christian has had times when they have not shown love). John is not denying anyone’s Christian conversion. His point is rather that at that point in their life, knowledge of God was not functioning. John explicitly does not say that lack of love is proof of not having been born of God. He cannot say that would imply that it is impossible for the Christian not to love. John knows that some of His little children have fallen into lovelessness.[23] Yet he does not deny the reality of their first faith.[24] In truth, they have become like the Laodiceans; they are neither hot nor cold.[25] God tells them that, like water, He doesn’t mind if they are hot or cold, but lukewarm makes Him want to spit them out.

From what William Loader (1944) says about this verse, we can assume that the Apostle John did not mean that God had love, but that the God of love is loving.  And, more than that, John sees such loving as a manifestation of God’s being. He seems not to think of loving independently of God. Another way of saying this would describe every act of loving as a work of the Spirit. It is a theology of spiritual love. It calls to mind Jesus’ persistent tendency to address the issue of God, and God’s relationship with people, by telling stories about human love and generosity, the most famous instance being the parable of the prodigal son.[26] [27] I would agree with Loader that it illustrates a father loving his son. But for me, the Good Samaritan parable tells about loving a stranger, [[28] while the thief on the cross is an example of loving a sinner.[29]

Robert W. Yarbrough (1948) notes that of the eighteen Final Covenant occurrences of “the one who does not,” nearly half are on Jesus’s lips.[30] The Apostle Paul uses the phrase three times.[31] The other seven occurrences are in First John.[32] John has already spoken of “the one who” does not do what’s right and does not confess Jesus as having come from God. He has also spoken twice of “the one who” lacks love, in this case, brotherly love: such a person is not from God, and, worse, they “abide in death.”

In an age of increasing tolerance of the notion that all religions amount to the same thing, it is worth noting that John’s picture of God is part of a unique affirmation. Further, John does not say that love is God, a statement found nowhere in Scripture. To do so would replace a living, personal, and active God with an intellectual, ethical, purposeful, or emotional concept – the last thing that the language of John’s First Epistle or the graphic portrayal of God incarnate in the Gospels would permit.[33]

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[1] Genesis 4:1

[2] 1 John 2:3-5

[3] Wiersbe, Warren W., Be Real; Turning from Hypocrisy to Truth, (The BE Series Commentary) op. cit., pp. 139-140 

[4] Kistemaker, Simon J., New Testament Commentary, op. cit., pp. 330-331

[5] Smalley, Stephen S., Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 51, op. cit., p. 238

[6] See 1 John 4:21

[7] Malatesta, Edward J., Interiority and Covenant, op. cit., p. 295

[8] 1 John 4:8

[9] Ibid. 1:5

[10] John 4:24

[11] 1 John 1:5

[12] Marshall, I. Howard. The Epistles of John (The New International Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., pp. 212-213

[13] John 3:16

[14] Romans 1:18–2:16, 3:19–20

[15] Galatians 6:7

[16] Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament Commentary, Kindle Edition.

[17] Walls, Muncia: Epistles of John & Jude, op. cit., p. 73

[18] 1 John 4:8

[19] Ibid 4:7-8

[20] James 5:14

[21] Ephesians 4:31-2

[22] Derickson, Stanley L., Notes on Theology, op. cit., pp. 255, 1160

[23] Revelation 2:4

[24] Eaton, Michael: Focus on the Bible, 1,2,3 John, op. cit., p. 142

[25] Revelation 3:15-16

[26] See Luke 15:11-32

[27] Loader, William: Epworth Commentary, op. cit., p. 52

[28] Luke 10:25-37

[29] Ibid. 23:32-43

[30] Matthew 12: 30^x2; Luke 11: 23^x2; 22: 36; John 5: 23; 10: 1; 14: 24

[31] Romans 14: 6, 22; 1 Corinthians 7: 38

[32] 1 John 3: 10^x2, 14; 4: 3, 8; 5: 10, 12

[33] Yarbrough, Robert W., 1-3 John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), op. cit., p. 236-237

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LVII) 04/07/22

^4:8 If a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that they don’t know God – for God is love.

Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) tells an interesting story about the theme of verse eight. He says, years ago, a lady who prided herself on belonging to the intelligentsia said to him, “I have no use for the Bible, nor for Christian superstition and religious dogma. It is enough for me to know that God is love.” “Well,” said Ironside, “do you know it?” “Why, of course, I do,” she said; “we all know that, and it is religion enough for me. I do not need the doctrines of the Bible.” “How did you find out that God is love?” Ironside asked. “Why,” she exclaimed, “everybody knows that!”

“Do they know it over in India?” Ironside asked. “That poor mother in her distress throwing her little babe into the holy Ganges to be eaten by filthy and repulsive crocodiles as a sacrifice for her sins – does she know that God is love?” “Oh, well, she is ignorant and superstitious,” the lady replied. “Those poor wretched natives in the jungles of Africa, bowing down to gods of wood and stone, and in constant fear of their images, the poor heathen in other countries, do they know that God is love?” “Perhaps not,” she said, “but in a civilized land, we all know it.” “But how is it that we know it? Who told us so? Where did we find it out?” inquired Ironside. “I do not understand what you mean,” she said, “for I’ve always known it.” “Let me tell you this,” Ironside answered; “no one in the world ever knew it until it was revealed from heaven and recorded in the Word of God. It is here and nowhere else. It is not found in all the literature of the ancients.”[1]

Charles H. Dodd (1884-1973) states that the Apostle John adds a theological statement of the utmost importance in this eighth verse, which justifies his teaching: for God is love. In this form, this statement might appear to identify God with an abstract principle and imply an impersonal conception of Deity. But it is clear that this is not John’s intention, for, in the context, he speaks of the agápe-love of God and says that love belongs to God and that God loved us. God, therefore, is presented as the personal Subject of the act of love. Yet, the proposition, “God is love,” is intended to go further than the proposal, “God loves us.”

What is its meaning, asks Dodd? Christianity always assumed the Hebrew conception of Deity as the “living God.” In the First Covenant, there is little or no speculation about the nature of God as He is in Himself. In His actions, people recognize God as the Creator of the world, Ruler of mankind, and the Saving King of His people. History is the canvas of His self-revelation, and communion with Him is conditioned by obedience to His commands. Accordingly, the Word of God is not primarily the communication of knowledge about the divine nature; it is the active energy by which the world was made and sustained, by which believers are called into active fellowship with God in carrying out His purpose.

If therefore, notes Dodd, we ask what God is, the answer must speak in terms of what He does. He creates and sustains the universe; He judges the world in righteousness; He helps those in distress; He guides those who submit to His will; He forgives the repentant. Now Christianity takes over this Hebrew conception of the “living God.” It is an idea in the Gospel teaching about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is essentially dynamic, not static. The Kingdom is something that comes as an event in history. Its coming means that God has acted to fulfill His purpose. The Kingdom of God came with the Anointed One. Consequently, the character of His action is to be discovered from the life, teaching, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Anointed One. If this is to be put in terms defined in the First Covenant as the “Word of God.” Thus, it may be expressed based on “the Word was made flesh” in Jesus the Anointed One. [2]

Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) notes that when it is said of “love” that “it is of God,” then “to be of” characterizes the origin and thus the nature of love, as elsewhere; it is the “way of God.” We can say that the ones loving “are born of God,” corresponding with other expressions.[3] It is told so that love is emphasized as the mark of having been born of God. Again, “and knows God” corresponds to phrases in earlier passages[4] keeping the commandments serves as the mark of knowledge of God; here, it is “love,” which, together with “belief,” is the content of the commandments (or commandment).[5] [6]

Amos N. Wilder (1895-1993) reminds us (a) that Love here is not merely an attribute of God but defines His nature in a practical rather than philosophical sense. God’s nature is not exhausted by the quality of love, but love governs all its aspects and expressions. (b) The Greek term used here for love – agápe – is God’s creation in Christians. Greek-speaking Jews no longer used pagan phrases for love to translate Hebrew words expressing the agápe-love of God and the love of neighbor. Then the church transformed it with meanings understood in the Christian experience, (c) The present verse requires a personal light or spirit, as used in pagan religious teaching. Thus, emphasizing the significance of God, not only for nature and history but for personal religion and ethics, was revolutionary.[7]

But when God revealed this masterpiece of grace – His only begotten Son – it was in a stable smelling of manure in Bethlehem amidst the surroundings of poverty. But the question is, who has believed that love? Many have heard about it, but it makes a vast difference when believed. Rainsford then tells us that one day he stood by the death bed of a young man; his wife was beside him, and some friends were in the adjoining room. Rainsford was there speaking with them. And one earnest young man said, “Sir, can you understand why God allows such sorrow as that?” And Rainsford said, “Honestly, I don’t understand it either; but I know that God loves us and knows what is best for us.” Then Rainsford asks, supposing you have a friend in trouble, and you loan him £20,000. Do you think you should watch him starve for the lack of a sandwich? Well, then, if God loves us so much that He gives His Son, let us trust Him for the rest, though we cannot understand it.[8]

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) points out that love is one of the things emphasized more than anything else in the Final Covenant. At the end of His ministry, our blessed Lord Himself kept repeating this same thing – “love one another.” He constantly told them that the world would be against them and that they would have tribulation. “But,” he kept saying, “love one another, and that is how the world will know that you are my disciples.”[9] It is how You can demonstrate more clearly than anything else that you are God’s faithful followers and that you are God’s children. You will find this standing out in an exceptional way if you read John’s Gospel, chapters 13-17. But it is indeed a great theme running right through the Gospels and the Epistles.[10] So, why then is there so much emphasis on loving God and not loving each other?

John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) notes that verses seven and eight should be read as one. It completes the Apostle John’s thought on the pros and cons of love. Not only is God the source of all true love; He is love in His innermost being. There are three other statements in the Final Covenant concerning what God is in substance and nature: He is “spirit,”[11] He is “light,”[12] and He is “a consuming fire.”[13] The Gnostics believed that God is immaterial spirit and light, but they never taught that God is love.[14]

John Phillips (1927-2010) says that the Apostle John tells us why we should love in verse eight. At last, the ultimate revelation about God – “God is love!” The truth has always been there, woven into the tapestry of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The Mosaic Law, for all its great principles, precepts, and penalties, is quite unable to hide the loving-kindness of God. Throughout the Psalms and prophecies, the dark skies of judgment are unable to conceal His love’s rainbow. It was manifest in the flesh in everything Jesus was and did and said, shining out in the Epistles in many a pragmatic demand that we love the Lord and love the lost and love the Lord’s people. Now John writes it down without quibble or qualification – “God is love.”

Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) reminds us of the other two Johannine descriptions, God is Spirit, [15] God is Light, [16] and now, God is love.[17] The Apostle John does not simply say, “God loves,” loving is not just another act of God, like reproduction. Instead, all God’s activity is love in action. Nor does John say, “Love is God,” for he is interested in a visible person’s loving activity, not some abstract image they only imagine because He is invisible. This verse requires a personal view of God we see in others.[18]

In verse eight, David E. Hiebert (1928-1995) points out that the Apostle John presents the opposite picture of what he said in verse seven. The negative with the present tense views one who is unloving in attitude and practice. The absence of love in their life proves that they “do not know God” and that they have never come to know what God is like personally. Because John uses the aorist tense in “does not,” he has them looking back to the time of their professed conversion. Not knowing love shows that they are still a stranger to God. As Bible scholar Edward McDowell remarks, “Ignorance of God and, we may deduce, misinterpretations and misrepresentations of God, are traceable to the absence of love in men’s hearts.”[19] The reason for this is that it’s God’s agápe-love.[20]

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[1] Ironside, Harry A., The Epistles of John and Jude, op. cit., pp. 137-138

[2] Dodd, Charles H., Moffett Commentary, Johannine Epistles, op. cit., pp.107-108

[3] 1 John 2:29; 3:9

[4] Ibid. 2:3ff

[5] Ibid. 1 John 4:21; 2:10; 3:23

[6] Bultmann, Rudolf: Hermeneia, Critical and Historical Commentary, op. cit., pp. 66-67

[7] Wilder, Amos N., The Interpreter’s Bible, op. cit., 1 John, Exposition, pp. 279-280

[8] Rainsford, Marcus: The Biblical Illustrator, op. cit., 1 John 4, p. 69

[9] John 13:35

[10] Lloyd-Jones, Martyn: Life in the Anointed One, op. cit., p. 420

[11] John 4:24

[12] 1 John 1:5

[13] Hebrews 12:29, cf. Deuteronomy 4:24

[14] Stott, John. The Letters of John (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries), op. cit., p. 161

[15] John 4:24

[16] 1 John 1:5

[17] Ibid. 4:8

[18] Brown, Raymond E., The Anchor Bible, op. cit., Vol. 30, p. 515

[19] McDowell, Edward A., 1-2-3 John, in The Broadman Bible Commentary, Broadman Press, Nashville 12:216

[20] Hiebert, David E., Bibliotheca Sacra, op. cit., January-March 1990, p. 72

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

By Dr. Robert R Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson LVI) 04/06/22

^4:8 If a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that they don’t know God – for God is love.

John Morlais Jones (1843-1905) states that God’s agápe-love makes believing possible. It would be impossible to think if we did not know that “God is love.” Most people accept the Bible as a marvelous, historical book full of psalms and proverbs. But when you speak of the Cross, of the “Lamb of God,” upon whom the world’s sins laid, of eternal punishment if His offer of grace is not accepted, people begin to hesitate and stammer. “No, no; that is incredible; that can never be,” they say. But the agápe-love of God makes every item of the Anointed One’s story believable. We have all seen the miracles that love works. The Cross will be forever the symbol of love’s perfect triumph, not shame, humiliation, grief, and embarrassment. It was love that did it. “God’s agápe-love” for a lost and dying world full of hopeless, hostile sinners.[1] And then we have difficulty loving our neighbors or fellow believers!

Clement Clemance (1845-1886) says the Apostle John once again varies his thinking. Instead of “Love is of God, [2] we have “God is Love” – a far deeper thought; and instead of “knows not God,” we “never knew God.” A person not loving their spiritual brother or sister shows that in no real sense have they ever in the past known God; they are of the world, [3] not of God. We must beware of watering down “God is Love” to “God is loving,” or even “God not only loves you, but He’s also in love with you.” Love is not merely a Godly attribute; it is His very nature. As “God as Light” sums up “being of God” on the knowledge side, so “God is Love” adds up the same on the moral side. Only when we apply this strong meaning to the statement does John’s argument hold, that “they that don’t know love don’t know God.”[4]

Aaron M. Hills (1848-1911) addressed that redemption and salvation are gifts of God’s agápe-love tells us that the Scriptures point out that there are two sorts of spiritual love: One Created, the other Uncreated. Love uncreated is God Himself, and the Third Person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle John says, “God is love.”[5] That is the Holy Spirit. Love created is the affection of the soul produced by the Holy Spirit out of sight and with the knowledge that God stirred it up and placed it in the heart. This agápe-love is created, for the Holy Spirit makes it. Agápe-love is not God, for it is made: but it is the love of the soul felt by the sight of Jesus and came alive in Him.

Now, says Hills, may you see that created love is not the cause why a soul comes into the spiritual Light of Jesus. And some may think that they could love God so fervently, as it were by their strength, that they might be worthy to know Him spiritually. No, it is not so, but love uncreated, God Himself, is the cause for gaining this knowledge. A blind wretched soul is so far from the clear knowing and the blessed feeling of His agápe-love, through sin and frailty of its human nature, that it could never exist were not for the infinite greatness of God’s agápe-love. But because He loves us so much, He gives us His agápe-love, the Holy Spirit. He is both the giver and the gift, and makes us then by that gift to know and love Him.[6]

James B. Morgan (1850-1942) says that “speaking the truth in love” is the Final Covenant’s rule for the Christian. God’s uncompromising faithfulness is not inconsistent with His extraordinary tenderness. Our Lord is known as “the faithful and true witness,” yet He was the embodiment of love. He spoke more plainly and severely, yet more affectionately, than any other public teacher. In these traits of character, the Apostle John, most resembles Him. And we do not need to go beyond the passage before us, says Morgan. Two duties, implying severity, are joined in verses seven and eight. First, he calls upon the members of the Church to exercise a strict vigilance over the faithfulness of its ministers, charging them to “try the Spirits.” Then he demands that they will be no less rigorous in judging themselves, whether they are profitable hearers of the word. They should determine whether they are guided by “the spirit of truth, or the spirit of error.” But having thus faithfully called them to these urgent duties, John returns to his favorite theme of love, on which he had been previously speaking. He pours out the tender address of the text, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God and everyone that loves are born of God and knows God. Those that do not love do not know God, for God is love.”

Morgan asks: “Is this the Christian’s model?” Yes. “They know God who is born of God.” What manner of conversation then must this blessed individual exhibit? They are “of God,” created by Him, dependent on Him, who is Love.” They are “born of God,” born anew by the grace of His Spirit – who is love. “They know God,” are acquainted with Him as a friend, live in communion with Him – who is love. What must they be? The ray of light that radiates from the sun is light. The beam of love that sparkles from the eye is love. Any child of God, a companion of His Son, and the temple of His Spirit must also love as He loves. Oh! How natural for such a one to say – “Beloved, let us love one another; love is of God, and everyone who loves is born and knows God.” They that don’t love don’t know God: for God is Love.[7]

William Sinclair (1850-1917) says that this may be considered the central portion of the second half of the Apostle John’s First Epistle. Nothing could be more significant than his teaching. Here many trains of thought which have occurred before are gathered together in one grand treatise on love, divine and human – the complement of the thirteenth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians.

In the early part of the Epistle, John defined God as Light, and his thoughts grouped around and with that central idea. But, of course, it would be impossible to exhaust all the definitions of God. And just as we might classify our human nature as intellectual and moral, mind and heart, thought and emotion, so, when we consider God to be Light (embracing all such divine attributes like truth, knowledge, purity, power, and justice), we will not have an outline listing all that we can know of God’s Divine nature or all that we should understand until we have also considered Him to be Love. God is the Author and Source of all Divine kindness, compassion, friendliness, and rejoicing in creating eternal life for everlasting happiness. This way, God offers timeless bliss to all His human family, eternally surrounded by inexhaustible artworks of the joy and glory of perfection.[8]

Reverend William F. Harper (1854-1930) notes that the Apostle John did not address his Epistle to any local Church. He was by now an elderly servant of God. The Apostles Peter, James, and Paul had all gone “to be with the Anointed One”[9] to await the resurrection, and he survived them all. The phrase “God is love” is one of the golden sentences only to be found in the Book of God. It is “an ocean of thought in a droplet of language.” Even during the short amount of time, it took to write this letter, it came from the pen of someone who laid his head on his Master’s shoulder at the Last Supper.

Therefore, John is more than qualified to share these insights. First, here is the source of salvation. (a) God sent His Son. That was love. (b) The Anointed One came. That was love. (c) The Holy Spirit distributes God’s agápe-love in our hearts.[10] That is love. (d) So, every saved soul is saved, sanctified, and maintained by love.

Secondly, here is the fountain of comfort. How refreshing to be able to fall back upon this truth in a world giving us a welcome basket filled with – tears, difficulties, anxieties, burdens, clouds, heart-aches, heart-breaks, sick-beds, death-beds, graves, etc., – but “God is love.”’ Every believer may say, “Not a single love arrow can hit until the God of Love sees fit.”[11] Thirdly, here is our hope for the future. (a) In heaven, there is rest. (b) In heaven, there is light. “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”[12] (c) But above all, there is love in heaven, for “God is Love.”[13]

Alonzo R. Cocke (1858-1901) says that love indicates the presence of God’s life in the heart, but it is also essential to any proper knowledge of God. By participating in the divine life, we are born of God and have the capacity for knowing God through love. By love, we know God, for we participate by loving in that which is the very nature of God. The unregenerate person cannot know God and commune with Him in His divine plans and purposes, for they do not have God’s nature. Those that do not love lack Christian love that flows from the eternal fountain of God’s agápe-love, and it is along the channel of its flow alone that we can come to the great sea of His being and fathom its infinite depths. Love is not only a mark of that higher life which proceeds from God, but it is the door of entrance into the treasure-house of his nature. It is a ray from the eternal source of divine life shining in the face of all His children, and it is also the light that guides them to their home in God’s heart and reveals all its wealth of affection.[14]

Albert Barnes (1872-1951) says that never was a more critical declaration made than this nor more meaning crowded into a few words than in these – “God is love.” In the darkness of this world of sin – all the sorrows that blanket the human race and will come and inflict the wicked hereafter – we have the assurance that a God of infinite kindness rules overall. However, we may not be able to reconcile all that occurs with this declaration or see how the things which God has permitted to take place are consistent with it. Yet, in the exercise of faith in His testimony, we find consolation in “believing” that it is so. We may also look forward to a period when all His universe will see it to be so. In the midst of all that occurs on the earth of sadness, sin, and sorrow, there is abundant evidence that God is love.[15]

In the arrangements made to alleviate sin and sorrow, notes Barnes, a Savior was prepared to offer eternal life on terms simple and easy to accept. In all these things, which are the mere expressions of love, we see illustrations of the sublime and glorious sentiment before us that “God is love.” Even in this world of confusion, disorder, and darkness, we have evidence sufficient to prove that He is kindhearted. But the full glory and meaning of that truth will be seen only in heaven. Meantime, let us hold on to the reality that He is love. Let us believe that He sincerely desires our good and that what seems dark to us may be designed for our welfare, and amidst all the sorrows and disappointments of the present life, let us feel that our interests and our destiny are in the hands of the God of love.[16] [17]

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[1] Jones, John Morlais, The Biblical Illustrator, op. cit., 1 John 4, pp. 54-55

[2] 1 John 4:7

[3] 1 John 3:1

[4] Clemance, Clement: First Epistle of John, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, Exposition, op. cit., p. 103

[5] 1 John 4:8

[6] Hills, Aaron M., The Scale of Perfection, Bk. 1, Part 3, p. 179

[7] Morgan, James B., An Exposition of the First Epistle of John, op. cit., Lecture XXXI, p. 314

[8] Sinclair, William: A New Testament for English Readers, Ed. Charles J. Ellicott, op. cit., p. 488

[9] 2 Corinthians 5:8

[10] Romans 5:5

[11] Sovereign Ruler of the Skies, by John Ryland (1753-1825), inspired by Psalm 103:19

[12] 1 Corinthians 13:12

[13] Harper, William F., The Church Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., Vol. 12, pp. 292-293

[14] Cocke, Alonzo R., Studies in the Epistles of John, op. cit., loc., cit., Logos

[15] Barnes, Albert: Notes on N.T., op. cit., p. 4864

[16] 2 Corinthians 13:11; 1 John 4:16

[17] Barnes, Albert: New Testament Notes, op. cit., p. 4864