God's Children Love One Another with God's Love.

Compare 1 John 4:16 and "Divine Love: Does God Love Everyone?" below. John, known as the apostle of love, shares the greatest love, the incarnation of Christ (John 15:13). John's main concern was that his readers understand that God's act of sending his one and only Son into the world (1 John 4:9) was the supreme display of love. This act demonstrated such magnificent love that John was able to say that God is love, that love is such an integral part of his being that he personifies this quality. Calvin says it even more descriptively:

The love of God toward us is testified also by many other proofs. If you ask why the world has been created, why we have been placed in it to rule over the earth, why we are preserved in life to enjoy innumerable blessings, why we are endued with light and understanding, no other reason can be given except the free love of God. But the apostle here has chosen the principal evidence of it, that which far surpasses everything else. It was not only an immeasurable love that God did not spare his own Son, that by his death he might restore us to life; it was also the most marvelous goodness, which should fill our minds with the greatest wonder and amazement. Christ, then, is so illustrious and remarkable a proof of divine love toward us that whenever we look at him, he fully confirms the truth that God is love.

Two popular misunderstandings of this verse should be distinguished from John's intention. First of all, John did not say, "Love is God" (i.e., that love and God are synonymous or interchangeable in every respect). Nor did John say, "God is only love," (i.e., that all of God's other attributes, such as holiness, justice, power or wisdom, are unimportant or null because of his love). Nevertheless, we fail to understand the praise offered to God in this statement unless we see that John was overwhelmed with the divine love shown in the incarnation of God's Son. See below. See WCF 2.1.

Since God has loved us in such a way (John 15:13) to result in such a great salvation (Heb 2:3), we ought to love others in the same self-sacrificial way.

God is love. See WCF 2.1. Whoever does not love other people cannot possibly know God (see note on 4:20). Because God is love, those who truly know and love him will also love his image-bearers, human beings. John is not saying, Love is God, rather he is defining love by God's character. John's letter is shaped by two fundamental messages about God in 1:5 and 4:8, which informs 3:11 (see notes). 'God is light' and 'God is love' are messages that he unpacks through his testimony about Jesus. God's light and love are rooted in his goodness, that is, his restorative justice. The Father reveals his love for the world by sending the Son as an atoning sacrifice for sins, the just for the unjust, and as an example of loyal, obedient and sacrificial love (see notes on 3:16; cf. Jn. 15:12-15).

Note how John explains for whom Christ died in the context of 1 John 4:9-11, 14:

1 John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Observe how John specifies for whom Christ died: "God showed his love among us," "that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9), "he loved us" and he is "an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10) "friends" since "God so loved us" (1 John 4:11).

We might add that John 3:16-17 is not in disagreement with this interpretation. It reveals two things: (1) that God sent Christ in order to save "everyone who believes" (John 3:16) and (2) that God sent Christ in order to save the world (John 3:17).

The first point is not so clear in most translations. The Greek, however, is quite clear. It identifies a specific group of people whom God sent Christ to save, and it labels them "all the believers" (pas ho piston). Greek does have a way to say "whoever" (hos tis), but that is not the language used here. More literally, the text ought to be translated something like: "in order that everyone who believes in him should not perish." Older translations often render the verse in this way (e.g. Wycliff [1380], Tyndale [1534], Geneva [1557], Rheims [1582]), as do modern versions such as the NRSV. The same is true throughout this passage (e.g. John 3:18). In other words, neither in John 3:16 nor anywhere else in this context does John state that it was God's intention to make salvation possible for everyone, or to save an undefined group of people. Instead, he states that God's purpose was to save all the believers. Clearly, a universal atonement is not necessary for the accomplishment of this purpose. Rather, the fact that God's purpose was limited to saving believers actually strengthens the case for limited atonment by demonstrating that it was never God's intention to save everyone.

The second mention of God's intention in sending his Son is found in John 3:17. There we see that God sent Christ in order to save "the world." For more on this see "For God So Loved - John 3:16-21" below. See "Definite Atonement: For Whom Did Jesus Die?" below.

God sent his one and only Son… the propitiation. God reveals himself by sending his unique, dearly loved son (see notes Rom 8:32; cf. Gen 22:12). By living in accord with God's will, laying down his life, and being raised in vindication, Christ is qualified to give life to God's people. To live in the fullest sense, according to John and the rest of the Scriptures, is to love God and other people fully, that is, in the same way that Jesus loved. On propitiation or atoning sacrifice see note on 2:2.

According to Smalley, "John maintains that God cannot, in fact, be seen; but he then goes on to draw a contrast between this truth and the equal truth that he can (in any case) be spiritually discerned through the exercise of a love which he himself inspires." The Spirit of the God, who is love, lives within Christians. As a result, Christians' lives should be characterized by love for others. Christians love because the One who loves them is in them. God can be seen indirectly in the fruit of love his Spirit produces in Christians. See "The Holy Spirit: Do All Believers Have the Holy Spirit?" below.

no one has ever seen God. John makes this point repeatedly in the Fourth Gospel (see notes on Jn. 1:18; 5:37; 6:46). Though God is a spirit, God's presence and fellowship is experienced when his love comes to Christ-like maturity in the congregation of his people, in both their worship and their witness.