Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
Parallel translations
- WEB Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
- BSB Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- NKJV Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- NASB Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- NLT Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because God loved us so sacrificially, we are obligated to love one another in the same way. God's love received becomes love shared.
Overview
John draws a practical conclusion from the cross: the immense love shown in Christ creates a duty and capacity to love fellow believers. The standard is not mere sentiment but the self-giving love displayed at Calvary. Calling his readers 'beloved,' John reminds them that they are themselves objects of this love and so are to extend it onward.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 15:12–13This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
- Col 3:13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
- John 13:34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
- 1 Jn 3:23And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
- Luke 10:37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
- 1 Jn 3:16–17Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
- 2 Cor 8:8–9I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
- Eph 4:31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
- Matt 18:32–33Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 4:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.