No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
Parallel translations
- WEB No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
- KJV No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
- BSB No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
- NASB No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
- NLT No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
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
No one has ever seen God, but when believers love one another, God lives in them and his love reaches its goal. Our love makes the unseen God visible.
Overview
Echoing John 1:18, this verse notes that God is invisible, yet his presence is made evident through the mutual love of his people. 'His love has been perfected' means God's love attains its intended purpose as it works itself out in the community of believers. Christian love thus becomes a tangible witness to a watching world of the God it cannot see.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- John 1:18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
- 1 Jn 2:5But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:
- 1 Jn 4:17–18In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.
- 1 Tim 6:16who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
- 1 Jn 4:20If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
- 1 Jn 3:24He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
- Exod 33:20He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”
- 1 Jn 4:6We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
- Heb 11:27By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
- Num 12:8With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”
- Gen 32:30Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
- 1 Tim 1:17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 1 Cor 13:13But now faith, hope, and love remain — these three. The greatest of these is love.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
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 4:12 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.