And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Parallel translations
- WEB We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
- BSB And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- NKJV And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- NASB We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
- NLT We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
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
We have come to know and trust God's love for us; since God is love, whoever abides in love abides in God. Faith and love flow from God's own nature.
Overview
John restates 'God is love' (4:8) and ties knowing and believing this love to abiding in God. To 'remain in love' is to live in the sphere of God's love and to extend it to others, which is the natural fruit of true faith. This verse summarizes the chapter: God's love, embraced by faith, draws the believer into ongoing communion with God himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Jn 3:24And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
- Ps 36:7–9How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
- 1 Jn 3:1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
- 1 Jn 4:8–10He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
- Ps 18:1–3I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
- 1 Jn 4:12–13No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
- 1 Jn 3:16Hereby 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.
- Ps 31:19Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
- 1 Cor 2:9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
- John 6:69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
- Isa 64:4For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
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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 4:16 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
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