This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
Parallel translations
- KJV And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
- BSB And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
- NKJV And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
- NASB And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
- NLT And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
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
Christ himself commanded that whoever loves God must also love his brother. Love for God and love for neighbor are inseparably bound by his command.
Overview
John grounds the duty of mutual love in the explicit command of Jesus, recalling the Lord's summary of the law (Mark 12:30-31; John 13:34). Loving God and loving fellow believers are not two optional virtues but one bound obligation. This closes the chapter by rooting Christian love not merely in logic but in the authority of Christ's word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Matt 22:37–39Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
- Lev 19:18“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
- 1 Jn 3:11For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
- Gal 5:14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
- 1 Pet 3:8Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tender hearted, courteous,
- 1 Th 4:9But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,
- John 13:34–35A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
- John 15:12“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
- Rom 12:9–10Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
- 1 Pet 4:8And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.
- 1 Jn 3:23This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
- 1 Jn 3:14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death.
- Mark 12:29–33Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one:
- 1 Jn 4:11Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
- Gal 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
- Rom 13:9–10For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Luke 10:37He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
- 1 Jn 3:18My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
- Matt 5:43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:21 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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