Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
- KJV He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
- NKJV He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
- NASB The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- NLT But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
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
Whoever does not love does not truly know God, because God's very nature is love. Genuine knowledge of God always produces love.
Overview
John makes love the test of authentic fellowship with God: since God is love, those who belong to him will reflect that love toward others. 'God is love' describes his essential character, not merely an emotion he has, and it is most fully revealed in the gift of his Son. To lack love is therefore evidence of never having truly known God.
Cross-references & the web
Theme
- The Love of God"God is love."
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Jn 4:16And 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.
- 1 Jn 4:7Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- Ps 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- 2 Cor 13:11Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
- Ps 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- Exod 34:6–7Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Eph 2:4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- 1 Jn 1:5And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
- 1 Jn 3:6No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.
- 1 Jn 2:9If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
- John 8:54–55Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say ‘He is our God.’
- 1 Jn 2:4If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- Heb 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:8 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.