1 John 4:7-5:12
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
Be Loving One Another, Because The Love Is From God
7 Beloved, let us be loving one another. Because the love[a] is from God! And everyone loving has been born[b] from God, and knows God. 8 The one not loving did not know God, because God is love.
God Made His Love Known To Us By Sending His Son
9 By this God’s love was made-known among[c] us: that God has sent-forth His only-born[d] Son into the world in order that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love— not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and sent-forth His Son to be the satisfaction[e] for our sins.
We Ought To Be Loving As He Loved Us
11 Beloved, if God loved us in-this-manner[f], we also ought to be loving one another.
Love Makes the Unseen God Visible In Us, Together With Our Confession of Christ
12 No one has ever seen God; if we are loving[g] one another, God is abiding in us, and His love[h] has been perfected[i] in us. 13 By this[j] we know that we are abiding in Him and He in us: because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen, and are testifying that the Father has sent-forth the Son to be Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God is abiding in him and he in God. 16 And we have come-to-know and have believed the love which God has in us.
Love Demonstrates Our Mutual Relationship With God, And Gives Us Confidence
God is love; and the one abiding in the love is abiding in God, and God is abiding in him. 17 By this[k], the love has been perfected with[l] us in order that we may have confidence on the day of judgment. Because just as that One is[m], we also are, in this world. 18 Fear[n] is not in love— rather, perfect love throws fear out, because fear has punishment. And the one fearing has not been perfected in love. 19 We are loving because[o] He first loved us.
Not Loving One Another As He Commanded Proves That We Do Not Love God
20 If someone claims that “I love God” and is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother whom he has seen cannot be loving God Whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this commandment from Him: that the one loving God should be loving his brother also.
Everyone Born of God Believes Jesus Is His Son, Loves His People, Keeps His Commands
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born[p] from God. And everyone loving the One[q] having fathered is loving also the one having been born[r] from Him. 2 By this we know that we are loving[s] the children of God: when we are loving God and doing His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God: that we be keeping His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Because The One Born of God Is Victorious Over The World By Faith In Jesus
4 Because everything having been born from God is being-victorious-over the world. And this is the victory having been-victorious-over the world: our faith!
Who Indeed Is Victorious If Not The One Believing Jesus Is The Son of God!
5 And who is the one being-victorious-over the world if not the one believing[t] that Jesus is the Son of God!
Because Jesus Christ Has The Three-Fold Witness of God
6 This One is the One having come by water and blood[u]: Jesus Christ (not in[v] the water only, but[w] in the water and in the blood). And the Spirit is the One testifying, because[x] the Spirit is the truth. 7 Because[y] the ones testifying are three[z]: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood. And the three are for the[aa] one thing. 9 If we receive the testimony of humans, the testimony of God is greater!
Because God Himself Has Testified That He Has Given Us Eternal Life In His Son
Because[ab] this is the testimony of God: that[ac] He has testified about His Son! 10 The one believing in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one not believing God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God has testified about His Son. 11 And this is the testimony[ad]: that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one having the Son has the life. The one not having the Son of God does not have the life.
Footnotes
- 1 John 4:7 That is, this love, the love just mentioned. Or, love, in an abstract sense.
- 1 John 4:7 Or, fathered. This love flows from a living relationship with God.
- 1 John 4:9 Or, in-connection-with; or, in.
- 1 John 4:9 Or, unique, one-and-only, only-begotten.
- 1 John 4:10 See 2:2.
- 1 John 4:11 Or, to such an extent.
- 1 John 4:12 That is, with the love from God (v 7) made known to us in His Son (v 9).
- 1 John 4:12 Or, our love for Him.
- 1 John 4:12 Or, brought to its goal, brought to full development.
- 1 John 4:13 John knows love cannot stand alone as a witness that God is abiding in us, so he now inseparably links it to two other witnesses, the Spirit and our confession of Christ.
- 1 John 4:17 That is, by this mutual abiding just mentioned, God’s love has been brought to its goal with us, that we may have confidence.
- 1 John 4:17 That is, together with us, along with our cooperation; or, among us, in our mutual love as Christians.
- 1 John 4:17 is... we also are. That is, abiding in the Father’s love; or, reflecting God’s love or character.
- 1 John 4:18 This is a negative reason why such love produces confidence (v 17). Fear is part of a performance-based relationship, with penalties for failure. A mutually-abiding love relationship has no such fear, but rather brings confidence. This is the Greek word order. Or, There is no fear in-connection-with love.
- 1 John 4:19 This is a positive reason why such love produces confidence. Our love is the result of the relationship, not the cause of it.
- 1 John 5:1 Or, fathered.
- 1 John 5:1 the One having... Him. That is, the [God] having fathered [us] is loving also [the children] having been born from Him.
- 1 John 5:1 Or, fathered.
- 1 John 5:2 That is, with love flowing from an abiding relationship with God. In this section, John inseparably binds together love for God, love for His children, believing in His Son, and obeying His commandments. We cannot claim to have one apart from any of the others.
- 1 John 5:5 Or, having-faith, to show the relationship to ‘faith’ in v 4.
- 1 John 5:6 These two historical witnesses may refer to Christ’s baptism (where the Father testified) and death (where the resurrection gave the Father’s testimony); or, His birth (He came in real flesh) and His death (He died a real death); or, the blood and water that came from His side (Jn 19:34, giving testimony to His real humanity and death).
- 1 John 5:6 Or, in-connection-with, by, with.
- 1 John 5:6 John denies some false teaching of his day, the details of which are not certain. We know some denied that God died. They taught that the Spirit of God came on the human Jesus at His baptism and left in Gethsemane. Jesus was not God come in the flesh (4:2), and His death had no significance. Perhaps John is refuting some such teaching here.
- 1 John 5:6 The Spirit is presently adding His testimony to the two historical witnesses because it is His nature to testify to the truth.
- 1 John 5:7 The one believing Jesus is the Son of God is victorious (v 5) because Jesus has the threefold divine testimony to His identity, sufficient proof even in a human court.
- 1 John 5:7 three: the Spirit. Some manuscripts say ‘three in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. And the ones giving testimony on earth are three: the Spirit’.
- 1 John 5:8 That is, they are in agreement.
- 1 John 5:9 The one believing is victorious because he is believing God’s own testimony.
- 1 John 5:9 God’s testimony is that He has testified.
- 1 John 5:11 The content of God’s testimony regarding His Son is now given.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
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