While I was preparing to write this article, a memory came to me from my childhood. I remember visiting relatives and seeing at one of their walls a plaque or frame with three simple words in them, “God is Love”. Let us talk biblically about that beautiful phrase.
A quick online search shows that there are more than 31,000 verses in the Bible. Almost 8,000 of those are in the New Testament. “God is love” is found only two times in the entire Bible, written by the same writer, in the same chapter, and just having a few lines in between. Some Bible versions include those three words as a title or label for that section of the Scriptures. Yes, we are talking about 1 John 4, verses 8 and 16.
“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love … 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 [all emphasis added, MR]”
1 John 4:8, 16, KJV.
These lines and all the lines written by the apostle John in this letter were written to Christians, to those who heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ being preached, and obeyed it (see Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:37-47). It is so important to keep this in mind while reading it, as it was not written to a universal audience (as the Gospel he wrote does).
When we read the verses in between, we read how God manifested His love toward mankind as He “sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). It is clearly stated that is not about us saying we love God, or thinking that we love Him, but about how much He loves us (1 John 4:10). We can also clearly see how important the recipients of this letter are to the writer as he constantly refers to them as “Beloved” (5 times in the entire letter, twice in this section). So, this section of the letter is written by a Christian who loves his brethren and wants, through divine revelation, to let them know about what Christian love is.
God loved, loves, and will always love His creation. He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross to give us hope and a way to reconcile ourselves with Him. This is a sacrificial love (agape). We must love our brethren in the same way. It is not just about saying “I love you”. It is not about giving gifts nor having a romantic dinner. It is about being willing to give ourselves in order to help our brethren in need, just as our Lord did for all of us. That is why the inspired writer wrote “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
It is so sad when some people use these three words as some kind of shield. “Oh, well, God is love, so He will forgive all the bad things I do because He loves me.” “Oh, I know that God is love, and He will not punish us on Judgment Day, that is just something people say to scare others.” “Oh, how a loving God will send His creation to everlasting fire if God is love?”
Let us not use those three words as an excuse to keep a sinful life, expecting that, in the end, because of His love toward us, we will be forgiven. Having those words on a nice frame or plaque in our wall will be a good reminder, but living according to His will is what matters.
By knowing this letter was written to Christians, we also know that they already “dwell in Him”, but how does a non-Christian can dwell in Him? How can they become Christians? The apostle Paul helps us to answer those questions,
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”
Galatians 3:26-27.
Only after a person obeys the Gospel (is baptized for the remission of his sins, Acts 2:38) becomes a Christian, not before, no matter how many times he or she claims it or keeps saying “God is love”. Only Christians can boldly say, as John did,
“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”
1 John 4:16
God is love, indeed. He loves you. He loves me. He wants us to be back with Him, forever. If you are not a Christian yet, we would love to talk and study with you. Please do not delay your opportunity to know and believe the love of God by being part of it through your obedience to His will. To God be the glory today and always!
