Lesson 4: LOVE 4(a)

3(a) Topic: Why must we love others?
1 John 4:7-21
True Love

Commentary
Verse 7
We should obey the command and love each other. Love is part of the character of a Christian. The Christian is a child of God. The child of God receives this love from the *Father.
We should love other Christians because love comes from God. God is the origin of this love. God makes us able to love each other although by nature we may not do so.
All those who have this love are born of God. This love is not just an attitude of love. It is a love that acts. Those people who are born of God will love each other. Love proves whether we are born of God. Those who love know God.
Verse 8
Love is the test of whether a person knows God. If we know God, we will love other Christians. If we do not love the Christians then we do not know God. The reason for this is that God is love.
Love is not a description of God. He is so much more than love. But it is part of his nature and character. All that God does, he does in love.
Verse 9
God showed his love for us and for all people. He sent his only Son, whom he loves, into the world. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived among us. He showed us the love of God.
Jesus is God the Son. He became a man and he lived on earth. God sent him for this purpose, that by Christ we might live. He died for us and for our *sins. God raised him up from death. And God now gives *eternal life with Jesus.
Verse 10
This love is not the same as any other kind of love. In the *Greek language, John used a different word for this love. It is not the normal human love. It is a love that comes from God. God is the only origin of such love. God loves us although we did nothing to deserve his love. Our love is merely a reaction to his love. This is opposite to what the false teachers may have taught.
Love is this: that God loved us. God’s love shows what true love is. We know true love by what God has done for us. He loved us before we loved him. We cannot love him unless he gives us his love.
This is what God did because of his love for us. He sent his Son to die for our *sins. When Jesus died, he removed our *sins from us. But Jesus rose up from death to life again. So by the *Lord Jesus, we can have life and we are able to love God.


Verse 11
As God loved us so much, we ought to love each other. He showed his love when he sent his Son to die for us. We should love in the same manner as God does. We should be ready in love to give ourselves for each other.
Verse 12
The false teachers said that they had seen God. They said that they had special knowledge about God. This cannot be true, because no person has ever seen God. What they said was false.
John tells us to love those people that we can see. We do not see God with our eyes. But we do know him when we love each other. And, as we love each other, we love God. Our love is the evidence that God lives in us.
God does not live in us because we love each other. Rather we love each other because God lives in us. But we do know him when we love each other.
When we love like this, God’s love has achieved its purpose in us. He has created love in us that is like his love. The love that God has produced in us is good and complete. We all share the same love with God and with each other.
Verse 13
We cannot see God but we do know him. We know that we remain in him. We know that he lives in us. We can know this because God has given his Spirit to us.
Verse 14
Nobody has seen God. But we have seen that the *Father sent Jesus. John and his friends were there when Jesus lived among them. They saw the Christ with their own eyes. They knew that he was the Son of God. They knew that the *Father had sent him. All who believe can know this truth. We do not see it with our eyes. But we know it by *faith. We know that the *Father sent his Son Jesus to this world.
The reason that God sent Jesus was to save people from *sin and death. By Jesus, people can be free and receive a new life with God.
All the people of the world have *sinned. Their *sins have separated them all from God. Jesus Christ died for the *sins of all people. What he has done is sufficient to *save each one of them. But to benefit from what Jesus has done we must accept it. We must trust in him.
Verse 15
God lives in those who believe. They agree that Jesus is the Son of God. They believe the truth that God sent Jesus. Jesus came to *save the people of the world. If they believe in the *Lord Jesus, they will receive a new life. This life is in God.
Verse 16
Christians can be sure that the love of God is real. They can depend on it. They know that God loves them. His love can never fail. God loves all people but not just in general. God loves each person and each one is precious to him.
The writer says again that God is love (1 John 4:8). God’s nature is to love and to act in love. His love comes from his own character. The cause of his love is not the person whom he loves. He loves because he is love.
A person who has this love lives in God. And God lives in him. The love that God gives will reach out to other people.
Verse 17
We love God and we Christians love each other. We live in God. God lives in us. This gives us confidence for that future day when God is the judge.
Love is complete in us when we love God. This is the confidence that we have in him.
As we love God and each other, love achieves its purpose. It will develop in us. And we will be more mature in love. This is what God intended it to do for us.
The day is coming when God will be the judge of all people. That day will be the end of the world, as we know it. We can be confident that God will decide for us. This is not because of what we have done. It is because we have the life of Christ. He has taken away all our *sins because he loves us.
We have confidence because we are like Christ. As Christ lives in God, so by him we also live in God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. By him, we are children of God. As God loves the Son, so he also loves us. Jesus lived here on earth in the *Father’s love. And we live in the *Father’s love too.
We are on this earth. Christ is not on this earth now. We are here to be his agents and to bring other people to God.
Verse 18
Fear is in contrast to the confidence that love brings. There can be no fear in perfect love. Love gives confidence in God. So as love grows in a person, the fears will disappear.
Perfect love is the love that God has for us. It is the love between God and the Christian. Because we love, we do not fear. Because God loves us, we have nothing to fear. Love is perfect when it is complete and mature.
Fear has to do with the future and the unknown. (The ‘unknown’ means future events that we do not expect.) There is the fear of death. The love of Christ overcomes this fear. Christ brings us the promise of new life. There is the fear of punishment for all that we have done wrong. But Christ has taken all the punishment for our *sins. His perfect love takes away all that would make us afraid. In love, we can be certain about the future. The unknown is in the control of God, who loves us.
Those who do not love God are right to be afraid. The day is coming when God will be their judge.
Verse 19
We Christians love God and we love each other. But our love is a grateful reaction to God’s love. We love because he loved us first. We could not love if God had not loved us first. He has given us his love. So, we are able to love. He has provided us with the power to love by his love.
The love with which we love is not our own. We do not create it, nor do we have the power to express it.
It is always the love of God. It is his love in us. We live in the *Father. And we live in Jesus the Son. So this love also becomes our own love. With this love, we can love God. We also love each other with the same love.
Verse 20
Some people said that they loved God. But they did not really love the Christians. What they said was false. They were not telling the truth. If we love God, we will love other people. If we do not love our Christian *brothers and sisters, we do not love God. Our love for other Christians shows that we love God.
We love because God loves us. God’s love in us makes us able to love each other. This is the test of our love for God. We may say that we love God. However, if we fail to love each other, we do not really love God. We can see each other but we cannot see God. It is easier to love those whom we can see. It is not so easy to love God whom we have not seen. If we fail to love each other, we have failed to love God.
To John, either we love or we hate. To hate here means anything less than pure love. And love will always show itself in actions.
Verse 21
The first command is that we should love God. But to love God is to love our Christian *brothers and sisters. We cannot separate the two loves. They are one. If we love God, we will obey him. And his command is that we love each other.

Guidelines:
According to the passage(commentary above):
Key pointers:
Christians should love each other
God loved us. He sent Jesus.
Christians should love each other because God loves us
We know that God lives in us
We know that God sent Jesus to rescue us
Real Christians believe that Jesus is God’s son
We can depend on God’s love
We are not afraid, because of God’s love
We love other people because God loved us first
Someone who hates other people does not love God

Useful questions:
What is the difference between a home with and without love?
Is God the only source for love?
If a person states that he or she is a Christian, but shows his lack of love through his bitterness and unforgiving spirit, should we affirm that he is a Christian?
How did God show us His love?
What are we told to do in 1 John 4:11? What makes Christians able to comply to this command?
Why might John bring up the subject of the Holy Spirit in 1 John 4:13
Can other people from different religions know God and His love? (1 John 4:15)
Does 1 John 4:17 tell us that a person is saved by the way he loves? Please explain.
Share how John says that fear and love work along with each other. (1 John 4:18)
Why is it important that we love, as John writes in 1 John 4:19, because He first loved us?



Application
Choose to forgive people even if they offend you. It will make it easier for you.
Here are four characteristics of God’s love. Name one that you want to better understand and apply to your life. Start praying about it regularly. Name one particular place that you will begin to exercise His love by His grace.
• Enabling (that we might live through Him)
• Other Seeking (not that we loved God)
• Self-Initiating (but that He loved us)
• Sacrificial ( sent His only begotten Son; our propitiation)