1 John 4:12

1 John 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
• New International Version (NIV)No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
• English Standard Version (ESV)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
• New King James Version (NKJV)No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

Context of 1 John 4:12

10This shows what love is: It is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us. He loved us so much that he sent his Son to save us from sin. He sent Jesus to die as a sacrifice, to take the punishment for our sins. 11My friends, this shows how much God has loved us. So we should also love one another. Nobody has ever seen God. But, if we love each other, it shows that God lives in us. As a result, we can love people completely, in the same way that God loves us. 13God has given us his Holy Spirit to live in us. Because of this, we know that we live together with God. And we know that he lives with us. 14God the Father sent his Son to come into the world. God sent him to save the people of the world from their sins. We apostles have seen that this is true. So now we are telling people about it.

1 John 4:12 word by word

θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τεθέαται· ἐὰν ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν μένει καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν τετελειωμένη ἐστίν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• No manοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
• hath seenθεάομαιtheaomai · to look atG2300
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• at any timeπώποτεpōpote · everG4455
• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• we loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• one anotherἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• dwellethμένωmenō · to stayG3306
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• perfectedτελειόωteleioō · to perfectG5048

Cross-references for 1 John 4:12

• 1 John 4:20Someone may say, ‘I love God.’ But if he says that and he hates another Christian, he is telling a lie. He sees other believers but he does not love them. So he surely cannot love God that he has not seen.
• Genesis 32:30So Jacob called the place Peniel. He said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive!’
• Exodus 33:20But you will never see my face. Nobody can see my face and still be alive.’
• Numbers 12:8I speak clearly to him, as I come near to him. I do not say things to him that are hard to understand. He even sees the shape of the Lord. So you should have been afraid to speak against my servant Moses!’
• John 1:18Nobody has ever seen God. But God's only Son has shown God to us. He is very near to the Father, and he himself is God.
• 1 Timothy 1:17Praise God, the King who rules for ever! He can never die. He lives where we cannot see him. He is the only God. So praise him and say how great he is! That is true always and for ever! Amen! This is true.
• 1 Timothy 6:16God alone lives for ever. He lives in very bright light that nobody can come near. Nobody has ever seen God. Nobody is able to see him. So we praise him! He will rule for ever with great authority! Amen! This is true.
• Hebrews 11:27As a result of his faith, Moses left Egypt. He knew that the king would be angry, but Moses was not afraid of him. Instead, he continued strongly to trust God. Nobody can see God, but Moses lived like someone who could see God.
• 1 John 4:6But we belong to God. Everyone who knows God believes our message. But anyone who does not belong to God does not believe it. So that is how we know if someone's message comes from God's Spirit or not. God's Spirit brings us a true message, but false spirits tell lies.
• 1 John 3:24Anyone who obeys God's commands lives together with God. God also lives in him. How do we know that God lives in us? It is because of his Holy Spirit that he has given to us.
• 1 John 4:17That is how we are able to love other people completely. Then, we will not be afraid on the day when God will judge all people. We can be sure that God will not punish us. We know this because we have lived in this world in the way that Jesus lived.
• 1 John 2:5But anyone who obeys God's message shows that he really loves God completely. So this is how we know that we belong to God.
• 1 Corinthians 13:13At this time there are three things that continue. We continue to trust God. We continue to hope for his good things. We continue to love other people. But the most important of these things is love.

Commentaries on 1 John 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12No man hath seen God at any time - The very words, with the change of ̔ for , of this apostle in his gospel, John 1:18. We may feel him, though we cannot see him; and if we love one another he dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us - it has then its full accomplishment, having moulded us according to its own nature.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12No man hath seen God at any time - See the notes at John 1:18, where the same declaration occurs. The statement seems to be made here in order to introduce a remark to show in what way we may know that we have any true knowledge of God. The idea is, “He has never indeed been seen by mortal eyes. We are not, then, to expect to become acquainted with what he is in that way. But there is a method by which we may be assured that we have a true knowledge of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-12Those who have received God’s love will also love others who belong to God. When we show love to one another, it becomes clear that we truly love God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. God, whom no man hath seen at any time, hath appointed His children as the visible recipients of our outward kindness which flows from love to Himself, "whom not having seen, we love," compare Notes, 1Jo 4:11, 1Jo 4:19, 20. Thus 1Jo 4:12 explains why, instead (in 1Jo 4:11) of saying, "If God so loved us, we ought also to love God," he said, "We ought also to love one another." If we love one another, God dwelleth in us--for God is love; and it must…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 4:12

• Commandments
• Fellowship
• God Continued...
• Love
• Perfection
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Benevolence
• Dwell
• Fear
• Love
• Perfect
• Brotherly Kindness; Brotherly Love
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of

Commentaries on 1 John 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings