1 John 4:7

1 John 4:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
• New International Version (NIV)Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Context of 1 John 4:7

5Those false prophets belong to this world. Their message comes from the ideas of people of this world. So the people of this world believe what they teach. 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. My friends, we should all love each other. It is God who makes us able to love other people. Everyone who loves other people has become a child of God. That person knows God. 8Anyone who does not love other people does not know God. We know this because God's own nature is love. 9This is how God showed that he loves us: He sent his only Son to come and live in the world. He did that so that we could have true life with God because of his Son.

1 John 4:7 word by word

Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν θεόν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Belovedἀγαπητόςagapētos · belovedG27
• let us loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• one anotherἀλλήλωνallēlōn · one anotherG240
• forὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• loveὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• every oneπᾶςpas · allG3956
• is bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
• knowethγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097

Cross-references for 1 John 4:7

• 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.
• 1 John 2:10Anyone who loves other believers shows that he is living in the light. There is nothing that will make him turn away from God.
• 1 John 3:10In this way, we can see clearly who are God's children and who are the Devil's children. Anyone who does not live in a way that is good and right does not belong to God. People like that do not love other believers.
• 1 John 5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is God's Messiah has become a child of God. And if we love God, our Father, we will love his other children too.
• 1 John 4:8Anyone who does not love other people does not know God. We know this because God's own nature is love.
• Deuteronomy 30:6The Lord your God will change you so that you want to serve him. He will do that for your descendants too. Then you will love him completely in everything that you think and in everything that you do. You will continue to live in your land.
• Galatians 5:22But God's Spirit causes us to live in a different way. We love other people. We are happy and we have peace in our minds. We are patient, kind and good. People can trust us to do what is right.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9But I do not need to write to you about how you should love other believers. God himself has taught you how to love each other.
• 2 Timothy 1:7Be strong, because God has given us his Spirit. And his Spirit does not cause us to be afraid. Instead, his Spirit causes us to be powerful to serve God. He helps us to love God and other people. And he helps us to control ourselves properly.
• 1 Peter 1:22You have obeyed God's true message. As a result, you have become clean inside, and now you can really love other believers. So continue to love each other very well, with honest thoughts.
• 1 John 4:12Nobody 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.
• 1 John 2:29You know that Christ only does what is right. So you should know this: Everyone who continues to do what is right has become a child of God.
• 1 John 3:14We know that we now have new life with God. Death no longer has power over us. We know this because we love our Christian friends. But anyone who does not love other believers is still under the power of death.
• John 17:3What does it mean for people to live with you for ever? It means that they know you, the one who is the only true God. They also know me, Jesus Christ, the one that you have sent.
• 2 Corinthians 4:6God is the one who said, ‘Let light shine in the dark.’ And he is the one who has caused his light to shine deep inside us. Because of that, we know how great and powerful God is. We see that his power shines brightly in Christ's face.
• Galatians 4:9But now you do know God. Or really, I should say that God knows you. So you must not turn back to serve those weak spirits that rule this world. Why do you want to obey their useless rules and become their slaves again?

Commentaries on 1 John 4:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Beloved, let us love one another - And ever be ready to promote each other's welfare, both spiritual and temporal. For love is of God - And ever acts like him; he loves man, and daily loads him with his benefits. He that loveth most has most of God in him; and he that loveth God and his neighbor, as before described and commanded, is born of God, , is begotten of God - is a true child of his heavenly Father, for he is made a partaker of the Divine nature…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Beloved, let us love one another - This verse introduces a new topic, the consideration of which occupies the remainder of the chapter. See the Analysis. The subject is one on which John dwells more than on any other - that of love. His own character especially inclined him to the exercise of love; and the remarkable affection which the Lord Jesus had shown for him, seems to have had the effect to give this grace a special prominence in his views of what…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. 7-21John explains where a Christian’s love comes from and how it is shown in daily life.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Resumption of the main theme (1Jo 2:29). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God's love to us: compare 1Jo 4:9 with 1Jo 3:16, which 1Jo 4:9 resumes; and 1Jo 4:13 with 1Jo 3:24, which similarly 1Jo 4:13 resumes. At the same time, 1Jo 4:7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, 1Jo 4:2 setting forth Christ's incarnation, the great proof of God's love (1Jo 4:10). Beloved--an…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 4:7

• Commandments
• Fellowship
• Love
• Regeneration
• Righteous
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Benevolence
• Fear
• Love
• Perfect
• Sanctification
• Bear; Born
• Begotten
• Brotherly Kindness; Brotherly Love

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