New English Translation
1 John 4:19
19We love because he loved us first.
1 John 4:19 in other versions
Context of 1 John 4:19
17By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. We love because he loved us first. 20If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.
Read all of 1 John 41 John 4:19 word by word
ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 John 4:19
- 1 John 4:10In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- Luke 7:47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little loves little.”
- John 3:16For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
- John 15:16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died.
- Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Ephesians 2:3among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…
Commentaries on 1 John 4:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19We love him because he first loved us - This is the foundation of our love to God. We love him because we find he has loved us. We love him from a sense of obligation and gratitude. We love him from the influence of his own love; from his love shed abroad in our hearts, our love to him proceeds. It is the seed whence our love springs. The verse might be rendered, Let us therefore love him, because he first loved us: thus the Syriac and Vulgate.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19We love him, because he first loved us - This passage is susceptible of two explanations; either. (1)that the fact that he first loved us is the “ground” or “reason” why we love him, or. (2)that as a matter of fact we have been brought to love him in consequence of the love which he has manifested toward us, though the real ground of our love may be the excellency of his own character. If the former be the meaning, and if that were the only ground of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 The Father sent the Son, he willed his coming into this world. The apostle attests this. And whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. This confession includes faith in the heart as the foundation; makes acknowledgment with the mouth to the glory of God and Christ, and profession in the life and conduct, against the flatteries and frowns of the world. There must be a day of universal judgment…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19God loved us first, even when we were still sinners and had not yet turned away from sin (Romans 8:5–11). God began this work. Because he loved us, he gave us the ability to respond to him with love and to show that same love to other people.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. him--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. Translate, We (emphatical: WE on our part) love (in general: love alike Him, and the brethren, and our fellow men), because He (emphatical: answering to "we"; because it was He who) first loved us in sending His Son (Greek aorist of a definite act at a point of time). He was the first to love us: this thought ought to create in us love casting out fear (1Jo 4:18).Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 4:19
In the dictionaries
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
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