The Test of Love, 1 John 4:7-11

The Test Of Love
1 John 4:7-11

Introductory Thoughts

· The Love of God: a misunderstood concept—"There are many today who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love. The Divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. Now the truth is, that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed thereon in Holy Scripture." (A.W Pink, The Attributes of God)



1. The Command To Love—1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

a. Language

(1) “…let us love…” Subjunctive, present tense—we are being told that we should practice habitual love.
(2) “…love…” a verb! Love is Action—1 Cor 13:4-7 "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
(3) “…love is of God…” “is” è present tense.
(4) “…everyone who loves…” è present active participle è “…the one loving…”
(5) Two things true of every true believer—joined by “kai”
(a) “…is born…” perfect passive—an accomplished fact, we have been born again.
(b) “…knows…”
(i) ginwskei—present tense
(ii) experiential knowledge

b. Exposition
(1) We should actively, habitually love believers
(2) Because
(a) Love is of God
(b) The people who love habitually are born again people who have an experiential knowledge of God.

(3) Correct doctrine is the proof that our love might be real love, but love in action is the proof that our doctrine is more than mere words. Love is the proof that our doctrine is genuine, and here is the example we are to follow.............

(a) God did not "feel our pain," and sympathize with us....
(b) God did not express pity for our problems and send us a card of condolences.
(c) God so loved that He gave His Son--that He sacrificed the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners......
(4) The reality of our faith is tested practically by our love.

2. The Test of Love—“…4:8 He who does not love does not know God,…”

a. Language—mirrors the language in verse 7

(1) “…He who does not love…” the same participle as in verse 7, negated by mh,
(2) “…Does not know God…”—ïšê hãíù ô’í èåüí—
(a) “…know…” is experiential knowledge
(b) “…know…” is aorist tense—
(3) “…God is love…” present tense—God is always love!

b. Exposition
(1) The aorist tense is the key here
(2) The person who does love has been born of God, it is an accomplished fact—but the person who does not love has never, at any point in time, had an experiential knowledge of God.

3. The Character of God—“…for God is love….”

a. The Pagan Concept of God's Love—

(1) The pagan world cannot deal with the Biblical concept of God's love—they cannot fathom it, at least in part because they do not understand the greatness of His wrath against sin.....
(2) The pagan concept of God's love is Patterned after human love—Psa 50:21 "… thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes."

(a) Based on emotion--God's love is not emotion—God's love is action (more on that later).

(b) Beyond control—human love, in the myths of our times, is something we can’t help. We fall in love, we fall out of love, it just happens, there is nothing we can do about it.

(3) The pagan concept of God’s love is based on the idea that humans are somehow worthy of love.

(a) We are not worthy of anything but judgment.

(b) We do not deserve love, mercy, compassion, or kindness from God.

(c) This is vital to understand: the Biblical teaching on the love of God is only properly taught when and where we understand that mankind does not deserve even one whit of love from God—Rom 1:18 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"

(d) Rom 5:6-8 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

(4) The Pagan concept of God’s love is divorced from any concept of holiness, righteousness, or justice.
(5) The pagan concept of God’s love is based on false mental images of God.
(a) The granddad "god"
(b) The George Burns "god"
(c) The "good ole boy god"

b. God IS Love— 1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." Love Defines God!

c. What, Then, IS the Love of God?

(1) The love of God is really more than just an attribute; it is part of His essence—
(2) Just as Holiness is the central attribute of God, Love is His defining attribute.....The Bible says "Holy is the Lord...." and the Bible says "God is Love....."
(3) It is NOT possible to turn this around and say “love is God…” the construction in the Greek does not allow this.

4. The Supreme example of Agape—The Person and Work of Christ—1 John 4:9-10 "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

a. Language

(1) “…in this was manifested…”—aorist tense
(2) “…only begotten Son…”—ìïíïãåíy
(3) “…sent…” perfect tense—PðÝóôáëêåí
(4) “…that we might live through Him…”
(a) subjunctive—a choice involved, a possibility
(b) aorist active
(c) “…that life begins here and now…” AT Robertson

(5) “…in this is love…” present tense
(6) “…not that we loved God…” perfect tense—not that, at any time in past we loved God as an accomplished fact
(7) “…but that he loved us and sent his Son …” aorist tense
(8) “…propitiation for our sins …”

b. Exposition—doctrinal

(1) First, the aorist tense words and what they tell us.

(a) God’s Actions in salvation

(i) Christ was manifested at a point in time, sent at a point in time…
(ii) He died at a point in time
(iii) God’s continual love toward us was manifested at a point in time.

(b) Our actions—“that we might live…”—a point in time—coming to faith in Christ is an aorist event—Rom 10:9-10

(2) Only-begotten—the word ìïíïãåíy

(a) The root word, monoj, is used in the New Testament to describe God as the only God (NIDNTT)

John 5:44 ""How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"

John 17:3 ""And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

Rom 16:25-27 "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith; 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."

1 Tim 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

1 Tim 6:15-16 "which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen."

(b) For ìïíïãåíy, the word’s meaning is related to our salvation, not to the origin of the Son of God, because He had no origin, He is eternal

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:18 "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

John 3:16 ""For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 3:18 ""He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

(c) The best understanding of the meaning is “one and only Son,” stressing the uniqueness of Jesus.

(3) Not that we loved God, but that He loved us.
(a) Rom 5:6-8 "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

(b) God had nothing to gain, We had nothing to offer. We did not deserve God’s love, rather, we deserved the opposite.

(c) God’s love toward us, based on the sacrifice of His Son, based on His own character, based on His own choice—God’s free will—this is the most amazing example of Agape ever given. God does not have to love anyone outside the Trinity—God loves voluntarily, because it is His nature to be loving and merciful.

(d) No human being deserves the love of God—it is unmerited and "uninfluenced"(Pink)—we cannot earn it.

(4) Propitiation—The Cross was a propitiation—Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood

(a) Propitiation—the answer to divine wrath—Heb 2:17 "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

(b) Propitiation—a turning aside of the wrath of God—1 John 2:1-2 "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

(c) Propitiation—turning wrath aside and taking care of sin**Rom 5:6-11

(d) through faith in his blood—Only through faith—there is no propitiation for unbelievers. Lost people die in their sins

John 8:24 ""Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Rev 21:7 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."


Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie…

(e) Only through faith in His blood sacrifice are our sins paid for.

* You must believe
* There is no inherited salvation

(f) You must believe in His blood sacrifice—there is no salvation in bloodless “Christianity…”

5. SO Ought WE to love one another—1 John 4:11 "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
a. This is the practical test....
b. No matter how correct a person's doctrine appears to be, if they do not have the capacity to love the brethren, they are of the spirit of Antichrist...
c. We are not talking perfection here, but the guidelines are here and elsewhere in the New Testament—
d. We are to be a people of Love--not the sickly-sweet gushy stuff and fine-sounding words of liberalism.
e. But our love for one another is to be the gut-wrenching, life-changing love needed in times of turmoil. We need to be able to love as Christ did.....
f. The Christ kind of Love—
g. He always told us the Truth, even when it hurt.
h. He looked after our needs
i. He prayed for us
j. He lived for us
k. He died for us
l. You must love me, and I must love you