And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
What does 1 John 4:16 mean?
The Father sent the Son, he willed his coming into this world. The apostle attests this.
Key themes
Read with
Keep this verse inside 1 John 4:15-16 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on 1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed ... - We all have assurance that God has loved us, and the fullest belief in the great fact of redemption by which he has manifested his love to us. God is love - Notes, 1 John 4:8 . It is not uncommon for John to repeat an important truth. He delights to dwell on such a truth as that which is here expressed; and who should not? What truth is there on which the mind can dwell with more pleasure; what is there that is better fitted to win the heart to holiness; what that will do more to sustain the soul in the sorrows and trials of this life?
Key words
- known
-
And we have known and believed,.
- believed
-
And we have known and believed,.
- love
-
Or have a full assurance and knowledge of, and faith in, the love that God hath to us; shown as in many instances, so more especially in sending his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, to be the Saviour of us, and that we might live through him.
Context in 1 John 4
Show chapter context
1 John 4 belongs to the late movement of the book, especially the section often described as assurance and final warning. First John is a profound epistle of light, truth, love, assurance, obedience, and confession of the incarnate Son. Read this chapter with the wider themes of love, truth, and assurance in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
Related topics
Explore by topic
A guided collection of passages on God’s love, neighbor-love, steadfast covenant love, and the shape of love in Christian life.
Passages on the nature of truth, honesty, deception, the word of God as truth, and Jesus' claim to be the truth.