1 John 4:9–12

Context

First John 4:7–21 is a section devoted to the theme of love. The author has traditionally been identified as the apostle John, though some scholars regard the author as another figure from a community that carried on John's teaching. The letter is commonly read as having been written after those who denied that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh" (4:2–3) had left the community. This denial is often associated with early Docetism. The author addresses the remaining recipients as "Beloved."

The passage follows the declaration in verse 8 that "God is love." Verses 9–10 state that God's love was manifested in the sending of His Son, that is, in the Incarnation and the Atonement. Verses 11–12 conclude, on the basis of that love, that believers ought to love one another.

Interpretation

• As a definition of love: Verse 10 locates the starting point of love not in human feeling or effort but in what God did first. This reading is widely accepted across denominations.
• On "propitiation": The Greek word hilasmos also appears in 2:2. Many interpreters in the Reformed and evangelical traditions understand it as a sacrifice that turns away God's wrath against sin and connect it with penal substitution, the view that Christ bore in their place the punishment due to sinners. Some scholars place greater emphasis on the sense of expiation, the cleansing away of sin.
• The invisible God and the community: Verse 12 sets the fact that "No man hath seen God at any time" alongside a community whose members love one another. It is therefore read to mean that the invisible God abides in, and is made manifest through, the love of believers.
• Wesleyan reading: The Wesleyan tradition, including Methodist and Holiness churches, cites "his love is perfected in us" together with 4:17–18 as a basis for the doctrine of Christian perfection, which refers to perfect love toward God and neighbor.
• Reformed reading: The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterian churches, takes the same expression to mean that God's love reaches its intended goal. It tends to understand the phrase within the context of lifelong sanctification rather than as the attainment of a sinless state in this life.

Debates and Issues

• Translation: The term "only begotten Son" (Greek monogenēs) in verse 9 is rendered in some translations as "only Son." The term rendered "propitiation" in verse 10 appears in the Korean New Korean Revised Version as "propitiatory offering," while other translations use terms along the lines of "atoning sacrifice."
• The meaning of "his love": Grammatically, "his love" in verse 12 can be read in two ways: as the love that God gives or as human love directed toward God. Commentators are divided on the question.
• The scope of "one another": Interpreters also differ in emphasis on whether "love one another" in verse 11 refers primarily to love within the community of faith or extends to all neighbors.

Related Passages

• 1 John 2:1–2
• 1 John 4:20–21
• 1 John 3:17–18
• Romans 5:6–10
• John 15:12–13