1 John 4:20–21

Context

First John has traditionally been attributed to the apostle John, though some scholars hold that it came from a community that carried on John's teaching. The letter was written to churches shaken by a group that had left the community (1 John 2:19) and by teaching that denied that Jesus had come in the flesh (1 John 4:2–3). The section beginning at 4:7 moves through "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16) and "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19) and concludes with this passage. The author argues that a person who does not love the brother he can see cannot truly claim to love the God he cannot see. He then concludes that keeping love for God and love for one's brother together is the "commandment" received from the Lord. This commandment is connected to the new commandment Jesus gave his disciples, "That ye love one another" (John 13:34).

Interpretation

• Love as the mark of true faith: Many Protestant commentaries, including those in the Reformed tradition, read this passage not as a condition of salvation but as evidence of genuine faith. On this reading, brotherly love is not the basis on which a person is accepted by God but the fruit that appears in one who has been loved by God.
• Love as the center of sanctification: Wesleyan theology describes the goal of sanctification as "perfect love" toward God and neighbor. It therefore emphasizes this passage as a call for believers to grow in love in their actual lives. John Wesley is well known for defining Christian perfection as loving God and neighbor wholly.
• Love as communal ethics: Biblical scholars point out that in the Johannine writings "brother" refers primarily to a member of the same community of faith. On this reading, the passage becomes an exhortation concerning relationships within a church experiencing division, that is, concerning the communion of saints.

Questions of Application

The passage is not the subject of significant doctrinal dispute between denominations, but several questions have been raised.

• Readings differ on whether "brother" should be limited to believers within the church or applied more broadly to every neighbor. Those who favor the broader reading connect it with Jesus' teaching on love of neighbor (Mark 12:28–34).
• Many interpreters hold that the love the author speaks of is closer to action than to feeling. In the preceding chapter, the author asks whether the love of God dwells in someone who sees his brother in need and does not help him (1 John 3:17–18). For this reason, the passage is sometimes discussed together with almsgiving.
• There is also a manuscript variant. In some manuscripts the end of verse 20 is phrased as a question: "how can he love...?" Accordingly, the King James Version and others render it as a question ("how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"), while the Korean New Korean Revised Version and others render it as a statement, "cannot love." The difference in meaning is slight.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently cited in sermons on conflict and reconciliation among church members and on serving and helping one's neighbors. Together with the statement "God is love" in the same chapter, it is commonly used as a text for Bible studies on the theme of love.

Related Passages

• 1 John 4:9–12
• 1 John 3:17–18
• Mark 12:28–34
• Romans 13:8–10
• John 13:34–35