1 John 4:7 7Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Once again, John draws the readers’ attention with his relational address of Beloved. They were loved by God, and John loved them, and now he wants them to love one another. Love is the most certain and ultimate test of orthodoxy. However, love must be carefully understood, which is what John develops next. He just urged his readers in the previous section to be discerning about truth and not to be deceived by prophets, antichrists, or those who claim to know the truth but actually speak lies. He already gave this core exhortation in 3:11-12, but in this next section, he describes love in more detail.
The keyword love (agapē) occurs four times in this one short verse. This verse and the following verses help define the word. Love is a relational term that expresses the sense of bond and goodwill towards another person. The greatest source and example of love is God. Because God is loving by nature, God’s interaction with humanity is expressed as love. Any love we have towards others or experience from them is a reflection of God’s love towards us. We would not know love without God. Our selfish and protective nature would be fighting others for survival. Because humans have been created in God’s image, and because God loves us as his nature, love reverses the hostility we naturally have and motivates us to give of ourselves to others.
This love is far beyond an emotional response to the good feelings experienced in relationship with others. That form of love is the best the world can offer. The love believers experience is far deeper because it comes from the very nature of God. As the author of love, God can take human love and sanctify it with his love, transforming our conditional experiences into unconditional commitments to the best welfare of others. The evidence of a child of God is openness to being a channel of God’s love. Love is the central quality that confirms that we have been obedient to the Holy Spirt and that sin does not hinder our relationship with God or others.