1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and believe the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who remain in love remains in God and God remains in that one.
καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐγνώκαμεν καὶ πεπιστεύκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν. Ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, καὶ ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ θεῷ μένει καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ μένει.
God loves all people. It is up to each person to receive that love and come to know about that love. God loves the whole world, every person, because God is love. But God will not force his love upon us. God put a tree in the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve could not eat, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree symbolized the opportunity to obey. Obedience was the sign of love for God. Obedience still functions as the sign that we love God. The obedience of Adam and Eve was the outward manifestation of a deeper faith and trust in God. Our obedience is also only faith in action.
John uses two significant perfect tense verbs in this verse that indicate that he and his companions came to know and believe in God’s love at some point in the past and they remain so. As we come to know and experience God’s love, we find that it is fathomless and endless. We can always come to know more about God’s ways and the love God has for us. The challenge is what it means to remain in love. Love is the highest form of obedience. Love is the primary and highest command of God. To know what love true is, one must come to know the holiness of God, which comes through worship. The linkage of all these qualities is important and basic to the Christian faith.
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