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1 John 4:11-16

11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

11. Dilecti, si ita Deus nos dilexit, nos quoque debemus invicem
diligere.

12. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

12. Deum nemo vidit unquam; si diligimus nos invicem, Deus in nobis
manet, et dilectio ejus perfecta est in nobis.

13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath
given us of his Spirit.

13. In hoc cognoscimus, quod in ipso manemus, et ipse in nobis, quit ex
Spiritu suo dedit nobis.

14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be
the Saviour of the world.

14. Et nos vidimus et testamur, testify, quod Pater misit Filium
servatorem mundi.

15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth
in him, and he in God.

15. Qui confessus fuerit, quod Jesus est Filius Dei, Deus in eo manet
et ipse in Deo.

16. 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.

16. Et nos cognovimus et credimus dilectionem quam habet Deus in nobis:
Deus charitas est; et qui manet in charitate, in Deo manet, et Deus in
eo.


11 Beloved Now the Almighty accommodates to his own purpose what he has
just taught us respecting the love of God; for he exhorts us by God's
example to brotherly love; as also Paul sets before us Christ, who
offered himself to the Father a sacrifice of pleasant fragrance, that
every one of us might labor to benefit his neighbors. (Ephesians 5:2.)
And John reminds us, that our love ought not to be mercenary, when he
bids us to love our neighbors as God has loved us; for we ought to
remember this, that we have been loved freely. And doubtless when we
regard our own advantage, or return good offices to friends, it is
self-love, and not love to others.

12 No man hath seen God The same words are found in the first chapter
of John's Gospel; but John the Baptist had not there exactly the same
thing in view, for he meant only that God could not be otherwise known,
but as he has revealed himself in Christ. The Apostle here extends the
same truth farther, that the power of God is comprehended by us by
faith and love, so as to know that we are his children and that he
dwells in us.

He speaks, however, first of love, when he says, that God dwells in us,
if we love one another; for perfected, or really proved to be, in us is
then his love; as though he had said, that God shews himself as
present, when by his Spirit he forms our hearts so that they entertain
brotherly love. For the same purpose he repeats what he had already
said, that we know by the Spirit whom he has given us that he dwells in
us; for it is a confirmation of the former sentence, because love is
the effect or fruit of the Spirit.

The sum, then, of what is said is, that since love is from the Spirit
of God, we cannot truly and with a sincere heart love the brethren,
except the Spirit puts forth his power. In this way he testifies that
he dwells in us. But God by his Spirit dwells in us; then, by love we
prove that we have God abiding in us. On the other hand, whosoever
boasts that he has God and loves not the brethren, his falsehood is
proved by this one thing, because he separates God from himself.

When he says, and his love is perfected, the conjunction is to be taken
as a causative, for, or, because And love here may be explained in two
ways, either that which God shews to us, or that which he implants in
us. That God has given his Spirit to us, or given us of his Spirit,
means the same thing; for we know that the Spirit in a measure is given
to each individual.

14 And we have seen He now explains the other part of the knowledge of
God, which we have referred to, that he communicates himself to us in
his Son, and offers himself to be enjoyed in him. It hence follows,
that he is by faith received by us. For the design of the Apostle is to
shew, that God is so united to us by faith and love, that he really
dwells in us and renders himself in a manner visible by the effect of
his power, who otherwise could not be seen by us.

When the Apostle says, We have, seen and do testify, he refers to
himself and others. And by seeing, he does not mean any sort of seeing,
but what belongs to faith by which they recognized the glory of God in
Christ, according to what follows, that he was sent to be the Savior of
the world; and this knowledge flows from the illumination of the
Spirit.

15 Whosoever shall confess He repeats the truth, that we are united to
God by Christ, and that we cannot be connected with Christ except, God
abides in us. Faith and confession are used indiscriminately in the
same sense; for though hypocrites may wisely boast of faith, yet the
apostle here acknowledges none of those who ordinarily confess, but
such as truly and from the heart believe. Besides, when he says that
Jesus is the Son of God, he briefly includes the sum and substance of
faith; for there is nothing necessary for salvation which faith finds
not in Christ

After having said in general, that men are so united to Christ by
faith, that Christ unites them to God, he subjoined what they
themselves had seen so that he accommodated a general truth to those to
whom he was writing. Then follows the exhortation, to love one another
as they were loved by God. Therefore the order and connection of his
discourse is this, -- Faith in Christ, makes God to dwell in men, and
we are partakers of this grace; but as God is love, no one dwells in
him except he loves his brethren. Then love ought to reign in us, since
God unites himself to us.

16 And we have known and believed It is the same as though he had said,
"We have known by believing;" for such knowledge is not attained but by
faith. But we hence learn how different, is an uncertain or doubtful
opinion from faith. Besides, though he meant here, as I have already
said, to accommodate the last sentence to his readers, yet he defines
faith in various ways. He had said before, that it is to confess that
Jesus is the Son of God; but, he now says, We know by faith God's love
towards us. It hence appears, that the paternal love of God is found in
Christ, and that nothing certain is known of Christ, except by those
who know themselves to be the children of God by his grace. For the
Father sets his own Son daily before us for this end, that he may adopt
us in him.

God is love This is as it were the minor proposition in an argument;
for from faith to love he reasons in this way: By faith God dwells in
us, and God is love; then, wherever God abides, love ought to be there.
Hence it follows that love is necessarily connected with faith.