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Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 John 4:7-21

(7) THE PERFECT LOVE THE SUREST TEST (1 John 4:7-21).(a)Fraternal love the necessary product of the true knowledge of God, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8).(b)The grand recent historical exhibition of God’s love (1 John 4:9-10).(c)Our consequent duty (1 John 4:11).(d)God’s abode in us, the perfecting of His love in us, and the proof of His presence through the Spirit, are the equivalent for seeing Him (1 John 4:12-13).(e)All this is grounded on the strong, undeniable truth of the Apostolic... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 1 John 4:1-21

1 John 4:1 We are all discerners of spirits. That diagnosis lies aloft in our life or unconscious power. The intercourse of society its trade, its religion, its friendships, its quarrels is one wide, judicial investigation of character. Emerson, on The Over-Soul. 1 John 4:1 A poor man, in our day, has many gods foisted on him; and big voices bid him, 'Worship or be !' in a menacing and confusing manner. What shall he do? By far the greater part of said gods, current in the public, whether... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - 1 John 4:1-21

V. HEREBY WE KNOW CHAPTERS 3:19-5:13 1. Hereby we know that we are of the truth (1 John 3:19-24 ) 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1-4 ) 3. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and of error (1 John 4:5-6 ) 4. The Love manifested toward us (1 John 4:7-19 ) 5. The final tests as to the possession of eternal life (1 John 4:20-21 ; 1 John 5:1-13 ) 1 John 3:19-24 . If the love of God dwells in the heart of the child of God it must be manifested in a practical way. Love must be... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - 1 John 4:20

4:20 {15} If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: {16} for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?(15) As he showed that the love of our neighbour cannot be separate from the love with which God loves us because this last gives rise to the other: so he denies that the other kind of love with which we love God, can be separate from the love of our neighbour: of which it follows, that they who say they worship God, and... read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 4:1-21

But there must be guards as to the operation of the Spirit of God, that is, the child of God must be guarded against all that would imitate the operation of the Spirit. Satan is extremely cunning, and his agents are abroad everywhere. We must remember that all that professes to be spiritual necessarily has a spirit behind it. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The trying of the spirits... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - 1 John 4:7-21

GOD IS LOVE What is the third characteristic of God which John reveals (1 John 4:7-8 )? If, then, God is love, How is fellowship to be maintained with Him (same verses)? In the working out of the thought that fellowship with God is maintained by experiencing and exercising love, notice: 1. how His love was particularly manifested toward us (1 John 4:9-10 ); 2. how our love toward Him should be manifested (1 John 4:11-12 ); 3. how such love implies fellowship (1 John 4:13-16 ); 4. how it... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - 1 John 4:7-21

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. (8) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (9) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - 1 John 4:20

He that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God, whom he seeth not? By this is signified, that it is more easy and natural to love the things that we see, and that enter by the senses. Pretend not then to love the invisible God, whose perfections are hidden from you in this life, unless you love your brother whom you see. But he adds another reason to prove that no man can love God unless he love his brother; because saith he, (ver. 21.) this is God's express command, that... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - 1 John 4:14-21

14-21 The Father sent the Son, he willed his coming into this world. The apostle attests this. And whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. This confession includes faith in the heart as the foundation; makes acknowledgment with the mouth to the glory of God and Christ, and profession in the life and conduct, against the flatteries and frowns of the world. There must be a day of universal judgment. Happy those who shall have holy boldness before... read more

Frank Binford Hole

F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary - 1 John 4:1-99

1John 4 AMONGST THE WILES of the devil imitation takes a foremost place. In the Old Testament, for instance, we find that when God wrought powerfully through Moses in the presence of Pharaoh, the Egyptian magicians imitated what was done as far as they could, in order to nullify the impressions made on the mind of the king. Again we find that when the sanctuary had been established in Jerusalem with its ordinances of divine service, Jeroboam easily diverted the ten tribes from it by the simple... read more

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