1 John 4:11 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:9-11

The supreme manifestation of love. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us," etc. Our text does not speak of the only manifestation of the Divine love. In many things is the love of God manifested to us—in the beauty, the utility, and the fertility of our world; in the exquisite structure of our souls and bodies; in the apt relations of the outer world to our nature. Nor does our text mention the manifestation to angelic beings of the love of God. But St. John sets forth the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 4:11

Beloved introduces a solemn exhortation, as in 1 John 4:1 , 1 John 4:7 . The "if" implies no uncertainty (see on 1 John 5:9 ); it puts the fact more gently, but not more doubtfully, than "since." The "so" οὕτως covers both the quality and the quantity of the love. καὶ belongs solely to ἡμεῖς : "we also on our part ought to love one another." We should have expected as the apodosis, "we also ought to love God." But this link in the thought the apostle omits as... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:11

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another - Because he is so much exalted above us, and if he has loved those who were so inferior and so unworthy, we ought to love those who are on a level with us; (2)Because it is only in this way that we can show that we have his Spirit; and,(3)Because it is the nature of love to seek the happiness of all. There are much stronger reasons why we should love one another than there were why God should love us; and unless we do this, we can... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 John 4:10-12

1 John 4:10-12. Herein is love Worthy of our highest admiration; not that we loved God First; for we were, on the contrary, in a state of enmity to him, in which, if we had remained unsolicited and untouched by his love and grace, we should have persisted and perished; but that he loved us First, (1 John 4:19,) without any merit or motive in us to induce him to do it; and, in his boundless compassion to our necessities and miseries; sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 John 4:7-21

The character of Christian love (4:7-5:5)It is God’s nature to love. Love in human nature has been spoiled by sin, but when people are born again by the work of God, they learn to love as God loves (7-8). The character of God’s love is seen in his act of giving his Son to die for those who have rebelled against him. They are worthy of death, but Jesus died to bear the judgment of sin on their behalf. As a result they can now have life (9-10). People cannot see God, but they can see that he... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 John 4:11

ought also = also ought. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 John 4:11

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.In this chapter, John repeated over and over again many of the closely related topics he had already mentioned, each time going a little further, giving a slightly different antithesis, stressing a little different aspect, or urging a closer attention, - all in such a marvelous way that, at last, his meaning becomes incontrovertible. In this verse, Christians' loving each other is motivated by the overwhelming majesty of the love of... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 John 4:11

1 John 4:11. We ought also to love one another.— We, as his children, ought to imitate the infinitelyamiableexampleofourcommonFather,andsincerelyandaffectionately love one another. Sometimes the love of God the Father, sometimes the love of God the Son, is proposed to our imitation. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 John 4:11

11. God's love to us is the grand motive for our love to one another ( :-). if—as we all admit as a fact. we . . . also—as being born of God, and therefore resembling our Father who is love. In proportion as we appreciate God's love to us, we love Him and also the brethren, the children (by regeneration) of the same God, the representatives of the unseen God. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 John 4:7-16

3. God’s Indwelling Recognized 4:7-16John now left behind his warning about false spirits that his readers might mistake as the Holy Spirit, spirits that lure believers onto worldly paths. He returned to one of his central themes, namely, love for the brethren. As 1 Corinthians 13 contains Paul’s great statement on God’s love, so 1 John 4:7-16 contains John’s.". . . the present section spells out precisely the nature of the love which is demanded from every believer, and may thus be viewed as... read more