1 John 4:10
Think about the way that God loved us. He sent his son to take away all the bad things that we did, so that now he can say we are not guilty. That’s real love. We didn’t ever love God that way.
Plain English Version
In The King James Version
In Context
11Yes, my friends, God properly loves us, so we have to love each other too.
Cross References
John 3:16You see, God loved all of the people in the world. He loved everyone so much that he sent them his only son, his special son. God sent him to die instead of them, so that if anyone trusts him, God will not finish them up, but they will live with him for ever.
Romans 3:25God sent Jesus to die for us, so that, if we believe that Jesus died for us, God isn’t angry with us any more. Jesus let people kill him, and his blood came out, so now, if we trust him, God says we are all right. That shows that God was right and fair in the past, at those times when he didn’t punish people for the bad things they did.
Romans 8:29A long time ago, God knew about each of us, and he knew which of us will believe in him, so he planned to make us like his son. He sent Jesus to us. He is God’s son, and he is like the older brother to all of us.
Ephesians 2:4But God didn’t punish us. He felt very sorry for us. He loved us, even though we were doing bad things. It is like our spirits were dead. But he was very good to us, and he saved us. He loved us so much that he made our spirits alive, just like he made Jesus Christ alive.
1 Peter 2:24Jesus never did anything bad, but he died instead of us there on the cross. He took the payback for the bad things that we did. He died so that we can stop doing bad things, so that instead, we will do the right things. Jesus let them hurt him so that God can make us clean on the inside. It’s like we are sick, but God can make us better.
Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:8-14
Brotherly Love. ( a. d. 80.) 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one 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 the whole commentary →