1 John 4:7

My friends, we Christians all have to love each other. You know, love comes from God. He is the one that helps us love each other properly. So if we love other Christians properly, that shows that we know God, and we are his kids.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

In Context

6But us mob, we belong to God, and our message comes from God. So the people that properly know God, they listen to us. But the people that don’t know God, they don’t listen to us. If somebody listens to us, you know that they have the true story from God’s spirit, and the messages they tell are true. But if somebody doesn’t listen to us, you know that they don’t have the true story. The messages they tell are lies, and those lies come from bad spirits.

8If anyone does not love other Christians, that shows that they don’t know God at all. God is the one that helps us love other people, and he properly loves people all the time.

Read all of 1 John 4

Cross References

John 17:3Yes, if people know you, and if they know that you are the only real God, and if they know me, and if they know that I am the Christ that you sent to them, those people will live with us for ever.

Galatians 4:9But then you heard about Jesus, and now you do know God, or really, God knows you. So don’t turn back now to those weak and useless spirits that are the bosses over this world. Don’t let them be your bosses again.

1 Thessalonians 4:9I don’t need to write to you about how you have to love other Christians. God himself taught you to love each other.

1 Peter 1:22You listened to the true message from God, and you did everything he said in that message. Then God cleaned up your lives and you stopped doing bad things. So now you love each other. Well, keep on loving each other very much.

1 John 2:29You know that Jesus is properly good, and he always does what is right. Well, it’s the same for those people that are joined up with Jesus. They always try to live God’s way and do what is right. So if you live that way, you can be sure that you are one of God’s kids.

1 John 4:8If anyone does not love other Christians, that shows that they don’t know God at all. God is the one that helps us love other people, and he properly loves people all the time.

Matthew Henry on 1 John 4:5-7

Danger of Antichristian Spirit. ( a. d. 80.) 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. In these verses the apostle encourages the disciples against the fear and danger of this seducing antichristian… Read the whole commentary →

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