First John: 1 John 4:8b-God is Love Lesson # 162

1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (ESV)

“Because God is love” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction hoti (ὅτι), “because” (2) articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός), “God” (3) nominative feminine singular form of the noun agapē (ἀγάπη), “love” (4) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί), “is.”

The conjunction hoti is employed with the indicative mood of the verb eimi, “is” in order to form a causal clause which presents the reason for the previous assertion.

The articular nominative masculine singular form of the noun theos and refers to the Father which is indicated by the articular construction of this word which is anaphoric which means that when the word appears a second time in this verse, it is retaining the same meaning and referent as it did the first time it occurred.

The verb eimi means “to possess a particular inherent characteristic” and this characteristic is identified by the nominative feminine singular form of the noun agapē, which means “divine-love” since it pertains to an attribute of God the Father.

The noun agapē is in the nominative case and functions as a predicate nominative which means that it is making an assertion about the subject who as we noted is God the Father that as to His nature, He is love.

The present tense of the verb eimi is a gnomic present referring to a general, timeless fact indicating that God the Father “as an eternal spiritual truth” possesses inherently the characteristic of love or in other words, He is “characterized by” love.

1 John 4:8 The one who at any time does not practice divine-love never enters into knowing God (the Father) experientially because God (the Father) is divine-love. (Author’s translation)

Now, in 1 John 4:8, the apostle John presents the reason for this assertion that the believer never enters into the state of knowing the Father experientially or in other words, never enters into the state of experiencing fellowship with Him as a result of disobeying the command to love one another.

This reason asserts that God the Father is divine-love or in other words, He exists eternally in the state of possessing inherently the characteristic of divine-love.

John uses this as the reason for this previous assertion because he wants the recipients of First John to reflect the character and nature of their heavenly Father.

If, as to His nature, He is love, then God’s children must be characterized by love.

As we noted in our study of 1 John 4:7, the apostle John taught the recipients of First John that they are obligated to continue to obey the command love one another because this love originates with the character and nature of their heavenly Father.

Now, here in 1 John 4:8, he asserts that God the Father exists eternally in the state of possessing inherently the characteristic of love.

This is the reason why they are not experiencing fellowship with God when they disobey the command to love one another.

Thus, he is teaching in 1 John 4:8 what he teaches in 1 John 4:7 but from the perspective of disobeying the command to love one another.

Both passages teach that the child of God must be characterized by love because this love characterizes their heavenly Father.

Thus, they will be characterized by this love by their continued obedience to this command to love one another.

By implication, John is also teaching that obedience to this command demonstrates that they are children of God.

It is very important that the reader understand that the assertion “God is love” is a subset proposition in Greek Grammar, which means that God is characterized by love and inherently possess the attribute of love but is not identical with love.

If this were a convertible proposition, which indicates an identical exchange, it would affirm pantheism or in the least, panentheism.

God is love itself.

Love is an attribute of God and thus originates with Him.

The love of God is of the very essence of God.

God’s character and nature, His Person is love.

2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. (NASB95)

God would continue to love even though there were no sinners because His attribute of love is a part of His divine essence.

Ephesians 2:4-7 teaches that is “God is rich in mercy” and in “grace” and these riches make it possible for sinners to be saved.

We are not saved by God’s love but by His grace and mercy, which are expressions of His love.

He treats us in a manner that we don’t deserve and this is made possible because of the spiritual and physical deaths of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross.

God manifested at the cross, His hatred of sin and His love for sinners.

Therefore, one of the attributes or characteristics of God’s love is that it is “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Eph. 2:1-7).

Mercy characterizes God’s love.

Ephesians 2:1-7 teaches that God exercised His attribute of love by being in rich in mercy in raising us up and seating us with Christ at His right hand while we were His enemies and enslaved to the sin nature and the devil.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man who has explained the character and nature of God, and thus has explained the love of God perfectly since love is an attribute of God (cf. Jn. 1:18).

The love of God was manifested perfectly to the entire human race through the Father’s sacrifice of His Son at the cross of Calvary and the Son’s willingness to be that sacrifice.

All men are the objects of God’s impersonal love and all believers are the objects of His personal love.

Impersonal meaning that God’s love does not need an attractive object.

God’s love is able to love the obnoxious and those who are His enemies even to the point of self-sacrifice.

Personal love means that believers are attractive to God since they have His holiness, the new Christ nature indwelling them.

All church age believers are the objects of God’s love and the beneficiaries of this love.

We are objects of God eternal love, which He manifested to us when He sent His Son into the world to die for ours sins so that we might live with Him for eternity.

The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of the immutable eternal unconditional self-sacrificial love of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

The imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of justification qualifies the believer to become the objects of God’s personal love.

God loves the unbeliever from His own integrity because the unbeliever does not possess the perfect righteousness, which would make them worthy of God’s personal love.

The believer possesses the perfect divine righteousness, which qualifies them to be objects of God’s personal love.

The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of divine love because he possesses imputed divine righteousness, which makes the believer as holy as God.

Before justification, the believer was the object of God’s “impersonal” love meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under spiritual death.

At justification, the believer became the object of God’s “personal” love meaning that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child of God and a partaker of the divine nature (1 John 3:1).

The love of God has many characteristics: (1) Loyal (John 21:7, 15-16, 20; Rom. 8:35, 39; Eph. 5:28). (2) Self-sacrificial (John 3:16; 15:13; Gal. 2:20). (3) Eternal (John 17:26). (4) Kind (1 Cor. 13:4). (5) Not self-centered (bragging, jealous) (1 Cor. 13:4). (6) Immutable (Rm. 8:39). (7) Unconditional (Rm. 8:35, 39). (8) Faithful (Rm. 8:35, 39). (9) Compassionate (1 John 3:16-17). (10) Merciful (1 John 3:16-17). (11) Righteous and Just (Rm. 13:8-10). (12) Thoughtful and Considerate (Rm. 13:8-10). (13) Truthful or Honest (1 Cor. 13:6). (14) Long-suffering (1 Cor. 13:4). (15) Enduring (1 Cor. 13:7). (16) Confident in the Future (1 Cor. 13:7). (17) Forgiving (Eph. 4:32-5:2). (18) Tolerant (Eph. 4:2). (19) Giving (John 3:16; Gal. 2:20). (20) Encourages Others (1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11). (21) Prays for Others (Jam. 5:16). (22) Considers Others More Important Than Self (Phlp. 2:3). (23) Considerate Others (Phlp. 4:10-18). (24) Shares Another’s Burden in Adversity (Gal. 6:2). (25) Delights in Being Obedient to God (John 14:23-24). (26) Reciprocates (Phlp. 1:3-7). (27) Sincere (1 Pet. 1:22).

Now, when the apostle John asserts that God is love in 1 John 4:8, he means that His love characterizes all His activities whether He is creating, ruling, revealing, judging, disciplining, rebuking, instructing, blessing, giving, justifying, redeeming, sanctifying or saving.

This assertion that God is love in 1 John 4:8 is the third time the apostle John makes an assertion about God’s character and nature.

The first appears in 1 John 1:5 and the second in 1 John 2:29.