Chapter 12
1 John 4:7-8
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
In chapter three, John said that we would know if we or someone else is abiding in God by the presence of the Holy Spirit. He began to expand this in the first six verses of chapter four, by stating that the first evidence of the Spirit (something evident and obvious by us and others) begins with the accuracy of the person’s testimony. We learn from Jesus that one of the many functions of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life is to bear witness, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27).
Beginning with verse seven, John states that the second evidence of a true believer can be seen in their ability to love others. The apostle Paul in his epistle to the church in Galatia also wrote about external evidences of the existence the Holy Spirt being inside a believer, he called them the “fruit of the Spirit” (read Galatians 5:16-26). The nine “fruits” listed should not to be confused with Spiritual gifts. God gives each one of us gifts (abilities) as required for the ministries He has chosen for us; however, the fruits should be evident (common) in all believers. Paul begins that list of external evidences with love.
For the fifth time in this epistle, John calls us, ‘beloved’ and pleads with us to “love one another!” He continues by saying that love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows (‘ginosko’, experiential knowledge) God. Remember in chapter two, John made a similar statement, “everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him” and now he is saying “whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” Well, I love coffee and I love teaching, so I must be born of God and know God, right? No? Why not? Isn’t love, love? Let’s take some time to review this word. Undoubtedly, God created the Greek language for the purpose of writing the New Testament as it is a very explicit language. For example, in context with our lesson, there are four basic words in Greek that are translated into English as ‘love’, knowing which word the author originally used can often help us in understanding a verse’s context and meaning (as God intended the verse to be interpreted), let’s takee a quick look at these words.
We begin with the Greek word ‘eros’, which is also the name of the Greek god of love (we all know the Roman equivalent, cupid). The word describes intimate love, romantic love, and sensual or passionate love. The term ‘erotic’ is derived from this word. As one might expect this word is not found in the Bible. Interestingly there had been a long debate between Plato and Socrates on how this word should be used. Plato thought it implied that there would not need to be any physical attraction for ‘eros’ creating a term that is still in use today, platonic love (derived from Plato’s name).
The next word is ‘sturge’ or ‘sturgae’ which is considered familial love or natural affection, such as love for a parent, a pet, a companion, or a colleague. This word, on its own, is also not found in the Bible, however, a variation of the word, ’philostorgoi’ is used once in the Bible (see Romans 12:10) where Paul tells us to love one another with brotherly (philadelphia) affection. Speaking of ‘philo’, ‘philia’, ‘philos’, ‘philēma’, ‘phile’, ‘philon’, or any one the many other potential variations, this third word for love refers mainly to friendships. We often categorize this word with the definition of “brotherly love,” like what Paul used at the end of the verse above, however the word implies a lot more. It is considered the basic or general word for love and desire including the enjoyment of an activity, kindness, loyalty, etc. Many words are derived from this root word such as phileo (to love), philogos (love words) and philosphos (or philosopher, to love wisdom).
The next word we all know, even though we may not know all of the word’s variations, is the word ‘agape’. We most often categorize this love by calling it unconditional. While that is definitely true, we need to understand that our regularly used example of unconditional love (that a parent can offer unconditional love to a child) is not 100 percent accurate since being the parent is actually a condition of that love. Regardless, we need to apply truly unconditional love to all people. The verb form ‘agapaō’, agapṓ’, ‘agapḗsō’ , etc. generally involves someone finding joy in some thing or in some one. The use of agape in the Bible includes: 1) loving with strong affection (see Luke 7:41-43); 2) the love of duty such as to a nation or duty to that nation (see Matthew 6:24); 3) love in regard to good will (see Matthew 5:43); 4) love in things that delight (see Luke 11:43), however, it is most often found in the Bible to 5) describe the love between God and man.
Near the end of the Gospel of John we read a curious dialog between Jesus and Peter. This story is a perfect example on how we can understand a story’s context better if we know something about the original text. To set the stage of the story, we remember that Peter denied Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified (see Matthew 26:69-75). A few days later Jesus meets the disciples on the shore of the Galilee. In John 21:15 Jesus asked Peter (He called him by his original name of Simon) if he loved (agapaō) Him more than ‘these’ (unknown exactly what) and Peter responded, “Yes, Lord; you know (oida, intuitive knowledge not from experience) that I love (phileō) you.” That response could have easily been translated as, “you know that I am your friend.” Jesus asked Peter a second question, very similar but not exactly the same, “Simon…do you love (agapaō) me?” The question directly asks Peter if he had the highest form of love for Jesus and again Peter’s response was the same, calling Him only a friend (phileō). Then Jesus asked him a third question, “Simon…do you love (phileō) me?” Peter became very sorrowful because he understood the deeper meaning of Jesus reducing the level of love from the first two questions involving ‘agapaō’ to the love that one has for a friend ‘phileō’. Here it is clear that Jesus would not pressure Peter into saying something that he was not willing or comfortable to do, Jesus will never force Himself on any of His disciples, including us. In this example we can see that without taking the time to examine verses like these in the original language we might miss a valuable point or in some cases, perhaps even miss the meaning altogether.
1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Reading elsewhere we know that the love of God is to shine through us (read Romans 5:5; 1 John 2:5; 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 13). In verse seven John wrote that if anyone that shows love (agapaō), they have been born of God and know God. Just like how we as children of our earthly parents reflect their features, mannerisms, etc. we are to reflect our heavenly Father and love like He does. Here in verse eight, John further clarifies his point by reversing the phrase, anyone who does not love (agapaō) does not know God because God is love! We cannot open the Bible without hearing about His love for us. He created us, because He loves us. He gave us a will so that we can choose who we love, because He loves us. He promised to send a Savior because He loves us and He did! He created the concept of love and He made it possible for us all to love. His natural being or character is all about love. Simply put, God is love and that love is given to us to give back to God and to give freely to others (read 1 Corinthians 13 and Romans 8:38-39).