1 John 4:16-21

God is love.  Be born of God.  See God for Who He is.  We shall then be like Him.  We will love others.

1 John 4:16 "And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.  God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."  Notice that we can both know and believe the love that God has for us.  I believe that this is in inverse order.  What happens when we believe the love that God has for us? We are born of God, or born again.  What happens when we know the love that God has for us?  We love those around us.  God is love.  When we understand His love for us, we walk in love toward others, and are abiding in Him.  He abides in us when we are born of God, or born again.

Vs. 17 "Love has been perfected (brought to completion) among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is (He is love), so are we in this world (we walk in love toward others)."  This verse has always been taught that we take on the characteristics or position of God in heaven while we are here on the earth: He is righteous, so we are righteous. He is healed and well, so we are healed.  He is prosperous, so we are prosperous.  This is all true.  But the context of this verse is that God is love, so when we understand His love for us, we will walk in love toward others.  Notice the phrase "in this".  It refers back to 1 John 4:9-10.  "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  Because of what Jesus did, we have boldness in the day of judgment.  When this day arrives, we have nothing to fear.  God is satisfied with what Jesus did.  That is what propitiation means.  The sins of our entire lifetime have been paid for.  This is what we are supposed to communicate to others.  This circle of love should be perfected or brought to completion in us.  God loves us.  We receive Him and learn to relax in His love for us.  We start communicating that love and grace to others.  If we are not walking in love, we either don't understand His love for us, or we have temporarily forgotten who we are.

Vs. 18 "There is no fear (of punishment or judgment) in love; but perfect love (love brought to completion) casts out fear (of punishment or judgment), because fear involves torment (punishment).  But he who fears (punishment or judgment) has not been made perfect in love (he or she does not understand the full extent of God's love)."  1 John 4:10 says that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins.  Again, propitiation means that God is satisfied with what Jesus did.  The penalty is paid for the sins of our entire lifetime, past, present and future.  If we believe this, it will cast out all fear of possible judgment or punishment from God.  If we still have some fear of punishment, it shows we are not fully trusting in His grace.  If we fear, we are still trying to be justified by some mixture of our performance and His grace.  How can we communicate the love of God to others if we still fear punishment ourselves?  The obvious answer is that we cannot.  We can only communicate what we are or what we understand.  This explains why we have been predisposed to interpret scripture in a harsh or condemning way.  We have been afraid of punishment.

Vs. 19  "We love Him because He first loved us." Our love for Him is a response to the love and grace He has first shown to us.  Our faith is a response to His grace.

Vs. 20 "If someone says, "I love God", and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" John is saying the same here as he did in 1 John 1:6 "If we say that we have fellowship with Him (share in who God is, or say that we represent Him) and walk in darkness (hate or condemn others), we lie and do not practice the truth (which is grace)." If we judge or condemn others for their actions, we don't understand the grace and love that God has shown us.  Our love for God is a response to His love and grace for us.  If we don't offer this love and grace to others, it reflects the fact that we don't understand His grace for us.

Do you remember John 8, where Jesus does not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but offers her grace and forgiveness?  John 8:12 "I am the light of the world (grace).  He who follows me (in offering grace, not judging others) shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  So we know that hating our brother, or walking in darkness, is sitting in judgment or condemning others. 

Vs. 21 "And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also." This is presented as a commandment, but it is a natural response to understanding His love for us.  Notice the word 'must' is in italics; it was added by the translators.  It should really read like this: "he who loves God loves his brother also."  When we see God's love for us, we will love our brother also.  If we don't love our brother, we are not clearly seeing His love for us.