1 John 4:10
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- KJV
- Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
- WEB
- In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- ASV
- Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.
- DARBY
- Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins.
- BLB
- In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son [as] a propitiation for our sins.
- ÅB
- Dere dette er kjærligheten, ikke at vi har elsket Gud, men at han har elsket oss og sendt sin Sønn til soning for våre synder.
- OTB
- Dette er kjærlighet: ikke at vi har elsket Gud, men at Han elsket oss og sendte sin Sønn til å være soning for våre synder.
- B1930
- I dette er kjærligheten, ikke at vi har elsket Gud, men at han har elsket oss og sendt sin Sønn til soning for våre synder.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ephesians 2:4–5
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
Read in contextRomans 5:8–10
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Read in context1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.
Read in context1 John 2:2
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Read in contextJohn 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
Read in context1 John 4:8–9
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Read in contextJohn 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Read in contextTitus 3:3–5
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
Read in context