1 John 4:10

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

Here is [the essence of] love: [It is] not that we loved God [first], but that He loved us [See Rom. 5:6-8] and sent His Son to be a “covering over” [see 2:2] of our sins.

Cross References

John 13:34

I am giving you a new commandment: love one another. Also you should love one another in the same way that I have loved you.

John 15:16

I command you to do these things so that you will [demonstrate your] love for one another. [Note: Or this may mean that His command was to love one another, as in verse 12].

John 3:16

For God loved the world [of sinners] so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that every person who believes in Him would not [have to] be destroyed, but have never ending life.

John 6:51

I am the living bread who came down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. Yes, and the bread that I will give [him] is my physical body, [so] that the world can have [never ending] life.”

Hebrews 2:17

So, for this reason, He had to become like His brothers in every way [i.e., except that He never sinned], so that He could become a merciful and faithful Head Priest in things related to God’s [service], [and] that He could provide a means of purifying [Lev. 16:30] for people’s sins [i.e., a “covering over” or forgiveness of them].

1 Peter 2:24

Jesus took upon Himself our sins [when] His body was placed upon the cross so that we, [through] dying to [i.e., giving up] the sinful life, would live for righteousness. You were healed [from your sins] by His being brutally treated.

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ suffered once for people’s sins [to be forgiven]. [It was the case of] a righteous Man suffering for unrighteous people, so that He could bring you [or, “us”] to God [for salvation]. [Though] He [i.e., Jesus] was put to death physically, He was brought back to life by the Holy Spirit [Note: Some translations say “in spirit”].

1 John 2:2

And He is the One who provides a “covering over” [thereby the forgiveness] of our sins [See Heb. 2:17; Dan. 9:24; II Chron. 29:24], and not of ours [who are already Christians] only, but also of the sins of the people of the whole world.

1 John 3:1

Look at how much love the Father has shown to us [Christians], that we should be called His children! But, that is what we [really] are! The reason the people of the world do not know who we are is because they do not know who God [really] is.

1 John 4:19

We love [God and others] because God has first loved us.

1 John 5:11

And this is the testimony [of God]: He gave to us [the hope of] never ending life, and this life is [available through fellowship] in His Son.