1 John 4:12

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

No person has gazed upon God [at any time]; [but] if we love one another, God [continually] lives in our hearts, and His love is made complete within us.

Cross References

John 1:18

No one has ever seen God [i.e., His full splendor], but God, the only conceived [and eventually born Son], who is at the Father’s side, has shown us who He is.

1 Corinthians 13:13

But now [i.e., since the temporary gifts are to pass away], these three things remain: faith, hope and love; and the most important of them is love.

1 Timothy 1:17

Now, may there be honor and praise forever and ever to the eternal King, the immortal, invisible, only God. May it be so.

1 Timothy 6:16

He alone possesses immortality [Note: That is, only God possesses an eternal existence, with neither beginning nor ending. See John 5:26], and lives in unapproachable light. No one has seen Him, or can see Him. May there be honor and never ending power to Him. May it be so.

Hebrews 11:27

By [having] faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for he endured [all the rigors of wandering in the desert] because he could see the invisible God.

1 John 2:5

But the person who obeys what His teaching requires, truly in this person love for God has been made complete. This is [another way] to be sure that we are in [fellowship with] Him:

1 John 3:24

And God lives in the heart of the person who [continually] obeys His commands, and he lives in [fellowship with] God. And here is [another] way we know that God lives in our hearts: It is by [means of] the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to us. [See Rom. 8:9, 11; James 4:5; I Cor. 6:19].

1 John 4:16

And we have known [with certainty] and have believed [with assurance] that God has truly loved us. God’s [very nature] is love and the person who [continually] loves [Him and others] lives in [fellowship with] God [continually], and God [continually] lives in that person’s heart.

1 John 4:20

If a person says, “I love God,” yet [in reality] hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot [possibly] love God, whom he has never seen.

1 John 4:6

We [who preach the true Gospel] represent God; the person who knows God listens to our message; the one who does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we can know [the difference between those speaking by] the Holy Spirit of truth and [those speaking by] the spirit of [Satan’s] error.