1 John 4:7

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

Loved ones, we should have love for one another, because love comes from [the very nature of] God, and every person who [continually] loves [others] has been [spiritually] conceived by God [See 2:29; 3:9], and knows [he is in fellowship with] God.

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 17:3

And this is never ending life; that people may know you [as] the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the One whom you have sent.

1 Corinthians 8:3

But if anyone loves God, that person is known by God.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said [Gen. 1:3], “Light will shine out of darkness,” has [also] shone in our hearts to provide [us with] the light of the knowledge of God’s splendor [as it shines] on the face of Christ. [Note: This allusion to “splendor shining on Christ’s face” may be a continuation of the analogy used in 3:13].

Galatians 4:9

But now that you have come to know God [as your Father], or rather, to be known by Him [as His children], how can you turn back again to the weak, cheap, elementary teachings [of the Law of Moses], to which you [seem to] desire to become enslaved?

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,

2 Timothy 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit [i.e., a disposition] that makes us cowards but one that gives us power and love and self-control.

1 Peter 1:22

[Since] you have purified your souls by [your] obedience to the truth [i.e., the Gospel message], which produces a genuine love for your brothers, [now] you should have this kind of fervent, heartfelt love for one another.

1 John 2:10

[However], the person who loves his brother continues to live in [harmony with] the light [of God’s truth], and such a person is not the cause of others stumbling [over his example].

1 John 2:29

If you know that Christ is [truly] righteous [verse 1], then you should also know that everyone who does what is right has been [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God [See 5:18].

1 John 2:3

And here is how we can be assured that we know Jesus [i.e., that we are saved]: [It is] by obeying what He commands us.

1 John 2:4

The person who says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not obey what He commands, is lying [by such a profession], and the truth [about the matter] is not in his heart.

1 John 2:7

My dearly loved ones, I am not writing to you about a new commandment, but about an old one. [It is the one] you had learned about from the beginning. [Note: This is the commandment to love one another (3:1; II John 5) which Jesus had taught his disciples during His earthly ministry. See Mark 12:31]. This old commandment is the word [of God] which you heard [previously].

1 John 3:9

No one who has been [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God continues to live a sinful life, because God’s seed [i.e., His word, See Luke 8:11] continues to live in his heart, so he cannot [continue a life of] sin, because he has been conceived by God.

1 John 4:11

Loved ones, if God loved us that much, we should also love one another.

1 John 4:12

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.

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 4:8

The person who does not love [others] does not know God [as Savior], for [the very nature of] God is love.

1 John 5:1

Every person who believes that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., God’s specially chosen one] has been [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God. And everyone who [continually] loves God, who did the conceiving, also [must continually] love the person whom God has [spiritually] conceived.

2 John 1:5

And now I ask you, lady [See verse 1], not as though writing a new commandment to you, but [I wanted to remind you of] one that we had [heard] from the beginning [of Christ’s ministry]: [It is] that we should love one another.