Devine Scripture

1 John 4:16

What does 1 John 4:16 mean?

A plain-English look at 1 John 4:16 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 1 John 4:16 means

John affirms a settled trust: believers have come to know and rely upon the love God has for them. He repeats the profound truth that God is love, and draws the practical conclusion: to abide in love is to abide in God, and God in that person. Love is not a passing mood; it is the sphere of life for those united to God. This love, received and then expressed, becomes the environment in which faith matures. By resting in God’s love and extending it to others, believers remain in living fellowship with Him, finding stability and identity in who God is for them in Christ.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And we have seen and had faith in the love which God has for us. God is love, and everyone who has love is in God, and God is in him.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and we--we have known and believed the love, that God hath in us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he doth remain, and God in him.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And we have known and have believed the charity which God hath to us. God is charity: and he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And we have known and have believed the love whichGod has to us.God is love, and he that abides in love abides inGod, andGod in him.

Context

Building on confession and abiding (v. 15), verse 16 deepens assurance by focusing on God’s love as both known and believed. The repeated statement that God is love ties the section back to verse 8 and forward to the effects of perfected love in verses 17–18. The argument now moves from identity and assurance to the practical outcome: boldness instead of fear, rooted in love’s maturation.

v.15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God.

v.16This passage

v.17Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 1 John 3:24

    And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

  • John 6:69

    And we have believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God.

  • Psalms 36:7

    How precious is thy lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge under the shadow of thy wings.

  • 1 Corinthians 2:9

    but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, Andwhichentered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.

  • 1 John 4:12

    No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us:

  • Isaiah 64:4

    For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God besides thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for him.

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