3 levels of love
1 John 4 demonstrates the source and end state of love | 1 John part IV
The journey through 1 John has brought us back to familiar territory again.
Our study of the first several verses from 1 John 4 is what kicked off this 1 John journey several weeks ago, so for the sake of time I won’t restate here what I already wrote there.
ICYMI, you can catch up on that article here:
But, to jog our memories and orient us in the larger story of 1 John, I will go ahead and reshare the text of chapter 4 verses 1-6 here:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
As a brief reminder: John uses a cyclical, looping style of rhetoric to make his main points throughout the letter of 1 John. So, many of the themes we encounter, especially as we get further into the letter, will be the same themes that he has developed in earlier stages.
To modern eyes, this can come across as repetitive. How many different ways can the writer say the same thing? But I actually think the technique is quite effective. Instead of giving a long list of requirements, John zeroes in on a few marks of true Christianity that set apart the genuine believers from the frauds.
The compounding effect of these repeated messages leaves the reader with no doubts as to what is required, expected, and common among believers. This leads us to the second part of chapter 4, a further exhortation toward a life of love:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Love on three levels
As I read through this second part of 1 John 4, there seem to be four different types or “levels” of love present in the life of the true believer, all of which have their grounding in God’s simple identification as the very source of love.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” v. 8-9
In the account of God’s creation of man in Genesis 1, the author states that “God created man in his own image.” In 1 John, it’s clear that a lifestyle characterized by love is one of the primary ways we can live up to our full identity as the image of God on earth. “No one has ever seen God,” John reminds us in verse 12, yet we can reflect his perfect love, his ultimate identity, by allowing him to abide in us and let his love be perfected.
Here are the three levels of love I see reflected in 1 John 4.
1. God’s love for humanity: Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” v. 9-10
Jesus’ identity is paramount to the material of 1 John. Already, the author has made it abundantly clear that believing in the person of Jesus Christ is essential for those claiming membership in the Christian movement.
But, what about Jesus is so important? Is it enough to just recognize that he existed and influenced some followers? John’s answer seems to be no. Inherent in Jesus’ identity is his living (and dying, and resurrecting) example of the perfect love of his Father, demonstrated beyond doubt on the cross.
Jesus is the prototypical example of what it means to be created in God’s image. His propitiatory death on behalf of those he loved—that’s you and me!!—provides the proof.
2. God’s love for the individual: The seal of the Holy Spirit
“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” v. 13-18
I talked a bit last week about how I’ve had a history of being afraid of God, waiting for him to find some flaw or imperfection in me that will make me no longer worthy of his grace. This attitude, though antithetical to the truths of Christianity, is nonetheless a tempting trap for me to fall into.
If the assurance of chapter 3—that “God is stronger than our hearts”—wasn’t enough, John doubles down here in chapter 4 by reminding his readers that God isn’t looking to instill fear of punishment in his children.
How can we be sure? Our assurance comes through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and through the hard evidence of experience not only in our own lives, but in the lives of believers throughout all history. “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world,” John says.
3. Our loving response: Loving God by loving one another
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” v. 11-12
“We love because we first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” v. 19-21
Again, a surefire way to demonstrate our love for God is to love other people—people who were also created in his image.
Loving others, truly loving them, is not always easy. It’s not even natural. I am often a navel-gazing creature more concerned with how others make me feel than with how I can reflect the love of God onto them, helping them walk in their true identity as one of his children.
Thank goodness love doesn’t start and end with me.
“We love because he first loved us.” Not because we are good at it. Not because it makes us better people. Not because it somehow increases our standing before God.
Our love is and only ever can be an overflow of God’s perfect love for us. I am able to love others because God is my creator and the creator of those I love.
Remember this perspective as you try to love people this week. Ask God to help you see others as images of their creator, infinitely worthy of his love, exercised through you.
From the archives:
Find more thoughts on love in this post from last fall:
1 John series
Catch up on the other parts of the 1 John series here:
This was such a good read and as I’m sitting here I notice my coffee cup says “God is love” (rae dunn). 😁 coincidence?
Thank you! Love that 🩷 sounds like it was meant to be!