1 John 4:7-11

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Love proceeds from God. The antichristian spirit is selfish. In the first of the three parts of the Epistle which deal with brother love, this was shown to be the characteristic, as well as the effect, of walking in the light (2:7-11). Secondly, it was set for as a characteristic of God’s children and a mark of their righteous conduct (3:10-18). Here it is shown to proceed from God as being essentially His attribute, and as having been manifested by Him in Christ. — Vine, page 79.

born of God (v.7) — born again by faith in Christ, as in 2:29 and 3:9.

everyone who loves is born of God (v.7) — Since love has God as its source, those who show the love that is here spoken of give evidence thereby that they are the children of God. Their spiritual life is derived from Him. … To exhibit Divine love is an evidence of more than the existence of the Divine relationship; it is a proof of the experience of a constant increase in the knowledge of God. — Vine, page 80.

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God is love (v.8) — This is a deeper truth than what was expressed at the beginning of verse 7. That predicated what the source of love was; this predicates the nature of God Himself. It does not convey, however, that God is simply loving and benevolent, nor that His love is merely a quality which He possesses; it is His essential nature, and it is for this special reason that one who does not exercise love has not been born of God and does not know Him. — Vine, page 80.

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God’s love is much more than an emotion, attested to by the fact that believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to love even their enemies. It is an act of the will in obedience to God that treats another with the same spirit of self-sacrifice that Jesus Christ showed to you in His redemptive work on the cross. — Grace, page 2223.

In this (v.9) — in what follows

manifested (v.9) = openly shown

has sent (vs.9 and 10) — the tense emphasizes the continuing results

only begotten (v.9) — The title “only begotten” speaks of the eternal relationship of the Son to the Father, and at the same time expresses the Father’s delight in the Son. — Vine, page 81.

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that we might live through Him (v.9) — This, in addition to the fact just mentioned regarding the Person sent, is what makes the love of God unique. But for this act of infinite mercy we should have remained in spiritual darkness and have been consigned to the second death. To such a doom the word “live” is set in contrast, but it carries with it also all that is comprehended in the life imparted, namely, the qualities and activities which are involved therein and are manifested, for instance, by the exercise of love one to another. — Vine, page 81.

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The absolute spontaneity of the love of God is seen not only in the fact that God is love (v.8), that is so indeed, but in this also (v.10), that there was no quality in man to elicit that love; on the contrary, there was an absence in the human heart of that which was due to God. Whatever love there is in  us by reason of the new life imparted, is the outcome of, and a response, to His love. — Vine, page 82

sent (v.10) — tense indicates a historical fact

propitiation (v.10) = fully satisfying sacrifice

sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (v.10) — The Apostle takes us bac to what is antecedent to the gift of life. As he showed in chapter 1, the sin question must be settled before life is bestowed. In sending His only-begotten Son that we might live through Hi, the design was that he might first be the propitiation for our sins. — Vine, page 82.

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If God so love us (v.11) — The stress of the sentence is on the word “so,” as seen in the order in the original, “if so God loved us.” The “if” is not merely supposition, it is virtually equivalent to “since.” — Vine, page 82.

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We also ought to love one another (v.11) — This presents the practical conclusion from the double statement of the reason why God sent His Son, and resumes the exhortation in verse 7. What was there given as an exhortation, is here presented as an obligation, a debt. The order “we also” should be noted. The “also” is to be attached to the “we.” That is to say, “we, as well as God.” In other words, we should be “like God,” to manifest His nature and follow His example. This obligation rests, then, on the great foundation truth of the Atonement. — Vine, page 82.