1 John 4:10

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — John writes to his community, defining love in contrast to teachers who likely denied the incarnation. The verse bridges the announcement of God's sending (v. 9) to the command to love one another (v. 11).

The words — ἀγάπη (agapē) is the subject John is defining; the construction οὐχ… ὅτι (not that) marks the negation that gives the definition its force.

The thread — Romans 5:8 and Ephesians 2:4 both ground love in God's initiative toward the undeserving; 1 John 4:19 restates the same sequence from the believer's side.

Why it lands — The verse removes any claim of human initiative from the love equation. It sets up v. 11's command as a debt, not a suggestion.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Cross-references

Ephesians 2:4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
Romans 5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.
1 John 2:2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
Deuteronomy 7:7 The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.