1 John 4:16, 17
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. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
John keeps circling back to this because we keep needing to hear it. Not only that God loves. Not only that God shows love. But that God is love. That is His nature. That is who He is.
And if that is true, then the one who abides in Him will begin to reflect Him.
That is the flow of the passage. If I am dwelling in God, and God is dwelling in me, then love will not stay hidden. It will begin to show itself in the way I treat people, the way I answer people, the way I forgive people, the way I carry myself in this world. A branch connected to a healthy tree will show it eventually. In the same way, a life abiding in the God who is love will begin to bear that same fruit.
I like that, because it keeps the Christian life from becoming artificial.
John does not say, “Try to act loving so people think you belong to God.” He says that when you know and believe the love God has for you, something begins to happen deep inside. You stop striving to manufacture a spiritual image, and instead His life begins to move through yours. Love becomes evidence of abiding.
That matters more than we think.
There are people who know verses, know arguments, know doctrine, and yet can still be sharp edged, unkind, and strangely cold. John will not let us settle there. If God is love, then the person who walks closely with Him will not become less loving. He will become more so. Not weak. Not compromising. But loving.
You need to see this.
John goes even further and says this gives us boldness in the day of judgment. That is a stunning statement. How can a person have boldness when standing before a holy God? Not because he has stacked up enough good deeds. Not because he managed to impress heaven. But because the very life of God is at work in him. Because as Christ is, so are we in this world.
That does not mean we become divine. It means our standing is in Him. Our life is tied to Him. Our acceptance is wrapped up in Him. And because we are in Him, we do not have to dread that day like criminals waiting for sentence. We can have confidence because the One who loved us, saved us, and dwells in us is the very One who will bring us home.
Think about that.
Perfected love is not saying, “I never struggle.” It is saying God’s love has done its work so deeply in me that fear is losing its grip. I am no longer trying to earn what Christ already purchased. I am no longer trying to build a righteousness of my own. I am resting in His love, and that resting produces a different kind of life.
So yes, if we are His, if we are abiding in Him, we will love others. How could it be otherwise? If a man lives near a fire, warmth gets on him. If a man abides in the God who is love, love begins to mark him.
Beloved, the question is not merely, “Do I say that God is love?” The question is, “Am I living near enough to Him that His love is being seen in me?” Because the more settled I am in His love now, the more boldness I will have then.