1 John 4:12
in 1 John 4No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us:
KJV
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
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This verse in 1 John 4
Commentary
17 notes on this verse"And we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father; " that is, of course, (the glory) of the Son, even Him who was visible, and was glorified by the invisible Father.
This site's exposition
we also ought to love one another
on 1 John 4:11-12
Obligation follows gift: if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, yet if we love one another, God remains in us. The verb teleioo, perfected, means brought to its intended end.
This site's exposition
No one has ever seen God
The same words open John 1:18, where the Son makes the unseen God known. Here the unseen God is made known through believers who love one another. His love reaches its goal in them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"No man hath seen God at any time." See, beloved: "If we love one another, God will dwell in us, and His love will be perfected in us." Begin to love; thou shalt be perfected. Hast thou begun to love? God has begun to dwell in thee: love Him that has begun to dwell in thee, that by more perfect indwelling He may make thee perfect.
"No man hath seen God at any time:" He is a thing invisible; not with the eye but with the heart must He be sought. But just as if we wished to see the sun, we should purge the eye of the body; wishing to see God, let us purge the eye by which God can be seen. Where is this eye? Hear the Gospel: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." But let no man imagine God to himself according to the lust of his eyes. For so he makes unto himself either a huge form, or a certain incalculable magnitude which, like the light which he sees with the bodily eyes, he makes extend through all directions; field after field of space he gives it all the bigness he can; or, he represents to himself like as it were an old man of venerable form. None of these things do thou imagine. There is something thou mayest imagine, if thou wouldest see God; "God is love." What sort of face hath love? what form hath it? what stature? what feet? what hands hath it? no man can say. And yet it hath feet, for these carry men to church: it hath hands; for these reach forth to the poor: it hath eyes; for thereby we consider the needy: "Blessed is the man," it is said, "who considereth the needy and the poor." It hath ears, of which the Lord saith, "He that hath ears to hear let him hear." These are not members distinct by place, but with the understanding he that hath charity sees the whole at once. Inhabit, and thou shalt be inhabited; dwell, and thou shalt be dwelt in. For how say you, my brethren? who loves what he does not see? Now why, when charity is praised, do ye lift up your hands, make acclaim, praise? What have I shown you? What I produced, was it a gleam of colors? What I propounded, was it gold and silver? Have I dug out jewels from hid treasures? What of this sort have I shown to your eyes? Is my face changed while I speak? […]
Since God is invisible, nobody has ever seen him, since bodily sight cannot see things which have no bodies. But there are some heretics who say that the Old Testament speaks of a visible God, because occasionally people are said to have seen him, whereas …
No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. We have also said before that it is customary for this blessed man to repeat the same things about them, and to wish …
The Medieval Church1 voice
This is how God's love works. God comes to dwell in us, though no one has ever seen him.
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
And His charity is perfected in us. However, it must be inquired how he says that the perfection of divine charity consists in mutual love, since the Lord in the Gospel pronounces that it is not a great thing if we love those who love …
No one has ever seen God. A greater discussion is needed, since the Lord promises that the pure in heart will see God, and He says of the saints that their angels always see the face of the Father in heaven. John also stated this …
If we love one another, God abides in us. But let no one think that this love, in which God abides, is preserved by a certain lax and lazy gentleness, indeed not by gentleness but by leniency and negligence. This is not charity, but languor; …
We have noted before that the Apostle John has a habit of repeating the same things about the same subjects. So he does now as well. No one, he says, has ever seen God. Speaking of love for the brethren, he pointed to God as …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It has obtained its completion in and upon us. God's love is not perfected in him, but in and with us. His love could not be designed to be ineffectual and fruitless upon us; when its proper genuine end and issue are attained and produced thereby, it may be said to be perfected; so faith is perfected by its works, and love perfected by its operations.
No man hath seen God at any time,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
No man hath seen God at any time - The very words, with the change of ἑωρακε for τεθεαται, of this apostle in his gospel, Joh 1:18. We may feel him, though we cannot see him; and if we love one another he dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us - it has then its full accomplishment, having moulded us according to its own nature.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
John discusses this in 1Jo 4:13-16. his love--rather, "the love of Him," that is, "to Him" (1Jo 2:5), evinced by our love to His representatives, our brethren. is perfected in us--John discusses this in 1Jo 4:17-19. Compare 1Jo 2:5, "is perfected," that is, attains its proper maturity.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
No man hath seen God at any time - See the notes at Joh 1:18, where the same declaration occurs. The statement seems to be made here in order to introduce a remark to show in what way we may know that we have any true knowledge of God. The idea is, “He has never indeed been seen by mortal eyes. We are not, then, to expect to become acquainted with what he is in that way. But there is a method by which we may be assured that we have a true knowledge of him, and that is, by evidence that we love another, and by the presence of his Spirit in our hearts. We cannot become acquainted with him by sight, but we may by love.” If we love one another, God dwelleth in us - Though we cannot see him, yet there is a way by which we may be assured that he is near us, and that he even dwells in us. That way is by the exercise of love. Compare the notes at Joh 14:23-24. And his love is perfected in us - Is carried out to completion. That is, our love for each other is the proper exponent of love to him reigning in our hearts. The idea here is not that we are absolutely perfect, or even that our love is perfect, whatever may be true on those points, but that this love to others is the proper carrying out of our love toward him; that is, without this our love to him would not have accomplished what it was adapted and designed to do. Unless it produced this effect, it would be defective or incomplete. Compare 1Jn 4:17. The general sense is this: “We claim to have the love of God in our hearts, or that we are influenced and controlled by love. But however high and exalted that may seem to be as exercised toward God, it would be defective; it would not exert a fair influence over us, unless it led us to love our Christian brethren. It would be like the love which we might profess to have for a father, if it did not lead us to love our brothers and sisters. […]
The words behind it
20 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| θεὸν | theon | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| οὐδεὶς | oudeis | no [one] | G3762 → | |
| πώποτε | popote | at any time | G4455 → | |
| τεθέαται· | tetheatai | has seen; | G2300 → | 20 times |
| ἐὰν | ean | if | G1437 → | 352 times |
| ἀγαπῶμεν | agapomen | we shall love | G25 → | 143 times |
| ἀλλήλους, | allelous | one another, | G240 → | 100 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεὸς | theos | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ἡμῖν | hemin | us | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| μένει | menei | abides | G3306 → | 118 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀγάπη | agape | love | G26 → | 114 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ἡμῖν | hemin | us | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| τετελειωμένη | teteleiomene | perfected | G5048 → | 23 times |
| ἐστίν. | estin | is. | G1510 → | 2333 times |
θεὸνGod
theonG2316 →1312 times
οὐδεὶςno [one]
oudeisG3762 →
πώποτεat any time
popoteG4455 →
τεθέαται·has seen;
tetheataiG2300 →20 times
ἐὰνif
eanG1437 →352 times
ἀγαπῶμενwe shall love
agapomenG25 →143 times
ἀλλήλους,one another,
allelousG240 →100 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
θεὸςGod
theosG2316 →1312 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ἡμῖνus
heminG3165 →1936 times
μένειabides
meneiG3306 →118 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
ἀγάπηlove
agapeG26 →114 times
αὐτοῦof Him
autouG846 →5565 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ἡμῖνus
heminG3165 →1936 times
τετελειωμένηperfected
teteleiomeneG5048 →23 times
ἐστίν.is.
estinG1510 →2333 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 6:46
not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
- Matthew 11:27
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Luke 10:22
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to…
- 1 Timothy 6:16
He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
- Colossians 1:15
Through
1 John 4:20If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
it leads to
- 1 John 3:17
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
- 1 John 2:9
If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
- 1 John 3:17
Through
1 Timothy 6:16He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 1 Timothy 1:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies9
On this verse
About 1 John
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, CATENA; Augustine of Hippo, Ten Homilies on 1 John 8; Augustine of Hippo, Ten Homilies on 1 John 7; Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistles of St. John; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on 1 John; Tertullian, Against Praxeas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 John.