4:11
In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul famously says that we have not love then we are nothing. John is essentially giving the same message. Again, we should remind ourselves that this is not soppy sentimental love, not even virtue signalling “love”, it is the genuine love of God. The gnostics were focused on something different, in their case knowledge. So John here, while he uses the lack of love as a clear warning sign that the gnostics are way off the path, his primary concern is that the Christians, ie us, focus on loving each other as God has loved us. Going back to my note on Paul and love, this is just another sign of the unity of Scripture. People who don’t know any better are forever going on about supposed differences and contradictions between various New Testament writers. Such talk is usually just so much nonsense. I have read the whole Bible many times and what amazes me is the consistency of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. God used different people with different perspectives, emphasising different aspects of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, but they are all telling the same story.
4:12
No one has ever seen God. Moses was not allowed to look on the face of God (Ex 33:20). No one, except Jesus, has seen God. But if we have the love of God in our lives then that is proof that God is in us. And this love is the love that went to the cross, it is a sacrificial love. It is also a love that faces up to the reality of sin, sin in you and sin in me. It is not blind, but faces up fully to the truth and does what is necessary.
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