1 John 4:11

Beloved. This is the last occurrence of this term of endearment in this epistle. The term is here used to introduce an important statement. Compare the use of the term in 1 John 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7.

If God so loved. Compare John 3:16. John is not expressing any doubt that God loved us, but is drawing attention to the infinite extent of His love and the manner in which it was displayed, for the purpose of encouraging his readers to emulate the divine example.

We. The pronoun is emphatic in the Greek (cf. on verse 10).

Ought. Gr. opheilo (see on 1 John 2:6).

Love one another. See on 1 John 3:11. We, who are aware of the magnitude of God’s matchless love for us, are obligated to emulate that love in relation to our fellows. Since God so loved us, unworthy as we are, should not we love our brother, unworthy though he may seem to us? To refuse to love our brother, who is no worse in the Lord’s eyes than we, is to put ourselves in the position of the ungrateful debtor who had been forgiven a large debt which he could never have paid, yet went out and attacked a fellow servant who owed but a small sum (see on Matt. 18:23-35). It is a mutual love to which we are called, and shared love increases steadily as each brother seeks to aid the other. The nearer we come to preferring one another in honor (Rom. 12:10), to laying down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16), the more like God we become and the more like His is our love. As the people of God near the close of probation, remarkable changes will take place. Their hearts will be knit one with the other in a love that is like that of God for us, and they will stand foursquare and fearless before their foes (TM 186, 187).