1 John 4:16b - Love Is Evidence Of Salvation.
1 John 4:16 - Love Is Evidence Of Salvation.
1 John 4:16b (NIV) God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in
God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16b (NRSV) God is love, and those who abide in love
abide in God, and God abides in them.
1 John 4:16b (TEV) God is love, and whoever lives in love lives
in union with God and God lives in union with him.
Love is evidence of salvation. If you are born of God through
faith in Jesus Christ, you have His nature within (2 Pet. 1:4). Since
"God is love" (vv. 8, 16), His children who have His nature should
also manifest His love. The children should be like the Father!
Our love for others makes God's love real and visible to them
(v. 12) so we can better witness to them about Christ. It also makes
God real and personal to us. Merely reading in the Bible about God's
love is not enough. Seek to experience that love in your heart by
sharing it with others. [Chapter by Chapter Bible Commentary by Warren
Wiersbe]
God is love. Like rays of light from the sun, love and light and
joy flow out from Him to all His creatures. It is His nature to
give. His very life is the outflow of unselfish love.... We are to be
centers of light and blessing to our little circle, even as He is to the
universe. We have nothing of ourselves, but the light of His love shines
upon us, and we are to reflect its brightness.... If you are the
children of God you are partakers of His nature, and you cannot but be
like Him. Every child lives by the life of his father. If you are
God's children, begotten by His Spirit, you live by the life of God.
In Christ dwells "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"
(Colossians 2:9); and the life of Jesus is made manifest "in our mortal
flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11). That life in you will produce the same
character and manifest the same works as it did in Him. {MB 77}
There is more to becoming a Christian than accepting a set of
doctrines and striving to live out a particular lifestyle. Being a
Christian involves allowing God to become a living presence in your life
... A Christian is a person who is possessed by Christ in such a way
that feelings, thoughts, and attitudes are all changed. For the
Christian person, loving becomes a spiritual exercise because God is love,
and the Christian knows that "every one that loveth is born of God."
God wants to indwell you and affect your consciousness for many
reasons, but above then all is His desire to be able to reach other
people with His love through you ... If you will pray and ask Him to be
an indwelling reality and if you are willing to yield to His will
in all things, He will enter into your consciousness and begin to
effect a transformation in your life. Most important, you will, little
by little, begin to relate to other people as He would relate to
them You will recognize that being a Christian involves a commitment
to treat others as He would treat them ...
If you want to do something that will cause you to become a
more loving person, surrender yourself to Jesus. He has a way of
making lovers out of people. [Tony Campolo; Time With God SB]
Christ's Passion:
http://www.abible.com/animations/53.swf
The Cross:
http://www.abible.com/animations/walk_1john4_10.swf
The Blessed Hope:
http://www.abible.com/animations/ee.swf
