1 John 4:8 (DBY)

Passage

He that loves not has not known God; for God is love.

Nearby Context

1 John 4:6 *We* are of God; he that knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another; because love is of God, and every one that loves has been begotten of God, and knows God.

1 John 4:8 He that loves not has not known God; for God is love.

1 John 4:9 Herein as to us has been manifested the love of God, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "loves" and "known". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "loves" and "known", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Beloved let us love one another because..." into verse 9's "Herein as to us has been manifested...", so "loves" and "known" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "loves" and "known" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.