Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary Verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another] And ever be ready to promote each other's welfare, both spiritual and temporal.
For love is of God] And ever acts like him; he loves man, and daily loads him with his benefits. He that loveth most has most of God in him; and he that loveth God and his neighbour, as before described and commanded, is born of God, ek tou qeou gegennhtai, is begotten of God - is a true child of his heavenly Father, for he is made a partaker of the Divine nature; and this his love to God and man proves.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-13 - The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvatio of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness rest upon many things yet. God has s shown himself to be love, that we cannot come short of eterna happiness, unless through unbelief and impenitence, although stric justice would condemn us to hopeless misery, because we break ou Creator's laws. None of our words or thoughts can do justice to the free, astonishing love of a holy God towards sinners, who could no profit or harm him, whom he might justly crush in a moment, and whose deserving of his vengeance was shown in the method by which they wer saved, though he could by his almighty Word have created other worlds with more perfect beings, if he had seen fit. Search we the whol universe for love in its most glorious displays? It is to be found in the person and the cross of Christ. Does love exist between God an sinners? Here was the origin, not that we loved God, but that he freel loved us. His love could not be designed to be fruitless upon us, an when its proper end and issue are gained and produced, it may be sai to be perfected. So faith is perfected by its works. Thus it wil appear that God dwells in us by his new-creating Spirit. A lovin Christian is a perfect Christian; set him to any good duty, and he is perfect to it, he is expert at it. Love oils the wheels of his affections, and sets him on that which is helpful to his brethren. man that goes about a business with ill will, always does it badly That God dwells in us and we in him, were words too high for mortals to use, had not God put them before us. But how may it be known whethe the testimony to this does proceed from the Holy Ghost? Those who ar truly persuaded that they are the sons of God, cannot but call his Abba, Father. From love to him, they hate sin, and whatever disagree with his will, and they have a sound and hearty desire to do his will Such testimony is the testimony of the Holy Ghost.
Greek Textus Receptus
αγαπητοι 27 A-VPM αγαπωμεν 25 5725 V-PAS-1P αλληλους 240 C-APM οτι 3754 CONJ η 3588 T-NSF αγαπη 26 N-NSF εκ 1537 PREP του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM εστιν 2076 5748 V-PXI-3S και 2532 CONJ πας 3956 A-NSM ο 3588 T-NSM αγαπων 25 5723 V-PAP-NSM εκ 1537 PREP του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM γεγεννηται 1080 5769 V-RPI-3S και 2532 CONJ γινωσκει 1097 5719 V-PAI-3S τον 3588 T-ASM θεον 2316 N-ASM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
7. Of God (ek tou Qeou). Flows from God.
