What does it mean that He who abides in love abides in God (1 John 4:16)?

One could make the case that the main point of the apostle John’s first epistle is summed up in this verse: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16, NKJV).

God is indeed love. But how do people come to know and see His love if God is invisible (see 1 Timothy 1:17)? The answer to this question helps us understand what it means to abide in love, as “He who abides in love abides in God.” People come to know and see God through acts of love, which are expressed through God’s presence within His people. John writes, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12, NLT).

From the beginning, God has always desired to live with us, in us, and through us. God’s presence was with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He walked and talked with them until sin broke that fellowship (see Genesis 3:8). Later, God dwelt in the midst of His people through the tabernacle and temple sanctuary (Exodus 25:8; Exodus 40:33–35; 1 Kings 8:1–11). Finally, God sent His Son in the person of Jesus Christ to live among us in the flesh (see John 1:14; 2:18–22).

This was God’s plan of salvation and purpose from the beginning: that Jesus—“the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15, NLT)—would come to earth, reveal God to us, and make it possible for God’s presence to live within us. Jesus came so that we could have a relationship with God (John 14:6; 1 John 4:9–10). After Jesus died, rose again, and ascended to heaven, He sent God’s Spirit to live with us forever (John 14:16, 26). John attests, “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God” (1 John 4:15, NLT).

To abide is “to reside continually; to remain.” The word abide is used five times in 1 John 4:12–16 (NKJV). To abide in Christ is to have a personal relationship of constant communion with Him. It means knowing Jesus through intimate fellowship (see 1 John 2:5–6), living so closely connected to Him that we draw our very life from Him and produce the same good fruit that He did (see John 15:4–7). The believer’s continual state of abiding in Christ is made possible through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13).

Now that Jesus has returned to the Father in heaven, people come to know and see God through the lives of His children, through born-again believers. Because God’s love and His divine presence are living inside us, people can see God through us. If we abide in Christ—with God’s love residing in us through the empowering of the Holy Spirit—we will love others, and that love demonstrated to others will reveal God’s love to a lost and dying world (see 1 John 4:19–21).

God’s love was proven at the cross through the sacrifice of Christ (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9–10) and made complete in the life of believers (1 John 2:5; 4:12; 16–18). Believers abide in love because they abide in God through Jesus Christ, and God, who is love itself, abides in them. We are God’s temple, and His Spirit lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19–20; Romans 8:9–11; 2 Timothy 1:14). The apostle Paul affirmed, “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Jesus Himself confirmed that “He who abides in love abides in God,” for He said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23; see also John 15:9–10).

Unbelievers will not know that God loves sinners unless they witness His love operating in the lives of God’s people. Jesus did not merely preach God’s love; He demonstrated it by giving His life on the cross. He calls His followers to do the same, to present their lives as a living and holy sacrifice in love and service to others (Matthew 16:24–25; Mark 8:34–35; John 12:24–26; Romans 12:1–2). We abide in Christ and He in us. We abide in His love and share it with others. God’s love is fully expressed in our service to others. And whenever we share His love with others, it bears witness that we are abiding in Christ as genuine children of God (see 1 John 4:7–8).