1 John 4:17-21

v17: The most important assurance we can is have, is the assurance that on the day when we stand before the Judge we will welcomed and accepted by Him. This assurance comes from our love for God, because our love for God assures us of God’s love for us. “The more we love our friends, especially when we are sure that they know it, the more we can trust their love,” and God’s love “will not disappoint us” since He “is good and loving, and faithful to his promises.”

v18: When we are confident of God’s love, we do not need to fear “his punishing power and justice.”

v19: How should we respond to the God who first loved us “when we were both unloving and unlovely,” who loved us “by paying such a high price… his Son’s blood”? By loving Him. “His love produces our love.”

v20-21: The clearest proof of our love for God is whether we “love what is seen rather than what is unseen,” that is, our love must “spread to others,” and “we must love others in him.” Those who love God should love their “Christian brothers and sisters.”