The key difference between a believer's love and a nonbeliever's love is the source of it. In this week's verses we see the way to become a believer and the Source of our love as believers.
"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God…"
If Jesus truly is the Son of God, then He is the Messiah who "takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), and His death on the cross truly was the sacrifice needed to satisfy our penalty. Believing that Jesus is the Son of God is presented as a pivotal point of salvation many times throughout the New Testament. John the Baptist "bare record that this is the Son of God" (John 1:34), Saul "preached Christ...that he is the Son of God" (Acts 9:20), the Ethiopian Eunuch proclaimed as testimony of his salvation "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37), and John wrote that "he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God""overcometh the world" (1 John 5:5). This is a crucial point of belief, and an exciting one, because once you confess this, God comes to dwell in you!
"...And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us..."
Here is another very important point of belief: God's love. John 3:16 is a verse that most believers can recite, and it contains a wonderful and simple image of God's love: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The ultimate demonstration of God's love was Jesus' death on the cross--a death that brought life. God loves you that much. Do you know and believe it?
"...God is love;..."
Those three words are hope for the world. We deserve condemnation, judgement, death, and hell, yet instead God gives us love. He gives us Himself. His very being is love.
"...and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
The Greek word for "dwelleth" here is meno. It is the same word used in last week's passage for "continue." Thayer's Greek Lexicon defines its use here as "of him who cleaves, holds fast, to a thing." Loving as a believer won't always be easy, but you must hold fast to it, dwell in it. It is evidence of your relationship with God because God is love. He will give you a love like no other.
Once you come into a relationship with God through belief in the Son of God, He dwells in you. Because He is love, love also dwells in you. He is the Source of love for believers. This week, hold fast to Him.
God bless.
What a great reminder that God loves us and that we have the capacity to love like Christ.