Dan has chosen one small fraction of the epistle of 1 John and has used part of that fragment as the basis to make some assertions about how things are.
" Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us:
He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God;
but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
"This is how we know that we live in him and he in us:
God has given us of God’s Spirit.
And we have seen and testify that God has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God lives in them and they in God.
And so
we know and rely on the love God has for us."
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
This is how love is made complete among us
so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment:
In this world we are like Jesus.
There is no fear in love.
But perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love.""
Dan has chosen to take 1 John 4 out of the context of the rest of 1 John, and further to take some parts out of 1 John 4 that don't fit his preconceived notions. You'll note that Dan hasn't simply quoted all of 1 John 4 to make his point, he's cherry picked out the parts that he believes make his point.
Let's note that John, in this passage doesn't define love. Nor does John tells specifically what it looks like to love.
Fortunately for us, Dan has done what John hasn't and told us exactly what John really meant, and exactly how to specifically live out this love that will allow us to be "born of God".
" we have a whole chapter that goes on and on in pretty clear language that those who love are of God, in God, part of the Realm of God."
" Those who show love to others give them food when they're hungry. Help them find work when they need work. Accept them for who they are, so long as they're not hurting others. Support. Accept. Welcome. It's not hard to understand."
The question then becomes, why would we cherry pick part of one chapter of 1 John and try to insist that these cherry picked proof texts represent the majority/entirety/focus of John's teaching. Let's take a look at a slightly larger chuck of context and see what else John mentions in 1 John.
Chapter 1.
"1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete."
John starts by referencing his claims about Jesus from John 1. He's making a clear case for Jesus' divinity, eternal existence, and for his (John's) status as an eyewitness.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
"5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."
In this section John seems quite focused on sin. He starts by telling us that he's repeating the exact message that he personally heard directly from Jesus, and by telling us that by "walking in the light" (something he equates with salvation elsewhere, and Jesus Himself claimed to be The Light) will "purify us from sin". He then deals with those who claim to be intrinsically "good" (without sin), focuses on confession and forgiveness, then ends with acknowledging that those who sin do not have "His Word" (Remember the term Logos from John 1) in them.
We're one chapter in an so far zero mention of "loving others" by " Those who show love to others give them food when they're hungry. Help them find work when they need work. Accept them for who they are, so long as they're not hurting others. Support. Accept. Welcome. It's not hard to understand.".
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