Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 John 4:12

"No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us:" — 1 John 4:12 (ASV)

Here most commentators see a reference to the false teachers who may have claimed “visions” of God—visions through which their own knowledge was mediated to them. John’s response is the blanket rejection: “No one has ever seen God.” But the conclusion he moves toward is different from that expected from the gospel of John. Instead of saying, “God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” , he turns rather to love: “If we love each other,” we know that God is present with us. As God was once present in his Son, so now he is present through the community of faith. And it is in this community that love has its ultimate fulfillment. With this conclusion, we can begin to understand a little better John’s urgent concern for the “fellowship” of the community of believers. It was not an optional “blessing” or “fruit” of belief that so deeply concerned him but the basic question of God’s presence and manifestation in the world through a community that has a love originating in him.