Text -- 1 John 4:20 (NET)

4:20 If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Jo 4:20

¹ tn Grk “if anyone should say…”

² tn “Yet” is supplied to bring out the contrast.

³ tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.

⁴ tn See note on the phrase “fellow Christian” in 2:9.

⁵ sn In 4:20 the author again describes the opponents, who claim to love God. Their failure to show love for their fellow Christians proves their claim to know God to be false: The one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.