Psa 119:163, 1Jo 4:8 | JFB | STEP | 163. lying —that is, as in , unfaithfulness to the covenant of God with His people; apostasy.

Psalms 119:163

163. lying—that is, as in Ps 119:29, unfaithfulness to the covenant of God with His people; apostasy.

1 John 4:8

8. knoweth not—Greek aorist: not only knoweth not now, but never knew, has not once for all known God.

God is love—There is no Greek article to love, but to God; therefore we cannot translate, Love is God. God is fundamentally and essentially LOVE: not merely is loving, for then John's argument would not stand; for the conclusion from the premises then would be this, This man is not loving: God is loving; therefore he knoweth not God IN SO FAR AS GOD IS LOVING; still he might know Him in His other attributes. But when we take love as God's essence, the argument is sound: This man doth not love, and therefore knows not love: God is essentially love, therefore he knows not God.