1John 4:8-5:3 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Ezekiel 18:23-32 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? 24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. 25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? 30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
(KJV)
The love of God is the central topic of the Bible. It is very closely connected to the topic of our love to God. God's Word talks about love, which is perfect with God; God is love (1John 4:16). Sometimes, we can hear about the love of God as of something completely different from the "human love". In fact, it is only a different (and often also distorted) understanding what love means. This is similar with some other terms (goodness, sin, etc.) as well.
How do we recognize, whether (or how well) we identified ourselves with the love of God?
God is love and therefore everything that He has said or done, was done out of love. So, when we read in the God's Word about what God has done or comanded, these words and deeds, we read about, are still the words and deeds of loving God. He did and does everything in love. When we perceive it this way, we are closer to getting known His love. If what He did seems cruel, evil, merciless or even hateful or unfair to us, then God Himself doesn't seem truly loving to us. And it is certainly not possible to solve this contradiction by our reasoning as if there were two Gods: the God of the Old Testament - the strict and evil one, and the God of the New Testament - the merciful one. God says about himself that He never changes, and that He's the same forever (James 1:17), and that is why this "explanation" only reveals deeper unfamiliarity with God.
What are the other signs of our love to God and our faith in His love to us as well? If someone says that the first sign is that we obey His commandments (John 14:15), then he is wrong. It certainly plays a part in it, but not the most important. For someone might also obey God just because he is afraid of His wrath or damnation; not because he loves Him.
The answer is in the First epistle of John (1John 4:8 - 5:3): First, John talks about knowing God and getting to know Him. It is more than mere rational or intellectual knowledge of something about God. It means that we want to know Him and that we want to be known by Him. We do not hide or conceal anything from Him (when we know that He loves us, it no longer makes sense to hide anything from Him). It's important to realize how long does it take to us to come to God when we commit a sin? If we delay our repentance, either we don't love Him, or we are afraid of Him (i.e. we don't truly believe in His love). When John says that there is no fear in love, it means that we aren't scared of God; we aren't afraid that He could harm us or could be evil to us. (God's Word doesn't say - at least not here - that Christians are not afraid of anything).
John also says that we believe in God's Son. We understand that we would have no hope without His redemption. He gave Himself for us, He loved us before we loved Him, and that's why we can trust him entirely.
Our love to our brothers is mentioned, as another sign of our trust in God's love. It is completely comprehensible. In order to be able to really love someone, we need to be assured that we are loved by him. So, with faith in God's love, we can love both our brothers and our fellows. How could we love them, if we didn't believe that God loved us? And how could we love our enemies then, as Jesus wants us to? (Even though we do not love our enemies the same way as our brothers and we also cannot have the same fellowship with them. This means that we want good things for them and we are willing to forgive them anytime; we do not harden our hearts to them - but we don't have to have a true fellowship.)
At the end John finally says that if we love God, we also obey his commandments (1John 5:2-3). This is not a news of the New Testament, but this was valid in the Old Testament as well. Even then, God's commandments expressed His love. God didn't give His commandments so that people died, but that they'd live and understand that they needed Him (Ez 18:23-32).
