“God is spirit” (Jn 4:24 RSV, NEB; “God is a spirit,” the more familiar rendering, is incorrect). The second comes from the opening section of this very epistle. John offers it as a summary of “the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and declare to you,” and it is this: “God is light” (1 Jn 1:5). The assertion that God is love has to be interpreted in the light of what these other two statements teach, and it will help us if we glance at them briefly now.
