“And we haue knowen and beleeued the loue that God hath to vs. God is loue, and hee that dwelleth in loue, dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
4:16 And we know and believe - By the same Spirit, the love that God hath to us.
1Jo 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. "We know and have believed" (Revised Version). The love of God is a matter of knowledge and was a matter of faith. Love binds us to God.