Love Not Only Belongs to God but Is God

Finally, the virtue of love is so highly exalted that the blessed apostle John declares that it not only belongs to God but is God, saying: “God is love; so whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” For we see that it is so truly divine that we find what the apostle says to be plainly a living truth in us: “For the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.” It is the same as if he said that God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. The Spirit also, when we do not know what we should pray for, “intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And he who searches the hearts knows what the Spirit desires, for he asks for the saints according to God.” [a]