He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Knoweth not, х egnoo (G1097), aorist] - not only knoweth not now, but never has once for all known God.
God is love. There is no article to love, but to God; therefore we cannot translate, Love is God. God is essentially LOVE: not merely loving; for then John's argument would fall: for the conclusion from the premises then would be, This man is not loving; God is; 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 holds: This man doth not love; therefore knows not love: God is essentially love; therefore he knows not God.