1 John3
New King James Version
1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
7Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
10In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
11For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
13Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
19And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
20For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
22And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
23And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
24Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 John 3.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The apostle admires the love of God in making believers his children. (1, 2). The purifying influence of the hope of seeing Christ, and the danger of pretending to this, and living in sin. (3–10). Love to the brethren is the character of real Christians. (11–15). That love described by its actings. (16–21). The advantage of faith, love, and obedience. (22–24).
vv1-2
Little does the world know of the happiness of the real followers of Christ. Little does the world think that these poor, humble, despised ones, are favourites of God, and will dwell in heaven. Let the followers of Christ be content with hard fare here, since they are in a land of strangers, where their Lord was so badly treated before them. The sons of God must walk by faith, and live by hope. They may well wait in faith, hope, and earnest desire, for the revelation of the Lord Jesus. The sons of God will be known, and be made manifest by likeness to their Head. They shall be transformed into the same image, by their view of him.
vv3-10
The sons of God know that their Lord is of purer eyes than to allow any thing unholy and impure to dwell with him. It is the hope of hypocrites, not of the sons of God, that makes allowance for gratifying impure desires and lusts. May we be followers of him as his dear children, thus show our sense of his unspeakable mercy, and express that obedient, grateful, humble mind which becomes us. Sin is the rejecting the Divine law. In him, that is, in Christ, was no sin. All the sinless weaknesses that were consequences of the fall, he took; that is, all those infirmities of mind or body which subject man to suffering, and expose him to temptation. But our moral infirmities, our proneness to sin, he had not. He that abides in Christ, continues not in the practice of sin. Renouncing sin is the great proof of spiritual union with, continuance in, and saving knowledge of the Lord Christ. Beware of self-deceit. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, and to be a follower of Christ, shows an interest by faith in his obedience and sufferings. But a man cannot act like the devil, and at the same time be a disciple of Christ Jesus. Let us not serve or indulge what the Son of God came to destroy. To be born of God is to be inwardly renewed by the power of the Spirit of God. Renewing grace is an abiding principle. Religion is not an art, a matter of dexterity and skill, but a new nature. And the regenerate person cannot sin as he did before he was born of God, and as others do who are not born again. There is that light in his mind, which shows him the evil and malignity of sin. There is that bias upon his heart, which disposes him to loathe and hate sin. There is the spiritual principle that opposes sinful acts. And there is repentance for sin, if committed. It goes against him to sin with forethought. The children of God and the children of the devil have their distinct characters. The seed of the serpent are known by neglect of religion, and by their hating real Christians. He only is righteous before God, as a justified believer, who is taught and disposed to righteousness by the Holy Spirit. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. May all professors of the gospel lay these truths to heart, and try themselves by them.
vv11-15
We should love the Lord Jesus, value his love, and therefore love all our brethren in Christ. This love is the special fruit of our faith, and a certain sign of our being born again. But none who rightly know the heart of man, can wonder at the contempt and enmity of ungodly people against the children of God. We know that we are passed from death to life: we may know it by the evidences of our faith in Christ, of which love to our brethren is one. It is not zeal for a party in the common religion, or affection for those who are of the same name and sentiments with ourselves. The life of grace in the heart of a regenerate person, is the beginning and first principle of a life of glory, whereof they must be destitute who hate their brother in their hearts.
Key Words
εἴδω (eídō): used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω); properly, to see (literally or figuratively); by implication, (in the perfect tense only) to know
ποταπός (potapós): interrogatively, whatever, i.e. of what possible sort
ἀγάπη (agápē): love, i.e. affection or benevolence; specially (plural) a love-feast
πατήρ (patḗr): a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)
δίδωμι (dídōmi): to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figuratively; greatly modified by the connection)
ἡμῖν (hēmîn): to (or for, with, by) us
ἵνα (hína): compare G3588 (ὁ)); in order that (denoting the purpose or the result)
καλέω (kaléō): to "call" (properly, aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise)
τέκνον (téknon): a child (as produced)
θεός (theós): figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very
Cross References
1 John 3Explicit historical allusion to Cain slaying his brother Abel because of his evil deeds.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Old Testament anticipation of being satisfied with God's likeness upon beholding His face.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The spiritual principle that beholding Christ's glory transforms the believer into His image.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Christ's command ('heard from the beginning') to love one another as He loved us.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Believers participating in the divine nature, conforming them to His moral likeness.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jesus identifies the devil as a murderer and sinner from the beginning; compare 'children of the devil'.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Parallel teaching on being born again of incorruptible, abiding spiritual seed.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The Law's warning against shutting up one's heart from a brother in need.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Paul's description of adoption and the Spirit testifying that we are sons of God.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Those who receive Christ are given the right and power to be called sons of God.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Christ described as holy, harmless, and undefiled, matching 'in him is no sin'.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The protoevangelium: the seed of the woman manifested to bruise the serpent's head and works.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Confirms that God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things, with everything naked and open.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Jesus warns His disciples not to marvel if the world hates them, as it hated Him first.
Supported by Matthew Henry