1 John · chapter 3 of 5
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1 John 3 proclaims the great love of the Father, who calls us children of God, and the hope of being like Christ when he appears. John explains that Christ appeared to take away sins and destroy the works of the devil, and that the child of God does not practice sin. He contrasts Cain with Christ, who laid down his life, and calls us to love not in word but in deed and in truth.
In the previous chapter John spoke of abiding in Christ. Now he develops one of the greatest identities of the believer: being a child of God. Two marks flow from that identity, which the letter repeats: a life that does not practice sin and a love shown in deeds. The chapter also offers comfort for the heart that condemns.
John invites us to see what great love the Father has given us: that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The world does not know us because it did not know him. It has not yet appeared what we will be, but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself, as he is pure (vv. 1-3).
Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. Christ appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning, and the one who practices sin is of the devil, who has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God practices sin; children of the devil are marked by not practicing righteousness or loving their brother (vv. 4-10).
The message from the beginning is that we should love one another, not like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. We have passed from death to life if we love the brothers, and whoever hates his brother is a murderer. We know love by this: Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. If anyone sees his brother in need and closes his heart, how does God's love abide in him? Let us love not in word or talk but in deed and in truth (vv. 11-18).
By this we will know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before God if they condemn us, for God is greater than our heart and knows everything. If they do not, we have confidence before God and receive what we ask, because we keep his commandments. His commandment is to believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and we know it by the Spirit he gave us (vv. 19-24).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
John invites us to consider the great love the Father has given us: to be called children of God. The believer's identity does not depend on what the world thinks of him but on the Father's love.
It has not yet appeared what we will be, but when Christ appears we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. Christian hope includes a complete transformation.
The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. The coming of Christ is a victory over evil, not only a moral teaching.
John asks us to love not with words or talk but in deed and in truth. A love that does not translate into concrete action is not the love of Christ.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The great love of being called children of God. — 1 John 3:1
Answer: We will be like him, because we will see him as he is. — 1 John 3:2
Answer: To destroy the works of the devil. — 1 John 3:8
Answer: He murdered his brother because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. — 1 John 3:12
Answer: Because Christ laid down his life for us; we also ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. — 1 John 3:16
Answer: To believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another. — 1 John 3:23
1 John 3 reminds us who we are: children of God loved by the Father. That identity frees us from depending on the world's approval and encourages us to live consistently. In a group we can ask how our way of living changes when we remember that we are children.
The chapter also asks for practical love. Instead of saying that we love, we can think of a concrete need of a brother or sister in church and do something this week: visit, help, accompany. And if our heart condemns us for the past, we can remember that God is greater than our heart.
1 John 3 joins identity, hope and practical love: we are children of God, we hope to be like Christ and we show his love in deeds. Chapter 4 continues with how to test the spirits and why God is love.
No. John already said in 1:8-10 that whoever denies having sin deceives himself. The Greek verb points to continuing practice: the one born of God does not live in sin as a habit or lifestyle, because God's seed abides in him. A believer can fall, but does not settle into sin; he confesses and returns to God.
It refers to the conscience that accuses, sometimes rightly and sometimes with guilt that does not fit. John comforts by saying that God is greater than our heart and knows everything. Whoever loves in deed can rest in the fact that God knows his sincerity and that his grace is greater than his guilt.