1 John 3

(English Standard Version) 1 John 3

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

I’m using the ESV here but will reference other versions.

The first word in verse 1 is see it it is behold in the KJV. It means to perceive by any of the senses. This is how revelation works. You will perceive by any of the senses. You might see a vision, hear a voice,or any or many other things. That is why I never preach how I get revelation because it is an individual thing. I might mention how it happened but that does not mean God will work with you in the same way. Just apply the word ask God for help and expect God to answer. If at first it doesn’t seem to work don’t give up keep going and ask the father for help in understanding.

There are four figures of speech used here in verse one. God is pointing out something very important to us in this verse.  I am only going to go over one of them the one I understand best . The figure is metonymy or change of a noun.  When one name or noun is used instead of another, to which it stands in a certain relation.

1. The four figures are conclusio by way of conclusion epicrisis or judgement

2. Metonymy a noun exchange.  When one name or noun is used instead of another, to which it stands in a certain relation.

3. Metonymy of subject: therefore the world (Those who without Christ) knoweth us not, because it knew him not

4 Idiom: The peculiar usage of words and phrases, as illustrated in the language peculiar to one nation or tribe, as opposed to other languages or dialects.

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“The word love is not just the feeling of love but the manifestation of it in all that it has done for us” is how EW Bullinger described this word.

I could probably do almost an entire teaching on this first verse alone but one of the things I am trying to stress in these teachings in 1 John is simplicity not getting in depth just reading for context. After you read it you can always go tear it apart. No digging for gold but getting a sense of the overall context you can pick up a huge amount of information.

Verse 2 is also got a ton of depth to it but just read it for now. Here it is from the KJV.

(KJV) 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

As he is is worthy of study and something you could sink your teeth into. There was an article written by V P Wierwllie that looks at the statement as he is.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practises lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practises righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practise of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practise of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practise righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Wow you talk about some tough verses. They seem to contradict what came before except there is one thing John says that clears up a great deal of what he is saying here.

It says “it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil:  whoever does not practise righteousness is not of God”. It does not say those who succeed it says those who practise are righteous. We won’t always get it right we all fall short that is why we need an advocate. We keep God and word foremost in our thinking. Do we always succeed? I don’t if any of you say you do according to chapter 1 you are a liar and the truth is not in you.

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We are to love one another does that mean we always just encourage each other. No not according to several places where we are told to reprove a brother when they need it. Yes encouragement is a good thing and many times what is called for but there are those times where you will need to say hey bro you're wrong. It may be people will have a bad attitude or it may be that they are just doing something that is wrong. Here they use the example of Cain who murdered his brother but it could be a variety of things, someone is gossiping for instance, We are suppose to love one another with God’s love. It doesn’t say you have to be best friends. I have worked with people that if it had not been for the word I probably would never have been friends with. It was just differences in personalities, but we managed to work with each other despite the differences and get done what we needed to get done. Most of the time we also ended up with a healthy respect for each other as well.

Don’t ever expect that you will be greeted with open arms by everyone, just remember they hated Jesus Christ and there is a good chance the same would hold true for us.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

We are suppose to love by our action. If I see a brother or sister in need and I can help then that is what I am suppose to do, That does not mean being a doormat and let someone continue to walk all over you.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Self condemnation is a terrible thing. It says here as well as in Romans 8 that we should not condemn ourselves. It can ruin your ministry. We all have a ministry. We may not have the office of a prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, or apostle but that doesn’t mean we are not on a mission from God. We are all called ministers of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5 so if nothing else that is your ministry. So go and fulfill your ministry and do your best for God.