Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 John
Chapter 3: The Sons of God
First John 3 marvels at the love that makes us God's children and calls that love out in holy living and practical care. 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.' Our destiny is glorious: 'when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is,' and this hope purifies. John draws a sharp line between the children of God and the children of the devil: 'he that committeth sin is of the devil,' but 'for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.' The mark of God's children is love: 'we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.' And love is defined by the cross: 'Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.' Such love is not mere words: 'let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.' This chapter shows us the wonder of being God's children and the love that proves it.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 John chapter 3. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here John marvels at the love that makes us God's children, contrasts the children of God with the children of the devil, and defines true love by the cross and by practical care for one another. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Sons of God
What manner of love makes us God's children.
We Shall Be Like Him
This hope purifies us even as He is pure.
Children of God or the Devil
The Son was manifested to destroy his works.
Love in Deed and Truth
He laid down His life; so ought we.
What Manner of Love (1 John 3:1-12)
God's astonishing love makes us His children, destined to be like Him; those born of God do righteousness, for the Son was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.
The Son of God Was Manifested to Destroy the Works of the Devil
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous."
Word Study
"the sons of God," Greek tekna theou (τέκνα θεοῦ). The key word is teknon, "child," from tikto, "to give birth"; it stresses birth and family relationship, a child born into a family. "What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." John does not say we are merely called God's servants or subjects, but His tekna, His born children, brought into His very family by a new birth. And he emphasizes the wonder of it with "what manner of love", literally, "of what country," as if this love were so foreign, so out of this world, that we have no earthly category for it. The proof of our sonship is the new birth, "born of God," so that "his seed remaineth in him", the divine life implanted in us produces a family likeness. Because we are His children now, our future is certain: "now are we the sons of God... when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Children grow up to resemble their Father, and one day we shall be perfectly conformed to His likeness. And this destiny purifies us now: "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." So teknon declares the astonishing grace of the gospel: by a love beyond this world, God has not merely forgiven us but made us His own born children, in whom His seed remains, destined to be like Him, and called even now to live as members of His family.
Explanation
John marvels, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!" That sonship carries a purifying hope — "when he shall appear, we shall be like him," and "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself." Sin is defined as lawlessness, and Christ "was manifested to take away our sins." So "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" — does not live in the practice of it — "for his seed remaineth in him." The children of God and the children of the devil are told apart by two tests: doing righteousness and loving the brethren, illustrated by the warning of "Cain, who... slew his brother."
Gospel Focus
John cannot get over the wonder of it: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." It is a love so astonishing that the world, which "knew him not," cannot even recognize God's children. And our present sonship guarantees a glorious future: "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." One day we shall see Christ as He truly is, and that sight will transform us into His perfect likeness. This hope is not idle; it purifies: "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Those who expect to be like Christ strive to be like Him now. Then John draws the sharp line between two families. Sin is "the transgression of the law," a breaking of God's righteous order, and it is utterly opposed to Christ, who "was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." So a life of habitual sin cannot go on unbroken in one who truly abides in Him. John is not teaching that believers never sin (he has already provided an Advocate for when we do, 2:1), but that those "born of God" do not practice sin as a settled way of life, for "his seed remaineth in him." The great dividing line is drawn: "he that doeth righteousness is righteous," but "he that committeth sin is of the devil." And here shines the purpose of the incarnation: "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." God was manifest in the flesh in the Son precisely to undo everything the devil has done, sin, death, and bondage, and to break his power. So "in this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil": the two families are told apart by righteousness and by love, "whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Love has been the message "from the beginning." And John warns by the first example of hatred: "not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother," and did so because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Hatred of the righteous is the mark of the devil's children. So the gospel makes us God's own children by a love beyond this world, destines us to be like Christ, and shows itself in lives of righteousness and love, for the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil in us.
He Laid Down His Life for Us (1 John 3:13-24)
The proof that we have passed from death to life is love, defined by the cross and shown in deed and truth, giving us confidence toward God.
Let Us Not Love in Word, but in Deed and in Truth
"Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And 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. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us."
Word Study
"bowels of compassion," Greek splanchna (σπλάγχνα). The word means the inward parts, the intestines, and by extension the seat of the deepest emotions, tender affection, heartfelt compassion; the older English "bowels" carries the same idea of feelings felt deep in the gut. "Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" The splanchna are where compassion is felt, a stirring in the depths of one's being at another's need. This is the same word used of Jesus when He was "moved with compassion" toward the multitudes. John's point is searching: to see a brother in genuine need, to have the means to help, and yet to "shut up" one's compassion, closing off the tender feeling and doing nothing, exposes an absence of God's love in the heart. Real love is not merely a warm feeling; it moves the splanchna and then moves the hand. This is why John immediately says, "let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." Love that stays in words, or even in feelings that never act, is not the love of God. So splanchna presses us to a costly, practical compassion: to let our hearts be moved at our brother's need and to open our hands, for the love that God has poured into us is a love that gives, as He gave His own Son.
Explanation
John gives a plain evidence of salvation: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The pattern of that love is the cross — "he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" — and it must be practical: not to shut up "bowels of compassion" from a brother in need, but to "love... in deed and in truth," not "in word... only." Such love assures "our hearts before him," even when the heart condemns, "for God is greater than our heart." His commandment is compact: "that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another" — and by His Spirit we know He abides in us.
Gospel Focus
John continues the theme of love as the mark of God's children, now set against the world's hatred: "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you." Since the world hated Christ, it will hate His people; hatred from the world is to be expected, not feared. But among believers, the opposite reigns: "we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." Love for fellow believers is the evidence that we have crossed from spiritual death into life. And its absence is deadly serious: "he that loveth not his brother abideth in death," and "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer", for hatred is murder in the heart, as Jesus taught. Then John gives the supreme definition of love, and it is the cross: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us." Here again shines the deity of Christ and the wonder of the atonement: it was "the love of God" that "laid down his life for us." God Himself, manifest in flesh, laid down His own life for us; there is no greater love. And that love becomes our pattern: "we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Then John brings love down to the everyday: "whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" If we will not even share our goods with a brother in need, how can we claim to have God's love, much less to lay down our lives? So the great command: "let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." Love that is only talk is no love; real love acts. Such genuine love gives us assurance: "hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." When our own heart accuses us, John points us higher: "God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." God's knowledge and mercy are greater than our self-condemnation, and where our heart does not condemn us, we have "confidence toward God" in prayer, receiving what we ask because "we keep his commandments." And John sums up God's commandment in two joined parts: "that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another." Faith in Jesus and love for one another are the twin commands, and those who keep them dwell in God, "and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." The indwelling Holy Ghost is the seal and evidence of God's abiding presence. So love, proven at the cross and shown in deed and truth, is the great mark of God's children, our assurance before Him, and the fruit of the Spirit He has given us.
Chapter 3 in Review
First John 3 marvels at our adoption and defines the love that proves it. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God," destined so that "when he shall appear, we shall be like him." John contrasts God's children with the devil's: "he that committeth sin is of the devil," but "for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." The mark of God's children is love: "we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." And love is defined by the cross, "hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us," and shown in action, "let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." Such love gives "confidence toward God," and the Spirit He has given us assures us that He abides in us.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter joins the wonder of grace to the demand of love. It shows the staggering love that makes sinners into God's own born children, in whom His seed remains, destined to be perfectly like Christ. It reveals the purpose of the incarnation: "the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil", God came in flesh to undo all the enemy has done. And it defines love not by sentiment but by the cross, "the love of God, because he laid down his life for us", the one God giving His own life for us, and it calls that same self-giving love out of us, "in deed and in truth," even to the point of laying down our lives and, at the least, opening our hands to a brother in need. Love for the brethren is the proof we have passed from death to life, our assurance before God, and the fruit of the indwelling Spirit. So we live as God's children, purified by the hope of His appearing, doing righteousness, and loving one another not in word only but in deed and in truth, as He loved us.
- "What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (3:1).
- "When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (3:2).
- "The Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (3:8).
- "We have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (3:14).
- "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (3:16).
- "Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (3:18).
Questions for Reflection
- Does the wonder that you are called a child of God shape how you live?
- Does the hope of being "like him" purify your daily conduct?
- Is your love for the brethren real, "in deed and in truth," or only in words?
- When your heart condemns you, do you rest in the God who "is greater than our heart"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Children of God; likeness to Christ; the purifying hope: 1 John 3:1-3; John 1:12; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18. Sin and righteousness; the Son manifested to destroy the devil's works: 1 John 3:4-12; John 8:44; Hebrews 2:14; Genesis 4:1-8. Love as the proof of life; the cross as love's pattern: 1 John 3:13-18; John 15:13; John 13:34-35; James 2:15-16. Confidence toward God; the twin command; the indwelling Spirit: 1 John 3:19-24; John 6:29; Romans 8:9, 16. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- What manner of love; the sons of God; we shall be like Him: 1 John 3:1-3; John 1:12; Romans 8:29.
- Children of God vs the devil; the Son destroys the devil's works: 1 John 3:4-12; Hebrews 2:14.
- Love proves we have passed from death to life; He laid down His life: 1 John 3:13-18; John 15:13.
- Confidence toward God; believe on the Son and love one another: 1 John 3:19-24; John 6:29.