1 John 3:19

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. HEREBY - `herein;' in loving in deed and truth (). WE KNOW. 'Aleph (') A B C have 'we shall know,' namely, if we fulfill the command (). OF THE TRUTH - real disciples of, belonging to, the truth, as it is in Jesus: begotten of God with the word of truth (). Having the truth radically, we shall not love merely in word and tongue (). ASSURE - persuade, so as to cease to condemn us; satisfy the doubts of our consciences as to whether we be accepted before God or not (cf....

19_And hereby we know_, or, _by this we know_. The word _truth_, he takes now in a different sense; but there is a striking similarity in the words, — If we, in truth, love our neighbors, we have an evidence that we are born of God, who is truth, or that the truth of God dwells in us. But we must ever remember, that we have not from love the knowledge which the Apostle mentions, as though we were to seek from it the certainty of salvation. And doubtless we know not otherwise that we are the children of God, than as he seals his free adoption on our hearts by his own Spirit., and as we receive by faith the sure pledge of it offered in Christ. Then love is accessory or an inferior aid, a prop to our faith, not a foundation on which it rests. Why then does the Apostle say, _We shall assure our hearts before God _? He reminds us by these words, that faith does not exist without a good consci...

16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to....

Verse 19. _HEREBY WE KNOW THAT WE ARE OF THE TRUTH_] That we have the true religion of the Lord Jesus, _and shall assure our_ _hearts_-be persuaded in our consciences, that we have the truth as it is in Jesus; as no man can _impose upon himself_ by imagining he _loves_ when he _does not_: he may make empty _professions_ to _others_, but if he loves either God or man, he _knows_ it because he _feels_ it; and love _unfelt_ is not love, it is _word_ or _tongue_. This the apostle lays down as a _test_ of a man's Christianity, and it is the strongest and most infallible test that can be given. He that loves _feels_ that he does love; and he who _feels_ that he loves God and man has true religion; and he who is careful to show the fruits of this love, in obedience to God and humane acts to man, gives _others_ the fullest proof that he has the loving mind that was in Jesus....

AND HEREBY - Greek, “by this;” that is, by the fact that we have true love to others, and that we manifest it by a readiness to make sacrifices to do them good. WE KNOW THAT WE ARE OF THE TRUTH - That we are not deceived in what we profess to be; that is, that we are true Christians. To be of the truth stands opposed to cherishing false and delusive hopes. AND SHALL ASSURE OUR HEARTS BEFORE HIM - Before God, or before the Saviour. In the margin, as in the Greek, the word rendered “shall assure,” is “persuade.” The Greek word is used as meaning to “persuade,” e. g., to the reception and belief of truth; then to persuade anyone who has unkind or prejudiced feelings toward us, or to bring over to kind feelings, “to conciliate,” and thus to pacify or quiet. The meaning here seems to be, that we shall in this way allay the doubts and trouble of our minds, and produ

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 3:1 TO 1 JOHN 5:12 3. SECOND MAIN DIVISION. _God is Love._ 1 JOHN 3:1 (1) The _evidence of sonship. _Righteousness. 1 JOHN 3:1 The Divine birth is the outcome of the Divine love. 1 JOHN 3:1 BEHOLD WHAT MANNER OF LOVE! Ποταπός;_ _literally, "of what country," in the New Testament always implies amazement; but,

AND HEREBY WE KNOW THAT WE ARE OF THE TRUTH,.... By the saints loving one another in deed and in truth, they know, as the cause is known by the effect, that they are of God, who is the true God, the God of truth, and cannot lie, and is truth itself; that they are the children of God, and are born of him, since they love those that are, and every like loves its like; and that they are of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life; that they belong to him, are his, since they have his Spirit, as appears by his fruits in them, and this, among the rest, love to the brethren; and that they are his disciples, which others, even all men know, as well as themselves, by their mutual brotherly love; and that they are of the Gospel, which is truth, and the word of truth; that they are begotten, and born again, according to the will and grace of God by it, and are on the side of it, and c...

I have read this chapter many times in your hearing, but we cannot read it too often, for it is full of the deepest and most important instruction. God grant that fresh light from above may shine upon it as we listen once more to the familiar words! 1 John 3:1. _Behold,_ If you never used your eyes to good purpose before, use them so now: 1 John 3:1. _What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:_ Let the truth of our adoption amaze us, the adoption of such unworthy ones as we were to so high a relationship «that we should be called the sons of God.» 1 John 3:1. Therefore the world knoweth not, because it knew him not.

1 JOHN 3:19 @kai.# evn tou,tw| {C} As in the case of 1 John 3:13, the balance of external evidence and of internal probabilities warrants the use of square brackets around kai,....

V. HEREBY WE KNOW Chapter S 3:19-5:13 _ 1. Hereby we know that we are of the truth (1 John 3:19)_ 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1) 3. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and of error (1 John 4:5) 4. The Love manifested toward us (1 John 4:7) 5. The final tests as to the possession of eternal life (1 John 4:20; 1 John 5:1) 1 John 3:19 .