1 John 3:1-24

How can I be sure?

1 John

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 3

The children of God do the right things (1 John 3:1-10)

v1 See what great love the *Father has given to us! He has called us children of God. That is what we are. This is the reason that the *world does not know us. It did not know him. v2 My dear friends, we are children of God now. We do not yet know what we shall become in the future. However, we do know this. When Christ comes again, we will be like him. We will see him as he is. That is why we will be like him. v3 All who have this hope in him, make themselves *clean. They want to be as *clean as he is.

v4 All who *sin are guilty. They have failed to do what the law demands. We *sin when we fail to obey the law. v5 You know that Jesus came. He came to take away our *sins. There is no *sin in him. v6 Those who live in Christ do not continue to *sin. Those who do continue to *sin have not seen him. And they have not known him.

v7 Dear *children, do not let anyone lead you to believe what is wrong. The person who does what is right is *righteous. As Christ is *righteous, so is that person. v8 The person who *sins belongs to the devil. The devil has been *sinning since the beginning. The Son of God came for this reason. He came to destroy all the things that the devil has done. v9 Nobody who is born of God continues to *sin. This is because he has the life from God. He cannot *sin, because he has been born of God.

v10 We know who the children of God are. And we know who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do the right things is not a child of God. And if a person does not love his *brother, that person is not a child of God.

Verse 1

God loves us and makes us his children

John now continues with two subjects:

• Christians are born of God.

• The return of Christ.

John tells us how great the *Father’s love is for us. Those who believe are his children. So, he is the father of all Christians. They have been born again of God.

The *Father loves each one of us with a great love. His love is so much more than any other love. We know this love because he sent his Son Jesus to die for our *sins. We can be God’s children because of this love.

John is astonished at the love of God. It is a love that is strange to us. It is so much better than any other love. John wonders at such love. It makes us children of God. See how great this love is! The *Father has given this love to us.

See how great the gift of this love really is! It is so great that God calls us his children. By his love, he has made us his children. We had nothing to do with this birth. It all comes from God’s love for us.

All people who are real Christians have been born again. They have become part of God’s own family.

They are the children of God now. They are his children not just by name. They are also his children in fact.

The people of the world do not know God. They did not recognise Jesus when he was on the earth. Because the people of the world do not know God, they cannot know his children. The *world does not understand that Christians are God’s children. Christians do not really belong in the *world. They are like strangers whose home is elsewhere.

Verse 2

When Jesus returns, we shall be like him

We are God’s children now. But he has not shown us what we shall be like in the future. We know that God will change us. We will not always live as we live now. The future will be much better.

We do not yet know all the future benefits for God’s children. But one fact is certain. We shall be like Christ, the Son of God.

One day the *Lord Jesus will come back to take his people to heaven. Then we shall see Jesus Christ as he is. When we see him, we shall change. All his people will change to be like him. But nobody can ever be equal to him. We will not become God as he is. But we will be similar to him in character. We will live with God the Father and with the *Lord Jesus. We will never die. We will be *clean from *sin and there will be no more *sin. As Jesus is *holy, so he will make us *holy.

Verse 3

We want to be like Jesus now

The word ‘hope’ does not mean that there is any doubt. The hope is that we will be like Christ. We will see him as he really is. God has promised this and he will do it. It will happen but it is in the future.

There is no doubt that we will share in that life. The *Lord has already given it to us. We shall live with him and that life will never end.

We know that one day the *Lord will change us. This should have an effect on us now. Each person who has this hope will turn from *sin. All who have this hope in Christ will want to be more like him now. As he is *clean and *holy, so they will want to be like him. How Jesus lived is how we should live. Those who hope in him want to live like this.