The concluding post for this series.
And now we come to one of the more convicting passages that I’ve come across. We’re going to take a look at 1 John 3-5, specifically chapter 3, with select verses from 4 and 5.
First of all 3:1-3. God’s love is so amazing. He loved us so much He not only died for us, redeeming us from our slavery to sin, and granting us new birth by the Spirit, He adopts us and calls us His children. And we are His children. Our rebirth and adoption occur at the same time. We are both reborn and adopted. We have new life spiritually and we become members of God’s family. As we are children of God, we have the hope that we will become like Him. We are children now, but there will come a time, when Jesus returns, when we’ll see Him in His glory, and we ourselves will be glorified. And this hope should play itself out in our lives. We are to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and in doing so we will purify ourselves (that is, we will seek to live out a pure and holy life, in imitation of Him.
3:4-12. The continual practice of sin is lawlessness, and sin is itself lawlessness; that is, rebellion to God’s law and authority. Jesus took away our sins. He was the only one who never sinned. And since we abide in Him, we will not live a life of sin. The Greek for the verb “sins” in verse 6 implies a continual aspect, such that “No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning/continually sins.” As such a believer’s life is not characterized by sin.
John goes on to say that we shouldn’t be deceived (just as Paul warned us in Ephesians 5). Only those who have been adopted into God’s family, been spiritually reborn, can practice righteousness, because we partake of Jesus’ righteousness as part of the privilege of being in God’s family. Those who keep on practicing sin are of the devil (John 8:44). And Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work.
In verse 9, we see that those born of God keeps on practicing sin, because His seed is in us. Indeed we cannot keep on sinning, because we have been born of God, that is born again. Verse 10, makes a clear distinction between the sons of God and the sons of the devil. Righteousness can only be practiced by the children of God. And those who do not love their brothers are also not of God.
3:13-24. Verse 14 makes it clear that our love for each other is a mark by which we know that we have been born again. And our example for love, as seen in verse 16, is Jesus Himself and His sacrifice for us (echoing Eph 5:2). As such our lives should be sacrificed for each other. And this love is not merely something we say or talk about, saying “I love you,” but rather it is to be lived out and should be sincere, flowing from our hearts (v.17-18).
In verse 23 and 24, we see reflections of what Jesus Himself said. We are told that He commanded us this – to believe in the name of Jesus as the Son of God, and to love one another. And we will do what He has told us to do if He truly abides in us. And we can be sure that he is in us, because the Spirit is in us. And what does the Spirit do within us, He cries out and testifies that we indeed are children of God, and He enables us to live in the power of God, as we have access to our Father through Christ, in the Spirit (Eph 2:18).
4:7-14, selected verses. Beloved – basically “You who have been loved” – love one another. Love is a gift from God, and true love (as Jesus loved) is born of God. As such, the Spirit is within us and we know God, as He reveals Himself to us by the Spirit and by His Word. Verse 8 tells us that God is love; love is one of the basic characteristics of God. Not that all love is God, or even that to love is to know God. But those that truly love can only be born of God, and as we imitate Him (Eph 5:1), we will act like Him. Verse 11 points out that if God so loved us, we should love each other, for His love is perfected, is being made complete, in us (v.12).
5:1-4. We see here that being born of God is through faith in Jesus. And if we love Him, we will love His children. And we know we love the children when we obey Him. For we know that we love Him, when we keep His commandments. And they are easy. What does He tell us to do: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
And because we are born of God, we can overcome the world, overcome sin in our lives, because, we have faith. Faith in Jesus (v.5).
5:18-20. John returns once again to application. No one born of God continues to sin. Jesus, the only begotten of God, keeps us, and the devil cannot touch us. A Christian cannot say “the devil made me do it.” He can’t touch you, unless you yourself give in to sin, and allow him too. We are the children of God, adopted by Him; we share in His family’s legal rights. The world does not, and is in submission to the devil.
Verse 20 tells us that Jesus has come and given us understanding that we might know Jesus Himself, whom we are in. And Jesus is the true God and eternal life.
Conclusion:
We are born into God’s family when we place our faith in Jesus Christ. At that same moment to, God ordained that we would be adopted into His family, receiving His familial and legal rights. His Spirit is in us, and testifies to this, that we are reconciled to God our Father. And since we are part of God’s family, we are His children, He will discipline us in His great love. We will also strive to imitate Him, as children do their parents. In doing so we will love one another as Christ has loved us.
Books Consulted:
Allen, David. Hebrews. The New American Commentary. Volume 35. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2010.
Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
Bickel, Bruce and Stan Jantz. John: Encountering Christ in a Life-Changing Way. Christianity 101 Bible Studies. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2003.
Comfort, Philip W. and Wendell C. Hawley. Opening John’s Gospel and Epistles. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009.
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Holman Reference, 2003.
Lightner, Robert. The Epistles of First, Second, & Third John & Jude: Forgiveness, Love, and Courage. Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2003.
McGee, J. Vernon. Ephesians. Through the Bible Commentary Series: The Epistles. Vol. 47. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991.
McGee, J. Vernon. Galatians. Through the Bible Commentary Series: The Epistles. Vol. 46. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991.
McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible: Volume IV: Matthew through Romans. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament Volumes 1 and 2. Colorado Spring: Cook Communications Ministries, 2001.
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