Written ~ 12-18-2024
Read 1 John Chapter Three
1 John 3
The best way to summarize the remaining chapters of 1st John are the words Love and Faith. Who you love and how you love will show the world whether you are a believer or not. And who or what you put your entire faith in will also show the world whether you are a believer or not. John encapsulates our entire walk with the Lord with one word… Love. Our love for the Lord God Almighty and His love for us. The first few words of Chapter Three are, “See how very much our Father loves us…”
But first, let’s start here…
1 John 3:23-24…
23 “And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with Him, and He with them. And we know He lives in us because the Spirit He gave us lives in us.”
You may be wondering why I started with the last two verses of Chapter Three. When we read through this entire chapter, everything John says in this chapter boils down to the statement made in verses 3:23-24.
Verse 3:1 says that our Father loves us, we know this because He calls us His children, when we believed and put our faith in who God’s Son is, that’s when we became His children. The world doesn’t recognize us as children of God because they don’t know Him.
Verses 3:2-3 say that we need to keep our lives pure because Jesus Christ is pure and because we are children of God. One of the greatest expectations for us will be to see Christ when He returns, to see Him as He really is.
1 John 3:4-6…
4 “Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is.”
Do you see how these few verses point us to what is being said in verses 3:23-24? Verse 3:24a says, “Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with Him.” We all have sin we need to confess and stay away from. Verse 3:6b says, “But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is.” We can’t have it both ways, we will either keep sinning and remain in disobedience to God’s Word or we stop sinning and remain in fellowship with God.
1 John 3:7-8a…
7 “Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8a But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil…”
Do you belong to Christ? Or do you still belong to the devil? Love or hate? Good or evil? Verse 3:19 says, “Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.”
1 John 3:9…
9 “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.”
And what “life” is within us? The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s Life. Verse 3:24b, “And we know He lives in us because the Spirit He gave us lives in us.”
1 John 3:10…
10 “So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.”
The difference between the believer and the non-believer should be very clear. One has life residing within, the other still has disobedience and death.
1 John 3:18-22…
18 “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 22 And we will receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.”
Well, these verses are packed full, aren’t they?
Let’s go verse by verse…
Verse 3:18…
18 “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions…”
When Jesus commanded us to love one another, He wanted us to love with purity of heart. Not with ulterior motives, not with any kind of deceit, but to love because we know the Savior, because we know the truth of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our example of how we are to live. We are to strive to be Christ-like. Jesus is love, that is the description that precedes every other description. Everything He does is because He loves us so much. No matter how horrible people were to Him, He loved them. So, when the Apostle John tells us in verse 3:18, to not merely “say” we love each other, because at times just words alone can come across as meaningless. Instead, we are to “show” our love. Our actions speak volumes.
Verse 3:19…
19 “Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.”
We belong to the Truth and because we belong to the Truth, we can stand confident in the presence of Almighty God. We can be assured that when we go the Lord with anything, He will bend His ear to hear what we have to say. When you are particularly confident in something, how does that make you feel? Are you confident in your job? Are you confident in your athletic aspirations? Are you confident in how you raise your family? Are you confident in your walk with the Lord? When we have confidence in something, our heads are held high, our shoulders are pulled back, we speak with boldness, our actions are done with strength, our words are filled with power. We have confidence because we know the subject matter of which we speak. Do we have the same confidence when we bow our hearts humbly before the Almighty God? That’s what it’s implying in verse 3:19! When we belong to the Truth, we will be confident before our Father in Heaven. And our actions are what show we belong to the Truth. Is your “Truth” showing?
Verse 3:20…
20 “Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything.”
All of us have something that might try to cast a guilty shadow. We all have things deep within us that might cause shame or guilt and could cause our confidence to waver a little bit. Look at what verse 3:20 says, “Even if we feel guilty…” meaning at times we will have a guilty conscious about a particular action or something we have said, but even in guilt, look what the verse continues to say, “…God is greater than our feelings…” so we may feel unworthy, or we may feel guilty over something we have done or said, but God sees past all of that, “…He knows everything…” We can be assured that by us belonging to Jesus, God sees the truth first and our guilt and shame is completely wiped away.
Verse 3:21…
21 “Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.”
Here’s the “Ah-Ha” moment, “…IF we don’t feel guilty…” And how can we come to the point of not feeling guilty? To confess immediately of any wrongdoing! Don’t let anything weigh you down so much that your confidence begins to falter. We have a Savior who has washed away all sin, guilt and shame. We are no longer guilty in the eyes of the Almighty God; we shouldn’t continue to carry all that guilt since putting it all at the foot of the cross, “…we can come to God with bold confidence…” See what this verse adds? The word BOLD. So not only can we go to the Lord with confidence, without the feeling of guilt standing in our way, we can enter into the presence of God BOLDLY. What does that mean to you? Do you pray with whispered tones and with your head hanging down? Or do you raise your head, eyes focused on Heaven and “shout” your praises and your requests before Your Father? What’s the opposite of confidence? Insecurity. Self-doubt. Apprehension. What’s the opposite of bold? Timid. Cowardly. Cautious. Shy. Wary. Let’s all have Bold Confidence when we bring our requests to God. Anything other than bold confidence can leave us desperate and afraid. And that’s no way to live when we belong to the Truth.
Verse 3:22…
22 “And we will receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.”
What is the result of going to our Father in Heaven, the Almighty God, with bold confidence? Verse 3:22 says, “…we will receive…” And why will we receive what we ask for? Because belonging to Christ Jesus means we will obey what He commands. We will do the things that please Him. Our actions will show we are one with Christ. If we are not obeying the Word of the Lord, might that cause guilt or shame? If our actions or words are not showing the love of Christ, are we able to have the kind of confidence God is expecting from us? Each of us need to search our own hearts. Is there anything that is holding you back from entering the presence of God with bold confidence? Yes? Then confess it and get rid of it! Then… Stand up! Hold your head high, chin up! Shoulders back! Raise your hands towards Heaven. Go to your Father with confidence. With BOLD confidence.
So, this brings us to the two verses I started with, 3:23-24…
1 John 3:23-24…
23 “And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with Him, and He with them. And we know He lives in us because the Spirit He gave us lives in us.”
One would think that the two commandments God gives us in verse 3:23 would be easy enough to follow:
- Believe in the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ
- Love One Another
But those two commands seem to be the ones that get blurred the most in our world today. It seems society has placed anything other than Jesus to believe in. Love has become very temperamental and conditional. So how do we believe in the Son of God? How do we learn to love one another?
Believing in anything is putting faith in something that cannot be seen with our physical eyes. Belief is having full trust and confidence in whatever you are putting your faith in. Belief and faith go hand in hand. That’s why it is so important to read and study the Word of God, that is where we learn about who Jesus is and how the truth of who God is gets revealed to us!
Every believer wants to remain in fellowship with God. Once we have given our hearts to Jesus, we should want nothing more than to please our Father in Heaven. But we can’t pick and choose which commandments we want to follow, after we have put our full belief and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, loving one another will come easier as we learn more about Him. We will obey those commandments because we are remaining in fellowship with the Lord. That’s why the Holy Spirit has been given to us. He is there to guide us and lead us towards the truth. As we learn, gain wisdom and knowledge we will begin to see how the next three things I listed below have become more and more a part of our lives…
- Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
- Love One Another
- Remain in fellowship with the Lord
Doing those three things, even if you do nothing else, will bring you eternal life, peace and joy. But also! As we continue to dive into the Scriptures and learn more and more, there is a vast ocean of knowledge to obtain and it’s never ending! As we continue our Bible Study journey each day, God will continue to teach us who He is and point us to Jesus. Salvation is near and it’s for anyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:13,
13 “…Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…”
~AMEN~
- If you are tired of being angry or disappointed, and you feel it’s time to make a change in your life. My guess is that the Holy Spirit is prompting your heart, He is digging out that glimmer of hope you have pushed far into the caverns of your heart. It’s time to believe in the Son of God. It’s time to give your heart to Him.
Dear Jesus, You know my heart, everything I have done and said. Please forgive me for all of my sins. I believe You are the Son of God. I believe You came to earth to die on the cross for my sins. I believe You rose from the dead to give me freedom from sin and death. By faith through believing in Who You Are, I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life, cleanse my heart white as snow. Breathe life into me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Shine Your light through me. And use me for Your Glory. Amen.
- If you solemnly prayed this prayer, tell at least one person, so they can share in your joy!! I rejoice with you! All the angels in Heaven rejoice with you!
- It is very important to me that those who might be reading these journal pages of mine and don’t yet know the Lord Jesus Christ, that you make that decision. Today. Your heart and mind may not understand everything you have been reading, but if you open your heart to the truth of who Jesus is, you will be saved from sin and death. By the Power of the Holy Spirit you will be amazed at how quickly after giving your heart to the Lord your eyes and ears will be opened to the truth.