1 John 3

Greetings and salutations,

1 John 3 continues the theme in 1 John of 'abiding in Him'. The outlining seems to be rather difficult with this book. I like the theme word of 'abide', but coming up with just the right words has been a challenge. I wonder if I might end up reworking some of these someday.

Anyway, working with the 'i' in abide, the outline theme is Intimate children of God and Imitate love for one another. Intimate (because we will know Him when He appears) children of God covers vv1-10; Imitate (with Christ as the example) love for one another carries us from v11 to the end.

The memory passage for 1 John 3 is;
1 John 3:1-2, 11, 16
1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

The first section (1-10) begins with the main theme in the first two verses. We are children of God because of the tremendous love He has given to us. John follows with an interesting comment about the world and its perception of us as God's children; it didn't know Him, and because we are His children it doesn't know us. For more on His adoption of us, Gal 4:4-7 speaks beautifully to the subject. He continues that even though we are His children, we are still not what He fully intends us to be; we have not received our original intended glory. But, we have confidence that when He appears we shall appear with Him (Col 3:4) and be like Him, because we shall see (and know doubt know) Him as He is. This is the 'intimacy' of our childhood in God; that we are beginning to know Him on our way to seeing Him as He is.

This hope we have in His appearing (1 Pet 1:13) sets our lives toward His purity. We live and walk in hope while we continue to train in righteousness and holiness. The opposition to this life and hope is the presence of sin. John defines sin as the practice of lawlessness (lit. breaking the law, wickedness). There is a lengthy explanation on my notes, but for now (and my own sake) I'll summarize verse 6. Because we are adopted as God's child being a new creation and having a new heart, we can abide in Him. If this is all indeed true of a person, their heart can no longer sin. Sin is still present in his life (see 1 John 1:7-10), but that comes from the sin still dwelling in his flesh (see Rom 7). So, verse 6 is not saying that a true Christian cannot sin if their faith is to be proven genuine. It reminds us simply that a born again heart is pure and new and good.

If you hear a little Eldgredge in that, there's a reason. I (and our church) have found some of his teaching and literature to be very helpful in the current stage of our growth.

The statement John is making next (with his classic format also seen in 1:8-10 and 2:9-11; point, negative point, original point enhanced) is that if one practices sin then he practices lawlessness; but whoever practices righteousness is righteous (as He is righteous); again, those who practice sin are of the devil and his work (which is at war with the kingdom of God).

He goes on saying in v9 that God's seed abides in those 'born of Him', and they cannot continue to sin in their hearts (see v6; the heart is not the source of sin because it is new, clean, born again). John ends this section with a very clear test; we know who follows God and who follows the devil based on their actions. If they practice righteousness and love each other; their God's. If they don't, they're not.

The second section of 1 John 3 is titled 'Imitate love for one another'. (the theme is 'love one another, but I had to start it with an 'I' :), so I used imitate because it sounds a lot like intimate and it follows the teaching of v6 that we should follow Christ's example of love)

What is the message we have heard from the beginning? That we should love one another in the body of Christ. The world may not understand that (and may hate us for it), but we must rest in the confidence that we have new life in Him and no longer abide in death. 'We have died, and our lives are now hidden with Christ' (Col 3:3). John brings up the story of Cain in v12, and then expands on the idea of murder in v15; the opposite of loving your brother is murder (obviously). But just as Christ taught, hatred of a brother is the moral equivalent of physical murder. Our example is not selfish savagery, but selfless sacrifice; that of Christ who died for us, His body.
This is the love we are to imitate toward each other.

Verses 17-18 is a page out of James' handbook (or vice-versa); if you say it, you'd better also do it or it doesn't mean anything. We are to proclaim and walk in the truth; God's truth that He reassures to us in our hearts. On prayer, John encourages us to pursue that assurance in the heart and will of God so that we can pray more in line with His will. What is a way to walk toward confidence in Him; keep His commandments and do what pleases Him.

Where can we start? V23, His commandment is to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and love each other (heard that before? see 'the greatest commandments', Matt 22:37-40). If we are keeping His commandments, we can be assured that He is abiding in us.

What more do I know about God from this chapter?
I see the beauty of His heart towards us. Reading some passages on the surface may give the impression that all you have to do (or should do) is follow His rules and then good stuff happens. But I'm not seeing it that way. He wants us to live, remain, abide in Him; and there are things that we can do to advance that goal. We need to do the things Jesus did to stay close to the Father; e.g. the disciplines. Part of 'all that I commanded' from the great commission is also what He did. He gave us a clear model of how to walk in intimacy with the Father. But there are rules to this relationship. Not graceless, dictatorial edicts; but loving boundaries given from a loving Father who knows the danger to our lives if we do not walk in righteousness. We are to 'walk in the same way in which He walked' (2:6) and 'love the same way He loved' (3:16). This idea of us being His children draws vivid (and sometimes very humbling) moments of awe as I see myself interact with my own children. Just think; He never loses His temper with me, He never gives up on Me, His discipline of me is always perfectly fair and exactly what I need, and He constantly teaches me how to be a better follower. I see how wonderful my Father is by try (and failing) to be a father myself.
Thank You, Father, for your eternal patience with me. Even though I get caught up in my own little world, you walk with me and teach me how to be more like Jesus. I owe you my life. Today, I take up my cross, deny myself, and follow You. I can't wait to see You.

Ethan