1 John 3: Love in Action

Resources:

• 1 John 1-3 Overview
• 1 John 3 Reading Guide
• 1 John 2 Teaching Notes
• 1 John 3 Video

Overview:

• 1 John chapter 3 powerfully reinforces the overall theme of assurance in the book by focusing on the practical implications of being children of God. Here’s the main points in Chapter 3:
  • Assurance of Salvation (Obedience & Love): Chapter 3 heavily emphasizes the connection between being a child of God and living a life of righteousness. Verses like 3:6 (“No one who remains in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him”) and 3:10 (“This is how the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother”) 1 directly link righteous behavior and brotherly love to genuine salvation. This echoes the tests of genuine faith (obedience and love) mentioned in your summary of chapter 1. Chapter 3 doesn’t introduce new tests, but it expands on them, showing how these principles play out in everyday life. It provides concrete examples of what it means to live as a child of God, thus bolstering the reader’s ability to examine their own lives for evidence of true faith.
  • Assurance of God’s Love (Children of God): The very language of “children of God” permeates Chapter 3. Verses like 3:1 (“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”) and 3:2 (“Dear friends, now we are children of God”) highlight the intimacy and privilege of this relationship. This reinforces the theme of God’s love by showing its result: adoption into His family. It’s not just that God loves us; He loves us so much that He makes us His own. This strengthens the assurance of God’s love by giving it a tangible identity – sonship. It makes the abstract concept of God’s love concrete and personal.
  • Assurance in the Face of False Teachings (Righteousness vs. Sin): Chapter 3 contrasts the behavior of the children of God with the behavior of the children of the devil. This clear distinction between righteousness and sin serves as a powerful tool against false teachings that might blur the lines between good and evil. By emphasizing the importance of practical righteousness, John helps believers discern truth from falsehood. If someone claims to be a Christian but their life is marked by ongoing sin, their claim is suspect. This echoes the theme of testing the spirits (mentioned in your summary), giving believers a practical way to evaluate those who claim spiritual authority.
  • Assurance of Victory Over the World (Overcoming Sin): While not explicitly stating “victory over the world” in the same way as 1 John 5:4, Chapter 3 addresses the root of worldly defeat: sin. By emphasizing the possibility of overcoming sin through Christ (implied in verses about not continuing in sin), it provides a foundation for the later statement about conquering the world. True victory over the world begins with victory over sin, and Chapter 3 focuses on that crucial battleground. It shows that the Christian life is not marked by sinless perfection, but by a direction of increasing righteousness, which is evidence of the Spirit’s work and a source of assurance.

Notes on the video:

• The Bible is broken into 10 segments – 1 John is the 8th segment.
• In 1 John 2 there was a discussion of Walking Like Christ.
  • We need to be aware of the enemy coming at us in multiple ways.
• 3 points:
  • Justification – we are made right because of what Christ has done. This is a one time deal that happened when Christ gave His life for us.
  • Sanctification – this is righteousness, we begin to walk it out because we have been born again.
  • Glorification – this happens when Christ returns. Purification takes place at the completion of glorification.
• People who don’t know God are not part of God’s family. Not all people are children of God.
  • Unitarianists may say we are all one but this is not true.
• Philippians 3:21 tells us our bodies will be transformed to look like Jesus when He returns.
• v1: See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 
• v2: Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 
• v3: And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
• v4: Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 
• v5: And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 
  • Christ is sinless – there is zero sin in Him.
• v6: 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.
  • 1 John 2:1 tells us if anyone does sin we have an advocate in Jesus.
  • It might be better to realize that when we sin we will have an advocate because no one is without sin, only Jesus.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:21 tells us He has sealed us and given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
    • Since the Holy Spirit is already in us how is it possible to not live in Him? This is an interesting puzzle.
  • If we keep our eyes on Jesus we won’t be tempted to follow the enemy.
• v7: 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. 
• v8: But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 
  • The enemy is constantly pressuring us not to obey God’s laws. This is why Jesus came – to destroy the devil’s works.
  • Since the devil is still here today he still has free reign. The enemy will eventually be punished – he knows he has limited time so he is constantly trying to tempt us to commit sin.
  • The enemy was a high ranking angel that fell and brought a third of the angels down with him. He is constantly trying to get us to follow his path instead of Jesus’ path.
• v9: 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. 
  • This is a very difficult verse since we humans are always sinful.
  • This verse implies we’re constantly walking as Christ walked.
• v10: 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.
  • Anyone who doesn’t follow God’s laws are followers (children) of the enemy.
  • Christians manifest their nature by practicing righteousness.
• v11: This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 
• v12: We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. 
• v13: So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
  • People will hate us because we are following the rules of this world.
• v14: If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 
  • We know we’ve gone from death to life because of what Jesus has done for us.
• v15: Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
  • As a child of God we cannot hate anyone (even annoying politicians and celebrities).
• v16: We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 
  • As Christ walked we should also walk.
• v17: If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion — how can God’s love be in that person?
  • It’s difficult to imagine giving your life for someone but what about something smaller? Why not give up some food, money, or other assets to help your neighbors?
• v18: Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 
  • Romans 5:8 is the most incredible view of love.
• v19: Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 
  • See 1 John 3:19
• v20: Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
• v21: Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. 
• v22: And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
• v23: 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. 
• v24: 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.

Group Discussion:

• Verse 6 isn’t about sinless perfection – it’s about avoiding habitual sin.
  • Some people didn’t wait for Glorification to go to Heaven (become perfect) – Elijah is an example of this.
  • There were times when Elijah didn’t trust God (e.g. after he killed the followers of Bale). God didn’t take Elijah because he achieved sinless perfection.
  • As humans we cannot achieve “sinless” – we can only achieve “sin less”.  Jesus as our Advocate then enables us to become sinless.
• As we perfect our walk with Christ we should gradually be sinning less – we will never be sinless and this is why we need Jesus as our Advocate.

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