Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, November 27th, 2024
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

1 John 2:3

And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Obedience;   Righteous;   Righteousness;   Scofield Reference Index - Assurance-Security;   Christ;   Law of Christ;   World-System;   Thompson Chain Reference - Assurance;   Words;   Words of Christ;   The Topic Concordance - Disobedience;   Evangelism;   Fellowship;   Jesus Christ;   Knowledge;   Love;   Lying/lies;   Obedience;   Truth;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Assurance;   Ethics;   Knowledge;   Law;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Command, Commandment;   Education in Bible Times;   John, Theology of;   Knowledge of God;   Sanctification;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Adoption;   Assurance;   Faith;   Knowledge of God (1);   Love to God;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Assurance;   Faith;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - John, the Epistles of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - John, the Letters of;   Judgment Day;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - John, Epistles of;   Law;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Assurance;   Commandment;   Communion (2);   Discipline;   John Epistles of;   Jude Epistle of;   Knowledge;   Love;   Sanctify, Sanctification;   Smith Bible Dictionary - John, the First Epistle General of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Here;   John, the Epistles of;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for April 30;   Every Day Light - Devotion for November 5;  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
If we obey what God has told us to do, then we are sure that we know him.
Revised Standard Version
And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And herby we are sure that we knowe him yf we kepe his comaundementes.
Hebrew Names Version
This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his mitzvot.
New American Standard Bible
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
New Century Version
We can be sure that we know God if we obey his commands.
Update Bible Version
And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Webster's Bible Translation
And by this we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
World English Bible
This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Weymouth's New Testament
And by this we may know that we know Him--if we obey His commands.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And in this thing we witen, that we knowen hym, if we kepen hise comaundementis.
English Revised Version
And hereby know we that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Berean Standard Bible
By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
Contemporary English Version
When we obey God, we are sure that we know him.
Amplified Bible
And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings).
American Standard Version
And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Bible in Basic English
And by this we may be certain that we have knowledge of him, if we keep his laws.
Complete Jewish Bible
The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands.
Darby Translation
And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
International Standard Version
This is how we can be sure that we have come to know him: if we continually keep his commandments.
Etheridge Translation
And by this we feel that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Murdock Translation
And by this we shall be sensible that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
King James Version (1611)
And hereby wee doe knowe that we know him, if we keepe his commandements.
New Life Bible
We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His teaching.
New Revised Standard
Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.
English Standard Version
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And hereby we are sure that we knowe him, if we keepe his commandements.
George Lamsa Translation
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, hereby, perceive we, that we understand him, - if, his commandments, we are keeping.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And hereby we are sure that we knowe hym, yf we kepe his comaundementes.
Good News Translation
If we obey God's commands, then we are sure that we know him.
Christian Standard Bible®
This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.
King James Version
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Lexham English Bible
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
Literal Translation
And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commands.
Young's Literal Translation
and in this we know that we have known him, if his commands we may keep;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And hereby are we sure that we knowe him, yf we kepe his comaundemetes.
Mace New Testament (1729)
if we keep his commandments, that is a proof that we know him.
THE MESSAGE
I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world's. Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
New English Translation
Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments.
New King James Version
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
Simplified Cowboy Version
The one way to know for sure you ride for the brand is if you obey God's commands.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

Contextual Overview

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, "I know God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

hereby: 1 John 2:4-6, 1 John 3:14, 1 John 3:19, 1 John 4:13, 1 John 5:19

we know: Isaiah 53:11,*Heb: John 17:3, 2 Corinthians 4:6

if we: 1 John 3:22, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 5:3, Psalms 119:6, Psalms 119:32, Luke 6:46, John 14:15, John 14:21-24, John 15:10, John 15:14, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:2, Hebrews 5:9, Revelation 22:14

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 22:12 - that thou mayest Psalms 9:10 - know Psalms 119:166 - and done Proverbs 7:2 - Keep Proverbs 19:16 - keepeth the Jeremiah 22:16 - was not Ezekiel 18:5 - if Daniel 11:32 - the people Hosea 5:4 - and Hosea 6:6 - the Matthew 7:24 - whosoever Matthew 28:20 - them Luke 1:6 - walking Luke 6:49 - that heareth Luke 8:15 - keep John 7:28 - whom John 15:21 - because 1 Corinthians 7:19 - but Galatians 4:9 - ye have Ephesians 1:17 - in the knowledge Philippians 3:10 - I Colossians 3:10 - knowledge James 1:22 - be 1 John 2:5 - whoso 1 John 2:13 - because

Cross-References

Genesis 2:2
On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.
Genesis 2:3
And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person.
Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
Genesis 2:10
A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches.
Genesis 2:11
The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found.
Genesis 2:12
The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there.
Genesis 2:13
The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush.
Genesis 2:14
The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And hereby we do know that we know him,.... Either the Father, with whom Christ is an advocate; not as the God of nature, and by the light of it, nor as the lawgiver and Judge of the whole earth, and by the law of Moses; but as the God of all grace, as a God pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin, as the Father of Christ, and as in him by the Gospel; and this not in a mere notional and speculative way, but with love and affection; not with fear and trembling, as devils know him, nor in theory, as formal professors and hypocrites, but with a knowledge, joined with hearty love of him, and cheerful obedience to him: or else Christ, the advocate and propitiation for sin; and him also, not with a mere notional knowledge of his person and offices, which carnal men and devils themselves have of him, but with that which is spiritual, special, and saving, being from the Spirit and grace of God; and regards Christ as a Saviour, as a propitiatory sacrifice for sin, and an advocate with God the Father; and by which he is approved as such, to the rejection of all other savours, sacrifices, and advocates; and is trusted, confided, and believed in as such, and affectionately loved, and that above all others, in sincerity and truth; and is readily obeyed in his word and ordinances; for where there is true knowledge of Christ, there is faith in him; and where there is faith in him, there is love to him, for faith works by love; and where there is love to him, there will be an observance of his commands; and this is here made the evidence of the true knowledge of him: for it follows,

if we keep his commandments; not the commandments of men, for the keeping of them arises from ignorance of God, and is a proof of it; nor the commandments of the ceremonial law, which are abolished, particularly circumcision, which is opposed to the keeping of the commandments of God, 1 Corinthians 7:19; but either those of the moral law, and which are more particularly the commandments of God the Father; the observance of which, though it cannot be with perfection, yet being in faith, and from love to God, and with a view to his glory, is an evidence of the true knowledge of him and of his will: or else those commandments, which are more especially the commandments of Christ Jesus; such as the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper, which are peculiar to the Gospel dispensation; and which being kept as they were delivered by Christ, and in his name and strength, and to his glory, without depending on them for life and salvation, is an argument and proof of the right knowledge of him; and particularly his new commandment of loving one another may be chiefly designed, that being what the apostle has greatly in view throughout this epistle; now let it be observed, that keeping of the commands of God, or Christ, is not the knowledge of either of them itself, for much may be done in an external way, yet neither God nor Christ be spiritually and savingly known; nor is it the cause of such knowledge, for that is owing to the Spirit and grace of God; but is an effect or consequence of spiritual knowledge, and so an evidence of it; hereby is not the knowledge itself, but the knowledge of that knowledge, that is, that it is true and genuine.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And hereby we do know that we know him - To wit, by that which follows, we have evidence that we are truly acquainted with him, and with the requirements of his religion; that is, that we are truly his friends. The word “him” in this verse, seems to refer to the Saviour. On the meaning of the word “know,” see the notes at John 17:3. The apostle had stated in the previous part of this Epistle some of the leading points revealed by the Christian religion, and he here enters on the consideration of the nature of the evidence required to show that we are personally interested in it, or that we are true Christians. A large part of the Epistle is occupied with this subject. The first, the grand evidence - that without which all others would be vain - he says is, that we keep his commandments.

If we keep his commandments - See the notes at John 14:15. Compare John 14:23-24; John 15:10, John 15:14.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 John 2:3. And hereby we do know that we know him — If we keep the commandments of God, loving him with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, we have the fullest proof that we have the true saving knowledge of God and his Christ. The Gnostics pretended to much knowledge, but their knowledge left them in possession of all their bad passions and unholy habits; they, therefore, gave no proof that they had known either God or his Son Jesus-nor is any man properly acquainted with God, who is still under the power of his sins.


 
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