Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
1 John 3:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 1 John 3:5. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins — He came into the world to destroy the power, pardon the guilt, and cleanse from the pollution of sin. This was the very design of his manifestation in the flesh. He was born, suffered, and died for this very purpose; and can it be supposed that he either cannot or will not accomplish the object of his own coming?

In him is no sin. — And therefore he is properly qualified to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of men.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

3:1-5:5 THE LIFE OF LOVE

Right behaviour for God’s children (3:1-10)

John cannot find words to express his feelings when he considers the great love God has shown in making sinful people his children. They now think and act according to the nature of their heavenly Father, with the result that unbelievers, who think and act according to the world’s standards, cannot understand them (3:1). God’s children know little about the nature of life in the world to come, but they know at least that in some way they will be like Christ. This is good reason for them to become as much like Christ as possible in their present lives. They should be pure in thought and behaviour as he was (2-3).
According to the bold assertions of the false teachers, knowledge is all-important and behaviour does not matter. John contradicts this, pointing out that sin is the breaking of God’s law. Therefore, if people deliberately carry on sinning, they know neither God who gave the law nor Christ who takes away sin. John is not saying that Christians cannot sin (he has already shown the impossibility of this in 1:6-10), but that they do not sin as they like. They may have failures and make mistakes, but they do not sin habitually (4-6).
The behaviour of people shows whether they belong to Christ or the devil. They cannot belong to both, as the two are opposed to each other (7-8). If they are true Christians, they will have a divine power within them fighting the devil so that they might not sin. If they sin habitually, it shows that they are not Christians (9-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

And ye know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin.

In him is no sin … Even the sins of Christians who are "in Christ" are cleansed automatically by the blood of Christ as long as they so remain. There is no compatibility whatever between Christ and sin.

He was manifested to take away sins … For more on what Christ came into our world to do, see under 1 Peter 1:19.

And in him is no sin … Although in the present tense and bearing the meaning noted above, this is also true in the past tense of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus committed no sin (1 Peter 2:22); he was holy, guileless, undefiled, and separated from sinners (Hebrews 7:26); he knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21); he was without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:19), etc.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And ye know that he was manifested - The Lord Jesus, the Son of God. “You know that he became incarnate, or appeared among people, for the very purpose of putting an end to sin,” Matthew 1:21. Compare the notes at 1 Timothy 3:16. This is the “second” argument in this paragraph, 1 John 3:4-10, by which the apostle would deter us from sin. The argument is a clear one, and is perhaps the strongest that can be made to bear on the mind of a true Christian - that the Lord Jesus saw sin to be so great an evil, that he came into our world, and gave himself to the bitter sorrows of death on the cross, to redeem us from it.

To take away our sins - The essential argument here is, that the whole work of Christ was designed to deliver us from the dominion of sin, not to furnish us the means of indulgence in it; and that, therefore, we should be deterred from it by all that Christ has done and suffered for us. He perverts the whole design of the coming of the Saviour who supposes that his work was in any degree designed to procure for his followers the indulgences of sin, or who so interprets the methods of his grace as to suppose that it is now lawful for him to indulge his guilty passions. The argument essentially is this:

1. That we profess to be the followers of Christ, and should carry out his ends and views in coming into the world;

(2)That the great and leading purpose of his coming was to set us free from the bondage of transgression;

(3)That in doing this he gave himself up to a life of poverty, and shame, and sorrow, and to a most bitter death on the cross; and,

(4)That we should not indulge in that from which he came to deliver us, and which cost him so much toil and such a death. How could we indulge in that which has brought heavy calamity upon the head of a father, or which has pierced a sister’s heart with many sorrows? Still more, how can we be so ungrateful and hardhearted as to indulge in that which crushed our Redeemer in death?

And in him is no sin - An additional consideration to show that we should be holy. As he was perfectly pure and spotless, so should all his followers aim to be; and none can truly pretend to be his who do not desire and design to become like him. On the personal holiness of the Lord Jesus, see the Hebrews 7:26 note, and 1 Peter 2:23 note.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

5And ye know that he was manifested, or, hath appeared. He shews by another argument how much sin and faith differ from one another; for it is the office of Christ to take away sins, and for this end was he sent by the Father; and it is by faith we partake of Christ’s virtue. Then he who believes in Christ is necessarily cleansed from his sins. But it is said in John 1:29, that Christ takes away sins, because he atoned for them by the sacrifice of his death, that they may not be imputed to us before God: John means in this place that Christ really, and, so to speak, actually takes away sins, because through him our old man is crucified, and his Spirit, by means of repentance, mortifies the flesh with all its lusts. For the context does not allow us to explain this of the remission of sins; for, as I have said, he thus reasons, “They who cease not to sin, render void the benefits derived from Christ, since he came to destroy the reigning power of sin.” This belongs to the sanctification of the Spirit.

And in him is no sin He does not speak of Christ personally, but of his whole body. ⁽⁷⁸⁾ Wherever Christ diffuses his efficacious grace, he denies that there is any more room for sin. He, therefore, immediately draws this inference, that they sin not who remain in Christ. For if he dwells in us by faith, he performs his own work, that is, he cleanses us from sins. It hence appears what it is to sin For Christ by his Spirit does not perfectly renew us at once, or in an instant, but he continues our renovation throughout life. It cannot then be but that the faithful are exposed to sin as long as they live in the world; but as far as the kingdom of Christ prevails in them, sin is abolished. In the meantime they are designated according to the prevailing principle, that is, they are said to be righteous and to live righteously, because they sincerely aspire to righteousness.

They are said not to sin, because they consent not to sin, though they labor under the infirmity of the flesh; but, on the contrary, they struggle with groaning, so that they can truly testify with Paul that they do the evil they would not.

He says that the faithful abide in Christ, because we are by faith united to him, and made one with him.

(78) It is generally taken as referring to Christ personally; he being mentioned here as having no sin, because he is in this respect an example to his people; or, according to some, because he was thereby fitted for the office of taking away our sins; or, because he had no sin of his own to take away. Grotius viewed the present as used here for the past tense, — “and sin was not in him.” See a similar instance in John 15:27 — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 3

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God ( 1 John 3:1 ):

I love that verse. Behold, what manner of love God has bestowed upon you, that you should be called the son of God. What glorious love, that God should adopt me as His son, that God should claim me as His son. That God should call me His son. What manner of love God has for me that He would call me His son.

therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doesn't yet appear what we're going to be: but we know that, when he appears, we're going to be like him; for we will see him as he is ( 1 John 3:1-2 ).

Now, we should not look for the rapture to make a tremendous transition and change in our lives. You know what I would hope? I would hope that I could be in heaven for an hour before I realized it. That I walked in such fellowship with the Lord, such communion with Him, lived so close to Him, that suddenly I'd say, "Man, the air is clear. Where am I? Hey, this heaven!" And you'd be there an hour before you ever knew it. That there would be no real radical change. You know, people are looking for real radical changes to take place, but you know, the Spirit working in our heart, day by day He is conforming us into the image of Christ. And we are being changed from glory to glory into the same image by the power of His Spirit working within us, so that there should not be some dramatic radical change when we then come right into the actual presence of our Lord in glory. You see, what will we be occupied with when we get there? Just loving Him, and fellowshipping and worshipping Him, sharing with Him. What should we then be occupied with here? Just loving Him, serving Him, worshipping Him. It shouldn't bring to pass a real radical change, you know, a hundred and eighty degrees. Running in my flesh, hard as I can this way, and then the rapture, and back now the other way. But just that transition right on in.

"Now we are the sons of God, it doesn't yet appear what we're going to be." You know, the Bible is interesting in that it doesn't give us that much insight into just what heaven is gonna be like. And the reason why is because there are no words that can describe it. That's what Paul said of his experience, "I was caught up into the third heaven and, hey, I heard things that it would be a crime to try to describe them in human language, and I'm not gonna even try" ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 ). It would be a crime to try to describe them in human terms. There is no human language that can express these things. So, because language is limited and is incapable of really expressing the fullness of the glory, the beauty, it just remains not described for us. "Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the hearts of men those things that God has prepared for those that love Him. But God has begun to reveal them to us by His Spirit" ( 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 ).

Now there are occasions when I have a taste of heaven. A special work of God's Spirit within my heart and I'm carried away into an ecstasy. I experience a joy that's indescribable, full of glory. I feel a deep glorious peace that I can't describe. The Spirit of God beginning to reveal to me some of those things of the heavenly scene, but yet, so far beyond anything that words could describe.

What if you had a child that was blind and you tried to describe the sunset that we had last night? With a child who has never seen the oranges, and the reds, and the clouds and the beauties, fading out into the light blues and the pinks and all. How could you with words, adequately describe the beauty of a sunset? It defies description. So the heavenly scene defies description. The Bible doesn't attempt to. It just tells you, "Hey, it's glory beyond anything you could ever believe or imagine."

It doesn't yet appear what we are gonna be. Paul said, "Some of you will ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what body will they come?'" ( 1 Corinthians 15:35 ) And he doesn't really seek to tell us too much about the body, only in the fact that it's going to be vastly superior to the body that we have. We're planted in corruption; we're going to be raised in incorruption. We're planted in weakness; we're going to be raised in power. We are sown in dishonor; we're going to be raised in glory. We're planted as a natural body; we're going to be raised in a spiritual body. There is a natural body; there is a spiritual body. As we are born in the image of the earth, so shall we bear the image of the heavens. When you put a seed into the ground it dies before it comes forth into new life, and the body that comes out of the ground isn't the body that you planted. All you planted was a bare grain and God gives it a body that pleases Him, so is the resurrection of the dead.

New body--it's not gonna be the body that I planted in the ground. I'm not gonna have gimpy knees and I'm not gonna have bad eyes, and I'm not gonna have a bald head. I'm not gonna have wrinkles. A glorious new form, and I don't know what it is, it does not appear what I'm gonna be. It doesn't bother me. I know this, I'm gonna be like Him. Hey, that's all that matters. I'm gonna be like Him, for I'm gonna see Him as He is. And that's my hope tonight. I'm gonna be like Him as I see Him as He is.

And every man who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure ( 1 John 3:3 ).

This to me is one of the most purifying hopes within the church: Jesus is coming at any moment, and I'm gonna be changed to be just like Him. I'm gonna see Him as He is. And so that keeps me from doing a lot of things that I might otherwise do, from getting involved in a lot of wasted time that I might otherwise get involved in, because the Lord is coming soon and I want to use my time for His glory. Keep myself pure.

Whosoever commits sin ( 1 John 3:4 )

Now this word commits should be translated "practices sin" or "living in sin".

Whosoever [is living or practicing] sin is transgressing the law: for sin is lawlessness. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin ( 1 John 3:4-5 ).

Now, I pointed out in chapter 1 that the sins (plural) refer to the fruit, and sin (singular) refers to the nature of sin in us, here in I John. So the sin (singular) here, as far as Christ is concerned, "in Him is no sin," that is, there was no nature of sin. We have a sinful nature. If I try to deny that, I'm only deceiving myself, and the truth isn't in me. If I say I have no sin, that I don't have a sinful nature, then I'm only deceiving myself. If I say that my sinful nature has never borne any fruit, that I've never sinned, then I do even worse; I make God a liar now. But Jesus did not have a sinful nature. He was born of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit. He died, as Peter said, as a lamb without spot or blemish. Spot, an inherent defect, He didn't have an inherent defect. Nor were there any acquired, the blemishes. I have both; I have spots and blemishes. I have the inherent sin, the nature of sin, and it has produced too much fruit. So, thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ. Having confessed my sins, He is faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. So, whosoever is practicing sin is transgressing the law, for sin is the transgression of the law, and you know that He was manifested to take away our sins. He came in order that He might die for my sins, that He might take away my sins and my guilt, and in Him is no sin nature.

Whosoever abides in him does not practice sin: and whosoever practices sin has not seen him, neither known him ( 1 John 3:6 ).

Pretty powerful words. It should cause us to examine our own lives. If I am living a life of practicing sin, I really don't know Him. I really haven't seen Him. If I really know Him, then I'm gonna be free from the practice of sin.

Little children, let no man deceive you ( 1 John 3:7 ):

And don't deceive yourself.

he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous ( 1 John 3:7 ).

Now, Christ our example in purity, every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure. He is our example in righteousness, as he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous.

He that is practicing sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. And for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil ( 1 John 3:8 ).

So again, don't deceive yourself. If you are practicing sin, living in sin, you are not of God; you are a part of that rebellion against God, led by Satan.

Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin; for his seed remaineth in him ( 1 John 3:9 ):

And the word His there in your Bible, if you'd capitalize, because it refers to Jesus Christ.

his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God ( 1 John 3:9 ).

You see, I have been born now of God, I have been born again, this is what Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about, He said, "Hey, fellow, you got to be born again if you are gonna enter into the kingdom of heaven." He says, "How can I be born again? I am an old man. I can't go back to my mother's womb anymore." And He said, "No. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Don't marvel when I say that you've got to be born again." Born of the Spirit, the new birth.

Now, born of the flesh, I was born a sinner, with the nature of sin. And because of the nature of sin, there was the fruit, a sinful life. Now I have been born again, through the work of Jesus Christ, being born again, I have now a new nature. And when I do something that is untowards, mean, ugly, nasty, I can't say, "Well, you know, that's just my old nature." Because I have now a new nature. I've been born again. So that doing the righteous things become natural; sin becomes unnatural to the child of God. It doesn't mean that I don't sin, but it does mean it becomes an unnatural thing to me. Doing righteousness becomes the natural thing of my life. Doing the right thing comes natural. The nature of Christ, His seed abides in me and I can't practice sin. It's opposite to my new nature. It's opposing my new nature. I may fall into sin, but it's so opposing to my new nature that I'm miserable, I'm uncomfortable, and I come right out of it and I say, "Lord, forgive me. I was a fool. I was blind and foolish. Oh Lord, forgive me." I can't be comfortable living in sin. It's miserable because of my new nature. I'm out of character now with the new nature that I have in Christ. And so we are what we are by nature. That's why you need the new nature. That's why Jesus said, "You've got to be born again."

Now a pig is a pig by nature, and there are certain natural inclinations of a pig. He would be very uncomfortable in a different environment than what his nature calls for. Now, by nature he loves to get in a mud hole and just oink and scoot around in a mud hole, a stinky, smelly thing by nature, and he enjoys it. Now, you can take him out of the mud hole and wash him off with deodorant soap, cologne him and bring him into your parlor. Now, this isn't natural for a pig. He would be very uncomfortable in your living room. He would go rooting around looking for a way to get out. He would want to get back to the mud, the smelly mud pit. "I like it, it's my nature," if I'm a pig.

That's why reformation doesn't work for people. It takes more than reformation; it takes a change of nature. That's what the gospel offers to us. It doesn't say, "Come on, clean up your act." No. "Reform." No, it says, "Be ye transformed," have a change of nature. To where doing righteousness becomes the natural thing. Because His Spirit, His Seed is now abiding in me. A new nature through Jesus Christ, His nature planted in me.

And that is why the unconverted has such a difficulty, many times in making the decision to turn his life over to Jesus Christ. Because he sees the Christian and he says, "I could never live that way." Why? Because he's a pig, and he's happy in the mud, and he cannot imagine living a life of cleanliness, a life a purity. That's so totally opposed to his nature. He feels that he would be extremely uncomfortable in that environment. And Satan oftentimes uses that as weapon against the person making the decision. They say, "I could never live like those Christians. I would like to live that way, but, hey, that's not for me, man. I just couldn't do it." Of course you can't, we couldn't if there weren't a change of nature. But we've been born of God. His seed now abides in us. I have the new nature and I cannot practice sin in this new nature. Now, if you're comfortable practicing sin, then you don't have the new nature. "Oh, but I raised my hand and went forward in a Billy Graham crusade." I don't care. You know, you're not really born again unless there's a change of nature.

Now in this the children of God are manifest ( 1 John 3:10 ),

This is how you know if you're a child of God.

and the children of the devil are manifest: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God ( 1 John 3:10 ),

If you're not living a righteous life, you're not of God. I don't care what you might profess.

neither he that doesn't love his brother ( 1 John 3:10 ).

For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that you should love one another. That's the heart of the gospel message. Remember the lawyer came to Jesus and said, "What is the greatest commandment?" And Jesus said, "Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. And in these two are all the law and the prophets" ( Matthew 22:37-40 ). What did He teach us? Love one another, even as I have loved you. If we don't have love for each other, then we are not of God; we don't have the new nature. For he that loves God, loves him that is begotten of God. That's part of the nature.

The message that we've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's were righteous. So marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you ( 1 John 3:11-13 ).

Because your deeds are righteous, and theirs are evil, and they will hate you for that. You make them feel guilty. They don't like to feel guilty. They hate you, "You're always doing the right thing. You're goodie, goodie, you think you are better than everybody else, don't you?" They hate you. I'm amazed at when a person, say, finds a bag, a Brinks bag on the highway with twenty thousand dollars in it and they take it down to the police department and turn it in. You know that they get all kinds of hate mail and threats on their lives and everything else? People call them up and harass them and tell them what fools they are and how stupid they were. And people that do those kind of things get all kinds of harassment. The world hates a righteous person. Marvel not that the world hates you.

We know that [oetis that] we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. And he that loveth not his brother abides in death ( 1 John 3:14 ).

Now how do I know that I've passed from death to life? Because I love the family of God, I love the brethren. Jesus said to His disciples, "By this sign shall the world know that you are my disciples, that you love one another" ( John 13:35 ). That's the greatest witness to the world is the love within the Christian body. They know that you are really Christians because you love one another as you do. Hey, not only is it the proof to the world, but it's also the proof to yourself. How do you know that you have passed from death unto life? Because God has given you such a love for the body of Christ, those within the body of Christ.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: [as Cain,] and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him ( 1 John 3:15 ).

So hereby we perceive the love of God. How do you know that God loves you? How do you know what you know? Now I know that God loves me. How do I know that God loves me? Because He laid down His life for us, that's how I know He loves me. Again, as we mentioned before, whenever God wants to prove that He loves you, He always points to the cross. He never seeks to make proof of His love in any other way. He doesn't try to prove that He loves you by the circumstances of your life always being good and prosperous and happy and rosy. Whenever you begin to doubt the love of Christ or the love of God, turn and look at the cross. There's the proof that God loves you. For God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren ( 1 John 3:16 ).

"Love one another even as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man will lay down his life for friends. You are my friends," Jesus said, "if you do what I command you" ( John 15:12-14 ). And He laid down His life for us. We ought to have such love each other, for the body of Christ, that we would lay down our lives for each other. Jesus said to husbands, "Love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it." God help us, may God work His love in our hearts.

But whoso hath this world's goods, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? ( 1 John 3:17 )

Now coming to practical examples. You've been blessed, you've been prospered, you have a lot of world's goods. And now you see a brother in Christ who is in great need and you don't reach out to help him in his need. How can you really say that the love of Christ abides in you? "Oh, yes, I love him. Poor brother, I feel sorry for him. I love him so much. I feel so sorry for him. Not having any turkey this Christmas, it's a shame you know. Has to eat a Big Mac for Christmas, terrible. Oh, but I love him. Oh, how I love that man." No, No, no you don't. You can't really love them and shut your heart up on their need and be cold and calloused concerning their need. How does the love of God really dwell in you? How can you say that God's love dwells in you?

Little children, let us not love in word ( 1 John 3:18 ),

That's easy isn't it, "Oh, I love the world, it's just people I can't stand." You know, it's easy to profess love, "Oh, I love you so much . . . " What was it Shakespeare that said, "Thou protesteth too much." I always get a little suspicious when people, every time they see you say, "Oh, I love you so much, brother." I had a fellow that was saying that to me around here for a long time. And then he did his best to put a knife in my back. Oh, he loves me so much. Yes, yes, yes. Loving in words, that isn't where it's at. Let's love in deed; let's show our love by what we do, not by our words only. It's good to express it, but it's better to show it in our deeds. In reaching out, in helping, in giving a call, in giving a word of encouragement, in giving support financially if necessary, to reach out in love to touch each other and to help each other. Let's love in deed, for that's love in truth.

And hereby we know that we are of the truth ( 1 John 3:19 ),

How do I know that I am of the truth? Because I love in truth, I love in my deeds, and that's how I know that I'm of the truth.

and it gives assurance in our hearts towards him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things ( 1 John 3:19-20 ).

Now, sometimes our hearts do condemn us, and Satan oftentimes condemns us. There are people that are suffering under the condemnation of Satan under their own heart. I feel sort of sorry for them. They always go away castigating themselves saying, "Why did I say that? Oh, why did I say that?" And they can't sleep at night because of what they said that night when they were together with their friends. And they're afraid, "Oh, I've said the wrong thing. Nobody will love me anymore." And there are people that have that kind of a nature that they are just troubled by things like that. And their hearts often condemn them. But if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts. You know, I am convinced that I condemn myself for a lot of things that God doesn't me for, because God has justified me. Paul said, "Who is he that condemns us? It is Christ who died, rather is risen again, and is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us" ( Romans 8:34 ). "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" ( Romans 8:1 ). If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart.

If our heart condemn us not, we have confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight ( 1 John 3:21-22 ).

Now, there are a lot of people that take that first part as a promise, "whatsoever we ask we receive of Him," but they don't finish the verse, "because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." You see, there are some fascinating, sort of broad promises given to us on prayer. Jesus said, "And whatsoever things you desire when you pray believe that you receive them, and ye shall have them" ( Matthew 21:22 ). Now people just take that, and they start then preaching these sermons on faith, and, "Hey, you can have anything you want. You can have a Mercedes. You can live on Lido Island, or you can . . . Faith. All you need is faith. Whatsoever things you desire, do you desire it? Believe and you'll have it." Who was Jesus talking to? The multitudes? Nope. He was talking to His disciples. What constitutes being a disciple? "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" ( Matthew 16:24 ). That needs to be stamped over the top of that. "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them . . . Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." What does that mean? It means that your prayers will only be on those things that are for His glory and for His kingdom and not to satisfy your own desires of making a big splash in a Mercedes or whatever.

We have this confidence when we keep His commandments and we do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Then we have power in prayer, because our prayers are not directed towards our self-interest and our own self-aggrandizement, but our prayers are on the things of His kingdom and things for His glory and things whereby others may prosper and be blessed.

And this is his commandment ( 1 John 3:23 ),

Now he's talked about a lot of commandments, and he's going to be talking more about commandments and keeping the commandments. What is the commandment?

That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment ( 1 John 3:23 ).

That's all. He doesn't give you ten commandments, long list of do's and do nots. All He said is to just believe on Jesus and love one another. I'm glad that He reduced it down to just simplicity. I'll never forget it. It's easy to remember to just believe on Him and to love one another. He doesn't lay a long burden and list on me that I have a hard time fulfilling. Just do this, "Believe on Jesus and love each other."

And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abides in us ( 1 John 3:24 ),

How do I know that He abides in us or in me?

by his Spirit which he has given me ( 1 John 3:24 ).

God has filled my life with His Holy Spirit. I know He abides in me. Hereby I know, by the Spirit that He has given.

So next week we'll finish I John as we go into chapters 4 and 5. Then we'll take II and III John, and perhaps Jude in one evening. Enter into the book of Revelation for about, what, ten weeks maybe. So that means about March or so, and then we'll be starting over in Genesis again. Through the Bible, it's exciting. We learn about God, as He has revealed the truth of Himself to us.

And now may the Spirit of God teach you all things and bring to your remembrance those things that He has commanded us. We remember to just love God and believe on Jesus Christ. And may the love of Christ be perfected in your life, may it increase and may it grow and may God help you to maintain the proper perspective, in the world but not of the world. Your every touch just as light as possible, because the world is gonna pass away and the lust thereof, but he who does the will of God will abide forever. God help us to be interested and occupied with the things that are eternal. In Jesus' name. "

Contending for the Faith

And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

"Know" speaks of absolute knowledge. These readers know as a matter of fact that Jesus came into this world to "take away our sins." "Manifested" refers to the personal manifestation, or appearance, of Jesus when He came to live among men. Vincent says, "The idea of manifestation here assumes the fact of a previous being" (346). The One Who had been with the Father from eternity "was manifested," or made visible, when He took on human flesh, a fact the Gnostics vigorously denied. John gets in another jab in his fight with the false teachers just by using this word "manifested." John presents two reasons, based upon the appearing of Jesus in human flesh, for abstaining from a life of sin. First, Jesus appeared "to take away sins." "Take away" is in the aorist tense and supports the idea of a once-for-all act by which our Lord has fulfilled His mission now and forever. The Hebrew writer says that "now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26). The results of that sacrifice continue to live on as people respond in obedient faith to the gospel of Christ. Jesus "bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24) so that we do not have to bear the guilt of our sins all through life. To live a life of sin is to make void the very purpose of our Lord’s coming, and it nullifies the reason for His sacrifice for sin on Calvary. It is an insult to all His efforts on our behalf. It is to undo all He did for us on the cross. John, in effect, is saying, "If sin does not matter in our lives, as the Gnostics say, why did Jesus come to atone for the sins of men?"

The second reason John gives in this verse to discourage making sin the order of our lives is couched in the words, "and in him is no sin." Sinful conduct ignores His sinless perfection. Vincent says that it means "literally, in Him sin is not. He is essentially and forever without sin" (347). In His words, deeds, life, and death, Jesus is sinlessly perfect. He has never taken a wrong step, struck a wrong note, or done a wrong deed. Once, He challenged those who had known Him from His boyhood days, "Which of you convicteth me of sin?" (John 8:46) There was not an answer to that question then, and there has not been one since. Jesus "did no sin" (1 Peter 2:22), and "in Him is no sin." He is neither a sinner nor is He sinful. What an impeccable justification for transcribing into our lives the characteristics of the wonderful Christ! To follow Him is to live on the highest possible plane of human life.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Two more facts believers know highlight the seriousness of sin. Jesus Christ became incarnate to remove sin, and there was no sin in Him. This is a strong assertion of Jesus’ sinlessness (cf. 1 John 2:1; John 8:31-59; John 10:30; John 17:22; 1 Peter 2:22)

"Because Jesus was holy, and without sin, this can become the character of those who abide in him (cf. Hebrews 2:10 to Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 5:9)." [Note: Ibid., p. 158.]

"The dominant thought here is not that of the self-sacrifice of Christ, but of His utter hostility to sin in every shape." [Note: Westcott, p. 103.]

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 3

REMEMBER THE PRIVILEGES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ( 1 John 3:1-2 )

3:1-2 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God--and such we indeed are. The reason why the world does not recognize us is that it did not recognize him. Beloved, even as things are we are children of God, and it has not yet been made clear what we shall be. We know that, if it shall be made clear, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is.

It may well be that the best illumination of this passage is the Scottish Paraphrase of it:

Behold the amazing gift of love

the Father hath bestow'd

On us, the sinful sons of men,

to call us sons of God!

Concealed as yet this honour lies,

by this dark world unknown,

A world that knew not when he came,

even God's eternal Son.

High is the rank we now possess,

but higher we shall rise;

Though what we shall hereafter be

is hid from mortal eyes.

Our souls, we know, when he appears,

shall bear his image bright;

For all his glory, full disclosed,

shall open to our sight.

A hope so great, and so divine,

may trials well endure;

And purge the soul from sense and sin,

as Christ himself is pure.

John begins by demanding that his people should remember their privileges. It is their privilege that they are called the children of God. There is something even in a name. Chrysostom, in a sermon on how to bring up children, advises parents to give their boy some great scriptural name, to teach him repeatedly the story of the original bearer of the name, and so to give him a standard to live up to when he grows to manhood. So the Christian has the privilege of being called the child of God. Just as to belong to a great school, a great regiment, a great church, a great household is an inspiration to fine living, so, even more, to bear the name of the family of God is something to keep a man's feet on the right way and to set him climbing.

But, as John points out, we are not merely called the children of God; we are the children of God.

There is something here which we may well note. It is by the gift of God that a man becomes a child of God. By nature a man is the creature of God, but it is by grace that he becomes the child of God. There are two English words which are closely connected but whose meanings are widely different, paternity and fatherhood. Paternity describes a relationship in which a man is responsible for the physical existence of a child; fatherhood describes an intimate, loving, relationship. In the sense of paternity all men are children of God; but in the sense of fatherhood men are children of God only when he makes his gracious approach to them and they respond.

There are two pictures, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, which aptly and vividly set out this relationship. In the Old Testament there is the covenant idea. Israel is the covenant people of God. That is to say, God on his own initiative had made a special approach to Israel; he was to be uniquely their God, and they were to be uniquely his people. As an integral part of the covenant God gave to Israel his law, and it was on the keeping of that law that the covenant relationship depended.

In the New Testament there is the idea of adoption ( Romans 8:14-17; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Galatians 3:26-27; Galatians 4:6-7). Here is the idea that by a deliberate act of adoption on the part of God the Christian enters into his family.

While all men are children of God in the sense that they owe their lives to him, they become his children in the intimate and loving sense of the term only by an act of God's initiating grace and the response of their own hearts.

Immediately the question arises: if men have that great honour when they become Christians, why are they so despised by the world? The answer is that they are experiencing only what Jesus Christ has already experienced. When he came into the world, he was not recognized as the Son of God; the world preferred its own ideas and rejected his. The same is bound to happen to any man who chooses to embark on the way of Jesus Christ.

REMEMBER THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ( 1 John 3:1-2 continued)

John, then, begins by reminding his people of the privileges of the Christian life. He goes on to set before them what is in many ways a still more tremendous truth, the great fact that this life is only a beginning. Here John observes the only true agnosticism. So great is the future and its glory that he will not even guess at it or try to put it into inevitably inadequate words. But there are certain things he does say about it.

(i) When Christ appears in his glory, we shall be like him. Surely in John's mind there was the saying of the old creation story that man was made in the image and in the likeness of God ( Genesis 1:26). That was God's intention; and that was man's destiny. We have only to look into any mirror to see how far man has fallen short of that destiny. But John believes that in Christ a man will finally attain it, and at last bear the image and the likeness of God. It is John's belief that only through the work of Christ in his soul can a man reach the true manhood God meant him to reach.

(ii) When Christ appears, we shall see him and be like him. The goal of all the great souls has been the vision of God. The end of all devotion is to see God. But that vision of God is not for the sake of intellectual satisfaction; it is in order that we may become like him. There is a paradox here. We cannot become like God unless we see him; and we cannot see him unless we are pure in heart, for only the pure in heart shall see God ( Matthew 5:8). In order to see God, we need the purity which only he can give. We are not to think of this vision of God as something which only the great mystics can enjoy. There is somewhere the story of a poor and simple man who would often go into a cathedral to pray; and he would always pray kneeling before the crucifix. Someone noticed that, though he knelt in the attitude of prayer, his lips never moved and he never seemed to say anything. He asked what he was doing kneeling like that and the man answered: "I look at him; and he looks at me." That is the vision of God in Christ that the simplest soul can have; and he who looks long enough at Jesus Christ must become like him.

One other thing we must note. John is here thinking in terms of the Second Coming of Christ. It may be that we can think in the same terms; or it may be that we cannot think so literally of a coming of Christ in glory. Be that as it may, there will come for every one of us the day when we shall see Christ and behold his glory. Here there is always the veil of sense and time, but the day will come when that veil, too, will be torn in two.

When death these mortal eyes shall seal,

And still this throbbing heart,

The rending veil shall thee reveal

All glorious as thou art.

Therein is the Christian hope and the vast possibility of the Christian life.

THE OBLIGATION OF PURITY ( 1 John 3:3-8 )

3:3-8 Anyone who rests this hope on him purifies himself as he is pure. Anyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he appeared that he might take away our sins and there is no sin in him. Anyone who abides in him does not sin. Anyone who sins has not seen him, and does not know him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He who does sin is of the devil, because the devil is a sinner from the beginning. The purpose for which the Son of God appeared was that he might destroy the works of the devil.

John has just said that the Christian is on the way to seeing God and being like him. There is nothing like a great aim for helping a man to resist temptation. A novelist draws the picture of a young man who always refused to share in the lower pleasures to which his comrades often invited and even urged him. His explanation was that some day something fine was going to come to him, and he must keep himself ready for it. The man who knows that God is at the end of the road will make all life a preparation to meet him.

This passage is directed against the Gnostic false teachers. As we have seen they produced more than one reason to justify sin. They said that the body was evil and that, therefore, there was no harm in sating its lusts, because what happened to it was of no importance. They said that the truly spiritual man was so armoured with the Spirit that he could sin to his heart's content and take no harm from it. They even said that the true Gnostic was under obligation both to scale the heights and to plumb the depths so that he might be truly said to know all things. Behind John's answer there is a kind of analysis of sin.

He begins by insisting that no one is superior to the moral law. No one can say that it is quite safe for him to allow himself certain things, although they may be dangerous for others. As A. E. Brooke puts it: "The test of progress is obedience." Progress does not confer the privilege to sin; the further on a man is the more disciplined a character he will be. John goes on to imply certain basic truths about sin.

(i) He tells us what sin is. It is the deliberate breaking of a law which a man well knows. Sin is to obey oneself rather than to obey God.

(ii) He tells us what sin does. It undoes the work of Christ. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ( John 1:29). To sin is to bring back what he came into the world to abolish.

(iii) He tells us why sin is. It comes from the failure to abide in Christ. We need not think that this is a truth only for advanced mystics. It simply means this--so long as we remember the continual presence of Jesus, we will not sin; it is when we forget that presence that we sin.

(iv) He tells us whence sin comes. It comes from the devil; and the devil is he who sins, as it were, on principle. That probably is the meaning of the phrase from the beginning ( 1 John 3:8). We sin for the pleasure that we think it will bring to us; the devil sins as a matter of principle. The New Testament does not try to explain the devil and his origin; but it is quite convinced--and it is a fact of universal experience that in the world there is a power hostile to God; and to sin is to obey that power instead of God.

(v) He tells us how sin is conquered. It is conquered because Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the devil. The New Testament often dwells on the Christ who faced and conquered the powers of evil ( Matthew 12:25-29; Luke 10:18; Colossians 2:15; 1 Peter 3:22; John 12:31). He has broken the power of evil, and by his help that same victory can be ours.

THE MAN WHO IS BORN OF GOD ( 1 John 3:9 )

3:9 Anyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because his seed abides in him; and he cannot be a consistent and deliberate sinner, because he has been born of God.

This verse bristles with difficulties, and yet it is obviously of the first importance to find out what it means.

First, what does John mean by the phrase: "Because his seed abides in him"? There are three possibilities.

(i) Frequently the Bible uses the word seed to mean a man's family and descendants. Abraham and his seed are to keep the covenant of God ( Genesis 17:9). God made his promise to Abraham and to his seed for ever ( Luke 1:55). The Jews claim to be Abraham's seed ( John 8:33; John 8:37). In Galatians 3:1-29, Paul speaks about Abraham's seed ( Galatians 3:16; Galatians 3:29). If we take seed in that sense here, we need to take him as referring to God and then we get very good sense. "Anyone who has been born of God does not sin, because God's family constantly abide in God." God's family live so near to God that they may be said to abide in him. The man who lives like that has a strong defence against sin.

(ii) It is human seed which produces human life, and the child may be said to have his father's seed in him. Now the Christian is reborn through God and, therefore, has God's seed in him. This was an idea with which the people of John's age were very familiar. The Gnostics said that God had sowed seeds into this world and through the action of these seeds the world was being perfected; and they claimed that it was the true Gnostics who had received these seeds. Some Gnostics said that man's body was a material and evil thing; but into some bodies Wisdom secretly sowed seeds and the truly spiritual men have these seeds of God for souls. This was closely connected with the Stoic belief that God was fiery spirit and a man's soul, that which gave him life and reason, was a spark (scintilla) of that divine fire which had come from God to reside in a man's body.

If we take John's words this way, it means that every reborn man has the seed of God in him, and that, therefore, he cannot sin. There is no doubt that John's readers would know this idea.

(iii) There is a much simpler idea. Twice at least in the New Testament the word of God is that which is said to bring rebirth to men. James has it: "Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures" ( James 1:18). The word of God is like the seed of God which produces new life. Peter has this idea even more clearly, "You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God" ( 1 Peter 1:23). There the word of God is definitely identified with the imperishable seed of God. If we take it this way, John means that the man who is born of God cannot sin because he has the strength and guidance of the word of God within him. This third way is simplest and, on the whole best. The Christian is preserved from sin by the indwelling power of the word of God.

THE MAN WHO CANNOT SIN ( 1 John 3:9 continued)

Second, this verse presents us with the problem of relating it with certain other things which John has already said about sin. Let us set the verse down, as it is in the Revised Standard Version:

No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature abides in

him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.

Taken at its face value this means that it is impossible for the man who is born of God to sin. Now John has already said, "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us"; and "if we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar"; and he urges us to confess our sins ( 1 John 1:8-10). He goes on to say, "if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father in the person of Jesus Christ." On the face of it there is contradiction here. In the one place John is saying that man cannot be anything other than a sinner and that, there is an atonement for his sin. In the other place he is saying equally definitely that the man who is born of God cannot sin. What is the explanation?

(i) John thinks in Jewish categories because he could do no other. We have already seen that he knew and accepted the Jewish picture of the two ages, this present age and the age to come. We have also seen that it was John's belief that, whatever the world was like, Christians by virtue of the work of Christ had already entered into the new age. It was exactly one of the characteristics of the new age that those who lived in it would be free from sin. In Enoch we read: "Then too will wisdom be bestowed on the elect, and they will all live and never again sin, either through heedlessness or through pride" (Enoch 5: 8). If that is true of the new age, it ought to be true of Christians who are living in it. But, in fact, it is still not true because Christians have not even yet escaped from the power of sin. We might then say that in this passage John is setting down the ideal of what should be and in the other two passages he is facing the actuality of what is. We might put it that he knows the ideal and confronts men with it; but also faces the facts and sees the cure in Christ for them.

(ii) That may well be so but there is more to it. In the Greek there is a subtle difference in tenses which makes a very wide difference in meaning. In 1 John 2:1 it is John's injunction that you may not sin. In that verse sin is in the aorist tense which indicates a particular and definite act. So what John is saying is quite clearly that Christians must not commit individual acts of sin; but if they do lapse into sin, they have in Christ an advocate to plead their cause and a sacrifice to atone. On the other hand, in our present passage in both cases sin is in the present tense and indicates habitual action.

What John is saying may be put down in four stages. (a) The ideal is that in the new age sin is gone for ever. (b) Christians must try to make that true and with the help of Christ struggle to avoid individual acts of sin. (c) In fact all men have these lapses and when they do, they must humbly confess them to God, who will always forgive the penitent heart. (d) In spite of that, no Christian can possibly be a deliberate and consistent sinner; no Christian can live a life in which sin is dominant in all his actions.

John is not setting before us a terrifying perfectionism; but he is demanding a life which is ever on the watch against sin, a life in which sin is not the normal accepted way but the abnormal moment of defeat. John is not saying that the man who abides in God cannot sin; but he is saying that the man who abides in God cannot continue to be a deliberate sinner.

THE MARKS OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD ( 1 John 3:10-18 )

3:10-18 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain; anyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, and neither is he who does not love his brother, because the message that we have heard from the beginning is the message that we should love one another, that we should not be like Cain, who was of the Evil One and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were just. Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. He does not possess eternal life abiding within him. In this we recognize his love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our life for the brothers. Whoever possesses enough for his livelihood in this world and sees his brother in need and shuts his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? My dear children, do not make love a matter of talking and of the tongue, but love in deed and in truth.

This is a passage with a closely-knit argument and a kind of parenthesis in the middle.

As Westcott has it: "Life reveals the children of God." There is no way of telling what a tree is other than by its fruits, and there is no way of telling what a man is other than by his conduct. John lays it down that any one who does not do righteousness is thereby demonstrated to be not of God. At present we shall omit the parenthesis and go straight on with the argument.

Although John is a mystic, he has a very practical mind; and, therefore, he will not leave righteousness vague and undefined. Someone might say, "Very well, I accept the fact that the only thing which proves that a man belongs to God is the righteousness of his life. But what is righteousness?" John's answer is clear and unequivocal. To be righteous is to love our brother men. That, says John, is a duty about which we should never be in any doubt. And he goes on to adduce various reasons why that commandment is so central and so binding.

(i) It is a duty which has been inculcated into the Christian from the first moment that he entered the Church. The Christian ethic can be summed up in the one word love and from the moment that a man pledges himself to Christ, he pledges himself to make love the mainspring of his life.

(ii) For that very reason the fact that a man loves his brother men is the final proof that he has passed from death to life. As A. E. Brooke puts it: "Life is a chance of learning how to love." Life without love is death. To love is to be in the light; to hate is to remain in the dark. We need no further proof of that than to look at the face of a man who is in love and the face of a man who is full of hate; it will show the glory or the blackness in his heart.

(iii) Further, not to love is to become a murderer. There can be no doubt that John is thinking of the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5:21-22). Jesus said that the old law forbade murder but the new law declared that anger and bitterness and contempt were just as serious sins. Whenever there is hatred in the heart a man becomes a potential murderer. To allow hatred to settle in the heart is to break a definite commandment of Jesus. Therefore, the man who loves is a follower of Christ and the man who hates is no follower of his.

(iv) There follows still another step in this closely-knit argument. A man may say, "I admit this obligation of love and I will try to fulfil it; but I do not know what it involves." John's answer ( 1 John 3:16) is: "If you want to see what this love is, look at Jesus Christ. In his death for men on the Cross it is fully displayed." In other words, the Christian life is the imitation of Christ. "Have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus" ( Php_2:5 ). "He left us an example that we should follow in his steps" ( 1 Peter 2:21). No man can look at Christ and then say that he does not know what the Christian life is.

(v) John meets one more possible objection. A man may say, "How can I follow in the steps of Christ? He laid down his life upon the Cross. You say I ought to lay down my life for the brothers. But opportunities so dramatic as that do not come into my life. What then?" John's answer is: "True. But when you see your brother in need and you have enough, to give to him of what you have is to follow Christ. To shut your heart and to refuse to give is to show that that love of God which was in Jesus Christ has no place in you." John insists that we can find plenty of opportunities to show forth the love of Christ in the life of the every day. C. H. Dodd writes finely on this passage: "There were occasions in the life of the early church, as there are certainly tragic occasions at the present day, for a quite literal obedience to this precept (i.e., to lay down our life for the brothers). But not all life is tragic; and yet the same principle of conduct must apply all through. Thus it may call for the simple expenditure of money we might have spent upon ourselves, to relieve the need of someone poorer. It is, after all, the same principle of action, though at a lower level of intensity: it is the willingness to surrender that which has value for our own life, to enrich the life of another. If such a minimum response to the law of charity, called for by such an everyday situation, is absent, then it is idle to pretend we are within the family of God, the realm in which love is operative as the principle and the token of eternal life."

Fine words will never take the place of fine deeds; and no amount of talk of Christian love will take the place of a kindly action to a man in need, involving some self-sacrifice, for in that action the principle of the Cross is operative again.

THE WORLD'S RESENTMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN WAY ( 1 John 3:10-18 continued)

In this passage there is a parenthesis; we return to it now.

The parenthesis is 1 John 3:11 and the conclusion drawn from it is in 1 John 3:12. The Christian must not be like Cain who murdered his brother.

John goes on to ask why Cain murdered his brother; and his answer is that it was because his works were evil and his brother's were good. Then he drops the remark: "Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you."

An evil man will instinctively hate a good man. Righteousness always provokes hostility in the minds of those whose actions are evil. The reason is that the good man is a walking rebuke to the evil man, even if he never speaks a word to him, his life passes a silent judgment. Socrates was the good man par excellence; Alcibiades was brilliant but erratic and often debauched. He used to say to Socrates: "Socrates, I hate you, because every time I meet you you show me what I am."

The Wisdom of Solomon has a grim passage ( Wis_2:10-20 ). In it the evil man is made to express his attitude to the good man: "Let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings.... He was made to reprove our thoughts. He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits: he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness." The very sight of the good man made the evil man hate him.

Wherever the Christian is, even though he speak no word, he acts as the conscience of society; and for that very reason the world will often hate him.

In ancient Athens the noble Aristides was unjustly condemned to death; and, when one of the jurymen was asked how he could have cast his vote against such a man, his answer was that he was tired of hearing Aristides called "The Just." The hatred of the world for the Christian is an ever-present phenomenon, and it is due to the fact that the worldly man sees in the Christian the condemnation of himself; he sees in the Christian what he is not and what in his heart of hearts he knows he ought to be; and, because he will not change, he seeks to eliminate the man who reminds him of the lost goodness.

THE ONLY TEST ( 1 John 3:19-24 a)

3:19-24a By this we know that we are of the truth, and by this we will reassure our heart before him, when our heart condemns us in anything, for God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we can come confidently to God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do the things which are well pleasing to him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we should love one another, even as he gave us his commandment. And he who keeps his commandment abides in him and he in him.

Into the human heart there are bound to come doubts. Any man with a sensitive mind and heart must sometimes wonder if he really is a Christian at all. John's test is quite simple and far-reaching. It is love. If we feel love for our fellow-men welling up within our hearts, we can be sure that the heart of Christ is in us. John would have said that a so-called heretic whose heart was overflowing with love and whose life was beautiful with service, was far nearer Christ than someone who was impeccably orthodox, yet cold and remote from the needs of others.

John goes on to say something which, as far as the Greek goes, can mean two things. That feeling of love can reassure us in the presence of God. Our hearts may condemn us but God is greater than our hearts. The question is: what is the meaning of this last phrase?

(i) It could mean: since our hearts condemn us and God is infinitely greater than our hearts, God must condemn us even more. If we take it that way, it leaves us only with the fear of God and with nothing to say but: "God be merciful to me, a sinner." That is a possible translation and no doubt it is true; but it is not what John is saying in this context, for here he is thinking of our confidence in God and not our dread of him.

(ii) The passage must therefore mean this. Our hearts condemn us--that is inevitable. But God is greater than our hearts; he knows all things. Not only does he know our sins; he also knows our love, our longings, the nobility that never fully works itself out, our penitence; and the greatness of his knowledge gives him the sympathy which can understand and forgive.

It is this very knowledge of God which gives us our hope. "Man," as Thomas a Kempis said, "sees the deed, but God knows the intention." Men can judge us only by our actions, but God can judge us by the longings which never became deeds and the dreams which never came true. When Solomon was dedicating the Temple, he spoke of how David had wished to build a house for God and how that privilege had been denied to him. "It was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And the Lord said unto David, my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart'" ( 1 Kings 8:17-18). The French proverb says, "To know all is to forgive all." God judges us by the deep emotions of the heart; and, if in our heart there is love, then, however feeble and imperfect that love may be, we can with confidence enter into his presence. The perfect knowledge which belongs to God, and to God alone, is not our terror but our hope.

THE INSEPARABLE COMMANDS ( 1 John 3:19-24 a continued)

John goes on to speak of the two things which are well-pleasing in God's sight, the two commandments on obedience to which our relationship to God depends.

(i) We must believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Here we have that use of the word name which is peculiar to the biblical writers. It does not mean simply the name by which a person is called; it means the whole nature and character of that person as far as it is known to us. The Psalmist writes: "Our help is in the name of the Lord" ( Psalms 124:8). Clearly that does not mean that our help lies in the fact that God is called Jehovah; it means that our help is in the love and mercy and power which have been revealed to us as the nature and character of God. So, then, to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, means to believe in the nature and character of Jesus Christ. It means to believe that he is the Son of God, that he does stand in relation to God in a way in which no other person in the universe ever stood or ever can stand, that he can perfectly reveal God to men and that he is the Saviour of our souls. To believe in the name of Jesus Christ is to accept him for what he really is.

(ii) We must love one another, even as he gave us his commandment. This commandment is in John 13:34. We must love each other with that same selfless, sacrificial, forgiving love with which Jesus Christ loved us.

When we put these two commandments together, we find the great truth that the Christian life depends on right belief and right conduct combined. We cannot have the one without the other. There can be no such thing as a Christian theology without a Christian ethic; and equally there can be no such thing as a Christian ethic without a Christian theology. Our belief is not real belief unless it issues in action; and our action has neither sanction nor dynamic unless it is based on belief.

We cannot begin the Christian life until we accept Jesus Christ for what he is; and we have not accepted him in any real sense of the term until our attitude to men is the same as his own attitude of love.

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

1 John 3:5

1 John 3:5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin

Ver. 5. - PPC: Two additional reasons for the absolute separation of the children of God from sin.

(1) They know well that the Son of God was manifested in the flesh to put away the sins (of the world, John 1:29);

(2) The Son of God was absolutely separated from sin

To take away sins -- RWP: (hina tas hamartias arēi). Purpose clause with hina and first aorist active subjunctive of airō as in John 1:29

And in Him is no sin... BBC: The Incarnation brought into the world the One who is totally sinless and who had as an objective the removal of sin from the lives of His own (cf. John 1:29; Hebrews 9:28).In Him there is no sin. This is one of the three key passages in the NT dealing with the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter tells us that “He did no sin.” Paul tells us that “He knew no sin.” Now John, the disciple who knew the Lord in an especially intimate way, adds his testimony, “In Him is no sin.”

Hebrews 7:26 1 Peter 2:23

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And ye know that he was manifested,.... This is a truth of the Gospel the saints were well instructed in and acquainted with; that Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of God, who is here meant, who was with the Father, and lay in his bosom from all eternity, was in the fulness of time made manifest in the flesh, or human nature, by assuming it into union with his divine person; in which he came and dwelt among men, and became visible to them: the end of which manifestation was,

to take away our sins; as the antitype of the scape goat, making reconciliation and satisfaction for them, through the sacrifice of himself; which was doing what the blood of bulls and goats, or any legal sacrifices or moral performances, could never do: and this he did by taking the sins of his people upon himself, by carrying them up to the cross, and there bearing them, with all the punishment due unto them, in his body; by removing them quite away, and utterly destroying them, finishing and making an end of them: and by causing them to pass away from them, from off their consciences, through the application of his blood by his Spirit:

and in him is no sin; neither original, nor actual; no sin inherent; there was sin imputed to him, but none in him, nor done by him; and hence he became a fit person to be a sacrifice for the sins of others, and by his unblemished sacrifice to take the away; and answered the typical sacrifices under the law, which were to be without spot and blemish: and this shows that he did not offer himself for any sins of his own, for there were none in him, but for the sins of others; and which consideration, therefore, is a strong dissuasive from sinning, and as such is mentioned by the apostle; for, since sin is of such a nature that nothing could atone for it but the blood and sacrifice of Christ, an innocent, as well as a divine person, it should be abhorred by us; and since Christ has taken it away by the sacrifice of himself, it should not be continued and encouraged by us; and since in him is no sin, we ought to imitate him in purity of life and conversation; the end of Christ's bearing our sins was, that we might live unto righteousness, and to purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and his love herein should constrain us to obedience to him: so the Jews l speak of a man after the image of God, and who is the mystery, of the name Jehovah; and in that man, they say, there is no sin, neither shall death rule over him; and this is that which is said, Psalms 5:4; neither shall evil dwell with thee.

l Sepher Tikkunim, fol. 112. 1. apud Rittangel, de ver. Rel. Christ, p. 68.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.   5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.   6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.   7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.   8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.   9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.   10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

      The apostle, having alleged the believer's obligation to purity from his hope of heaven, and of communion with Christ in glory at the day of his appearance, now proceeds to fill his own mouth and the believer's mind with multiplied arguments against sin, and all communion with the impure unfruitful works of darkness. And so he reasons and argues,

      I. From the nature of sin and the intrinsic evil of it. It is a contrariety to the divine law: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also (or even) the law (or, whosoever committeth sin even committeth enormity, or aberration from law, or from the law); for sin is the transgression of the law, or is lawlessness, 1 John 3:4; 1 John 3:4. Sin is the destitution or privation of correspondence and agreement with the divine law, that law which is the transcript of the divine nature and purity, which contains his will for the government of the world, which is suitable to the rational nature, and enacted for the good of the world, which shows man the way of felicity and peace, and conducts him to the author of his nature and of the law. The current commission of sin now is the rejection of the divine law, and this is the rejection of the divine authority, and consequently of God himself.

      II. From the design and errand of the Lord Jesus in and to this world, which was to remove sin: And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin,1 John 3:5; 1 John 3:5. The Son of God appeared, and was known, in our nature; and he came to vindicate and exalt the divine law, and that by obedience to the precept, and by subjection and suffering under the penal sanction, under the curse of it. He came therefore to take away our sins, to take away the guilt of them by the sacrifice of himself, to take away the commission of them by implanting a new nature in us (for we are sanctifies by virtue of his death), and to dissuade and save from it by his own example, and (or for) in him was no sin; or, he takes sin away, that he may conform us to himself, and in him is no sin. Those that expect communion with Christ above should study communion with him here in the utmost purity. And the Christian world should know and consider the great end of the Son of God's coming hither: it was to take away our sin: And you know (and this knowledge should be deep and effectual) that he was manifested to take away our sins.

      III. From the opposition between sin and a real union with or adhesion to the Lord Christ: Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not,1 John 3:6; 1 John 3:6. To sin here is the same as to commit sin (1 John 3:8; 1 John 3:9), and to commit sin is to practise sin. He that abideth in Christ continues not in the practice of sin. As vital union with the Lord Jesus broke the power of sin in the heart and nature, so continuance therein prevents the regency and prevalence thereof in the life and conduct. Or the negative expression here is put for the positive: He sinneth not, that is, he is obedient, he keeps the commandments (in sincerity, and in the ordinary course of life) and does those things that are pleasing in his sight, as is said 1 John 3:22; 1 John 3:22. Those that abide in Christ abide in their covenant with him, and consequently watch against the sin that is contrary thereto. They abide in the potent light and knowledge of him; and therefore it may be concluded that he that sinneth (abideth in the predominant practice of sin) hath not seen him (hath not his mind impressed with a sound evangelical discerning of him), neither known him, hath no experimental acquaintance with him. Practical renunciation of sin is the great evidence of spiritual union with, continuance in, and saving knowledge of, the Lord Christ.

      IV. From the connection between the practice of righteousness and a state of righteousness, intimating withal that the practice of sin and a justified state are inconsistent; and this is introduced with a supposition that a surmise to the contrary is a gross deceit: "Little children, dear children, and as much children as you are, herein let no man deceive you. There will be those who will magnify your new light and entertainment of Christianity, who will make you believe that your knowledge, profession, and baptism, will excuse you from the care and accuracy of the Christian life. But beware of such self-deceit. He that doeth righteousness in righteous." It may appear that righteousness may in several places of scripture be justly rendered religion, as Matthew 5:10, Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, that is, for religion's sake; 1 Peter 3:14, But if you suffer for righteousness' sake (religion's sake) happy are you; and 2 Timothy 3:16, All scripture, or the whole scripture, is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine--and for instruction in righteousness, that is, in the nature and branches of religion. To do righteousness then, especially being set in opposition to the doing, committing, or practising, of sin, is to practise religion. Now he who practiseth religion is righteous; he is the righteous person on all accounts; he is sincere and upright before God. The practice of religion cannot subsist without a principle of integrity and conscience. He has that righteousness which consists in pardon of sin and right to life, founded upon the imputation of the Mediator's righteousness. He has a title to the crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge will give, according to his covenant and promise, to those that love his appearing,2 Timothy 4:8. He has communion with Christ, in conformity to the divine law, being in some measure practically righteous as he; and he has communion with him in the justified state, being now relatively righteous together with him.

      V. From the relation between the sinner and the devil, and thereupon from the design and office of the Lord Christ against the devil. 1. From the relation between the sinner and the devil. As elsewhere sinners and saints are distinguished (though even saints are sinners largely so called), so to commit sin is here so to practise it as sinners do, that are distinguished from saints, to live under the power and dominion of it; and he who does so is of the devil; his sinful nature is inspired by, and agreeable and pleasing to, the devil; and he belongs to the party, and interest, and kingdom of the devil. It is he that is the author and patron of sin, and has been a practitioner of it, a tempter and instigator to it, even from the beginning of the world. And thereupon we must see how he argues. 2. From the design and office of the Lord Christ against the devil: For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil,1 John 3:8; 1 John 3:8. The devil has designed and endeavoured to ruin the work of God in this world. The Son of God has undertaken the holy war against him. He came into our world, and was manifested in our flesh, that he might conquer him and dissolve his works. Sin will he loosen and dissolve more and more, till he has quite destroyed it. Let not us serve or indulge what the Son of God came to destroy.

      VI. From the connection between regeneration and the relinquishment of sin: Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. To be born of God is to be inwardly renewed, and restored to a holy integrity or rectitude of nature by the power of the Spirit of God. Such a one committeth not sin, does not work iniquity nor practise disobedience, which is contrary to his new nature and the regenerate complexion of his spirit; for, as the apostle adds, his seed remaineth in him, either the word of God in its light and power remaineth in him (as 1 Peter 1:23, Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever), or, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit; the spiritual seminal principle of holiness remaineth in him. Renewing grace is an abiding principle. Religion, in the spring of it, is not an art, an acquired dexterity and skill, but a new nature. And thereupon the consequence is the regenerate person cannot sin. That he cannot commit an act of sin, I suppose no judicious interpreter understands. This would be contrary to 1 John 1:9; 1 John 1:9, where it is made our duty to confess our sins, and supposed that our privilege thereupon is to have our sins forgiven. He therefore cannot sin, in the sense in which the apostle says, he cannot commit sin. He cannot continue in the course and practice of sin. He cannot so sin as to denominate him a sinner in opposition to a saint or servant of God. Again, he cannot sin comparatively, as he did before he was born of God, and as others do that are not so. And the reason is because he is born of God, which will amount to all this inhibition and impediment. 1. There is a light in his mind which shows him the evil and malignity of sin. 2. There is that bias upon his heart which disposes him to loathe and hate sin. 3. There is the spiritual seminal principle or disposition, that breaks the force and fulness of the sinful acts. They proceed not from such plenary power of corruption as they do in others, nor obtain that plenitude of heart, spirit, and consent, which they do in others. The spirit lusteth against the flesh. And therefore in respect to such sin it may be said, It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It is not reckoned the person's sin, in the gospel account, where the bent and frame of the mind and spirit are against it. Then, 4. There is a disposition for humiliation and repentance for sin, when it has been committed. He that is born of God cannot sin. Here we may call to mind the usual distinction of natural and moral impotency. The unregenerate person is morally unable for what is religiously good. The regenerate person is happily disabled for sin. There is a restraint, an embargo (as we may say), laid upon his sinning powers. It goes against him sedately and deliberately to sin. We usually say of a person of known integrity, "He cannot lie, he cannot cheat, and commit other enormities." How can I commit this great wickedness, and sin against God!Genesis 39:9. And so those who persist in a sinful life sufficiently demonstrate that they are not born of God.

      VII. From the discrimination between the children of God and the children of the devil. They have their distinct characters. In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil,1 John 3:10; 1 John 3:10. In the world (according to the old distinction) there are the seed of God and the seed of the serpent. Now the seed of the serpent is known by these two signatures:-- 1. By neglect of religion: Whosoever doeth not righteously (omits and disregards the rights and dues of God; for religion is but our righteousness towards God, or giving him his due, and whosoever does not conscientiously do this) is not of God, but, on the contrary, of the devil. The devil is the father of unrighteous or irreligious souls. And, 2. By hatred of fellow-christians: Neither he that loveth not his brother,1 John 3:10; 1 John 3:10. True Christians are to be loved for God's and Christ's sake. Those who so love them not, but despise, and hate, and persecute them, have the serpentine nature still abiding in them.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

Exposition: 1 John 3:1-10

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

As dear Dr. Hawker said concerning this, there is a chapter in every word and a sermon in every letter. How it opens with a "Behold!" because it is such a striking portion of sacred Scripture, that the Holy Ghost would have us pay particular attention to it. "Behold!" says he, "read other Scriptures if you like, with a glance, but stop here. I have put up a way-mark to tell you there is something eminently worthy of attention buried beneath these words." "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us." Consider who we were, and who we are now; ay, and what we feel ourselves to be even when divine grace is powerful in us. And yet, beloved, we are called "the sons of God." It is said that when one of the learned heathens was translating this, he stopped and said, "No; it cannot be; let it be written 'Subjects,' not 'Sons,' for it is impossible we should be called 'the sons of God.' " What a high relationship is that of a son to his father! What privileges a son has from his father! What liberties a son may take with his father! and oh! what obedience the son owes to his father, and what love the father feels towards the son! But all that, and more than that, we now have through Christ. "Behold!" ye angels! stop, ye seraphs! here is a thing more wonderful than heaven with its walls of jasper. Behold, universe! open thine eyes, O world. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." Well, we are content to go with him in his humiliation, for we are to be exalted with him.

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God." That is easy to read; but it is not so easy to feel. "Now are we the sons of God." How is it with your heart this morning? Are you in the lowest depths of sorrow and suffering? "Now are you a son of God." Does corruption rise within your spirit, and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot? "Beloved, now are you a son of God." Does your faith almost fail you? and are your graces like a candle well nigh blown out by the wind! Fear not, beloved; it is not your graces, it is not your frames, it is not your feelings, on which you are to live: you must live simply by naked faith on Christ. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." With all these things against us, with the foot of the devil on our neck, and the sword in his hand ready to slay us beloved now in the very depths of our sorrow, wherever we may be now, as much in the valley as on the mountain, as much in the dungeon as in the palace, as much when broken on the wheel of suffering as when exalted on the wings of triumph "beloved, now are we the sons of God." "Ah!" but you say, "see how I am arrayed! my graces are not bright; my righteousness does not shine with apparent glory." But read the next: "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him." We are not so much like him now, but we have some more refining process to undergo, and death itself, that best of all friends, is yet to wash us clean. "We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

"And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law.

"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."

Believer, read these words in two senses. He was manifested to take away thy sins that thou hast committed; and that he accomplished, when "the just for the unjust," he sustained the penalties of them. And he was manifested to take away the power of thy sins; that is to say, to conquer thy reigning lusts, to take away thine evil imaginations, to purify thee, and make thee like himself. Well, beloved, what a mercy it is that some one was manifested to take away our sins from us! for some of us have been striving a long, long while, to conquer our sins, and we cannot do it. We thought we had driven them out, but they had "chariots of iron," and we could not overcome them; they lived "in the hill country," and we could not get near them. As often as we worsted them in one battle, they came upon us thick and strong, like an army of locusts; when heaps and heaps had been destroyed they seemed as thick as ever. Ah! but there is a thought they shall all be taken away. "Ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins;" and so he will. The time will come when you and I shall stand without spot or blemish before the throne of God: for they are "without fault before the throne of God" at this moment, and so shall we be ere long.

"Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."

This plain, simple verse, has been twisted by some who believe in the doctrine of perfection, and they have made it declare that it is possible for some to abide in Christ, and therefore not to sin. But you will remark that it does not say, that some that abide in Christ do not sin; but it says that none who abide in Christ sin. "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." Therefore this passage is not to be applied to a few who attain to what is called by our Arminian friends the fourth degree perfection; but it appertains to all believers; and of every soul in Christ it may be said, that he sinneth not. In reading the Bible, we read it simply as we would read another book. We ought not to read it as a preacher his text, with the intention of making something out of every word; but we should read it as we find it written: "Whosoever abideth in Christ sinneth not." Now we are sure that cannot mean that he does not sin at all, but it means that sins not habitually, he sins not designedly, he sins not finally, so as to perish. The Bible often calls a man righteous; but that does not mean that he is perfectly righteous. It calls a man a sinner, but it does not imply that he may not have done some good deeds in his life; it means that that is the man's general character. So with the man who abides in Christ: his general character is not that he is a sinner, but that he is a saint he sinneth not openly wilfully before men. In his own heart, he has much to confess, but his life before his fellow creatures is such a one that it can be said of him: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not; but whosoever sinneth [the sins of this world. in which the multitude indulge] hath not seen him, neither known him."

"Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."

That is the sign of it. Works are the fruits of grace. "He is righteous," not in himself; for mark how graces come in here "He is righteous, even as HE is righteous." It will not allow our righteousness to be our own, but it brings us to Christ again. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous," not according to his own works, but "even as HE is righteous." Good works prove that I have perfect righteousness in Christ; they do not help the righteousness of Christ, nor yet in any way make me righteous. Good works are of no use whatever in the matter of justification: they only use they are, is, that they are for our comfort, for the benefit of others, and for the glory of God. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil."

"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."

It were well if we always remembered that practical godliness is the soul of godliness; that it is not talking religion, but walking religion which proves a man to be sincere; it is not having a religious tongue, but a religious heart; it is not a religious mouth, but a religious foot. The best evidence is the salvation of the soul. Avaunt! talkative; go thy way, thou mere professing formalist! Your ways lead down to hell, and your end shall be destruction; for "He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he mighty destroy the works of the devil."