John reminds us that God’s love does more than forgive us—it gives us a new identity. We are called Children Of God. That identity carries a responsibility: to turn away from sin, resist the work of the devil, love one another, and believe in Jesus Christ. The Spirit God gives us becomes evidence that we belong to Him.
Obedience, God’s Covenant, Faith, Trust, Envy, Judgment, Grace, Sin, Love, Hatred, Devil, Redemption Plan, Jesus Christ
📖 1 John 3:1 (NIV)
“3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him”
God’s story has always been about bringing humanity back into relationship with Him.
Sin separated humanity from God, but His Redemption Plan never stopped.
Throughout Scripture, God made covenants, gave promises, showed mercy, sent prophets, and ultimately sent His Son, Jesus Christ.
John now speaks directly to believers: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” This is more than a title.
It is a new identity.
Being a child of God does not mean becoming perfect by our own strength.
It means our lives begin moving in a different direction.
Sin is no longer something we should willingly continue in. Love replaces hatred.
Faith replaces envy. Obedience replaces rebellion.
Trust replaces the desire to control everything ourselves.
John also reminds us that Jesus came to take away sins and destroy the devil’s work.
The believer’s hope reaches beyond this temporary life.
We do not yet fully know what we will become, but when Christ appears, we will see Him as He is.
The Spirit God gives us provides an ongoing testimony that He lives in us.
📖 1 John 3:1-4 (NIV)
“3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
“4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. “
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
John begins with identity.
Before discussing what believers should do, he reminds us who we are.
God’s love gives believers a relationship with Him that cannot be reduced to religion or human achievement.
We are called children of God because of what God has done.
The world may not understand this identity because it did not recognize Jesus.
But believers have a hope that reaches beyond what can currently be seen.
Our lives are temporary, but being a child of God points toward something eternal.
📖 1 John 3:5-7 (NIV)
“5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
“7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.”
John speaks strongly about sin because sin is more than a mistake—it is lawlessness.
Jesus appeared to take away our sins, and John says that those who live in Christ should not continue deliberately living in sin.
This does not mean a believer will never stumble.
We already learned in 1 John 1 that believers must confess their sins and trust God’s forgiveness.
The difference is direction.
A believer does not make peace with sin and decide to remain there.
God’s grace gives us a reason to get back up, repent, and continue walking toward Him.
📖 1 John 3:8-10(NIV)
“8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
John gives us a powerful reason for Jesus coming into the world:
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
The Bible shows that evil has been working against God’s purposes since the beginning. Envy, hatred, deception, murder, temptation, and rebellion are all part of that destructive pattern.
But Jesus Christ came to break that pattern.
The believer does not have to surrender to what once controlled them.
Through Jesus, there is a new direction, a new hope, and a new relationship with God.
The Redemption Plan is not simply about escaping judgment.
It is about God restoring what sin damaged.
📖 1 John 3:11-13 (NIV)
“11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[b] if the world hates you. “
John makes the contrast clear: the children of God are recognized by righteousness and love.
Cain provides the warning. His brother Abel did what was right, and Cain allowed envy and evil to grow until hatred became murder.
Envy can begin quietly in the heart.
When another person receives a blessing, succeeds, or does something well, we have a choice about what happens inside us.
We can celebrate what God is doing, or we can allow envy to grow.
Love moves us in the opposite direction.
Love does not simply speak—it acts.
📖 1 John 3:14-16 (NIV)
“14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”
“16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. “
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.”
John connects love with spiritual life.
Hatred destroys relationships and can consume the person carrying it.
John uses strong language when he compares hatred with murder because hatred attacks the value of another person in the heart.
But Jesus showed us what love truly looks like:
“Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”
Christian love therefore cannot remain only words.
It becomes sacrifice, compassion, generosity, forgiveness, patience, and action.
God’s love becomes visible through His people.
📖 1 John 3:17-19 (NIV)
“17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
“19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: “
John asks an important question: if someone sees another believer in need but refuses to help, how can God’s love truly be in that person?
This challenges believers to move beyond religious language.
It is easy to say we love someone.
It is different to demonstrate that love when there is a cost involved.
God’s Covenant has always included a relationship with people.
Jesus did not merely speak about love—He demonstrated it by laying down His life.
Our response should also become visible.
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Faith becomes easier to see when it becomes part of how we treat others.
📖 1 John 3:20-22 (NIV)
“20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. “
John brings everything back to the central command:
Believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another.
Belief is not separated from obedience.
Faith changes the direction of a person’s life.
When our hearts are troubled, we can remember that God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
When our conscience is clear, we can approach God with confidence.
This does not mean we earn God’s love by performing perfectly.
Grace remains at the center.
Instead, obedience becomes a response to the relationship God has already given us.
We believe in Jesus, trust Him, follow Him, and allow His commands to shape how we live.
📖 1 John 3:23-24 (NIV)
“23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
John ends the chapter with an important source of assurance:
“We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
The Holy Spirit is God’s presence at work within believers.
The Spirit reminds us that Christianity is not simply an outward identity.
God is working within us.
The believer may still face temptation, weakness, confusion, and difficult circumstances.
But the Spirit points us back toward God.
The Spirit helps us recognize that our lives belong to something greater than this temporary world.
We are children of God now, but what we will become has not yet been fully revealed.
Our hope ultimately rests in Jesus Christ and the eternal life God has promised.
God’s Covenant continues to stand because it rests upon God’s faithfulness rather than human perfection.
From the beginning, humanity has struggled with sin, envy, hatred, and rebellion.
Yet God continued His Redemption Plan.
Jesus Christ came to take away sin and destroy the devil’s work.
Through Him, believers are called children of God.
The covenant relationship produces a new direction: believe in Jesus, obey His commands, love others, reject hatred, and trust the Spirit God has given.
Our temporary lives do not tell the whole story.
God’s promise reaches beyond what we can see today.
Being called a child of God should change how we see ourselves and how we see others.
We will still face temptation and may stumble, but sin should not become our identity.
Envy should not control us.
Hatred should not define us.
Words about faith should become actions of love.
Jesus showed us what love looks like by laying down His life.
We can therefore examine our lives honestly: Are we moving toward God?
Are we loving others?
Are we trusting Jesus?
And are we allowing the Spirit to guide us?
Our confidence does not come from being perfect.
It comes from knowing God is greater than our hearts.
1 John 3 takes us directly to Jesus Christ.
Humanity’s story began with God’s creation and was damaged by sin.
Cain and Abel show how quickly envy can become hatred.
Throughout Scripture, humanity repeatedly struggles with sin, but God continues His Redemption Plan.
Jesus changes the story.
He came to take away sins.
He came to destroy the devil’s work.
And he laid down His life so that we could understand what true love is.
Now believers are called children of God.
The story is not finished.
We are living in temporary bodies, in a temporary world, while waiting for what God has promised.
We do not yet know everything we will become.
But we know this:
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He gave His life for us, He was raised from the dead, and those who believe in Him have hope beyond this temporary life.
And the Spirit He gave us reminds us that God is still at work.
