1 John 3:1-12

1 John 2:28–3:12

1 See what love the Father has given 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 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.

11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

In the last part of chapter 2 we looked at loving the world, and abiding in Christ. The last verse in that chapter tells us that if we are righteous in what we do, we hav been born of Him, him being God!

VS. 1…

Chapter 3 continues with the idea of being born of God, in that we are called children of God.

We are not known (ginosko) by the world, they may know that we follow Christ, but they do not understand followers of Jesus because they did not understand Jesus.

VS. 2…

In verse 2 he addresses the already/not yet of the kingdom of God.

We are God’s children now, although who we will be in our ultimate revelation is not know as of yet.

Christ’s ultimate revealing to the world will usher our revelation for we will see him “as he is.”

VS. 3…

“All who have this hope in him…” the hope is being like him.

“purify themselves, just as he is pure.” Purity is an important part of the christian life. Being pure is about not being contaminated…

James 4:8 “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

Purifying yourself is also about obedience to the truth - love for one another.

1 Peter 1:22 “Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart”

VS. 4-9…

We see in verses 4-9 John says the same thing twice to emphasize his argument.

Vs. 4 he says “everyone who commits sin…”

Vs. 5 he says “he was revealed to take away sins…”

Vs. 6 he says “no one who abides in him sins…”

Then in

vs 8 he says “everyone who commits sin…”

vs. 8 he says “he was revealed for this reason, to destroy the work of the devil…”

vs. 9 he says “those who have been born of God do not sin…”

This brings up the question, “if all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, does this mean none are truly of God?”

VS. 10…

I think vs 10 answers this question when it says “The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.

They are revealed not by a one time event but by a lifestyle.

It is best to understand “commit sin” less as a one time event but more as a continual desire to commit sin.

VS. 11-12…

These verses gives us a revelation about our own lack of love for others, it stems from selfishness.

From the beginning implies what Jesus taught.

Cain killed his brother because his deeds were evil, but his brothers were righteous.