1 John 3:9-17 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is 1 John 3:9-17. Let’s go!
1 John 3:9-11 (NIV)
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has 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 a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
On verses 9-11: John puts it in such black and white terms:
· Those who do what is right belong to God. Those who sin don’t belong to God. (v9-10)
· Those who love their fellow brothers and sisters belong to God. Those who hate their fellow brothers and sisters don’t belong to God (v10b-11).
So say you’re someone who has trusted Jesus as your Saviour. You believe you are a child of God based on John 1:12 and other Bible verses. Yet you know for a fact that from time to time you still sin and you still don’t love others as you should all the time. How are we to take these verses from 1 John 3:9-11?
I view these verses much like I view Jesus’ sermon on the mount: these verses show me just how high God’s standards are, how completely unable I am in my own strength to meet God’s standards, and how much I need God’s forgiveness and a Saviour to save me and to change my heart. In other words, let these verses bring us to our knees in repentance. Let these verses cause us to cry out to God to change us from the inside out, so that by God’s power our conduct would match our identity: that we are children of God who do what is right and who love our brothers and sisters faithfully. Let these verses remind us of the kind of lives God has called us to live.
1 John 3:12-15 (NIV)
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, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
On verses 12-15: Just as Cain hated his brother Abel and murdered him (Genesis 4), don’t be surprised if the world hates you, John says, but you don’t live in hate. For hating others kills the life of God in you. By likening hatred to murder (v15), John recalls Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:21-22 during his Sermon on the Mount.
1 John 3:16-17 (NIV)
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.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
On verses 16-17: The cross is the greatest demonstration we’ll ever know about what love is. “This is how we know what love is” (v16), John says. Just as Jesus showed us what love is by laying down His life for us, it is with our practical actions that we show the love of God to others. It’s one of the big themes of 1 John: true love is shown not just with words but with action.
Also, here John uses his favourite phrase: “This is how we know”. This phrase appears about 10 times in this short letter (1 John 2:5; 2:18; 3:10; 3:16; 3:24; 4:2; 4:6; 4:9; 5:2). In other words, for John there is a clear way to know certain big truths in life. Not everything is up in the air and open to interpretation. I believe one reason John could speak with this level of conviction is because he personally encountered Jesus Christ. As John wrote to begin this letter, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” (1 John 1:1)
What can we learn from this? Personal conviction about God comes from having a personal encounter with God. If you don’t have strong convictions about God, could it be because you have not yet personally experienced Him? If you want to personally experience God, it begins with first opening your heart and taking a humble step of faith toward Jesus and His Holy Spirit.
Father, thank You that though I so often don’t live up to Your standards of how a child of God should live, thank You that Jesus’ blood cleanses me of all my unrighteousness and covers all of my sin. Holy Spirit change me from the inside out, that I would live the way You call me to live. Let me experience You more and more. Out of that may I show others what love really is through my actions and my words. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
