---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  1 John 3"
description: "CHAPTER 3   :-. DISTINGUISHING
MARKS OF THE CHILDREN
OF GOD AND THE
CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL.
BROTHERLY LOVE
THE ESSENCE OF TRUE
RIGHTEOUSNESS. 1. Behold—cal"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/1-john/3"
---

CHAPTER 3

. DISTINGUISHING
MARKS OF THE CHILDREN
OF GOD AND THE
CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL.
BROTHERLY LOVE
THE ESSENCE OF TRUE
RIGHTEOUSNESS.

**1. Behold**—calling attention,
as to some wonderful exhibition, little as the world sees to admire.
This verse is connected with the previous , thus: All our *doing of righteousness* is a mere sign
that God, of His matchless love, has adopted us as children; it does
not save us, but is a proof that we are saved of His grace.
**what manner of**—of what
surpassing excellence, how gracious on His part, how precious to us.
**love . . . bestowed**—He
does not say that God hath given us some gift, but *love itself*
and the fountain of all honors, the heart itself, and that not for
our works or efforts, but of His grace [LUTHER].
**that**—"what manner
of love"; resulting in, proved by, our being, &c. The
immediate *effect aimed at* in the bestowal of this love is,
"*that* we should be called children of God."
**should be called**—should
have received the privilege of such a glorious *title* (though
seeming so imaginary to the world), along with the glorious *reality.*
With God *to call* is to *make really to be.* Who so great
as God? What nearer relationship than that of *sons?* The oldest
manuscripts add, "And we ARE
SO" really.
**therefore**—"on this
account," because "we are (really) so."
**us**—the children, like
the Father.
**it knew him not**—namely,
the Father. "If they who regard not God, hold thee in any
account, feel alarmed about thy state" [BENGEL].
Contrast [1 John 5:1](../../../kjv/1-john/5/1). The world's
whole course is one great act of non-recognition of God.

**2. Beloved**—by the Father, and
therefore by me.
**now**—in contrast to "not
yet." We *now* already are really sons, though not
recognized as such by the world, and (as the consequence) we look for
the visible manifestation of our sonship, which *not yet* has
taken place.
**doth not yet appear**—*Greek,*
"it hath not yet ('at any time,' *Greek* aorist) been
visibly manifested what we shall be"—what further glory we
shall attain by virtue of this our sonship. The "what"
suggests a something inconceivably glorious.
**but**—omitted in the
oldest manuscripts. Its insertion in *English Version* gives a
wrong antithesis. It is not, "*We do not yet know manifestly*
what . . . but we know," c. *Believers have* some degree of
the manifestation already, though the *world has not.* The
connection is, The manifestation *to the world* of what we shall
be, has not yet taken place *we know* (in general; as a matter
of *well-assured knowledge;* so the *Greek*) that when
(literally, "if"; expressing no doubt as to the fact, but
only as to the time; also implying the coming preliminary fact, on
which the consequence follows, [Malachi 1:6](../../../kjv/malachi/1/6);
[John 14:3](../../../kjv/john/14/3)) He (not "it,"
namely, that which is not yet manifested [ALFORD])
shall be manifested ([1 John 3:5](../../../kjv/1-john/3/5);
[1 John 2:28](../../../kjv/1-john/2/28)), we shall be like Him
(Christ; all sons have a substantial resemblance to their father, and
Christ, whom we shall be like, is "the express image of the
Father's person," so that in resembling Christ, we shall
resemble the Father). We *wait for the manifestation*
(literally, the "apocalypse"; the same term as is applied
to Christ's own manifestation) *of the sons of God.* After our
natural birth, the new birth into the life of grace is needed, which
is to be followed by the new birth into the life of glory; the two
latter alike are termed "the regeneration" ([1 John 2:28](../../../kjv/1-john/2/28)). The resurrection of our bodies is a kind of coming out of
the womb of the earth, and being born into another life. Our first
temptation was that we should be like God in knowledge, and by that
we fell; but being raised by Christ, we become truly like Him, by
knowing Him as we are known, and by seeing Him as He is [PEARSON,
*Exposition of the Creed*]. As the first immortality which Adam
lost was to be able not to die, so the last shall be not to be able
to die. As man's first free choice or will was to be able not to sin,
so our last shall be not to be able to sin [AUGUSTINE,
*The City of God,* 22.30]. The devil fell by aspiring to God's
*power;* man, by aspiring to his *knowledge;* but aspiring
after God's *goodness,* we shall ever grow in His likeness. The
transition from *God* the Father to "He," "Him,"
referring to Christ (who alone is ever said in Scripture to be
*manifested;* not the Father, [1 John 2:28](../../../kjv/1-john/2/28)), implies the entire unity of the Father and the Son.
**for,** c.—Continual
beholding generates likeness ([1 John 2:28](../../../kjv/1-john/2/28)) as the face of the moon being always turned towards the
sun, reflects its light and glory.
**see him**—not in His
innermost Godhead, but as manifested in Christ. None but the pure can
see the infinitely Pure One. In all these passages the *Greek*
is the same verb *opsomai;* not denoting the action of seeing,
but the state of him to whose eye or mind the object is presented;
hence the *Greek* verb is always in the middle or reflexive
voice, to *perceive* and *inwardly appreciate* [TITTMANN].
Our spiritual bodies will appreciate and recognize spiritual beings
hereafter, as our natural bodies now do natural objects.

**3. this hope**—of being
hereafter "like Him." *Faith* and *love,* as well
as *hope,* occur in [1 John 3:11](../../../kjv/1-john/3/11);
[1 John 3:23](../../../kjv/1-john/3/23).
**in**—rather, "(resting)
*upon* Him"; grounded on His promises.
**purifieth himself**—by
Christ's Spirit in him ([John 15:5](../../../kjv/john/15/5),
end). "Thou purifiest thyself, not of thyself, but of Him who
comes that He may dwell in thee" [AUGUSTINE].
One's justification through faith is presupposed.
**as he is pure**—unsullied
with any uncleanness. The Second Person, by whom both the Law and
Gospel were given.

**4.** Sin is incompatible with
birth from God ([1 John 3:1-3](../../../kjv/1-john/3/1-3)).
John often sets forth the same truth *negatively,* which he had
before set forth *positively.* He had shown, birth from God
involves self-purification; he now shows where sin, that is, the want
of self-purification, is, there is no birth from God.
**Whosoever**—*Greek,*
"Every one who."
**committeth sin**—in
contrast to [1 John 3:3](../../../kjv/1-john/3/3), "Every
man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself"; and [1 John 3:3](../../../kjv/1-john/3/3), "He that doeth righteousness."
**transgresseth . . . the
law**—*Greek,* "committeth transgression of law."
God's law of purity; and so shows he has no such hope of being
hereafter pure as God is pure, and, therefore, that he is not born of
God.
**for**—*Greek,*
"and."
**sin is . . . transgression of
. . . law**—definition of *sin* in general. The *Greek*
having the article to both, implies that they are convertible terms.
The *Greek* "sin" (*hamartia*) is literally, "a
missing of the mark." God's will being that mark to be ever
aimed at. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." The
crookedness of a line is shown by being brought into juxtaposition
with a straight ruler.

**5.** Additional proof of the
incompatibility of sin and sonship; the very object of Christ's
manifestation in the flesh was *to take away* (by one act, and
entirely, aorist) all sins, as the scapegoat did typically.
**and**—another proof of
the same.
**in him is no sin**—not
"was," but "is," as in , "He *is* righteous," and , "He *is* pure." Therefore we are to be so.

**6.** He reasons from Christ's own
entire separation from sin, that those in him must also be separate
from it.
**abideth in him**—as the
branch in the vine, by vital union living by His life.
**sinneth not**—In so far
as he abides in Christ, so far is he free from all sin. The ideal of
the Christian. The life of sin and the life of God mutually exclude
one another, just as darkness and light. In matter of fact, believers
do fall into sins ([1 John 1:8-10](../../../kjv/1-john/1/8-10);
[1 John 2:1](../../../kjv/1-john/2/1); [1 John 2:2](../../../kjv/1-john/2/2));
but all such sins are alien from the life of God, and need Christ's
cleansing blood, without application to which the life of God could
not be maintained. He sinneth not so long as he abideth in Christ.
**whosoever sinneth hath not
seen him**—*Greek* perfect, "has not seen, and does not
see Him." Again the *ideal* of Christian intuition and
knowledge is presented ([Matthew 7:23](../../../kjv/matthew/7/23)).
All sin as such is at variance with the notion of one regenerated.
Not that "whosoever is betrayed into sins has never seen nor
known God"; but *in so far* as sin exists, *in that
degree* the spiritual intuition and knowledge of God do not exist
in him.
**neither**—"not
even." To *see* spiritually is a further step than *to
know;* for by *knowing* we come to *seeing* by vivid
realization and experimentally.

**7, 8.** The same truth stated,
with the addition that he who sins is, so far as he sins, "of
the devil."
**let no man deceive you**—as
Antinomians try to mislead men.
**righteousness**—*Greek,*
"*the* righteousness," namely, of Christ or God.
**he that doeth . . . is
righteous**—Not his *doing* makes him *righteous,* but
his *being righteous* (justified by the righteousness of God in
Christ, [Romans 10:3-10](../../../kjv/romans/10/3-10))
makes him to do *righteousness:* an inversion common in familiar
language, logical in reality, though not in form, as in [Luke 7:47](../../../kjv/luke/7/47);
[John 8:47](../../../kjv/john/8/47). Works do not justify,
but the justified man works. We infer from his *doing righteousness*
that he is already *righteous* (that is, has the true and only
principle of *doing righteousness,* namely, *faith*), and
is therefore *born of God* ([John 8:47](../../../kjv/john/8/47)); just as we might say, The tree that bears good fruit is a
good tree, and has a living root; not that the fruit *makes* the
tree and its root to be good, but it *shows* that they are so.
**he**—Christ.

**8. He that committeth sin is of the
devil**—in contrast to "He that doeth righteousness,"
[1 John 3:7](../../../kjv/1-john/3/7). He is *a son of the
devil* ([1 John 3:10](../../../kjv/1-john/3/10); [John 8:44](../../../kjv/john/8/44)).
John does not, however, say, "born of the devil." as he
does "born of God," for "the devil begets none, nor
does he create any; but whoever imitates the devil becomes a child of
the devil by imitating him, not by proper birth" [AUGUSTINE,
*Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John,* Homily 4.10]. From
the devil there is not generation, but corruption [BENGEL].
**sinneth from the
beginning**—from the time that any began to sin [ALFORD]:
from the time that he became what he is, the devil. He seems to have
kept his first estate only a very short time after his creation
[BENGEL]. *Since the
fall of man* [at the beginning *of our world*] *the devil
is* (*ever*) *sinning* (this is the force of "sinneth";
he has sinned from the beginning, is the cause of all sins, and still
goes on sinning; present). As the author of sin, and prince of this
world, he has never ceased to seduce man to sin [LUECKE].
**destroy**—break up and do
away with; bruising and crushing the serpent's head.
**works of the devil**—sin,
and all its awful consequences. John argues, Christians cannot do
that which Christ came to destroy.

**9. Whosoever is born of
God**—literally, "Everyone that is begotten of God."
**doth not commit sin**—His
higher nature, as one born or begotten of God, doth not sin. *To be
begotten of God* and *to sin,* are states mutually excluding
one another. In so far as one sins, he makes it doubtful whether he
be *born of God.*
**his seed**—the living
word of God, made by the Holy Spirit the seed in us of a new life and
the continual mean of sanctification.
**remaineth**—abideth in
him (compare *Note,* see on ; [John 5:38](../../../kjv/john/5/38)). This does
not contradict [1 John 1:8](../../../kjv/1-john/1/8); [1 John 1:9](../../../kjv/1-john/1/9);
the regenerate show the utter incompatibility of *sin* with
*regeneration,* by cleansing away every sin into which they may
be betrayed by the old nature, at once in the blood of Christ.
**cannot sin, because he is
born of God**—"because it is *of God* that *he is
born*" (so the *Greek* order, as compared with the order
of the same words in the beginning of the verse); not "because
he *was* born of God" (the *Greek* is perfect tense,
which is *present* in meaning, not aorist); it is not said,
Because a man was once for all born of God he never afterwards can
sin; but, Because he is born of God, the seed abiding now in Him, he
cannot sin; so long as it energetically abides, sin can have no
place. Compare [Genesis 39:9](../../../kjv/genesis/39/9), Joseph,
"How CAN I do this
great wickedness and sin against God?" The principle within me
is at utter variance with it. The regenerate life is incompatible
with sin, and gives the believer a hatred for sin in every shape, and
an unceasing desire to resist it. "The child of God in this
conflict receives indeed wounds daily, but never throws away his arms
or makes peace with his deadly foe" [LUTHER].
The exceptional sins into which the regenerate are surprised, are
owing to the new life principle being for a time suffered to lie
dormant, and to the sword of the Spirit not being drawn instantly.
Sin is ever active, but no longer reigns. The *normal* direction
of the believer's energies is against sin; the law of God after the
inward man is the *ruling* principle of his true self though the
old nature, not yet *fully* deadened, rebels and sins. Contrast
[1 John 5:18](../../../kjv/1-john/5/18); [John 8:34](../../../kjv/john/8/34);
compare [Psalms 18:22](../../../kjv/psalms/18/22); [Psalms 18:23](../../../kjv/psalms/18/23);
[Psalms 32:2](../../../kjv/psalms/32/2); [Psalms 32:3](../../../kjv/psalms/32/3);
[Psalms 119:113](../../../kjv/psalms/119/113); [Psalms 119:176](../../../kjv/psalms/119/176).
The magnetic needle, the nature of which is always to point to the
pole, is easily turned aside, but always reseeks the pole.

**10. children of the devil**—(See
on [1 John 3:8](../../../kjv/1-john/3/8); [1 John 3:8](../../../kjv/1-john/3/8)). There is no middle class between the children of God and
the children of the devil.
**doeth not
righteousness**—Contrast [1 John 3:8](../../../kjv/1-john/3/8).
**he that loveth not his
brother**— ([1 John 4:8](../../../kjv/1-john/4/8)); a
particular instance of that *love* which is the sum and
fulfilment of all righteousness, and the token (not loud professions,
or even seemingly good works) that distinguishes God's children from
the devil's.

**11. the message**—"announcement,"
as of something good; not a mere *command,* as the law. The
Gospel *message* of Him who loved us, announced by His servants,
is, that we *love the brethren;* not here all mankind, but those
who are our brethren in Christ, children of the same family of God,
of whom we have been born anew.

**12.*****who*******—not
in the *Greek.*
**of that wicked one**—Translate,
"*evil* one," to accord with "Because his own
works were *evil.*" Compare , "of the devil," in contrast to "of God,"
[1 John 3:10](../../../kjv/1-john/3/10).
**slew he him? Because his own
works were evil, and his brother's righteous**—through envy and
hatred of his brother's piety, owing to which God accepted Abel's,
but rejected Cain's offering. Enmity from the first existed between
the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

**13. Marvel not**—The marvel
would be if the world loved you.
**the world**—of whom Cain
is the representative ([1 John 3:12](../../../kjv/1-john/3/12)).
**hate you**—as Cain hated
even his own brother, and that to the extent of murdering him. The
world feels its bad works tacitly reproved by your good works.

**14. We**—emphatical; hated
though we be by the world, *we* know what the world knows not.
**know**—as an assured
fact.
**passed**—*changed our
state.* [Colossians 1:13](../../../kjv/colossians/1/13), "from
the power of darkness . . . translated into the kingdom of His dear
Son."
**from death unto
life**—literally, "*out of the* death (which enthrals
the unregenerate) *into the* life (of the regenerate)." A
palpable coincidence of language and thought, the beloved disciple
adopting his Lord's words.
**because we love the
brethren**—the ground, not of our *passing over out of death
into life,* but of our *knowing* that we have so. *Love,*
on our part, is the *evidence* of our justification and
regeneration, not the *cause* of them. "Let each go to his
own heart; if he find there love to the brethren, let him feel
assured that he has passed from death unto life. Let him not mind
that his glory is only hidden; when the Lord shall come, then shall
he appear in glory. For he has vital energy, but it is still
wintertime; the root has vigor, but the branches are as it were dry;
within there is marrow which is vigorous, within are leaves, within
fruits, but they must wait for summer" [AUGUSTINE].
**He that loveth not**—Most
of the oldest manuscripts omit "his brother," which makes
the statement more general.
**abideth**—still.
**in death**—"in *the*
(spiritual) death" (ending in eternal death) which is the state
of all by nature. His want of *love* evidences that no saving
change has passed over him.

**15. hateth**—equivalent to
"loveth not" ([1 John 3:14](../../../kjv/1-john/3/14));
there is no medium between the two. "Love and hatred, like light
and darkness, life and death, necessarily replace, as well as
necessarily exclude, one another" [ALFORD].
**is a murderer**—because
indulging in that passion, which, if followed out to its natural
consequences, would make him one. "Whereas, [1 John 3:14](../../../kjv/1-john/3/14) desires us to lay down our lives for the brethren; *duels*
require one (awful to say!) to risk *his own* life, rather than
not deprive *another* of life" [BENGEL].
God regards the inward disposition as tantamount to the outward act
which would flow from it. Whomsoever one hates, one wishes to be
dead.
**hath**—Such a one still
"abideth in death." It is not his *future* state, but
his *present,* which is referred to. He who hates (that is,
loveth not) his brother ([1 John 3:14](../../../kjv/1-john/3/14)),
cannot in this his present state have eternal life abiding in him.

**16.** What true *love to the
brethren* is, illustrated by the love of Christ to us.
**Hereby**—*Greek,*
"Herein."
**the love*****of God*******—The words "of God" are not in the original.
Translate, "We arrive at the knowledge of love"; we
apprehend what true love is.
**he**—Christ.
**and we**—on our part, if
absolutely needed for the glory of God, the good of the Church, or
the salvation of a brother.
**lives**—Christ alone laid
down His one *life* for us all; we ought to lay down our *lives*
severally for the lives of the brethren; if not actually, at least
virtually, by giving our time, care, labors, prayers, substance: *Non
nobis, sed omnibus.* Our life ought not to be dearer to us than
God's own Son was to Him. The apostles and martyrs acted on this
principle.

**17. this world's good**—literally,
"livelihood" or substance. If we ought to lay down our
*lives* for the brethren (), how much more ought we not to withhold our *substance?*
**seeth**—not merely
*casually,* but deliberately *contemplates* as a spectator;
*Greek,* "beholds."
**shutteth up his bowels*****of
compassion*******—which had been momentarily opened by the
*spectacle* of his brother's need. The "bowels" mean
the *heart,* the seat of compassion.
**how**—*How* is it
possible that "the love of (that is, '*to*') God dwelleth
(*Greek,* 'abideth') in him?" Our superfluities should
yield to the necessities; our comforts, and even our necessaries in
some measure, should yield to the extreme wants of our brethren.
"Faith gives Christ to me; love flowing from faith gives me to
my neighbor."

**18.** When the venerable John
could no longer walk to the meetings of the Church but was borne
thither by his disciples, he always uttered the same address to the
Church; he reminded them of that one commandment which he had
received from Christ Himself, as comprising all the rest, and forming
the distinction of the new covenant, "My little children, love
one another." When the brethren present, wearied of hearing the
same thing so often, asked why he always repeated the same thing, he
replied, "Because it is the commandment of the Lord, and if this
one thing be attained, it is enough" [JEROME].
**in word**—*Greek,*
"*with* word . . . with tongue, but in deed and truth."

**19. hereby**—*Greek,*
"herein"; in our *loving in deed and in truth* ().
**we know**—The oldest
manuscripts have "we shall know," namely, if we fulfil the
command ([1 John 3:18](../../../kjv/1-john/3/18)).
**of the truth**—that we
are real disciples of, and belonging to, *the truth,* as it is
in Jesus: begotten of God with the word of truth. Having herein *the
truth* radically, we shall be sure not to love merely *in word
and tongue.* ([1 John 3:18](../../../kjv/1-john/3/18)).
**assure**—literally,
"persuade," namely, so as to cease to condemn us; satisfy
the questionings and doubts of our consciences as to whether we be
accepted *before* God or not (compare [Matthew 28:14](../../../kjv/matthew/28/14);
[Acts 12:20](../../../kjv/acts/12/20), "*having made*
Blastus their friend," literally, "persuaded"). The
"heart," as the seat of the feelings, is our inward *judge;*
the *conscience,* as the witness, acts either as our justifying
advocate, or our condemning accuser, before God even now. [Acts 12:20](../../../kjv/acts/12/20), has "conscience," but the passage is omitted in
most old manuscripts. John nowhere else uses the term "conscience."
Peter and Paul alone use it.
**before him**—as in the
sight of Him, the omniscient Searcher of *hearts. Assurance* is
designed to be the ordinary experience and privilege of the believer.

**20.** LUTHER
and BENGEL take this verse
as consoling the believer whom his *heart condemns;* and who,
therefore, like Peter, appeals from conscience to Him who is *greater
than conscience.* "Lord, Thou *knowest all things:* thou
knowest that I love Thee." Peter's conscience, though condemning
him of his sin in denying the Lord, assured him of his *love;*
but fearing the possibility, owing to his past fall, of deceiving
himself, he appeals to the all-knowing God: so Paul, [1 Corinthians 4:3](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/4/3);
[1 Corinthians 4:4](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/4/4). So if we be believers,
even *if our heart condemns us of sin in general,* yet having
the one sign of sonship, love, we may still *assure our hearts*
(some oldest manuscripts read *heart,* [1 Corinthians 4:4](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/4/4), as well as [1 John 3:20](../../../kjv/1-john/3/20)),
as knowing *that God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things.* But thus the same *Greek* is translated "because"
in the beginning, and "(we know) *that*" in the middle
of the verse, and if the verse were consolatory, it probably would
have been, "Because EVEN
if our heart condemn us," c. Therefore translate, "*Because*
(rendering the reason why it has been stated in [1 John 3:20](../../../kjv/1-john/3/20) to be so important to 'assure our hearts before Him') if our
heart condemn (*Greek,* '*know* [aught] *against* us'
answering by contrast to 'we shall *know* that we are of the
truth') us (it is) *because* God is greater than our heart and
knoweth all things." If our heart judges us unfavorably, we may
be sure that He, knowing more than our heart knows, judges us more
unfavorably still [ALFORD].
A similar ellipsis ("it is") occurs in [1 Corinthians 14:27](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/14/27);
[2 Corinthians 1:6](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/1/6); [2 Corinthians 8:23](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/8/23).
The condemning testimony of our conscience is not alone, but is the
echo of the voice of Him who is greater and knoweth all things. Our
hypocrisy in *loving by word and tongue,* not in *deed and
truth,* does not escape even our conscience, though weak and
knowing but little, how much less God who knows all things! Still the
consolatory view may be the right one. For the *Greek* for "we
shall *assure* our hearts" (see on [2 Corinthians 8:23](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/8/23)), is *gain over, persuade* so as to be stilled,
implying that there was a previous state of *self-condemnation by
the heart* ([1 John 3:20](../../../kjv/1-john/3/20)),
which, however, is *got over* by the consolatory thought, "God
is greater than my heart" which condemns me, and "knows all
things" (*Greek* "*ginoskei,*" "*knows,*"
not "*kataginoskei,*" "*condemns*"),
and therefore knows my *love* and desire to serve Him, and knows
my *frame* so as to pity my weakness of faith. This *gaining
over* the heart to peace is not so advanced a stage as the *having*
CONFIDENCE *towards God* which flows from a *heart condemning
us not.* The first "because" thus applies to the two
alternate cases, [1 John 3:20](../../../kjv/1-john/3/20); [1 John 3:21](../../../kjv/1-john/3/21)
(giving the ground of saying, that *having love we shall gain over,*
or *assure our minds before Him,* [1 John 3:21](../../../kjv/1-john/3/21)); the second "because" applies to the first
alternate alone, namely, "if our heart condemn us." When he
reaches the second alternate, [1 John 3:21](../../../kjv/1-john/3/21), he states it independently of the former "because"
which had connected it with [1 John 3:21](../../../kjv/1-john/3/21), inasmuch as CONFIDENCE
*toward God* is a farther stage than *persuading our hearts,*
though always preceded by it.

**21. Beloved**—There is no "But"
contrasting the two cases, [1 John 3:20](../../../kjv/1-john/3/20);
[1 John 3:21](../../../kjv/1-john/3/21), because "Beloved"
sufficiently marks the transition to the case of the brethren walking
in the full confidence of *love* ([1 John 3:21](../../../kjv/1-john/3/21)). The two results of our being able to "assure our
hearts before Him" ([1 John 3:19](../../../kjv/1-john/3/19)),
and of "our heart condemning us not" (of insincerity as to
*the truth* in general, and as to LOVE
in particular) are, (1) confidence toward God; (2) a sure answer to
our prayers. John does not mean that all whose hearts do not condemn
them, are therefore safe before God; for some have their conscience
seared, others are ignorant of the truth, and it is not only
*sincerity,* but *sincerity in the truth* which can save
men. Christians are those meant here: knowing Christ's precepts and
testing themselves by them.

**22. we receive**—as a matter of
fact, according to His promise. Believers, as such, ask only what is
in accordance with God's will; or if they ask what God wills not,
they bow their will to God's will, and so God grants them either
their request, or something better than it.
**because we keep his
commandments**—Compare [Psalms 66:18](../../../kjv/psalms/66/18);
[Psalms 34:15](../../../kjv/psalms/34/15); [Psalms 145:18](../../../kjv/psalms/145/18);
[Psalms 145:19](../../../kjv/psalms/145/19). Not as though our
merits earned a hearing for our prayers, but when we are believers in
Christ, all our works of faith being the fruit of *His* Spirit
in us, are "pleasing in God's sight"; and our prayers being
the voice of the same Spirit of God in us, naturally and necessarily
are answered by Him.

**23.** Summing up of God's
commandments under the Gospel dispensation in one commandment.
**this is his
commandment**—singular: for *faith* and *love* are not
*separate* commandments, but are indissolubly united. We cannot
truly *love* one another without *faith* in Christ, nor can
we truly believe in Him without love.
**believe**—*once for
all; Greek* aorist.
**on the name of his Son**—on
all that is revealed in the Gospel concerning Him, and on Himself in
respect to His person, offices, and atoning work.
**as he**—as *Jesus*
gave us commandment.

**24. dwelleth in him**—The
believer dwelleth in Christ.
**and he in him**—Christ in
the believer. Reciprocity. "Thus he returns to the great keynote
of the Epistle, *abide in Him,* with which the former part
concluded" ([1 John 2:28](../../../kjv/1-john/2/28)).
**hereby**—herein we
(believers) know that he abideth in us, namely, from (the presence in
us of) the Spirit "which He hath given us." Thus he
prepares, by the mention of the true Spirit, for the transition to
the false "spirit," [1 John 2:28](../../../kjv/1-john/2/28); after which he returns again to the subject of *love.*

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