1 John 3

1. Think about how much the Father loves us by naming us: “The Children of God.” And that is what we are. Because of this, the world pays no attention to us and pays no attention to the Lord Jesus.

We are made in His image and He is the exact image of the Father. Hebrews 1:3

2. Even right now we are the children of God, but it has not been shown yet what we shall be. We do know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we will see him as He is!

We do not know what we will look like in heaven but we are told we will have a new body.

See also 1 Corinthians 2:9, 2 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 15

3. Everyone who has this confidence keeps himself clean, just as Jesus is clean.

You must choose to stay away from evil. Romans 16:19

4. Everyone who sins is breaking God's law because that is what sin is, a breaking of God's law

The original word for sin means "missing the target."

5. You know that Jesus became a man to take away sin, and in Him there is no sin.

It is as if John is saying, "We do not do that around here.”

6. No one who remains in Christ makes a practice of sin. No one who makes a practice of sin has ever seen him or known Him.

The vine and the branches fit perfectly here. John 15:1

7. Little children do not let anyone trick you. The one who lives God's way is declared righteous just as God is righteous

We will not be deceived if we exercise our spirit by staying in the word daily. Hebrews 5:14

8. But the one who makes a practice of sin is a son of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the very beginning, the son of God appeared for this very reason that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Compare this with Romans 7:15. Paul was not making a practice of sin.

9. No one who is born of God makes a practice of sin. Because God's seed remains in him and he cannot keep practicing sin, because he is born of God.

Martin Luther said that sin is like insanity. Even nature shows us that sin is not normal. Romans 8:22

10. We can clearly see who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil. Anyone who does not make a practice of righteousness and who does not love his brother is not of God.

L iving the right way and genuine love cannot be separated.

11. This is the first message you heard, that we should love one another.

This reminds us of the ABCs of the Christian life. Hebrews 5:12

12. Not like Cain who was of the devil and killed his brother. Why did he kill his brother? It was because he felt guilty when he compared his brother's good life to his own life.

Peter says that our Christian life makes some people nervous. 1 Peter 3:2

13. Do not be amazed, brothers, if the world hates you.

And you will be hated of all men for My name's sake. Matthew 10:22, John 15:18 – 20

14. We know that we have passed the border from death to life because we do love our brothers. The one who does not love his brother remains on the side of death.

We have passed from death into life. John 5:24

15. The one who hates his brother has murder in his heart, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

See also Matthew 5:21 – 22

16. We know what love is because Christ showed us by laying down His life for us. And we should be ready to lay down our lives for our brothers.

There is no greater love. John 15:13

17. But whoever has plenty of things in this world and sees his brother in need, but closes his heart against him, how can anyone believe that the love of God lives in this person?

God is looking for somebody to do this work for Him. Proverbs 24:11

See also James 2:15.

18. Little children do not just say you love people with your mouth, but practice it in your life.

These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:8

19. This is how we know that we are children of the truth and have confidence in our hearts in the sight of God.

When we are walking with the Lord and practicing what we read in the Word, we feel a witness in our spirit that we are on the right track.

20. If our heart makes us feel guilty, God is stronger than our heart and He knows all about it.

The Lord does not condemn or accuse us. Our heart will condemn us when our sins are not covered.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! Psalm 32:1

See also 2 Timothy 2:13, Revelation 12:10, Romans 8:1, Psalms 130:3

21. And if our heart does not accuse us we have confidence in God's presence.

Accusations are serious but if we have confessed and turned away from our sin it is overruled by God. Do not ignore accusations, deal with them! 2 Corinthians 10:5

22. We get whatever we ask for when we keep His commandments and do the things that please Him.

Jesus said that God treats us even better than the way we treat our own children. Luke 11:13

23. What pleases Him is that we should trust in the name of His son Jesus and love each other as He told us to do.

We live a life of love, it is not just a one-time event. See also John 13:34.

24. Those who obey God's commandments live in God and God lives in them and we know this by the presence of His Spirit living in us.

Come closer to Me and I will come closer to you. James 4:8