Chapter 3

The Glory, Privileges, and Obligations of Sonship. 1 John 3, 1–24.

The beauty of the sonship of God:

¹Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. ²Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. ³And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.

It was righteousness in life and conduct which the apostle had been urging. He now introduces another motive for such conduct: See how great a love the Father has given to us that we should be called the sons of God, and are. The Christians should behold and see, they should use the eyes of both body and mind, they should concentrate their attention upon that miracle, upon that mystery, that we should be honored with the name of children of God. To have been taken out of the state of wrath and damnation and to have been placed into such intimate fellowship with God as to have been born anew through the power of His Spirit in the Word, that is the experience which we have had. Children of God, that is what we are by faith in Christ Jesus, Gal. 3, 26, sons of God, led by the Spirit of God, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, Rom. 8, 14. 17. The image of God, lost by the Fall, is being renewed in us once more, Christ Himself is being formed in us, Gal. 4, 19. What unspeakable, immeasurable majesty is ours! With this assurance in our hearts we can well bear what the apostle tells us: For this reason the world does not know us, because it does not know Him. The children of this world will not know, will not acknowledge us, will consider us beneath their notice, because we are the children of God, with all that this relation implies. The world did not know, did not acknowledge God as the Lord, did not accept Him in faith, and therefore it cannot possibly enter into friendly relations with us, His children; the unbelievers refuse to acknowledge the new, spiritual, divine character which the Christians show.

For our comfort, however, the apostle repeats and amplifies his statement: Beloved, now are we the children of God, and not yet has it been manifested what we shall be; we know that, when it shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. By nature we were the children of wrath and of Satan, but now, by our conversion, we have become and are children of God. Of that fact we are assured in so many passages of Scriptures that there can be no doubt in our minds. This confidence is not shaken either by the statement that it has not yet been manifested what we shall be. Although we have the certainty of our sonship even now and enjoy many of its blessings, yet the full glory of our future state has not yet been revealed to us. But when that revelation will take place, on the day when Christ will appear to us in the fulness of His glory, then we shall be like God the Lord, as nearly like Him as it is possible for creatures to become; then the image of God will be restored in us in the perfection of its beauty, then we shall be holy and righteous before Him. No longer shall we then view Him through a glass, darkly, but we shall see God face to face, as He is, in all the inexpressible beauty of His holiness and love. This seeing of God will, at the same time, be the means by which the image of God in us will ever again be renewed and kept in the fulness of its glory. That is the certain hope of the believers, a confidence which cannot fail.

It is self-evident, then, for a Christian: And every one that has this hope resting upon Him will purify himself, just as He is pure. Every one without exception that clings to this hope of the final glorious revelation, every one that rests his confidence in God, as the Author and Finisher of his salvation, will find it self-evident that he separates and cleanses himself from all defilements and carnal allurements, from everything that is an abomination in the sight of God. We have the example of Christ before our eyes always, as one who was perfectly pure and holy. It is impossible for Christians that have such hope in their hearts any longer to serve sin. This hope nourishes and strengthens the new life which was created in us in regeneration unto the genuine righteousness of life.

To abide in Him means not to sin:

⁴Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the Law; for sin is the transgression of the Law. ⁵And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. ⁶Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.

Here the apostle shows that deliberate, malicious sinning is incompatible with the new life of the Christians: Every one that commits sin commits also lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. That the apostle makes a distinction between sins of malice and those of weakness, such as come upon a person unawares, is seen from chap. 2, 1. Of the former he speaks in this passage. Every one that is in the habit of committing sins thereby places himself in lasting opposition to the Law of God. He commits lawlessness, he deliberately does the opposite of that which the holy will of God demands of all men; he performs what God hates, what He has threatened to punish with temporal death and eternal damnation.

Now it is true, in general, with regard to the sins of all men: And you know that He was manifested to bear our sins, and sin is not in Him. This is the gist of the Gospel-message, the great truth with which all believers are familiar. Christ was manifested, He came into the world, He appeared in the fulness of time in order to bear and take away our sins, to atone for all the sins of all mankind, to offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice of propitiation for all time. The handwriting which was against us has been completely wiped out through the salvation of Christ. His sacrifice had such infinite worth because in Him there is no sin; He is the innocent Lamb of God, His blood, as that of the holy Son of God, is the complete price of ransom for all the guilt that was heaped up before the just God.

From this fundamental fact it follows: Every one that remains in Him does not sin; every one that sins has not seen Him nor known Him. Our knowledge of the salvation of Christ is a living knowledge, a living faith. It is through this faith that we have fellowship with Christ, that we are and remain in Christ. In this union the Christian as such does not sin, he refuses to serve sin, he keeps his heart, mind, and thoughts away from sinful things, he will not yield his members to be servants of unrighteousness, Rom. 6, 1–14. On the other hand, every one that persists in sin, in lawlessness, in opposition to God’s holy will thereby gives evidence that he has not seen nor known Christ by faith. If a person is in any way a willing servant of sin and still tries to persuade himself and others that he is a Christian, he is merely deceiving himself. Note: These words of the apostle do not state, as the so-called perfectionists claim, that a Christian here on earth will reach a stage in which he, in his own person, is sinless. Because we still have our sinful nature to contend with, therefore we Christians are prone to stumble and even to fall. It is according to the new man that we are pure in the sight of God, for the sake of Christ’s righteousness; it is according to our regenerated self that we do not commit sin and keep all our members in subjection unto holiness. But our carnal self, the old Adam, transgresses the will of God in countless instances, thus imposing upon us the duty to wage incessant warfare against it, as St. Paul has so clearly pictured it, Rom. 7, 14–24.

Doing righteousness:

⁷Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. ⁸He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in Him; and he cannot sin because he is born of God. ¹⁰In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. ¹¹For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ¹²Not as Cain, who was of that Wicked One and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous.

So much depends upon the genuineness of Christian conduct that the apostle warns against every form of deceit: Little children, let no one deceive you; he that practises righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; he that commits sin is of the devil, for from the beginning the devil sins. To be under the dominion of sin, to lead a life which offers nothing but opposition to Christ and God, that is the distinguishing mark of the devil’s children; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning, from the time when he himself fell from his former blissful state. And Christ was manifested for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil. The children of God have put off the old evil nature of the devil; they no longer are forced to do the evil works of the devil; they have become partakers of the divine nature of Christ; they have entered into the most intimate fellowship with Christ, and His life is their life. Hence: Every one that has been born of God does not commit sin, for His seed remains in him; and so he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. The new spiritual birth has taken place in the believers; they have received the new spiritual nature. The seed of God, the Word of the Gospel with its life-giving power, has taken up its abode in their hearts, and so they have become partakers of the divine nature. This new nature in itself cannot sin, cannot be subject to sin, cannot perform wicked works. In case the Christians therefore yield to temptations from without and pollute their hearts and hands with sin, they do so because they still have their old evil nature, the old Adam, in themselves, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. For that reason it remains true: In this are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil: Every one that does not practise righteousness is not of God, and he that does not love his brother. That is the sign by which men have ever been able to distinguish between the children of God and the children of the devil, the righteous and the unrighteous: those that do not practise righteousness, that are not busy with the works which are well-pleasing to God, thereby give evidence of the fact that they are not born of God; they are, to say the least, still under the influence of the devil in such acts. The second indication of the absence of righteousness in a person is the lack of brotherly love. For love toward the brethren is the first form of Christian love, and in it all other forms of love are included. One that does not exercise brotherly love cannot be called a child of God.

Of the necessity of brotherly love: For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not like Cain, who was of the wicked one and slew his brother; and for what reason did he slay him? Because his works were evil, but those of his brother righteous. That is the first instruction, the first message, which is brought to the attention of the believers when the call of God is extended to them, that they should show brotherly love toward one another. Should any one deliberately refuse to do this, he would range himself on the side of Cain, who belonged to the wicked one, who was a child of the devil, Gen. 4, 1-16. Cain murdered his brother, and his motive in doing so was resentment over the fact that Abel’s works were righteous, good, whereas his own were evil. Thus the hatred of unbelievers toward the Christians is explained; the good works of the Christians are a constant reproof to them, and therefore they try to revenge themselves, a fact which has appeared so often in the persecutions of the believers.

True brotherly love:

¹³Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. ¹⁵Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? ¹⁸My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

The apostle, first of all, makes a general application of the thought which was included in the last sentence: And do not wonder, brethren, if the world hates you. The believers have not so much as a single trait in common with the children of the world, with the unbelievers. For that reason the latter find it impossible to understand the words, the actions, the motives of the Christians. The entire life of the believers is a reproof to the unbelievers, and therefore the latter hate them. This has been the lot of the Christians from the beginning of the world. Therefore they should not wonder at the course of the world, if they are made the victims of the same hatred which struck down righteous Abel.

The contrast presented by the believers is very effective: We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren; he that does not love his brother remains in death. So far as spiritual life is concerned, every man by nature is dead, dead in trespasses and sins. But in conversion we have passed out of spiritual death into spiritual life. This we know, of this we are sure, from the fact that we love the brethren. Not that our love is the cause of our becoming partakers of spiritual life, for Christ is our Life; but that our love is the evidence of our having been translated from death to life. If this love is absent, if a person that claims to be a Christian yet does not feel the love toward the brethren, which is the one characteristic of the believers, then such a one is still in spiritual death.

The result of this state is shown in a further statement: Every one that hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him. A person that has not received spiritual life from God in conversion is the enemy of God. He therefore hates those whom God loves, the believers, the brethren. And this hatred is equivalent to murder; the desire for the murder of the hated person is only incidentally not carried into effect. And no murderer has spiritual and eternal life in himself; he is in spiritual death, and this death will finally lead him into eternal damnation. If a person professing to be a Christian, therefore, is guilty of hatred toward his brother, the evident conclusion is that the spiritual life which he once possessed has become extinct.

The apostle now shows what true love consists in: In this we have understood love, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. In the case of Cain we saw what hate is; in the case of Christ we see what love is. For us, on our behalf, in our stead, Christ laid down His life. He gave His holy life into death for us, He shed His blood for us, and thereby reconciled us to God, became the atonement for our sins. From this manifestation of love we learn to know what true love is, and it follows that we should be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren. This may rarely become necessary, but the love that has been enkindled in us by the example of Christ finds ways and means of serving the brethren.

Just how this love will be active under circumstances the apostle shows in one instance: But whoso has this world’s substance and sees his brother suffer need, and shuts up his heart against him, how can the love of God abide in him? If a Christian has so much of the goods of this world, of the means of sustaining this life, that he can share with others less fortunate than himself, if he now sees his Christian brother suffer need, if he has evidence that he is in want, and yet closes his heart before him, turns from him, refuses to extend the needed help, then it will be vain for him to protest that the love of God is living in his heart. If he had true love toward God in his heart, this would surely make itself felt in such a case. The general admonition, therefore, is very timely: Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Mere words and gestures where there is need of active help sound hollow, and the person using them draws down upon himself the contempt of even the unbelievers. Of the love which gives evidence of its presence in good works, in deeds of kindness, of such love the apostle is speaking. This is demanded by truth, this follows out of the situation as it really exists: the Christian that is blessed in this world’s goods and may therefore be regarded as a steward of God, in dispensing such blessings for the benefit of

those dependent upon him, he should really have incentive enough to share willingly with those in need.¹

The reassurance of the Spirit:

¹⁹And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. ²⁰For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. ²¹Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. ²²And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. ²⁴And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.

This paragraph contains comfort of a singular kind, since it reassures the believer against himself: In this we shall find out that we are of the truth, and before Him we shall persuade our hearts. The fact that we Christians are active in works of brotherly love, with all that this implies, shows us that we are children of the truth, children of God. Whenever we are in doubt, therefore, as to whether we really are children of God, we can point to the evidence of the works as they are manifested in our lives. The works of love which are found in our whole life ought to convince us and reassure our hearts toward God that we really are born of God.

Should there still be some doubt, however, the apostle declares: Because if our heart condemns us, greater is God than our heart and knows everything. The form of presentation is somewhat peculiar, the apostle speaking in a kind of hesitation, in order that he may not make the matter too simple. We may still not have reached the state in which all doubts have been removed, in which our heart no longer condemns us. It is true, of course, that, so far as our conscience is concerned, we know ourselves to be guilty in the sight of God. It condemns us as sinners, and all our good works cannot quiet its accusing voice. We may, therefore, find ourselves too timid to reassure ourselves in the manner which the apostle has indicated. We may feel that the sins which we have committed outweigh our works of love. In that case we should remember that God is greater than our heart and conscience. He, in His grace and mercy, has found a way of blotting out our sins, of removing the guilt from our conscience. Through the perfect atonement of Jesus all our sins have been wiped out. God knows all things; He knows that we are weak and sinful; but He also knows that the love toward Him and toward the brethren which is found in our hearts is a proof of our faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.

It follows, then: Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God, and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him. If this most serious obstacle in our own hearts has been removed, namely, the condemning voice of our own conscience, then we may have and do have that joyful confidence toward God that He is reconciled to us, that He wants to be our dear Father in Christ Jesus. This confidence includes another: the certainty that God will hear every prayer of ours which we make in faith. As His children we keep His commandments, and our life in general is in accordance with His will, we do what is pleasing in His sight. With this relation obtaining between us and God it follows that we turn to Him as our Father and are sure of the fact that He will grant our requests.

What the commandments of God include the apostle now indicates: And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us a command. See John 6, 29. That is the first and supreme will of God, that we poor sinners should believe in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, His Son, that we should put our trust in Him and cling to Him in life and death. And the second commandment grows out of this faith, namely, that we love one another as He has commanded us, John 13, 34; 15, 12. These two are the chief commandments of the New Testament. If we have faith in Christ, then the love toward the brethren will follow. If we love the brethren, we shall find that our faith is strengthened more and more.

And so the apostle concludes: And he that keeps His commandments remains in Him and He in him; and in this we know that He remains in us, by the Spirit which He gave us. He that is a Christian in deed and in truth, he that shows his faith in Christ and his love toward the brethren in his whole life, he has the reassurance that he remains in God and God in him. This intimate fellowship and communion with God is the most blessed experience of the Christian’s life. We are sure of this communion, moreover, because He has given us the proof and earnest of His Spirit in our hearts. It is through the Spirit that we are enabled to believe, to perform true works of love, to be certain of

the atonement which was made through His blood, and that we show this faith of our hearts in fervent love toward one another, just as He Himself commanded us to do, John 13, 34; 15, 12. Out of the faith which God desires, which He commands, which He gives and works, the true love toward our brethren will flow so naturally that the keeping of God’s commandments will follow as a matter of course.

The apostle, therefore, concludes: And he that keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him; and herein we know that He abides in us, from the Spirit whom He has given us. St. John once more emphasizes the glorious fruit of the fellowship which obtains by faith between the Father and Christ, on the one hand, and the believers, on the other. Keeping the Lord’s commandments and loving the brethren is a fruit of faith and an evidence of the presence of the Savior in the believer’s heart. This evidence is so sure, so reliable, because the Holy Ghost, whom He has given us, is working brotherly love in our hearts. Brotherly love could not be present if the Savior were not living in our hearts; and the Savior would never have made our hearts His abode if it had not been for the power of the Spirit. But this combination of circumstances is so strong that it drives away all doubt and fear and fills our hearts with the calm confidence of faith.