Text: 1 John 3:11-24
This article is the fifth in a series drawn from the book of 1 John. The first four appeared in earlier issues of the Gospel Herald during 2025. These articles are adapted from Bible class lessons and revised for publication, each focusing on a specific section of John’s letter. By the series’ end, we will have covered the entire book.
I John: Summary so far
Late in the first century, John wrote to Christians “in every place,” addressing a growing movement called Gnosticism. That philosophy taught, among other things, that spirit is inherently good while matter (including human bodies) is inherently evil, and that spirit and matter could never positively interact. Salvation, in Gnostic terms, became a matter of freeing one’s good inner spirit from the prison of the evil body. A key element of Gnosticism that directly contradicted Christianity was the claim that Jesus could not have been God in the flesh—God, as Spirit, could not inhabit an inherently evil human body.
John’s reply is unapologetically simple and radical: Jesus did come as God in the flesh. What the apostles taught is true and complete—nothing needs to be added or taken away.
Even though John is writing to counter this heresy, we don’t need to master every detail of Gnosticism to profit from his letter. His rebuttal is to return to the basic gospel—a posture that’s valuable whenever we question our salvation or the teaching of others. This “back-to-the-gospel” approach is also substantially the foundation of the Restoration Movement of which many of us are a part.
Summary of 1 John 1:1–3:10
- John is an eyewitness of Jesus—the Jesus who was God in the flesh and yet righteous.
- What we do in the body matters, both now and in eternity—everyone has sinned and needs forgiveness.
- We have salvation — the forgiveness of sins when we confess them.
- Jesus is our advocate when we sin, but we are called to strive to walk in the light—learning God’s will and following it.
- Jesus is the Redeemer who purchases us for God: the sacrifice that appeases God’s wrath and brings salvation—ours and the whole world’s.
- We know and love God if we keep His commandments.
- All Christians, regardless of maturity level, are fully saved: they know the Father and have Him abiding in them.
- Do not love the things of the fallen world. Choose to glorify God (which leads to salvation) rather than glorify self.
- The Antichrist has been a topic of wide speculation through Christian history.
- At its heart, the spirit of the Antichrist is found in anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, or that Jesus is God in the flesh.
- Whether there will be a final individual called “the Antichrist,” or only a continued stream of false teachers and Christ-deniers, we must hold fast to the teaching found in God’s Word.
- Persecution may come from the Antichrist, but it can also come from other sources.
- Take encouragement from the early church and the persecutions they suffered—and overcame.
- God loves us so much that He made us His children—not merely servants or friends, but family.
- Christ will return, and we will be transformed. We don’t know every detail of how that will work, but we will be like Jesus in our immortal resurrection bodies.
- With our hope fixed on Christ’s return and our transformation, we work to purify ourselves from all unrighteousness, living in the light rather than the darkness.
- Run the race; fight the good fight; keep on the path you began when you obeyed the Gospel.
Verses 11–15: Love One Another
John reiterates a central command: We should love one another—a command both old and new (cf. 1:7–11). He sets up a stark contrast: love versus hate.
- Love shows we have entered into life—we are saved.
- Hate shows we remain in death—unsaved. John’s language is intentionally strong: hating a brother or sister is equated with being a murderer.
Are those the only two responses we can have to our brothers and sisters? Is there no middle ground?
- John gives no other option. Indifference is not “neutral”; it fails the test of love and therefore falls under “hate.”
- Saying “I don’t know that brother or sister; why should I help them?” is likewise not love—it comes under hate.
- John is speaking kingdom language, not worldly nuance: those who belong to Christ will love as God loves; those who do not belong to Christ do not know that love.
Thus:
- Saved people know what love is and love their brothers and sisters.
- Unsaved people do not.
John also warns: don’t be like Cain. Cain’s actions were evil while his brother’s were righteous; Cain reacted to Abel’s righteousness with hatred and murder. Likewise, righteous living can provoke hatred from non-Christians; we should not be surprised by that.
Verses 16–18: What Is Love?
John defines love concretely: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
Under this simple statement lies profound truth and many questions: Why did He do this? Why would the only Son of God die for us?
Scripture answers the “why” with the plain, overwhelming fact of God’s love:
John 3:16–17 (NIV): For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Romans 5:8 (NIV): But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We cannot fully comprehend the “why” of God’s love; we receive it and are called to imitate it. Jesus’ sacrifice shows that love is expressed in action—even to the point of giving one’s life.
From this follow practical implications:
- If Christians are willing to die for each other, how much more should we perform lesser acts of care?
- It would be inconsistent to claim “I would die for you” but refuse to share material blessings with a brother in need.
- Such refusal exposes a dead faith. As James writes:
James 2:14–17 (NIV): What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? … Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
John will amplify this theme further in chapter 4, but his point here is clear: love must be practical—expressed in actions and in truth, not mere words.
Verses 19–24: Setting Our Hearts at Rest
John finishes this section by giving us a way to know we belong to the truth and to set our hearts at rest in God’s presence.
There is a tension: in one sense we are not yet entirely saved—we have not yet reached the end of our mortal lives, Christ has not yet returned, and we must continue in faith and obedience. Paul expresses this tension vividly:
Philippians 3:12–14 (NASB): Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus… I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Yet in another sense, we are already saved. Our salvation is grounded in Jesus’ death, God’s grace, and our faith in Jesus as God’s Son who took away our sins. Practical tests of that assurance include:
- Do we believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ?
- Are we loving one another as Jesus loved us?
If our faith is active—if we practice righteousness—then we are saved now. If we were to die this moment, we would be taken to heaven; if Christ returned this moment, we would be caught up to meet Him. Salvation, in John’s usage, does not require sinless perfection—only a living faith that seeks to obey.
John earlier established:
1 John 1:7–9 (NASB): If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And he warns:
1 John 3:7 (NASB): Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
God knows we are not perfect; our salvation is not built on perfect obedience—that was the Old Covenant stance. Under the New Covenant, God accounts our faith and our ongoing commitment to obey Him—even while we confess failings—as righteousness.
John’s pastoral encouragement is to base our confidence not on what we feel, but on what we know.
- God is greater than our hearts—He justifies us regardless of what our hearts may condemn.
- Take confidence in that truth, and come to God in prayer with boldness.
1 John 5:14–15 (NASB): This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
If we know we believe in Jesus and know we love one another as He commanded, if we keep His commands and do what pleases Him, then we know we belong to the truth—we are part of God’s family.
Remember John’s context: he is countering teachers (later called “Gnostics”) who argued these Christians weren’t truly saved. John’s assurance is pastoral: believers can know they are saved despite teachings that say otherwise. Today, similar errors arise—some teach that true Christians never sin. John’s whole letter counters that false conclusion.
He puts it plainly: “The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them.” In context, that supplies the assurance we need to live faithfully.
Finally, John writes: “And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” This is a pivot phrase. In the next chapter John will teach how to test the spirits, but as an introduction he gives a helpful note:
- Whether or not we feel the Spirit at any given time, God’s Spirit lives within us as a gift, a seal, a deposit (guarantee) of the eternal life to come.
Acts 2:38–39 (NASB): Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. … For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off…
Do you want a concrete sign of the Spirit within you? John offers one: confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
1 John 4:2 (NASB): By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
Summary
- Love one another—and show that love concretely by sharing what God has given us with those in need.
- We can know and have confidence that we are saved, that we are in God and He is in us—because of Jesus’ finished work and the Spirit He has given.