1 John 3:18-24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.(A)
Confidence Before God.[a] 19 [Now] this is how we shall know that we[b] belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him 20 in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 21 Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God 22 and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.(B) 23 And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.(C) 24 Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.(D)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 3:19–24 Living a life of faith in Jesus and of Christian love assures us of abiding in God no matter what our feelings may at times tell us. Our obedience gives us confidence in prayer and trust in God’s judgment. This obedience includes our belief in Christ and love for one another.
- 3:19b–20 This difficult passage may also be translated “we shall be at peace before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for…” or “and before God we shall convince our hearts, if our hearts condemn us, that God is greater than our hearts.”
1 John 3:18-24
New International Version
18 Dear children,(A) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.(B)
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends,(C) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God(D) 22 and receive from him anything we ask,(E) because we keep his commands(F) and do what pleases him.(G) 23 And this is his command: to believe(H) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,(I) and to love one another as he commanded us.(J) 24 The one who keeps God’s commands(K) lives in him,(L) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.(M)
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