1 John 3
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
3 1 See what-kind-of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called children of God! And we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet appeared[a]. We know that if He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone having this hope in[b] Him is purifying himself, just as that One is pure. 4 Everyone doing sin also is doing lawlessness. Indeed sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that that One appeared in order that He might take-away sins. And there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone abiding in Him is not sinning[c]. Everyone sinning has not seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little-children, let no one be deceiving you— the one doing righteousness is righteous, just as that One is righteous. 8 The one doing sin is of the devil, because the devil is sinning[d] from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this: that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone having been born[e] from God is not doing sin— because His seed[f] is abiding in him, and he is not able to be sinning[g] because he has been born from God. 10 By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are evident.
Abiding Means Loving In Deed And Truth, As Jesus Commanded Us
Everyone not doing[h] righteousness is not from God— and the one not loving his brother! 11 Because this is the message which you heard from the beginning: that we should be loving one another. 12 Not as Cain. He was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his works were evil, but the ones of his brother were righteous. 13 And do not be marveling, brothers, if the world hates you! 14 We know that we have passed from death into life because we are loving the brothers. The one not loving is abiding[i] in death. 15 Everyone hating his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we have come-to-know love: because that One laid-down His life for us. And we ought to lay-down our lives for the brothers. 17 But whoever has the goods of the world and sees his brother having a need and shuts his deep-feelings from him, how is the love of God abiding in him? 18 Little children, let us not be loving with word nor tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 And by this, we will know that we are of [j] the truth, and we will persuade[k] our heart before Him. 20 Because[l] if our heart is condemning[m] us, we know that God is greater[n] than our hearts, and He knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart is not condemning us, we have confidence[o] before God. 22 And whatever we are asking, we are receiving from Him, because we are keeping His commandments and doing the pleasing things in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and that we be loving one another, just as He gave us the commandment. 24 And the one keeping His commandments is abiding in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He is abiding in us: from the Spirit Whom He gave to us.
Footnotes
- 1 John 3:2 Or, been revealed, been made known.
- 1 John 3:3 That is, fixed on Him.
- 1 John 3:6 Or, continuing to sin.
- 1 John 3:8 Or, continuing to sin since.
- 1 John 3:9 Or, fathered.
- 1 John 3:9 That is, His nature, His life. It is transforming us from within, growing into His likeness.
- 1 John 3:9 That is, to be continuing in sin as a pattern of life. We all still sin, 1:8-10.
- 1 John 3:10 What John said positively in 2:29, he says negatively here.
- 1 John 3:14 Or, remaining.
- 1 John 3:19 That is, belonging to or originating from the truth.
- 1 John 3:19 Or, conciliate, set at ease.
- 1 John 3:20 before Him. Because if... we know that God. Or, before Him— whatever thing our heart is condemning— because God.
- 1 John 3:20 Or, blaming, laying a charge against, convicting.
- 1 John 3:20 We persuade ourselves by our love in action, because it proves we are His in spite of some failure our heart may be throwing up to us. God knows our hearts and our pattern of life.
- 1 John 3:21 That is, the confidence sought in 2:28.
1 John 3
Expanded Bible
We Are God’s Children
3 ·The Father has loved us so much [L See what sort of love the Father has given us…!] that we are called children of God. ·And we really are his children [L And we are!]. The reason ·the people in the world do [L the world does] not know us is that they have not known him. 2 ·Dear friends [L Beloved], now we are children of God, and ·we have not yet been shown [it has not yet been revealed] what we will be in the future. But we know that when ·Christ comes again [L he/it is revealed], we will be like him, because we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this hope in ·Christ [L him] keep themselves pure, just as ·Christ [L he] is pure.
4 ·The person [L Everyone] who ·sins [commits sin] ·breaks God’s law [commits lawlessness/iniquity; C referring to the false teachers; 2:19–20]. Yes, sin is ·living against God’s law [lawlessness; iniquity]. 5 You know that ·Christ came [L he has appeared/was revealed] to take away sins and that there is no sin in ·Christ [L him]. 6 So anyone who ·lives [abides; remains] in ·Christ [L him] does not ·go on sinning [or sin; C the Christian ideal, an implicit call to avoid sin]. Anyone who ·goes on sinning [or sins] has ·never really understood Christ and has never known him [L neither seen him nor known him].
7 Dear children [2:1], do not let anyone ·lead you the wrong way [deceive you]. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as ·Christ [L he] is righteous. 8 Anyone who ·continues to sin [or sins] belongs to the devil [John 8:44], because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. The Son of God ·came [was revealed; appeared] for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s work [Matt. 4:1–11; 12:25–29; Luke 10:18; John 12:31; Rev. 12:7–12; 20:1–3].
9 ·Those [L All] who are ·God’s children [L born of/begotten by God; 2:29] do not ·continue sinning [or sin], because ·the new life from God [or God’s message; or God’s Spirit; L his seed/sperm] ·remains [abides] in them. They are not able to ·go on sinning [or sin], because they ·have become children of God [L are born of/begotten by God]. 10 ·So we can see [L In this way it is apparent/revealed/evident] who God’s children are and who the devil’s children are: Those who do not ·do what is right [practice righteousness] are not ·God’s children [L from/of God], and those who do not love their brothers and sisters are not ·God’s children [L from/of God].
We Must Love Each Other
11 This is the ·teaching [message] you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other [C as Jesus himself taught: John 13:34–35; 15:12]. 12 Do not be like Cain who belonged to the Evil One and ·killed [murdered] his brother [Gen. 4; John 8:44]. And why did he ·kill [murder] him? Because the things Cain did were evil, and the things his brother did were ·good [righteous; just].
13 Brothers and sisters [C fellow believers], do not ·be surprised [be amazed; wonder] ·when [or that; or if] ·the people of the world hate [L the world hates] you. 14 We know we have ·left death and have come into life [passed/crossed from death to life; John 5:24] because we love ·each other [L the brothers and sisters]. Whoever does not love ·is still dead [abides/remains/continues in death]. 15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister [C fellow believer] is a murderer [C because they have killed that person in their heart; Matt. 5:21–26], and you know that no murderers have eternal life [L abiding; remaining] in them. 16 This is how we know what real love is: ·Jesus [L he] ·gave [laid down] his life for us [John 15:13]. So we should ·give [lay down] our lives for our brothers and sisters [C fellow believers; John 15:12]. 17 Suppose someone has ·enough to live [L the world’s possessions/goods] and sees a brother or sister [C fellow believer] in need, but ·does not help [L closes off his heart/compassion from him]. ·Then God’s love is not living in that person [L How does God’s love abide/remain in him?]. 18 My children [2:1], we should love people not only ·with words and talk [L in word and tongue], but ·by our actions and true caring [or by showing true love through our actions; L in deed and truth].
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.