1 John 3:19

“Hereby” points back to the love of verse 18. The Greek is en toútōi, “in this” or “by this”, and the “And” that opens the verse is the ordinary joining word kaí, which ties the thought to what came just before. Love that acts is the means by which we know. The verb is ginṓskō, to know, come to know, perceive or understand, and what we come to know is that “we are of the truth”.

“Of the truth” is ek tēs alētheias. The preposition ek means “from” or “out of”, so to be of the truth is to have our life come from the truth and to belong to it. The word for truth, alḗtheia, comes from alēthḗs, “true”, and it speaks of reality and sincerity, and above all of God’s truth revealed in Jesus Christ, who called himself the truth (John 14:6). To be of the truth is to be joined to him. Love in action is the outward sign that our life has its source there. John comes back to this when he ties love to God himself, for “God is love” (1 John 4:7–8), and Paul lists love among the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).

“And shall assure our hearts before him” uses peíthō, which means to persuade or convince. We persuade our own hearts. The heart, kardía, is the whole inner person in Scripture, the seat of thought, will, feeling and conscience. A heart that has been persuaded is quieted and settled, and the doubt and guilt that troubled it are put to rest. This happens “before him”, émprosthen autoú, in front of God, in his presence and in his sight. That takes in our standing before him in prayer and worship, and our standing at the judgment, where his sight is the one that decides.

John knows that a believer’s heart can accuse him. “Condemn” is kataginṓskō, to note against, find fault with or accuse. It is built as “to know against”, and the heart here sits as a judge and brings in a verdict of guilt. That verdict may come from a true awareness of sin, from a harsh conscience that has lost sight of grace, or from the accusations of the enemy.

Against that verdict John sets two things about God. He “is greater than our heart”, greater in knowledge, wisdom, mercy and authority, so his judgment is the one that stands. And he “knoweth all things”, where the verb is ginṓskō again, the plain word for knowing. Our heart knows against us, and God knows everything. The psalmist says that the LORD knows his thoughts and is acquainted with all his ways (Psalm 139:1–6), and Hebrews says that all things lie open before God (Hebrews 4:13).

That knowledge is a comfort. God sees our failures, and he also sees our repentance, the true state of our heart, the work of his Spirit in us, and the finished work of Christ on our behalf. Paul asks who can bring a charge against God’s people when it is God who justifies and Christ who intercedes for them (Romans 8:33–34), and he writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Assurance rests on who God is, and it holds even on days when our feelings waver.

“Beloved” is agapētós, “beloved, dear”, John’s warm word for his readers, and it comes often in this letter. Then he gives the other side of verse 20: “if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” The two verses belong together. Verse 20 meets the accusing heart with God’s greater knowledge, and verse 21 shows what follows when the heart is at peace.

The word for confidence, parrhēsía, means outspokenness, frankness, boldness and freedom of speech, and from there assurance. It is the freedom to come to God and speak to him openly, without fear or shame, and it is humble, because it rests on what Christ has done. Hebrews calls us to come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), and it says that the blood of Jesus has opened a new and living way into the holiest place (Hebrews 10:19–22). John speaks of confidence at Christ’s coming (1 John 2:28) and of confidence in prayer (1 John 5:14–15).

A heart at peace is often a heart that has loved in action: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14). John has already joined knowing God with keeping his commandments (1 John 2:3–6), and he does the same in the verses that follow here.

Verse 22 carries the confidence of verse 21 into prayer. “Whatsoever” makes the promise wide. To “ask” is aitéō, to ask, beg, call for or desire, often the request of someone in need to someone able to give. To “receive” is lambánō, which can mean to take hold of or obtain, and also to receive, where the giver is the one who acts. Here God is the giver, for we receive “of him” (pará, from beside him), and the promise speaks of his faithfulness to his children.

The reason given is “because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” The commandments, entolḗ, are God’s charges and commands, and the next verse names them. “Pleasing in his sight” looks to the heart behind the obedience, a life lived to honour God and win his approval. The two phrases describe one life from two sides. Jesus lived that life perfectly, for he always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29).

The “because” describes children who walk with their Father. As we keep his commandments, our desires come into line with his purposes, and our prayers come to reflect his will. Jesus made the same link: if we abide in him and his words abide in us, we ask and it is done (John 15:7).

Verse 23 gathers up the chapter. John has written of our being God’s children (1 John 3:1–3), of righteous living (1 John 3:4–10), and of love for one another (1 John 3:11–18). Now he names the commandment of verse 22. The word entolḗ means a charge or command, “that which is authoritatively commanded”, and it stands at both ends of the verse, so the whole is framed by God’s authority. John writes “commandment” in the singular, and it has two parts.

The first is “that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.” The verb pisteúō can mean to believe that something is true, and also to trust and rely on a person, and “believe on the name” is the second: trust placed in Jesus himself. In Scripture a name (ónoma) stands for the whole person, his character, authority and saving work, so to believe on the name of the Son (huiós) is to rely on all that he is, God’s Son who died and rose and is Lord. This is the belief of John 3:16, and Peter says that salvation is in his name alone (Acts 4:12). John insists that the Christ we trust came in the flesh (1 John 4:2–3), and that this faith brings us into fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3).

The second is “and love one another.” The verb is agapáō, a love shown in self-giving care and kind action, the love that comes from God and is to pass between his people. “As he gave us commandment” looks back to Jesus, who gave his disciples a new commandment to love one another and said it would mark them out as his (John 13:34–35). He also gave the measure: “That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Then he laid down his life for his friends (John 15:13), humbling himself to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5–8). His love is the pattern of ours and the power behind it. John sets this love against the hatred of those who do not know God (1 John 3:14–15).

Faith and love are one commandment because each belongs with the other. Paul speaks of “faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6) and says that love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8–10). Whoever trusts God’s Son loves God’s people, and Christian love grows from faith in Christ.

“He that keepeth his commandments” uses tēréō, to guard, keep watch over, observe or fulfil a command. It describes a watchful, steady keeping of what God has said. Of that person John says he “dwelleth in him, and he in him.” “Dwelleth” and “abideth” in this verse are the same verb, ménō, to stay, remain, continue or live. It is one of John’s favourite words, and it describes a lasting, living union. The believer lives in God, making him the source and home of his life, and God lives in the believer, guiding, comforting and strengthening him.

This mutual dwelling echoes Jesus’ words about the vine and the branches (John 15:4–7). He joined keeping his word with God’s dwelling in us (John 14:23), he kept his Father’s commandments and abides in his love (John 15:10), and he prayed that his people would share the oneness he has with the Father (John 17:21–23). It also recalls the language of the old covenant, where God dwelt among his people.

How do we know that God lives in us? “Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” Here toútōi points forward to the Spirit. The word pneûma means breath or wind, and so a spirit, and here it is the Holy Spirit, a divine Person whom God has given as a gift. Jesus promised to send him to “abide with you for ever” (John 14:15–17). Paul says that the Spirit of God dwells in those who belong to Christ (Romans 8:9) and that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16). The Spirit’s conviction, comfort, guidance and fruit confirm that God truly abides in us. So we have two witnesses, our obedience in the open and the Spirit within, and John later says he wrote his letter so that believers may know where they stand (1 John 5:13).

Every part of this passage rests on Christ. He is the truth that we are of. God showed his love in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), and on the cross he bore the condemnation we deserved. When our heart accuses us, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1), a high priest who was tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), and who lives to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25). God made him to be sin for us so that we might be made righteous in him (2 Corinthians 5:21), and his Spirit enables us to walk after the Spirit and fulfil what the law requires (Romans 8:4). Our confidence rests finally on his perfect love, which both enables our love and secures our place with God.

This passage gives us a way to set a troubled heart at rest. We look at the fruit God has worked in us, love in deed and in truth, and we know that our life comes from the truth. When our heart still accuses us, we have a God who is greater than our heart and knows all things, and who sees us through his Son. When our heart is quiet, we have freedom to speak to him openly and to ask, and he gives to children who walk in his will.

The passage also shows who God is. He commands, and his commandment is that we trust his Son and love one another. He hears and gives. He lives in his people, and he has given them his Spirit so that they can know it. A believer who doubts can rest on this.