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1 John 3

1See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God—and we are! This is why the world does not know us: it did not know him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

4Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5And you know that he was revealed to take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor come to know him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8The one who does sin is from the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the deeds of the devil. 9Everyone who has been fathered by God does not do sin, because his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been fathered by God. 10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are evident: everyone who does not do righteousness is not from God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, 12not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and slaughtered his brother. And why did he slaughter him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother's were righteous. 13Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death into life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16By this we have come to know love: he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or with the tongue, but in deed and truth.

19By this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our heart before him, 20whenever our heart condemns us, because God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing before him. 23And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us a commandment. 24The one who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in that person. And by this we know that he remains in us: by the Spirit he gave us.

Translation notes 7

3:1–3 — Children now and what is to come. “And we are” follows the Greek base; some witnesses omit it. In verse 2, “when it is revealed,” referring to what we will be, is an alternative to “when he is revealed.” The preceding reference to his coming favors Jesus' appearance. The repeated pronouns allow close connections between the Father and Son without naming a new referent at every occurrence.

3:4–10 — Sin and righteousness. The Greek repeatedly joins “do” with sin, lawlessness, and righteousness; the English keeps this conspicuous pattern. “Does not sin” and “cannot sin” retain the force of verses 6 and 9. A common interpretation understands persistent or characteristic sin, but the present tense alone does not establish that limitation. The letter also acknowledges sin and confession in 1:8–2:2. Its sharp contrast between belonging to God and belonging to the devil is preserved rather than resolved by adding “habitually” or “deliberately.”

3:9 — His seed. This is God's seed, continuing the image of God as father. It portrays the source of life remaining in God's children; the text does not explicitly replace the image with “word,” “Spirit,” or “new nature.” “Fathered by God” preserves the same family connection.

3:10–18 — Brothers, death, and life. “Brother” and “brothers” describe fellow believers, including women and men. Cain's killing is called “slaughter,” a forceful verb. Hatred is identified with murder without an added qualification. In verse 16, “he” refers to Jesus; “life” translates the word sometimes rendered “soul.”

3:17–18 — Closing the heart. The Greek names the inward organs as the seat of compassion; “heart” is the corresponding embodied English expression. “The world's goods” means material means of living. Love is tested by concrete help, not words alone.

3:19–22 — A condemning heart. The difficult sentence is read as reassurance: God's knowledge is greater than our self-condemnation. It can also be understood as a stronger warning—God knows more against us than our own heart does. The context of enacted love and confidence favors reassurance, but the alternative remains significant. Singular “our heart” follows the collective or distributive Greek wording.

3:23–24 — Belief, love, and the Spirit. The single commandment embraces belief in the Son's name and love for one another. “By the Spirit” gives the ground for knowing that God remains in the community, leading into the testing of spirits in chapter 4.