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In this chapter we will consider the crucial points concerning life and living in 1 John 3.
According to the central thought in the Bible, there are two main points in 1 John 3 concerning life. The first is that we have been begotten of God, and the second is that God abides in us (vv. 1, 24). We are God’s children because we have been begotten of Him, and He abides in us through His Spirit. In addition to these central points on the line of life, there are a few subordinate points concerning life. First, verse 5 says, “He was manifested that He might take away sins,” and verse 8 says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” God in Christ took away man’s sins and destroyed the works of the devil so that men could become God’s children by being born again. Actually, the goal of the entire New Testament revelation is that we would become the children of God who are conformed to the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:29). Hence, the Son of God coming to take away sins and destroy the works of the devil is the procedure and not the goal.
Second, 1 John 3:16b, which says that the Lord “laid down His life on our behalf” because He loved us, is also a subordinate point concerning life. Whereas the Lord’s motive in laying down His life for us was love (v. 16a), His purpose in doing so was that we might have His life and become children of God.
Another subordinate point concerning life is mentioned in 1 John 3:2, which says, “If He is manifested, we will be like Him.” The purpose of the Lord’s first manifestation and His laying down His life was that we would become children of God. The purpose of His second manifestation is for us to be completely like Him, conformed to the image of God’s Son and transfigured to be conformed in our body to the body of the Lord’s glory (Phil. 3:20-21). Only then will our becoming children of God be fully accomplished and completed.
All the points mentioned concerning the Lord Himself in 1 John 3, such as His being manifested to take away sins and destroy the works of the devil, His laying down His life for us, and His coming manifestation to make us completely like Him, are subordinate to the crucial point of God begetting us to be His children.
The crucial points concerning life in 1 John 3 are along the central thought and meaning of the Bible. The apostle John points out at the beginning of the chapter that we are the children of God who have been begotten of Him, and at the end he says that we know that God “abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us” (v. 24). How did God beget us to become His children? It was through His Son coming to take away sins, destroy the works of the devil, and lay down His life for us. How is our becoming the children of God completed so that we become exactly like the Lord Jesus? It is through the second manifestation of God’s Son.
Since we believers have been begotten of God, He abides in us by His Spirit; 1 John 3 indicates that there are three aspects to His abiding in us: first, His seed abides in us (v. 9); second, His love abides in us (v. 17); and third, His eternal life abides in us (v. 15). These three—the seed, love, and the eternal life—are different aspects of God’s abiding in us. In the first aspect, God abides in us by the Spirit as a seed to grow out from within us. That seed will become a fully matured crop when the Son of God is manifested, and at that time we will be like the Son of God, the same as He is (v. 2). In the second aspect, when God abides in us, we are in a condition of His love abiding in us, which causes us to love rather than hate others. In the third aspect, God’s abiding in us is His eternal life abiding in us. All three aspects indicate that God abides in us by His Spirit.
When 1 John 3 speaks concerning the line of living, it refers to abiding in God (vv. 6, 24). Beginning from 1 John 1, the apostle John speaks continually of our need to abide in God, because the subject and central message of his Epistle is that man would live in fellowship with God.
First John 3 speaks also of the results, or issues, of abiding in God. These results include, first, the hope that we will be like the Lord (vv. 2b-3a); second, our purifying ourselves, which includes not practicing sin and practicing righteousness (vv. 3b, 6-7, 9); third, our loving the brothers (v. 14); fourth, our persuading our heart before God and having boldness toward Him (vv. 19, 21); and fifth, our receiving from Him whatever we ask and our prayers being answered (v. 22). Strictly speaking, these five issues are seven results of abiding in the Lord: the hope of being like the Lord, purifying ourselves, not practicing sin, practicing righteousness, loving the brothers, persuading our heart before God, and receiving whatever we ask. In other words, one who abides in the Lord will daily hope to be like Him and will purify himself for that purpose. As he learns to abide in the Lord, he will not practice sin but will practice righteousness, spontaneously love the brothers, and have a tranquil conscience without reproach. Consequently, his prayers to God will be answered.
In 1 John 3 we see first that we have been begotten of God to be His children and that He abides in us. Since sins are a hindrance and the devil is an enemy to our becoming the children of God, God sent His Son to take away sins, destroy the works of the devil, and give up His life on the cross so that we might have His life in order to be begotten as God’s children. Eventually, the Son of God will be manifested again so that we may fully have His image. In essence, God has begotten us in order to perfect us to the degree that we are completely like His Son.
Furthermore, after God begets us, He abides in us by His Holy Spirit. God abides in us as a seed so that the image of His Son, which is also God’s image, may grow from within us. Such an abiding is a story of love in the sense that as He abides in us, we are filled with love and have the ability to love instead of hate others. Moreover, God abides in us so that we may have eternal life. This is a story of God in the Holy Spirit abiding in us, as revealed on the line of life.
Concerning the line of living and its issues, we must learn to abide in God, the Lord, and the Spirit. If we abide in Him, we will have the hope that we will someday be like Him and see Him as He is (v. 2). We will also purify ourselves, practice righteousness rather than sin, love the brothers, persuade our hearts before God, and have boldness toward Him. Consequently, we will receive whatever we ask of Him because we abide in Him, know His will, and do all things according to His heart’s desire. These are the points in 1 John 3 concerning life, living, and the results of living.
The entire Bible reveals, first, how God does all things in order to accomplish His purpose of entering into man to be his life; second, how He leads man to live in and by Himself as life; and third, the spontaneous issues of living by this life. If we see, understand, and apply these points when we come to the Bible, we will be able to read it accurately because the Bible was written according to these lines. In other words, if we see these principles, we will be able to read the Bible properly, without bias or deviation and without being excessive or inadequate, because the vast number and variety of words in the Bible were spoken according to this principle.
I am burdened that we all see the lines of life and living. Just as when we see the tree of life in Genesis 2, once we see these lines, they will control our reading of the Word and our understanding of spiritual matters. As a result, the messages that we preach, the work that we carry out, and the churches that we establish will all be significantly changed.
If the brothers who speak for the Lord do not have this central and controlling view before the Lord, it will be difficult for them to avoid deviation when they read the Word. Hence, their messages, their work, and the churches in which they take the lead will deviate. In these chapters I am not presenting a method on how to read the Word; rather, I am hopeful that the children of God will see the tree of life. The entire Bible reveals the tree of life so that we may eat the Lord and live because of Him (John 6:57). If we eat the Lord and live because of Him, we will exhibit every condition of the New Jerusalem recorded at the end of the Bible. These should be the conditions of our behaving and acting before God. If we clearly see the lines of life and living and take them as the track for reading the Word, our reading will be proper, the Bible will become clear to us, and we will be able to see many central points in the Bible.
