1 John Chapter 3

vs 13

1 Peter gave us this message. John is saying the same thing. This is a reflection of the last verse - in the same way that Cain killed his brother for being righteous, so we will be killed for same.

vs 14

Our love of our spiritual family is one assurance we can have of our salvation. Surely they're not that unlovely that we wouldn't love them without God's help? Well, when you put it like that...

vs 15

Again, reading in absolutes that would mean that anyone who killed someone at any time (Paul rings a bell as a murderer by association) would never get into heaven. Someone who keeps on murdering (and John very strongly brings this up in the context of Cain's murder of his brother, but also Jesus' words that anger against your brother is like murder) is not going to get eternal life.

vs 16

Jesus set us our example of love. But you can't just read that as "love = dying". If that's all it would take, Jesus would have shown up, given undeniable proof that he was God, then died on the cross. Jesus' whole life is purposeful! But because dying is the greatest sacrifice, John is saying that "love = doing everything for others, up to and including dying".

vs 17

A perfect example of not dying, but still loving. Although interestingly there is never a situation in the gospels where Jesus gives someone something that costs him something. I guess because he owns everything in the first place.

vs 18

John sounds like he's taking a leaf out of the book of James.

vs 19-20

And here is one of the statements of Christianity about our faith and possibly how it interacts with our feelings. If that is what it means, then it is a key verse. Kardia means our heart, obviously. But apart from the literal meaning, it means our souls, our minds, our faculties of intelligence, and our emotions (it is also used to describe the very central or inmost thing).

That means that you've really got to read the context carefully to get the meaning meant by the author. My vote is that John means "emotions and feelings" here. Here's why: John says, many times in 1 John, "This is how we will know" or "can know" (ginosko: to learn to know, to come to know. Also the Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse, those devils) - the idea in this case being we can know something with our mind to control our feelings when they condemn us.

However, in verse 20 John shows both things about God, that he is greater than our hearts and knows everything, so I would be up for a different interpretation. I think mine is the natural reading of the text though.

If what I am saying is correct, then John is making the classic statement of modern evangelical Christianity - that for faith, facts come before feelings. However, the 'facts' are not typical modernity facts (Jesus can be historically proven as dying, the Biblical books are defensible as historical documents, we can use logic to show why the disciples weren't lying etc). John's facts go like this: If you can see in your life real actions and truth that comes from having the Holy Spirit in your life, then that fact is enough to prove that you are a Christian. So even if your heart tells you "I can't be a Christian, I'm too sinful" you can point to it and say "But wait, I help my brothers in accordance with Christ's commands. That fact shows that I am a Christian".

vs 21-22

Again, John talks about the condemnation our heart can offer. But instead of showing us a way that we can be set at rest in our hearts when they condemn us, it now reads as if our confidence is based on the peace of our hearts. That could be, and I guess you could argue for that reading. I don't know if I like the contradiction being within one sentence of the other. Rather, I prefer the reading "And brothers, since our hearts no longer condemn us" - making this next idea a flow on effect from the last one. So when we have a grasp on the facts of our faith (based on the actions of the Spirit in our lives) we can be confident to ask and receive from God. John even backs me up with his wrap up, "because we obey his commands and do what pleases him".

vs 23

God's command to love one another we've been over. We must also believe in the name of his Son. Remember, of course, that it's not about the letters of the name. Call Jesus 'Bruce' if you want to. Your "name" is a representation of who you are and what you do (onoma: one's rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds). We would tend to say "your good name", but even that's a bit dated. Your reputation is probably the closest we have. But sufficed to say that we don't just believe Jesus existed as God's Son - there is so much more to God's command than that.

vs 24

And now John talks about the Holy Spirit, and the indwelling of Christ in us. These are vital points to his argument, but he doesn't bring them in until here, at the end of chapter three. Why? Mostly because he's a confuddled old coot I reckon. 1 John is well known in scholarship as having the least amount of cogent structure of any book. Only nutters like artists and druggies can make things out of it. Artists and druggies - academic theology needs you!