There are passages in Scripture that comfort us.
There are passages that challenge us.
And then… there are passages that confront us, change us, and call us into the kind of life we always sensed we were created for.
1 John Chapter 3 is one of those passages.
It is fierce.
It is tender.
It is convicting.
It is liberating.
This chapter does not whisper—it declares.
It does not suggest—it reveals.
It does not offer general ideas—it unveils your identity, exposes the enemy’s lies, and calls you into a way of life marked by spiritual clarity, divine belonging, and holy confidence.
Here, the Apostle John—writing near the end of his life, after walking with Jesus, witnessing the Resurrection, and shepherding believers through decades of spiritual warfare—gives us a message that shakes the foundations of every soul who reads it.
A message about who we are.
A message about who we belong to.
A message about how we should live.
A message about what real love looks like.
A message about what it means to be a follower of Christ in a world that does not know Him.
And in this long-form teaching, we are going to walk slowly, deeply, and reverently through the message that has transformed believers for generations.
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child of God
Let’s begin this journey with the voice of John ringing in our hearts:
“Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are.”
Those words are not poetry.
They are identity.
They are inheritance.
They are destiny.
They are the foundation of this entire chapter—and the foundation of your entire spiritual life.
Let’s step into the radiance of belonging.
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John doesn’t begin 1 John 3 with a warning. He doesn’t begin with a command.
He begins with a revelation so stunning, so life-altering, that he has to tell us to look, to behold, to stop everything and consider what he is about to say.
“Behold what manner of love…”
That phrase means:
“Look at this love—it is unlike anything you have ever seen.”
“It comes from a place beyond human understanding.”
“It is a love not native to this world.”
Every other love you have ever experienced—every friendship, every family connection, every form of compassion, affection, or loyalty—is a small flicker compared to the blazing furnace of the love found in God calling you His child.
John isn't speaking in metaphor.
He means this literally.
Legally.
Spiritually.
Eternally.
To be a child of God is not a symbolic phrase—it is a spiritual reality.
He adopts you.
He claims you.
He renames you.
He covers you.
He transforms you.
He puts His nature within you.
He gives you His Spirit.
He writes His law on your heart.
He makes you an heir to His Kingdom.
And John says something truly remarkable:
“The world does not know us because it did not know Him.”
Meaning:
If you ever feel misunderstood… remember, you were not created to be understood by the world.
If you ever feel like you don’t fit… remember, you were not designed to fit into a world system you were saved out of.
If you ever feel out of place… remember, you belong to a different Kingdom.
John’s first point is this:
To be a child of God is to walk in an identity that demands transformation.
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John then reveals one of the most breathtaking truths in the New Testament:
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.”
In other words:
You are already His, fully and completely.
But what He is preparing you to become has not yet been shown.
Your current condition is not your final condition.
Your present state is not your eternal state.
You are a work in progress, shaped by a perfect God who sees the end from the beginning.
And then John says:
“But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
To “be like Him” is not to become divine—it is to become complete, transformed, fully restored to the glory humanity was designed to carry before the Fall.
This means:
The broken version of you is not the final version of you.
The struggling version of you is not the eternal version of you.
The anxious, tempted, wounded, imperfect version of you is not the version God sees when He looks upon your destiny.
The day is coming when you will see Jesus face to face, and the sight of Him will finish the work He began in you.
And this future hope is meant to shape your present choices.
“Everyone who has this hope purifies himself.”
Why?
Because when you know who you truly are… you begin living like who you truly are.
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John is unmistakably clear:
Those who belong to God walk in righteousness.
Those who practice sin as a lifestyle reveal that they belong to a different spiritual lineage.
This is not about perfection—it is about direction.
Not about never stumbling—it is about refusing to live comfortably in the mud.
John distinguishes between:
• a believer who struggles
• and a person who embraces sin as identity, lifestyle, and philosophy
There is a war in every believer’s life between the old nature and the new, and John wants us to understand the stakes of that battle.
“Whoever makes a practice of sin also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”
“Practices” is the key word.
This refers to habitual, hardened, unrepentant sin—sin embraced as normal.
John says this cannot coexist with the nature of God.
Why?
Because…
“No one born of God makes a practice of sin, because God’s seed abides in him.”
That phrase—God’s seed—is one of the most profound truths in Scripture.
It means the life of God, the DNA of heaven, the spiritual essence of the Father is inside you.
You cannot feel at home in darkness because your nature has changed.
You may struggle.
You may slip.
You may fall.
But you will not live in the darkness, because the light inside you refuses to be extinguished.
And that is evidence—not of your willpower—but of God’s presence.
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John makes a bold statement—one that modern preachers often try to soften—but he refuses to water down the truth:
“There are children of God, and there are children of the devil.”
This does not refer to creation—everyone is created by God.
But spiritually, there are only two families.
John’s point is this:
Your life reveals your lineage.
Your habits reveal your heart.
Your fruit reveals the root.
This passage is not meant to terrify believers—it is meant to clarify the world you live in.
There is spiritual warfare.
There is deception.
There is influence.
There are forces of darkness that want to shape the way people think, feel, behave, and believe.
But John gives you a litmus test:
“The one who does what is right is righteous.”
“The one who does not love is not of God.”
Love and righteousness are the identifying marks of God’s children.
Hatred and habitual sin are the identifying marks of the enemy’s influence.
John does not say this to condemn you.
He says this to remind you:
You belong to a different kingdom.
You carry a different spirit.
You walk in a different path.
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John transitions from identity to action.
From spiritual reality to relational responsibility.
He takes us back to the earliest teachings of Jesus:
“This is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another.”
Not love as a feeling.
Not love as sentiment.
Not love as tolerance.
Not love as convenience.
But love as sacrifice.
Love as service.
Love as obedience.
Love as the evidence that Christ is alive in you.
John brings up Cain—not to retell a story but to illustrate a truth:
Hatred is spiritual murder.
Cain killed his brother because his own heart was filled with darkness, envy, and rebellion.
John warns believers:
Do not imitate Cain.
Do not imitate the world.
Do not let jealousy, bitterness, comparison, anger, or resentment take root.
Because hatred and love cannot occupy the same heart.
Then John says something astonishing:
“We know we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers.”
Meaning:
Your love for others is not proof of your personality—it is proof of your salvation.
It is evidence that spiritual resurrection has taken place inside you.
Hatred is the language of death.
Love is the language of life.
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John then gives us the clearest definition of Christian love in the Bible:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.”
Love is not emotion—love is action.
And because He laid down His life for us…
we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
This is where Christianity becomes more than belief—it becomes embodiment.
To lay down your life does not only mean martyrdom.
It means:
Laying down your pride.
Laying down your ego.
Laying down your preferences.
Laying down your schedule.
Laying down your desires.
Laying down your comfort.
Laying down the instinct to always protect yourself.
Real love costs something.
Real love sacrifices.
Real love chooses others.
Real love interrupts your convenience.
Real love inconveniences your plans.
John gives a practical example:
“If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his heart… how does God’s love abide in him?”
Love is not a concept—it’s a lifestyle.
Not a theory—it’s a practice.
And John says:
“Let us love not with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
This is the heartbeat of Christian maturity.
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Next, John gives us a gift many believers desperately need:
Confidence in the presence of God.
Many Christians live in fear:
Fear that God is disappointed.
Fear that God is distant.
Fear that they have failed too deeply.
Fear that they have fallen too often.
Fear that they are not doing enough.
Fear that they are not holy enough.
Fear that they will never measure up.
But John says:
“Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart.”
Your heart can lie.
Your emotions can lie.
Your guilt can lie.
Your memory can lie.
Your shame can lie.
But God does not lie.
And He is greater than your self-condemnation.
John goes further:
“If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”
Confidence is not arrogance.
Confidence is not spiritual pride.
Confidence is the natural posture of a child who knows they are loved.
It is knowing you can approach your Father with boldness because the door to His presence is never closed.
Confidence is not based on your perfection—it is based on your relationship.
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John closes the chapter with a final command—a command that holds the entire Christian faith in two simple instructions:
Believe in the name of Jesus Christ.
Love one another.
This is the Christian life in its simplest, purest form.
Believe.
Love.
Trust.
Serve.
Every other command flows from these two.
Every part of spiritual maturity grows from this soil.
When you believe deeply, you live differently.
When you love sacrificially, you shine brightly.
And John closes with assurance:
“Those who keep His commandments live in Him, and He in them.”
God doesn’t visit you occasionally—He abides in you.
He makes His home in you.
He dwells in your spirit permanently.
And you know this because:
“We know it by the Spirit He gave us.”
The Spirit is the evidence.
The Spirit is the witness.
The Spirit is the guarantee.
The Spirit is the voice inside you drawing you into holiness, compassion, conviction, and worship.
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Now that we’ve walked through the entire chapter, let’s translate its truth into your daily life.
To walk as a child of God means:
• You walk with the confidence of someone who is deeply loved.
• You reject the world’s labels, categories, and values.
• You purify your life because you know who you really are.
• You live in righteousness because God’s nature is in you.
• You refuse to make peace with sin.
• You love deeply, even when it’s hard.
• You treat hatred as dangerous.
• You serve others with compassion.
• You let your actions reinforce your faith.
• You walk boldly into God’s presence knowing you belong there.
• You follow Christ’s example of sacrificial love.
• You obey God not out of pressure but out of identity.
• You listen to the Holy Spirit as your guide, counselor, and friend.
This is not theoretical.
This is the lifestyle of someone transformed from the inside out.
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1 John 3 does not give you a suggestion—it gives you a calling.
A calling to live boldly.
A calling to love fiercely.
A calling to walk in purity.
A calling to cling to Jesus.
A calling to resist the darkness.
A calling to represent your Father well.
A calling to reflect the One who calls you His own.
This is not about earning God’s love.
It is about responding to it.
This is not about proving yourself worthy.
It is about living from the identity He has already given you.
This is not about religious performance.
It is about spiritual transformation.
When you know you are a child of God…
you begin to live like one.
You begin to love like one.
You begin to serve like one.
You begin to shine like one.
And the world will see something in you that does not make sense—because it is something Heaven placed inside you.
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If you’ve made it this far, hear this:
You are loved more than you understand.
You are chosen more than you realize.
You are transformed more than you feel.
You are destined for more than you imagine.
This chapter is not merely information—it is invitation.
God is inviting you into deeper love.
Deeper purity.
Deeper obedience.
Deeper identity.
Deeper confidence.
Deeper surrender.
Deeper transformation.
And as you embrace this truth, your life becomes a testimony that will draw others to the One who loves you.
You carry the light of Christ.
You carry the nature of your Father.
You carry the authority of Heaven.
And every single day, you have the opportunity to walk in the fullness of who God has called you to be.
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1 John Chapter 3 is not a chapter to rush through.
It is a chapter to let reshape you.
Let God rewrite the way you see yourself.
Let God restore the way you love others.
Let God renew the way you walk through this world.
You are a child of God.
You are loved beyond measure.
You are called to walk in His righteousness.
You are empowered to love with His love.
You are guided by His Spirit.
You are destined for His glory.
Live boldly.
Live purely.
Live confidently.
Live lovingly.
And let your life reflect the Father who calls you His own.
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Douglas Vandergraph
Daily Faith, Daily Fire, Daily Transformation
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