1 John 3:19 "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him."
hereby we know... A lifestyle of love in action is the demonstrable proof of salvation, see verse 16. John gives three benefits of love for the true Christian. The first benefit is assurance of salvation since love in action is the test of Christian profession (4:7; John 13:34-35).
Five Blessings of Genuine Love
1. Confirmation that we are of the truth
2. Assurance of a clean heart before God
3. Freedom from condemnation (1Jhn. 3:20-21)
4. Faith and confidence in God (1Jhn. 3:21)
5. Answers to prayers (1Jhn. 3:22)
Cain in verse 12 was of that wicked one; believers are of the truth. And hereby: John seems to be saying that assurance of salvation comes in part as one reaches out actively in caring for others proceeding verses.
Truth and God are interchangeable here. We know we will have no regrets, if when we stand before God, we have acted out the faith that we say we have. Our heart will not condemn us, if we know we have done the best we can by everyone.
shall assure (πείσομεν)
Two renderings are possible; the primitive meaning persuade (Acts 19:26; 17:4; 2Cor. 5:11); or the secondary and consequent sense, assure, quiet, conciliate (Mat. 28:14). Render as A.V., and Rev. as sure. See critical note at the end of the commentary on this Epistle.
before Him (ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ)
Emphatic, the order being, before Him we shall assure our heart. These words are to be kept in mind as the keynote of what follows.
What Love Does for Believers
The statement, this then is how we know that we belong to the truth, probably refers back to 1Jhn. 3:17-18. By practical acts of love in which the needs of others are met, Christians can have a basic assurance that they are participating experientially in the truth. (The NIV’s we belong to the truth paraphrases the Gr. we are of the truth; cf. of God 1Jhn. 3:10 and belonged to the evil one [1Jhn. 3:12].)
0 comments:
Post a Comment