“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.” 1 John 3:18-19.
If our love shows itself “in deed and in truth”, we can know it is genuine. These deeds are done in the real world; ministering to the saints, clothing and feeding those in need, praying for their needs, interceding for them in prayer, mentoring them, helping them financially, teaching them the Scriptures and so on.
The meaning of truth here is as being in accordance with fact; it is given justly and without partiality; the J. B. Phillips version and the Amplified Bible translate it as sincerity, which would indicate a gentleness of spirit when dealing truthfully.
This comes down to rightly dividing the word of truth.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” Matthew 21:28-31a.
John continually reminds us that those who love their brother in deed and in truth, reality, can know that they are in Christ. At the same time he tells us that one who hates, abominates, has malice toward his brother is no more in Christ than a murderer.
If you know these things, you can know that you “are of the truth”, which in this case means that you are prompted by and controlled by the truth.
If you know you “are of the truth”, this shall “assure our hearts before Him.” The marginal note in my Bible renders the word assure this way, “persuade, or set at rest, our hearts before Him”.
“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” 1 John 3:20.
This verse can be somewhat confusing, there are those who interpret this as meaning that if our heart, conscience, condemns us, it means that we are unsaved and that God, who knows all things, will condemn us also.
That this is incorrect can be seen in John’s usage of words throughout the text. When referring to the unsaved person he uses phrases like this, “He who sins…”, “He who does not love…”, “Whoever hates…”, “whoever has this world’s goods…”
When referring to Christians John usually includes himself in the wording, “Beloved, now we are children of God…”, “We know that we have passed from death to life…”, “let us not love in word or in tongue…”, “For if our heart condemns us…”, “Beloved, If our heart does not condemn us…”
This is not a hard and fast rule, there are exceptions throughout but the reasons for them are clear.
If then, this is a reference to believers, why does our heart condemn us? Some say this is from an overactive conscience, condemning us for imagined infractions, and that God who knows all things can comfort us in these things.
While this is true of too many folks, it does not mesh with the next verse which speaks of a heart that does not condemn us giving us confidence toward God and receiving whatsoever we ask.
Perhaps the best explanation of the meaning of the phrase, “For if our heart condemns us…” comes from People’s New Testament Commentary, written in 1891.
“If we have a troubled conscience because we have not kept the law of love…” this is why our heart condemns us. It is the loving God who is greater than our heart, who not only knows how to help us but has the power to do so; it is He who brings us to the overflowing river, then carries us across.”
Concerning those whose heart condemns them for imagined infractions, or real ones from the past, this is for you.
The most important rule to remember is that the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin; the devil condemns.
It works this way. If you commit a sin, God’s Spirit tells you, “That was a sin”, when you hear this, you will confess that sin to God and determine not to repeat it.
Unless you repeat that sin, you will not hear of it from God again. However, Satan will often take this opportunity to come to you and, in a voice that sounds like your conscience or the Holy Spirit, and bring up that same sin, saying perhaps, “That was an awful sin you committed, remember”.
Once again you go before the Lord and confess the sin you already confessed.
If you could literally stand in front of God and confess this sin, His answer would go something like this, and I am being silly here, “Huh? What are you talking about; I do not remember that sin?”
“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear [reverence] Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:11-14.
Shortly after confessing this same sin, again the voice comes to you and says, “How can you be a child of God and commit such an awful sin?”
Frantic, you return to the presence of God and re-confess the confessed sin, groveling and crying out for mercy, for something forgotten by God and unmentioned by the Holy Spirit.
You get up off your knees, dry your tears, and guess who is back. Bear in mind that this guy is thousands of years old and should have grown up by now, but he has nothing better to do and he plays a good game, having had plenty of practice, so it begins again.
“God is holy and you are evil. Your sin is proof of that. How can you go into His presence to confess your dirty little sins?”
Once again the penitent “sinner” comes before God, this time kneeling a little farther off, and whispering, afraid to come into the presence of the holy, angry, all knowing, austere God. And love becomes duty, and duty becomes rote.
Do not let the devil get a foothold, the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, when you are continually condemned for the same confessed and rejected sin or any other ones, or one committed before you accepted Christ as your savior, it is not the Spirit, it is the devil!
When in doubt, do this, whatever sin is bothering you, even if confessed already, go before your loving Father and confess that sin one more time, just for your own peace of mind.
When you rise from prayer and hear the accusation again, just say, “Sorry, but that is confessed and done with. Away with you! Do not bother me with it again.”
This foul spirit will return again at a time when you are weak; repeat this process, be consistent and adamant.
God wants clear open communication lines, keep short accounts, confess your sins as soon as you recognize them and forsake them, even if you keep stumbling and committing them again and again.
The humble and contrite heart cannot exhaust the grace of God, do not let the devil separate you from your Father with his lies.
The Apostle Paul also kept an eye on his walk before God.
“For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 4:4.
In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Paul is speaking of those who partake of communion, though the principle of self examination herein apply to all areas of our lives.
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.” 1 Corinthians 11:27-32.
“My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You.” Psalm 119:167-168.
Why did God not warn you of these demonic traps? He just did. Read your Bible; concentrate on the love of God expressed in it.
God is not going to sacrifice His Son for you, then think so little of it that He will kick you to the curb first chance He gets.
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3:21-22.
This is the wonderful thing about having a clear conscience before God; it gives us confidence in prayer. It says right here “whatever we ask we receive”, this is both an assurance and the reason so little prayer is answered.
Folks are just plain careless when coming before the Father. Either they have not recognized some gross sin due to a lack of knowledge of the Scriptures, or they ask selfishly.
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss [with bad intent], that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:3.
Or they think because of their goodness or recognition in the church, this makes self-examination and confession to God unnecessary, this latter is called spiritual pride.
The book of Hebrews portrays coming before God in prayer in a very powerful way.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22.
It is Jesus who made the way into the Holiest and only Jesus Christ, but we are enjoined to come “with a true heart in full assurance of faith”.
We are also to purge our consciences of evil through confession and rejection of known sin; and have our bodies cleansed with pure water, which is the water of the word of God.
Some commentaries say that “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” is the initial and permanent cleansing by the blood of Christ.
While this is true, it seems more like the actions mentioned here are done by the believer on an ongoing basis.
In the case of the sprinkling, this is done when confession is made of known sin and the blood of Christ cleanses us from that sin.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.
Christ wiped out all of the sins of those who accept Him as savior, but that does not mean that they cease to sin, it means that they will not be separated from God in hell for eternity; it is still unacceptable for the Christian to sin and they must confess their sin to God.
Again, some of the commentaries say that having “our bodies washed with pure water” is a reference to baptism.
Seemingly then, a person who has not been baptized for one reason or another cannot enter the Holy place in the presence of God. While this error cannot be emphasized enough, there is a commandment to be baptized.
If you have not been baptized, you should learn about baptism, discuss it with your pastor, and give some serious thought to being baptized soon.
Having said that, I do not believe that this is what is being referred to here.
There is another washing spoken of in Scripture, which is the washing by the water of the word.
Ephesians speaks of how Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.
“…that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word…” Ephesians 5:26.
This is the washing by the word of God. The study of Scripture cleanses us and sanctifies our hearts and re-forms us into the likeness of Christ. The Christian will not grow in Christ without Bible study; you must at least read a little each day if you expect some growth.
“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3:22.
One rule that many Christians overlook is the one that states as follows.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:7-8.
Christ’s Holy Spirit is in all believers but this does not guarantee successful prayer because Christian life depends on the desire of the Christian to follow Jesus Christ and to abide with Him.
If a person is focused on Christ and His word abides in them in all things, the requests they make in prayer will conform to the things that God wants and that will glorify God; in this manner anything we ask will be granted.
Whether you understand this or not, it is important to realize that He is your Father and you can come to Him with anything, whether to confess sin, or ask protection for your family, or their salvation, food, a job, distress, health, ask anything which is not frivolous.
God knows your heart and will grant the things you need. Do not neglect this, the more you pray, the greater will be your faith to ask, which will increase your desire to please Him.
This is a win, win thing do not lose sight of the most powerful weapon on earth.
We receive these things:
“…because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” 1 John 3:22b-23.
By This We Know, 1 John 3:19-23 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 1-4-12, updated on 6-26-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.