1 John 3 - How Can You Know If You Are A Christian?

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(All of the commentary quotes are in italics from David Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary)

3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

"See" what great love the Father has "lavished on us". Another version says "behold". We need to continually take a look at the love God has poured out on us. We can never forget it. He has lavished it on us. God is not stingy with his love but gives it all up for us. And because of this once again John says, "we can know him". We should never forget the great love God has freely given us, which allows to know him "personally". 

He also states that "We are children of God". This is such an important concept for John, as illustrated in John 3 with the story of Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born of the water and the Spirit. We are born once naturally on earth, and then born-again when we come to know Jesus. By knowing Jesus, we become part of the heavenly family and become sons and daughters of God!

 The Christian should long to be like Jesus, yet remember that God will never force a person to be like Jesus if he doesn’t want to. And that is what hell is for: people who don’t want to be like Jesus. The sobering, eternal truth is this: God gives man what he really wants. If you really want to be like Jesus, it will show in your life now, and it will be a fact in eternity. If you don’t really want to be like Jesus, it will also show in your life now, and it will also be a fact in eternity.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

John gives us two important aspects of our sinful nature. One, when we disobey the commandments it shows us to be sinners. The fact is we break the law every day, especially as Jesus described the Spirit of the Law in his Sermon on the Mount. 

Second, one of the purposes of Jesus' coming to earth was to "take away" or "atone" for our sins. Only Jesus could take away our sin, because he was the only one who is sinless. If he had sinned, he would have to take away his own sin. 

Finally, as a result of our being free of sin, we now have the power to live in Him. It is only by living in Him can we live the life He called us to live as a child of God. John goes as far as to say the one who sins shows they have not seen or know him. 

This might be a confusing verse for us to interpret for we know that none of "stops sinning". But we also know in John's day there were those wbo said they knew God but then behaved just like someone who did not know God. Once again he was confronting the Gnostic heresy that separated the body from the Spirit. The body was evil so it didn't matter what you did with it! 

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. - Guzik 

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

John continues the same theme as in verses 4 and 5, but adds the role of the devil in this. The devil was a sinner from the beginning, because he disobeyed God's purpose for the angels, which was to worship Him alone. Instead, the devil led other rebellious spirits to worship him, and they were kicked out of heaven. The had disobeyed the most important command to worship God alone! While they have been allowed to roam the world and try to tempt us, one day their defeat with be sudden and final. They will be thrown into a lake of fire. We all can allow ourselves to be under the influence of the devil and get caught up in his ways. But, if we are a child of god , we cannot live a life of habitual sin.  

Even when I went through a period of rebellion in my teenage and young adults years, I knew in my heart I was not honoring God. I knew He still loved me, even as I was living a life of disobedience. This is one of the reasons I am so grateful for God's love, mercy, and grace because even though I had strayed He never left me or stopped loving me. This is why I can be patient and merciful and non-judgmental of those who have fallen away from the Lord or gotten caught in a sinful behavior. 

If someone never shows any fruit of their relationship with God, or never has any sorrow or repentance, you would have to question if they are a true believer. Only God knows the condition of a person's heart, but if a brother or sister is caught up in a lifestyle of sin, we challenge them, encourage them, and hold them accountable. This is why being in a life together or discipleship group is so important. Christianity is a not a "solo sport". 

John here is simply emphasizing what it means to be born again. It means that a change comes into our lives – it is a change that will be worked out into every area of our lives as we grow in Christ, but it is a real, observable change.

More on Love and Hatred

11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

One of the clearest ways we show our faith in Him is how we love each other. Though we love each other it doesn't mean the world will love us. Unselfish love is the clearest indicator of a follower of Christ. Jesus was love and he never treated someone without being motivated by love. Even when he confronted the Pharisees, when they were making a mockery of the temple, it was out of His love for God not necessarily his hatred for the Pharisees. The Pharisees had crossed a boundary and Jesus had no choice but to call them on it. 

We shouldn’t be surprised when the world hates us; but we should be surprised when there is hatred among the body of Christ.

Being a Christian is more than saying, “I am a Christian.” There are in fact some who claim to be Christians who are not. How can we know if we are one of these? John’s reply has been constant and simple. There are three tests to measure the proof of a genuine Christian: the truth test, the love test, and the moral test. If we believe in what the Bible teaches as true, if we show the love of Jesus to others, and if our conduct has been changed and is becoming more like Jesus, then our claim to be a Christian can be proven true.

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

There is a difference between human love often motivated by our own needs, and Christian love, which is modeled after Jesus' love. Jesus willingly, purposely, and humbly offered his love for us looking for nothing in return. We call this "agape" love. Agape love is all about what the other person needs. It is love prompted by the Holy Spirit and acted upon in obedience. We even love people when we don't feel like it, or we don't even necessarily like the person. 

In the scripture it says it is easy to love those who love you, but true love is loving someone who doesn't love you.

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same." Luke 6:32

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

When we do disobey God, or not love others the way we should, we may feel a spirit of condemnation. There is a difference between the "conviction of the Holy Spirit" and the "condemnation of the evil one". Our confidence in who we are is always based on who we are in Christ and what He has done for us on the cross. 

The most important command God gives is to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is a little strange to think of believing in Jesus as a command. But if a command reveals God's will, then it makes perfect sense. 

At the end of the day, the main point in this chapter is a Christian, our lives should reflect we are under "new ownership". Not only do we know Jesus and live in Him, but we have been given the Holy Spirit who assures us of our salvation. John concludes by saying, 

And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

There is a saying that has stuck with me, "If you were on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?"