The Great Love of God

[Sue J Love]

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3 NASB’95)

If we want to be those who are diligent to present ourselves approved to God as workmen who do not need to be ashamed, but who accurately handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), we must make it our practice to study the Scriptures in their proper context. So, if we want to understand what is being said here in 1 John 3:1-3, it would behoove us to read all of 1 John first to get the right context so that we do not incorrectly handle the truth and then end up teaching unintended lies instead of the truth.

So, with that said, let’s recap a little bit of the first two chapters. We learn in chapter 1 that if we say that we have fellowship with God and yet walk (in conduct, in practice) in the darkness (sin, wickedness), we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the Light (truth, righteousness, Jesus), as God himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with God and with one another within the body of Christ who are also walking in the Light in fellowship with God, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

In 1 John 2:3-6 we learn: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

So, when we begin reading in chapter 3 about the great love of God the Father, which he has bestowed on us, “that we would be called children of God,” it would be very helpful to know what the first two chapters teach us about who it is who are the children of God, who know God, and who are in fellowship with him. And 1 John 3:4-10 talks about this subject, as well. We do not know God and we are not in fellowship with God if we are still walking in sin and if it is not our practice to obey the commandments of our Lord.

And this is not saying that if we ever sin again, “Bam!”, we’re toast! For we read in 1 John 2:1-2: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Yet, directly after this we read that if we claim to know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice (keeping them), we do not speak the truth.

Basically, if we study all the New Testament Scriptures in their proper context, we will learn that to know God and to be in fellowship with God, and to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed us at the end of our lives, we must be those who have died with Christ to sin, who are dying daily to sin, by the Spirit, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, in the power of God. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, back to 1 John 3:1-3. God’s great love has been poured out on us who profess him with our mouths, that he is our Lord and Savior, but who also submit to him as Lord, who surrender our lives to the will of God, who have died with him to sin, and who now walk in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, empowered by the Spirit of God. We are not the children of God if all we do is give lip service to him but then we keep on in our sinful practices and if we do not obey his commands he has for us to obey today.

But if we are those denying self, dying to sin daily, by the Spirit, and walking in the ways of the Lord, in obedience to his commands, in practice, although not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection, we will be among those not known by the world. They won’t understand us and why we do what we do in submission to the Lordship of Christ, and in obedience to his commands, and in walking in his ways, and in being led of him in what to do and what to say and to whom and when and where and why. This will be foreign to them.

And everyone who has the hope (biblical and genuine) of salvation from sin and eternal life with God, based off the truth of the gospel taught in the Scriptures, in their proper context, are ones who purify themselves, just as God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – is pure. And if we purify ourselves, it is via us, by the Spirit, denying self, dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin. And it means to be holy, different from the world, because we are becoming more like Jesus.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Lead Me Gently Home, Father

By Will L. Thompson, 1879

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.

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The Great Love of God
An Original Work / April 6, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love