1 John 3:1-5
 
1 John 3:1 (KJB)
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
 
Behold - To realize or perceive
What manner - Exclamation - How great or what an amazing thing
Knoweth and know - To understand or be conscious of
 
The word “behold” is in the Imperative mood making it a command to all believers to understand the great and amazing love which God the Father has bestowed upon all His children through the Lord Jesus Christ. This unconditional and irrevocable love causes us to be called the Sons of God by adoption. We were once part of the Kingdom of Satan but now through the Lord Jesus Christ we are adopted into the family of God and enjoy the same love from Him as if we were naturally born into His family. As a result of this imputed love, the world no longer knows us. This is because when we walked with the world, we were welcomed by the world because we partook of all its ways. When we became saved, we rebuked the ways of the world because we walk in righteousness and not in sin. When the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, He was hated by the world because it did not know Him and as His disciples, the world does not know us either. The word “know” carries with it the meaning of “understand.” The world does not understand salvation because it sees no need for God nor salvation because it is satisfied in itself. The Christian represents a threat to the world system because they tend to try and inject righteousness into a sinful society and this is misunderstood and attacked by the world. Walking with God in this world requires the Christian to walk against the current of the world.
 
1 John 3:2 (KJB)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
 
Sons - Children or descendants
Know - Know fully or understand
 
Here John makes a comparison between the present state of the believers and the future. First, we are told that “now” we are the sons of God, meaning that we are the children of God from the moment of salvation and not the moment we die. As we saw previously, eternal life begins at the point of salvation. While we have this heavenly treasure in earthly vessels at present, we do not know what the future holds for us in the area of new bodies. We can be confident that when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, our bodies will be changed so we will be qualified to see Christ in all His glory, this way we will not be consumed with the brightness of His glory. We know this to be fact because the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 discussed the nature of the new body for the believers. If our bodies were not qualified to see the Lord Jesus in His Glory, then we would be consumed in a nanosecond. We saw a glimpse of His Glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. (Mat 17:2 KJV) And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Can anyone look into the sun and not suffer blindness?
 
1 John 3:3 (KJB)
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
 
Purifieth - Cleanse
Pure - Pure from every fault or holy
 
Every born again Christian who has the hope of the changed body and eternal life will not go back into the world and life a sinful life, instead, this great promise of Heaven coupled with the love of God is going to propel one to live a holy life which is patterned after that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who do not have this hope in them will walk hand in hand with the world. Since they lack faith they must walk by sight. Christians look to the Lord Jesus Christ as the one to follow in life’s ways. We do not seek the sinful path but we strive to live a holier life today than we did yesterday. We purify ourselves by having less of the world in us and more of the Holy life propelled by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
 
1 John 3:4 (KJB)
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
 
Committeth - Practicing, act, or perform
Transgresseth - Practices
The law - lawlessness
 
The person who is born of God will live a righteous life but here John is pointing out the people who are unsaved. They are habitually practicing sin. The words “committeth” and “transgresseth” are in the present tense which means the people that they are describing are living in sin. John describes the fact that these people are living a lawless life, in that, they recognize no boundaries nor consequences in their life. This verse does not in any way describe the true believers since God removed all our sin the moment we became saved and the ones described here are living in sin.
 
1 John 3:5 (KJB)
And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
 
Take away - Bear away or carry off
 
As we have previously noted that when a person becomes saved, all our sins have been removed and not covered as in the Old Testament. Since Christ came to take away our sins, how could a Christian want to partake in the sinful life they were freed from? The life of Jesus is our pattern, since He had absolutely no sin in Him, we too, must pattern our behavior after the renewed life and not the old life.

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