1 John 3:1 - Meaning and Application

The apostle has already shown the dignity of Christ’s faithful followers. They are born of him and so are closely joined to God. Now he breaks out in wonder at the grace that lies behind so great a gift: “Behold what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). This is more than a name. It means an effective calling, a real making of what we were not. The Father adopts all the children of the Son.

The Son calls believers to himself and makes them his brothers. In doing so, he gives them the right and honor of being sons of God. It is astonishing mercy that the eternal Father should make and call people like us his children. By nature, we are heirs of sin, guilt, and God’s curse. By practice, we are children of corruption, disobedience, and ingratitude. It is strange indeed that the holy God is not ashamed to be called our Father, or to call us his sons.

From this, the apostle draws another truth. Believers are honored above what the world can understand. Unbelievers know very little about them. So “the world does not know us” (1 John 3:1). The world sees only outward trouble and common suffering. It does not see the honor, privilege, and joy believers already have. It does not know that these poor, humble, and often despised people are favorites of heaven and will soon live there.

Believers can bear their present condition more patiently because their Lord was treated the same way. “Because it did not know him” (1 John 3:1). The world did not understand who Christ was when he lived among them. It did not realize that the Maker of the world had come to live in it. The Jewish people did not know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was standing among them in human form. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. They even crucified him. Yet if they had truly known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). So Christ’s followers should be content with hardship here, since they are living among strangers who do not understand them, just as their Lord was before them.

Then the apostle lifts up these faithful believers with the promise of what will one day be revealed. Their present relationship to God is already sure: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God” (1 John 3:2). They have the new nature of sons through regeneration, the new birth. They also have the title, spirit, and right to the inheritance of sons through adoption. This honor belongs to all the saints.

But the full glory that belongs to this sonship is still hidden: “It does not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2). That glory is reserved for another world. If it were fully shown now, it would interrupt the course of this present life, which must go on by faith and hope. The children of God must wait for what they are to become.

The time when their true state will be revealed is when their elder Brother comes to gather them together. “When he appears we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). Christ is the head of the church, the only-begotten Son of the Father. When he appears, his members, the adopted children of God, will appear with him and be shown in their proper glory. This is what creation itself is waiting for, the full revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). They will be known by their likeness to Christ. They shall be like him in honor, power, and glory. Their lowly bodies will be made like his glorious body, and they will be filled with life, light, and joy from him. When Christ, who is their life, appears, they also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4).

Their likeness to Christ is also connected to the sight they will have of him: “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Their likeness will fit them for that sight. Of course, all people will see him, but not in the same way. The wicked will see him in anger, in the terror of his majesty, and in the brightness of his judging power. The blessed will see him in the beauty of his face, in the harmony of his glory, and in the sweetness of his perfect goodness. Their likeness will make them able to see him as the blessed in heaven do. Or, the sight of him will bring about their likeness. The view of Christ will transform them into the same image.

So the apostle presses the duty that belongs to these children of God: holiness. “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). The sons of God know that their Lord is holy and pure. He is too pure in heart and eyes to allow any uncleanness to live with him. Those who hope to live with him must seek the same purity, turning away from the world, the flesh, and sin. They must keep growing in grace and holiness.

This is not only because their Lord commands it, but also because their new nature leans toward it. Their hope of heaven itself urges them on. They know that their high priest is holy, harmless, and undefiled. They know that God their Father is the high and holy One. They know that heaven is a pure society, and that their inheritance is an inheritance of saints in light. So it goes against their hope to make peace with sin and impurity. If we are saved by hope, then we must be purified by hope. It is only the hope of hypocrites, not the hope of God’s children, that leaves room for dirty desires and sinful cravings.