1 John 3:18-24 is part of the sub-section which begins in 1 John 3:11. After the author of the epistle emphasizes that love is an element of the gospel received (3:11) and hate is tantamount to murder (3:12-15), and that the new life of the Christian community must be expressed in a loving relationship with the brothers that is "in deed and in truth" (3:16-17), the discourse turns towards the question of conscience: How do we know that we are in the right? (Or in the language employed, How do we know we are in the Truth?). The answer given is three: (a) by the quality of our love (b) by the communion that we have, and (c) by the Spirit we have received.
Let us love in truth
1 Jn. 3:18-24 begins with the address "teknia mou" ("my little children") which is stronger than the one in v. 7 ("teknia") and represents a step forward in the discourse. Verse 18 in fact summarizes the arguments in vv. 15-17. Verse 15 declares the identification between "hating the brothers", "being a murderer" and "not having eternal life." In verse 16, the author recalls 1 Jn. 3:1 (the love that makes us children of God) and 3:11 and draws the practical consequence:
In this we have come to know love, namely, that He gave up his life for our sakes and so we too ought to give up our lives for the sake of our brothers. So if anyone has wealth in this world and sees his brother in need and closes his compassion from him -- how can the love of God remain in him?
Hence, the summary statement: "My children, let us love not in word nor in tongue, but in deed and work." The author contrasts "love in word and tongue" (verbal) and "love in deed and truth" (effective).
Remember that the author is addressing himself to the remnant of a community which saw itself divided with some members actually leaving. The harsh language employed by the author in referring to those who have left (he calls them anti-christs in 2:18-19 and compares their sin to the sin of Cain in 3:12 and the Devil in 3:10) could reflect a bitter separation. To be like these in their hate not only in their unbelief would be to throw in one's lot with them. Thus, the author's admonition not to sin, to love and to fix one's gaze on Him who has given His life for their sake.
Raymond Brown also raises the possibility that the author is insistent on a love that is effective because the other group does not put value on actions. The reason is simple: only knowledge -- the secret knowledge -- counts. Against this, the author emphasizes the binomial "deed-truth" to emphasize that "knowledge" -- something imparted in word and tongue -- is not enough.
To Be In His Presence with Confidence
Verses 19-21 is much discussed among scholars because of the difficulty of the Greek text. I render these verses as follows:
19And by this we know
that we are on the side of truth
and before Him
we can set our hearts to rest
20everytime (hoti ean) our hearts accuse us:
God is greater than our hearts
and He knows everything.
21Beloved, if our hearts cannot accuse us, then we have boldness before God...1
The sense of these verses is clear so long as we take them within the context of the preceding lines and those that follow in vv. 23-24. The norm by which the community knows that it can and with confidence stand before God is its commitment to the communion of the brothers. It is a communion that is based on mutual love that is "in deed and in truth" and the apostolic word that was heard from the beginning. This idea is reiterated in vv. 23-24 where the commandments are explicitated as: believe in the name of Jesus Christ (by way of the apostolic word) and love one another. That the author would like to qualm some consciences and reassure them that they are in the right is due to the fact that among those present there are still some who sympathize with those who have left and those disturbed by the recent breakup of the group. The separation has been such that even the author of the epistle distinguishes between US and THEM, admitting of no commingling between the two henceforth2. If family members and friends are involved in the division, emotional attachments about to be severed may still give some individuals pangs of guilt. The "hearts that accuse us", therefore, can be persuaded (peithein, v. 19) by the fact that God is greater than hearts that accuse and that He who did not spare His own Son would understand. This is true for those who remained in communion with the author and who verify such communion in their commitment to the brothers.
The confidence that the author's community, his "children" has before God also has one other characteristic: it is a confidence before God, NOW and empowers them to ask anything they want and they will receive it. In John 15:7, Jesus tells his disciples: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be given you." The statement is found within the context of Jesus' saying about the Vine and the Branches. To remain/dwell in Jesus is to abide in his words, namely "love one another as I have loved you." Such a communion, which makes the disciples one, not only with Jesus and the Father (Jn. 14:23), but with each other, empowers them to ask anything from the Father. In 1 John 3:22, the same principle holds: the members of the community can ask anything and they will receive it "because we have kept his commandments and have done what is pleasing in His sight." The author will return to this theme in 1 Jn. 5:14-16 when he considers the prayer addressed for those who have sinned sins that do not lead to death. Within the context of the preceding lines, this admonition to prayer is at the same time reassuring. For those who find family and friends among those who have left, there is still the possibility of conversion, of a return to the community. The confidence that one has from a heart that does not condemn (v. 21) allows one to pray for the return of those who have sinned.
Tradition and the Spirit
1 John 3:23-24 re-echoes the Last Supper discourse. Below is a table that illustrates contacts in John 14-15
And this is his commandment:
that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:1)
and we love one another just as he commanded us. (Jn. 15:12)
He who keeps this commandment
remains in Jesus Christ (Jn. 15:13-14)
and Jesus Christ remains in him (Jn. 14:21.23).
And in this we know that He dwells in us:
from the Spirit that He has given us (Jn. 14:15-16).
At a time when the community of faith needs assurance and encouragement, the author draws from the tradition received and applies it to the community. We have pointed out in a previous article that the group that went away does not believe in Jesus as the Christ. They thought that the Divine Christ never died and left the man Jesus hanging on the cross. This is an element of the Cerinthian Gnosticism that came out full-blown in the second century and which may have had its beginnings around the time of 1 John. Communion with the apostolic tradition meant professing the Christ who died on the cross and shed his blood "for our sakes and for our salvation". Communion also means loving the brothers, for it is by loving the brothers that one shows one's love for God (1 Jn. 4:20). In such a communion, the words recorded in the Johanine gospel about Jesus' indwelling in the disciples is verified.
Finally, the role of the Spirit is spelled out by author. He has called the Spirit "the Anointing" in 2:20 and 2:27. The theme will be developed in 4:1-6. The author will admonish the community to discern the spirits (4:1) and the criterion given is found in v. 2: the Spirit that professes Jesus Christ come in the flesh is from God. A contrary spirit is not from God (v.3). In the end, the author also points out that those who would not listen to the community are not of God (vv. 4-5). In other words, since the Spirit only takes from what is already found in Christ (cf. John 16:13) and since Christ has revealed all to his disciples (John 15:15), the Spirit of Truth will not contradict the word that was proclaimed from the beginning.
- 1. In Filipino: At ito ang magpapaalam sa atin na tayo'y nasa panig ng katotohanan. At sa harapan Niya ay mapapatahimik natin ang ating mga puso tuwing susumbatan tayo ng ating mga puso. Mas dakila pa ang Diyos sa ating mga puso at nalalaman Niya ang lahat. Mga mahal, kung walang maisusumbat sa atin ang ating mga puso, makakaharap tayo sa Kanya ng may lakas ng loob... One may compare this rendering with those of the NRSV, NAB, JB and NIV
- 2. 1 Jn. 2:19 has the sound of an excommunication: "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But this happened so that it would be made clear that all of them did not originally belong to us. " Note how many times the phrases "with us" and "belong to us" are repeated. When Jerome Seripando, the Prior General of the Augustinians at the time of Luther's "rebellion" was chided because of his German Kloesterbrueder, he quoted this line from 1 John.
