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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 3
Sons of God shall become like Christ—Love for the brethren required to gain eternal life—Obedience assures us an answer to our prayers.
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1 BEHOLD, what manner
of alove the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the bsons of God: therefore the
cworld knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the
asons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he
shall bappear, we shall be
clike him; for we shall
dsee him as he is.
3 And every man that hath
this ahope in him bpurifieth
himselfa, even as
he is cpure.
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3a every man that hath this hope in him
[Jesus Christ] purifieth himself We must not understate or
complicate the matter of the power of having faith in the atonement of Jesus
Christ. When certain ones came unto Christ seeking his blessing, Jesus often
did state, 'Thy faith hath made thee whole'. That is a simple matter, as
simple as it was but to look unto and upon the serpent raised up by Moses in
the wilderness. If we have that faith and hope in Jesus Christ, his atonement,
he taketh upon himself our sins and we are purified even as Christ is pure.
Paul is one who strived to first most so teach this simple truth of the
miricle of having faith in Jesus Christ. Of course there is a repenting
process, the turning away from sin. As as Paul also stated, 'God forbid' the
idea that a man would remain in his sins having exercised faith in Christ to
have them removed. To walk in perfect righteousness is the ultimate ends of
the matter. Yet as long as we are in the flesh we are so subject to the flesh,
that is our weakness and the thorn in all of our flesh. As sincere and as
honest that we may be in striving to so live the commandments of God, the
nature of man is to come up short and have such weakness inherent in him. The
real trick is not to let that inherent weakness keep us from our faith and
our effort to so live by the word of God, having faith in Christ's power to
repediate our sins from us by the power of the atonement. Hold to that faith,
especially in times of weakness. There is always repentance and forgiveness
held out according to the plan of God's salvation for His children. We are
never beyond its reach. And while there is a 'repentance process' it is
wrong to consider it such a complicated ordeal as to think that foregiveness
and removal of sin through the atonement of Christ is so distant from us
to come by that simple faith in Jesus Christ.
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4 Whosoever committeth sin
atransgresseth also the law: for
bsin is the transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he was manifested to
take away our asins; and in him is no sin.
6 Whosoever abideth in him
asinneth not: bwhosoever sinneth hath not
seen him, neither cknown him.
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7 Little children, let no man deceive you:
he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that acommitteth
bsin is of the devil; for the devil
csinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the
ddevil.
9 Whosoever is aborn of
God bdoth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
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10 In this the children of God are
amanifest, and the bchildren of the
devil: whosoever doeth not crighteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.
11 For this is the amessage
that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12 Not as aCain,
who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew
he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
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13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world
hate you.
14 We know that we have passed from death
unto alife, because we love the bbrethren.
He that cloveth not his brother abideth in
ddeath.
15 Whosoever ahateth his
brother is a murderer: and ye know that no bmurderer hath
eternal life abiding in him.
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16 Hereby perceive we the
alove bof God, because he laid
down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world’s good,
and seeth his abrother have bneed, and
cshutteth up his bowels of dcompassion
from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
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18 My little children, let us not love in
word, aneither in tongue; but in bdeed
and in truth.
19 And hereby we know that we are of the
truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is
greater than our heart, and aknoweth all things.
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21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not,
then have we aconfidence toward God.
22 And whatsoever we aask, we
receive of him, because we bkeep his
ccommandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his
sight.
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23 And this is his
acommandment, That we should bbelieve
on the cname of his Son Jesus Christ, and dlove
one another, as he gave us commandment.
24 And he that keepeth his commandments
adwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he
babideth in us, by the cSpirit which he
hath given us.
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