1 John 3:21-22

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:13-24

Hate and death contrasted with love and life ( 1 John 3:13-15 ); generous love, which has its pattern in the self-sacrifice of Christ ( 1 John 3:16 , 1 John 3:17 ); sincere love, which is the ground of our boldness toward God, who has commanded us to love ( 1 John 3:18-24 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:13-24

The sign of brotherly love. I. LOVE TO BE TRACED TO A SAVING CHANGE . 1 . Not to be expected in the world. "Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you." Cain hated Abel; after the same fashion the world hates Christ's people. Our Lord, whom John here echoes, points to the fact of his being hated before his people, and then adds, "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:18-24

As in 1 John 2:28 , St. John bursts out into personal exhortation (comp. verse 13; John 4:1 , John 4:7 ), based upon the preceding statements. He then restates the motive in a new form both positively and negatively. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:19-22

The privileges of Christian loyalty. Connecting link: The ἔν τούτῳ with which our present paragraph begins is the connecting link between the material of this homily and that of the last. It connects the privileges here specified with the duties there enjoined. No verses of the Epistles of John lead us more into the very heart-work of religion than do these; nor are there any the construction of which is so complex, and the exact meaning thereof less easy to ascertain. We have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:19-22

The judicial function of conscience. "And hereby we know that we are of the truth," etc. Our text suggests the following observations. I. THAT CONSCIENCE EXERCISES A. JUDICIAL FUNCTION IN MAN . By "our heart" in the text St. John means, as Alford says, "the heart as the seat of the conscience, giving rise there to peace or to terror, according as it is at rest or in disquietude.… The heart here is the inward judge of the man." Many are the definitions of "conscience."... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:21

Beloved ( 1 John 2:7 ; 1 John 3:2 ), there is a still more blessed possibility. If the consciousness of genuine love will sustain us before God when our heart reproaches us, much more may we have confidence towards him ( 1 John 2:28 ) when it does not reproach us. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 John 3:22

And (as a guarantee that this confidence is not baseless or misdirected) whatsoever we ask, we receive from him. Note the present tense: λαμβάνομεν , not ληψόμεθα . Whatever the child of God asks as such, he ipso facto obtains ( John 15:7 ). This is the ideal condition of things; for the child of God cannot ask what displeases his Father. And we are his children "because we keep his commandments." The ὅτι must not be connected too closely with λαμβάνομεν , as if our... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 3:21

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not - If we so live as to have an approving conscience - that is, if we indulge in no secret sin; if we discharge faithfully every known duty; if we submit without complaining to all the allotments of Divine Providence.Then have we confidence toward God - Compare the 1 John 3:19; 1 John 2:28 notes; Acts 24:16 note. The apostle evidently does not mean that we have confidence toward God on the ground of what we do, as if it were meritorious, or as if it... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 John 3:22

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him - If we are truly his children, and ask in a proper manner. See the notes at Matthew 7:7. Compare Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9; Luke 18:1 ff; John 14:13; Joh 15:7; 1 John 5:14. The declaration here made must be understood with these limitations:(1)That we ask in a proper manner, James 4:3; and,(2)That the thing asked shall be such as will be consistent for God to give; that is, such as he shall see to be best for us, 1 John 5:14. See the notes at this latter... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 John 3:21-22

1 John 3:21-22. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not If our conscience, duly enlightened by the word and Spirit of God, and comparing all our thoughts, words, and works with that word, pronounce that they agree therewith; then have we confidence toward God Our consciousness of his favour continues, with liberty of access to him, and intercourse with him; and we have this further blessing, that whatsoever we ask According to his will; we receive of him Or shall receive in the time,... read more

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