Second Proclamation Section: God is Righteous
2:29 If you know that ˹God˺ is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of ˹God˺.
3:1 Look at the kind of love the Father has given to us, that we are called God’s children. And we really are! Because of this the world does not know us. And it is no wonder, because it did not know Him.
3:2 Beloved, right now we are God’s children, and exactly what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that when ˹Christ˺ is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3:3 And everyone who has such hope fixed on ˹Christ˺, purifies himself, just as He is pure.
3:4 Everyone who practices sin is also rebelling against God. In fact, sin is rebellion against God. 3:5 And you know that ˹Christ˺ was revealed to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 3:6 Everyone who abides in ˹Christ˺ does not sin. Everyone who sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
3:7 Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as ˹Christ˺ is righteous. 3:8 The one who practices sin is the Devil’s offspring, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was revealed was to destroy the works of the Devil.
3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin because ˹God’s˺ offspring abide in Him, and he is not able to sin because he has been born of God. 3:10 By this it is clear who God’s children are and who the Devil’s children are. Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not God’s offspring, to be specific, the one who does not love his fellow believer.
3:11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
3:12 We should not love like Cain. He was an offspring of the Evil One, and violently killed his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. 3:13 So, fellow believers, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
3:14 Because we love fellow believers, we know that we have passed out of death into life. The one who does not love abides in death. 3:15 Everyone who hates his fellow believer is a murderer, and you know that absolutely no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
3:16 This is how we know what love is: ˹Christ˺ laid down His life for us. So, we also ought to lay down our lives for fellow believers. 3:17 But whoever has a means of living, and sees his fellow believer in need, and closes his heart to him, how can God’s kind of love abide in that person?
3:18 Little children, let us not love by merely talking about it, rather let us love through actions consistent with the truth.
3:19 So this is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will be able to persuade our heart in ˹God’s˺ presence, 3:20 because if our heart condemns us, we know that God is greater than our heart and He knows all things.
3:21 Beloved, when our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God 3:22 so that whatever we request we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that please Him. 3:23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we love one another, just as ˹Jesus Christ˺ gave the commandment to us. 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in ˹God˺ and ˹God˺ in him. And this is how we know that ˹God˺ abides in us, from the Spirit whom He gave to us.
4:1 Beloved, do not trust every spirit, but test the spirits to determine whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 4:2 This is how you know God’s Spirit: Every spirit that acknowledges, “Jesus is the Christ who has come in the flesh,” is from God. 4:3 And without exception, every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus in this way is not from God. Indeed, this is a spirit from the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and even now is already in the world.
4:4 But you are God’s offspring, little children, and have overcome ˹the false prophets˺ because greater is the one who is in you than the one who is in the world. 4:5 They, on the other hand, are the world’s offspring. Because of this, they speak from the world’s mindset and the world listens to them. 4:6 But we are God’s offspring. The one who knows God listens to us. Whoever is not God’s offspring does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Translation by the author from the SBL Greek New Testament.
Overview of the Second Proclamation Section
Review
In the Prologue of his letter (verses 1:1 and 1:4), the Apostle John established that he was a eyewitness to the revelation of the Eternal Life that was incarnated in the historical person of Jesus Christ. God’s message was revealed to mankind in such a way that it could be audibly heard, visually seen, and even physically touched. It took on a personal form in Jesus Christ. This Eternal Life is now available to those who believe in Jesus Christ.
John continues his letter by proclaiming what he has seen, heard and touched so that the readers can experience fellowship, and to counter the teachings of disruptors who threaten fellowship. His presentation is organized around three “proclamation” sections that focus on the nature of God and the implications for fellowship with God and fellowship with fellow believers. The three proclamation sections are:
– God is Light: Fellowship Depends on Walking in the Light
– God is Righteous: Fellowship Depends on Practicing Righteousness
– God is Love: Fellowship Depends on Expressing Mature Love
Second Proclamation Section: God is Righteous
The Second Proclamation section runs from verse 2:29 to verse 4:6. The major units of content in this section are as follows:
A. Theme Statement for God is Righteous (2:29)
In Unit A, John presents the Theme Statement for the Second Proclamation section:
2:29 If you know that ˹God˺ is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of ˹God˺.
Righteousness is an aspect of God’s holiness which is seen in His treatment of His creatures. No action of God violates any code of morality or justice. The one who practices righteousness, as God is righteous, is a child of God. Therefore, how one lives demonstrates whether one is born of God or of the Devil (3:8).
B. Practicing Righteousness or Sin is a Result of Paternity (3:1-10)
In Unit B, John explains that practicing righteousness or practicing sin is a result of “paternity”. God’s children purify themselves (3:3). The Devil’s offspring practice sin (3:8). One can identify God’s children and the Devil’s children by their actions.
C. Righteousness is Expressed in Loving Others (3:11-18)
In Unit C, John focuses on the specific action of love. The authentication of a righteous life is love for others, and specifically love for fellow believers as demonstrated by actions consistent with the truth, and not merely through words. What love is not, is seen in the negative example of Cain (3:12-15). What love is, is seen in the positive example of Christ (3:16-18).
D. Practicing Righteousness Provides Assurance of Fellowship (3:19-24)
In Unit D, John gives assurance to the readers. Living a life of righteousness (keeping God’s commandment to believe in Jesus Christ and love one another) increases one’s assurance that they belong to the truth and that they abide in God and God in them. Even when their consciences accuse them in regards to failure to fully love fellow believers, they can have confidence to approach God in prayer because God knows the intention of their hearts.
The Holy Spirit provides inward assurance as they continue to believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. Thus, assurance requires right belief accompanied by deeds of love.
E. Testing the Spirits of Truth and Falsehood (4:1-6)
In Unit E, John warns that not every spirit that claims to speak for God can be trusted. He provides tests for believers to discern the spirits of truth and error because there are many false prophets and Antichrists who attempt to deceive and lead away others from true fellowship with God. There are two tests to determine the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Test One: Is their confession about the incarnation of Jesus Christ consistent with the established truth? Test Two: Who listens to their message – the world or God’s offspring?
Click here for a full outline of First John.
Verse 2:29
Greek Note: ˹God˺
If you know that ˹God˺ is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of ˹God˺.
As noted previously in my posts, the appearance of small brackets (˹˺) around a divine name indicates that a pronoun in the original Greek text has been replaced by a specific proper noun in my translation. Without the replacements the translation here would read:
If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
The question then becomes, who does “He” and “Him” refer to? So, this is my attempt to clarify the referent of some pronouns by replacing them with what I believe to be the corresponding proper noun such as God, Christ, Jesus, Jesus Christ, and God through Jesus Christ (verse 4:21 only). This is due to the vague use of pronouns by John that scholars call the Johannian Trinitarian Ambiguity. Click here for more information.
Most scholars agree that the second pronoun “Him” is a reference to God, because John writes of being “born of God” nine times in First John (see 3:9 [x2]; 4:7; 5:1 [x3]; 5:4; 5:18 [x2]) but never “born of Christ”. Though a few scholars suggest the more specific reference of “the Father”, since that is the title used at the beginning of the next verse, 3:1. Thus:
2:29 …everyone who practices righteousness has been born of ˹the Father˺.
3:1 Look at the kind of love the Father has given to us…
Whether one substitutes “God” or “the Father” for the pronoun makes no difference in the meaning of the verse.
However, scholars are evenly divided on the reference of the first pronoun “He”. Some think it refers to Christ, while others think it refers to God.
In favor of a reference to Christ is the argument that Jesus was described as righteous in verse 2:1, and was the topic of the previous verses. [CULY p. 65]
In favor of a reference to God is the argument that both pronouns “He” and “Him” refer to the same person. And since John never speaks of being “born of Christ”, but rather “born of God”, both pronouns must refer to God.
Note: Section Division at Verse 2:29
Unfortunately, the chapter and verse divisions in English translations lead readers to think that a new section of thought begins at verse 3:1 rather than at 2:29, the last verse in chapter 2. The chapter and verse divisions are not part of the original Greek text. The New Testament was written in the first century AD, but chapter divisions were not added until 1227 AD and verse divisions until 1555 AD. Sometimes these divisions do not correspond to the organization of the material by the original author. Verse 2:29 is an example. It seems to stand as the theme statement for the section of thought that begins at 2:29 and runs to 4:6, what I have called the Second Proclamation section focusing on the theme that God is Righteous.
If you know that ˹God˺ is righteous,
At the beginning of the first proclamation section, John wrote that God is light, which is a statement about the holiness of God, a fundamental moral attribute of God. His holiness implies a basis for ethical living. God’s character defines the moral standards for human conduct.
In this section, John begins with the theme statement that God is righteous. Righteousness is an aspect of God’s holiness which is seen in His treatment of His creatures. As Charles Ryrie explains in his systematic theology, “There is no action He takes that violates any code of morality or justice.” [Ryrie, Charles Caldwell, Basic Theology. Moody Publishers. 1986, 1999. p. 48.]
you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of ˹God˺.
How one lives demonstrates whether one is born of God or born of the Devil (see verse 3:8 above). Living righteously identifies one as a child of God. It is a consequence of spiritual birth. Living righteously is practicing moral behavior that is acceptable to God.
If the readers know that God is righteous, then they also ought to know that anyone born of God should be righteous – as the old idiom says, “like Father like son; like mother, like daughter”. The relationship of believers to God is like children to a father.
This verse will be the basis of what John teaches in this Second Proclamation section. God is righteous; those who believe in Him should imitate Him and live righteously; and in fact, fellowship with God and fellow believers depends on practicing righteousness. John will develop this further in this section to show that “love for others is the hallmark of that righteous life, because those born of God have received the Father’s love”. [JOBES, p. 137]
The phrase “born of ˹God˺” (see also 3:9 [x2]; 4:7; 5:1 [x3]; 5:4; 5:18 [x2]) is a metaphor that compares the new life that comes about by believing in God with physical birth. Birth defines: (1) Identity – the believer’s Father is God and fellow believers are brothers and sisters; and (2) Nature – the believer is eternal and righteous like God.
Go back to Verses 2:26-28
Go forward to Verses 3:1-3
Your Personal Study
Read First John 3:1-3 below and answer the questions.
3:1 Look at the kind of love the Father has given to us, that we are called God’s children. And we really are! Because of this the world does not know us. And it is no wonder, because it did not know Him.
3:2 Beloved, right now we are God’s children, and exactly what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that when ˹Christ˺ is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3:3 And everyone who has such hope fixed on ˹Christ˺, purifies himself, just as He is pure.
1. What does God call those who believe in Him?
2. How real is the Father/Child relationship between God and believers?
3. Who does “the world” refer to?
4. In what way does the world not know believers? Why does the world not know believers?
5. John addresses the readers as “beloved“. What does this tell you about John’s relationship to the readers? Is there another sense in which the readers are beloved, other than by John?
6. John makes a contrast between now and the future. What are believers now? What will they be in the future? When will the change take place? What will cause the change?
7. John uses the word “hope” in verse 3:3. In English this word usually has a sense of uncertainty or something wished for. Why does the word “hope” not express uncertainty in this verse?
8. What does it mean to purify oneself? What is the standard of purity?
9. What do you need to do to purify yourself before you see Christ?
First John Translation.
First John Translation with Outline and Notes.
Bibliography of source information used for this series of posts.
Title Slide Image Credit: First John in Codex Alexandrinus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
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