Pentecost Season · All Saints · Year A
1 John 3:1-3
Children of God
November 1, 2026
Overview & Insights
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1)
This section of 1 John is unified by the idea of the children of God: who they are and how one can identify them by their lives. It is a passage dominated by ethics, particularly an ethical concern for righteousness and sin. It compares two “families”: the children of God and the children of the devil. In the background, as always, are the Elder’s opponents, the secessionists, whom he strongly contrasts to his own “dear children.”
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Commentary
1 John 3: Children of God Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse by verse evangelical commentary on being called children of God.
1 John 3:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregates classic commentaries on the love of the Father and the hope of the children in one place.
Barnes' Notes on 1 John 3 StudyLight
Albert Barnes' notes on the whole of 1 John 3.
Commentary on 1 John 3:1-3 (All Saints) Working Preacher
A seminary scholar reads the children of God passage as the All Saints second reading.
The Solemnity of All Saints Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre
Dr. Brant Pitre explains why the church hears we shall be like him on this feast.
Background & Word Study
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What is our destiny in 1 John 3?
We are already God’s children, and though what we will be is not yet made known, “when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1–3), the hope All Saints celebrates.
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