Pentecost Season · All Saints · Year C
1 John 3:1-3
Children of God
November 1, 2028
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 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik
Explains sonship now and the hope of being made like Christ.
1 John 3:1 Commentary Precept Austin
Word-study commentary on being called children of God.
1 John 3 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregates classic commentaries verse by verse.
1 John 3 - Gill's Exposition StudyLight
Older full exposition of the chapter.
Commentary on 1 John 3:1-3 Working Preacher
Same All Saints pericope treated in the RCL.
Background & Word Study
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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