Time after Pentecost · All Saints' Day · 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
Commentary on 1 John 3:1-3 Working Preacher
The Lutheran home commentary on the saints as children of God, now and not yet revealed.
1 John 3 - The Children of God Enduring Word · David Guzik
A verse-by-verse evangelical study of the Father's love and the hope of being like Christ.
1 John 3 Resources Precept Austin
An inductive study hub gathering word studies and commentators verse by verse on 1 John 3.
1 John 3:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on being called children of God.
1 John 3:1 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight
A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice on the passage.
Background & Word Study
1 John 3:1 Interlinear BibleHub
The Greek of the passage word by word with parsing, including the language of children and love.
Enter the Bible: 1 John Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's book introduction to the letters of John and their themes of love and assurance.
Overview: 1-3 John BibleProject
An animated overview of the Johannine letters and their call to love and truth.
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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