Time after Pentecost · All Saints' Day · Year B
1 John 3:1-3
Children of God
November 1, 2027
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
Working Preacher: Commentary on 1 John 3:1-3 Working Preacher
Lutheran All Saints commentary on believers named children of God now and not yet revealed.
Enduring Word: 1 John 3 Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the whole chapter.
Precept Austin: 1 John 3 Resources Precept Austin
Study hub gathering many conservative commentators verse by verse on 1 John 3.
BibleHub: Commentaries on 1 John 3:1 BibleHub
Parallel classic commentaries keyed to being called children of God.
StudyLight: 1 John 3 Commentaries StudyLight
Many complete commentaries on 1 John 3 gathered on one passage page.
Background & Word Study
Enter the Bible: 1 John Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's scholarly introduction to the letters of John.
BibleProject: 1-3 John Overview BibleProject
Animated overview of the themes of the Johannine letters.
BibleHub: 1 John 3 Interlinear BibleHub
Greek-English interlinear for word-level study of 1 John 3.
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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