By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
1 John 3:19-24
At this point in our journey through 1 John as a church family, we’ve reached the end of chapter 3. By now we’ve learned the significance of studying God’s Word contextually. Picking a few verses out here and there and trying to find true understanding is childish and gives way to a lack of understanding and wrong interpretation. I say this because if you’re reading today’s post without first gaining an understanding of the first three chapters of this epistle, you may be in trouble. These five verses are a conclusion to the previous teaching in 1 John. Before unpacking anything from this week’s text, let me give a few bullet points.
- God is light. There is no darkness in Him
- We are called to walk in the light
- Jesus Christ is the perfect advocate between God and man
- As Christians, we still sin and should confess when we do
- As Christians, we should not make a practice of sinning, if we do… we need to rethink our salvation
- When we sin (not regularly practicing), God is faithful and forgives our sin
- As Christians, we should love God and others (both fellow believers and the lost)
- We should not love worldly things
I could definitely give more detail, but this summary should suffice. In this week’s scripture, John gives assurance to those in Christ. We will make mistakes. We will stumble. We will not always love one another as we ought. In these moments, your heart will (and should) feel troubled. You should recognize a mistake or missed opportunity and desire to do/be better. In these moments it’s important to recognize the difference between condemnation and conviction.
Condemnation and conviction are similar, but also drastically different. It’s important to know which you are submitting your mind to. Both have a similar message, but very different outcomes. Condemnation tells a person they’re not good enough. They’re a failure. They won’t measure up. There’s no changing this. There’s no hope. You are doomed. For a person who doesn’t submit their life to Christ as Lord, this is their unfortunate reality. However, Christ offers a glorious alternative. John warns the believer not to sit under a mindset of condemnation.
Conviction is the glorious alternative. While it also points out that you’re not good enough, you’ve failed, and you don’t measure up, conviction comes from the Holy Spirit that abides within a Christ-follower. Conviction reminds the Christ-follower of who they are IN JESUS and leads them to repent and turn away from sin. Conviction lifts up and says, “You know better”. Conviction inspires a believer to continue on. Think of Jesus’ words in John 8:11 when He addressed the woman caught in sin. Christ said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” When we fall short of God’s calling, it’s important to recognize the difference between condemnation and conviction. One hinders while the other is healthy for our continued pursuit of righteousness.