What Kind of Love Do We Have? | 1 John 3

June 1, 2025

What Kind Of Love Do We Have?

1 John 3
Pastor Steve Witt

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appear we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

I. We Have the Love of a

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1 John 3:1-3

[verse 1]
See what kind of love the Father has given to us

• But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

[verse 1]
That we should be called children of God; and so we are

• But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…
John 1:12

[verse 2]
We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared

• By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2 Peter 1:4

[verse 2]
When he appear we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is

• For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12

[verse 3]
Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

• Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1

II. We Must Not Love

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1 John 3:4-10
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

[verse 4]
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness

• Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10

• Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”
John 8:34

[verse 5]
He appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin

• For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

[verse 6]
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning

• What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:1-2

[verse 7]
Whoever practices righteousness is righteous

• Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Romans 6:13

[verse 8]
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil

• You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44

[verse 8]
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil

• Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…
Hebrews 2:14

[verse 9]
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning

• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17

[verse 10]
This it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil

• The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…
Romans 8:16

III. We Must Love

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1 John 3:11-18
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

[verse 11]
We should love one another

• A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another”
John 13:34

[verse 12]
We should not be like Cain

• For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
James 3:16

[verse 12]
His own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous

• By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
Hebrews 11:4

[verse 13]
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you

• I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 17:14

[verse 14]
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers

• Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…
1 Peter 1:22

[verse 15]
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer…no murderer has eternal life abiding in him

• “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Matthew 5:21-22

[verse 16]
We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers

• Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

[verse 17]
If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart

• If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”
James 2:15-16

[verse 18]
Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

• Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

IV. We Must Love His

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