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1 Corinthians 8:3

But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.
1 Corinthians 8:3 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB But if anyone loves God, the same is known by him.
  • KJV But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
  • BSB But the one who loves God is known by God.
  • NKJV But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
  • NASB but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

But the one who loves God is truly known by Him. What ultimately counts is not our knowledge of God but His gracious knowing of us.

Overview

Paul redirects from human knowing to divine knowing. To love God is the mark of one whom God has savingly known—chosen, embraced, and claimed (cf. Gal 4:9). This grounds the believer's security not in the strength of their intellect but in God's prior gracious initiative. Love for God, not boasted knowledge, is the true evidence of belonging to Him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Rev 3:8–9“I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn’t deny my name.
  • Exod 33:17Yahweh said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
  • Nah 1:7Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.
  • 2 Tim 2:19However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
  • 1 Cor 2:9But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
  • Gal 4:9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
  • Rev 2:19“I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first.
  • Jas 1:12Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
  • Jer 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
  • John 10:14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
  • Rom 8:28–29We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
  • Ps 1:6For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
  • Matt 7:23Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’
  • 1 Jn 4:19We love him, because he first loved us.
  • Rev 2:9“I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
  • 1 Jn 5:2–3By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.
  • 1 Pet 1:8whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory —
  • Exod 33:12Moses said to Yahweh, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people:’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’
  • Ps 17:3You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
  • Rev 3:15–16“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.
  • John 21:17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, “Do you have affection for me?” He said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
  • Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
  • Rev 2:13“I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
  • Ps 139:1–2For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
  • Rom 11:2God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel:

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Christ at the center

Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.

How 1 Corinthians 8:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.