Limitless Word
that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
  • BSB We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
  • NKJV that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
  • NASB what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
  • NLT We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

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

John proclaims Christ so his readers may share in genuine fellowship, which is union with the Father and the Son. The gospel creates real communion with God and one another.

Overview

The purpose of apostolic testimony is fellowship (koinonia), a shared life that joins believers to God and to each other. This fellowship is mediated through Jesus Christ, the Son. The verse shows that knowing the true Christ is not abstract but draws us into living relationship with the triune God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 34

  • 1 Cor 1:9God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
  • John 17:3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
  • John 17:21that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
  • Acts 4:20for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”
  • Phil 2:1If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,
  • 2 Cor 13:14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s love, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
  • 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
  • Heb 3:14For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:
  • 1 Jn 2:23–24Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
  • 1 Pet 5:1Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
  • Phil 3:10that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death;
  • 1 Jn 1:1That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
  • Heb 3:1Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus;
  • 1 Jn 5:10–11He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
  • Col 1:13who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love;
  • Acts 20:27for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
  • Heb 2:12saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
  • 1 Cor 1:30Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
  • Eph 3:6that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,
  • John 17:25Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
  • 1 Tim 6:2Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers, but rather let them serve them, because those who partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
  • John 17:11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
  • Phil 1:7It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.
  • Acts 13:32We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers,
  • Acts 2:42They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.
  • 1 Th 1:10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
  • 1 Cor 15:1Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
  • 1 Jn 1:5This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
  • John 14:20–23In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
  • Rom 15:27Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in fleshly things.
  • Acts 13:41‘Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.’”
  • Ps 22:22I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.
  • Ps 2:7I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
  • Isa 66:19“I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to far-away islands, who have not heard my fame, nor have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 John 1:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'

How 1 John 1:3 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.