And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence:
Parallel translations
- WEB And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,
- KJV And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
- NKJV And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
- NASB We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him,
- NLT Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.
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
By loving in deed and truth we know we belong to the truth and can reassure our hearts before God. Active love quiets a troubled conscience.
Overview
Genuine love is evidence that we are 'of the truth,' giving us confidence before God. When our hearts are uneasy, the presence of real love assures us of our standing. This pastoral encouragement helps believers find peace of conscience grounded in the fruit of God's work in them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Heb 10:22let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- 1 Jn 3:21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,
- Heb 6:10–11For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Isa 32:17The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
- John 18:37“Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”
- John 13:35By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
- 1 Jn 1:8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- 2 Tim 1:12For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- Rom 4:21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
- 1 Jn 3:14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.
- Heb 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- Rom 8:38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 3:19 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.