And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
Parallel translations
- WEB This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
- KJV And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
- BSB And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.
- NASB This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
- NLT And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
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
God's command is to believe in his Son Jesus Christ and to love one another. Faith and love sum up his will for us.
Overview
John condenses the commandments into one: believe in Jesus Christ and love fellow believers. Faith in Christ and love for others are inseparable and together express the heart of obedience. This unites the letter's two great tests, doctrine and love, as the substance of God's command.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- John 6:29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
- John 13:34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
- 1 Pet 1:22Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:
- John 15:12“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
- 1 Pet 4:8And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.
- 1 Jn 3:11For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
- 1 Jn 4:21This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
- Mark 9:7A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
- 1 Th 4:9But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,
- Eph 5:2Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
- Matt 22:39A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
- 1 Jn 2:8–10Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines.
- Acts 16:31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
- Deut 18:15–19Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
- Ps 2:12Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
- John 17:3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
- John 14:1“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
- 1 Tim 1:15The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:23 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.