We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.
Parallel translations
- WEB By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.
- KJV By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
- BSB By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments.
- NKJV By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
- NASB By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments.
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
We know we truly love God's children when we love God and keep his commandments. Genuine love for fellow believers is inseparable from obedient love for God.
Overview
John guards against a sentimental notion of love by tying love for others to love and obedience toward God. Authentic love for the family of God is not mere affection but is shaped and verified by devotion to God and his commands. Love for God and love for neighbor reinforce each other, each confirming the reality of the other.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- John 13:34–35A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
- 1 Jn 2:5But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:
- 1 Jn 3:22–24and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
- 1 Jn 4:21This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
- John 15:17“I command these things to you, that you may love one another.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 5:2 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.