1 John 3:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.”
The Love of God
Yes! We are not the children of God of our own merit, of our
own design and purpose, by works done in the flesh. Not one of us can come to
faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ, according to
His will and purpose. Only by the grace of God, in the power of God, by the will
of God, can any of us be saved from our sins and be on our way to heaven. We
can do nothing in our flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation which comes
from God, is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, which is gifted to us by
God, and which is persuaded of God to die with Him to sin and to obey Him.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44;
Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10;
Ephesians 4:17-32; Hebrews 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]
They Don’t Know Us
The world being referred to here are all who are not of
genuine biblical faith in Jesus Christ which, sadly, includes many who profess
faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but who are still living to please the
flesh in deliberate and habitual sin against God and/or in selfish desire to do
only what pleases themselves. And some of them may be living moral lives but
they are more like the church in Laodicea who are neither on fire for God nor
are they completely opposed to God, but they are lukewarm. So they live to
please the flesh and not God in life practice. So they don’t know us, in truth.
So, why don’t they know us? It isn’t that they are not acquainted
with us, or that they don’t know our names, or that we have never met before,
but it is that they don’t “get us,” i.e. they don’t understand us and what “makes
us tick,” i.e. they don’t understand our motivations for why we do what we do,
if truly we are serving the Lord with our lives. They don’t understand our
values, our callings of God, and the purpose He has for our lives and how He is
using us to reach the people of the world (and the worldly church) with the
truth of the gospel of Christ. To them we may appear a bit weird.
What We Will Be
If we read all the New Testament Scriptures in their
biblical context, verse by verse, we should soon realize that our salvation
from sin and the hope of eternal life with God are not guaranteed us for
eternity based on lip service only, or based on a one time acknowledgment of
Christ as our Savior after which we then just do whatever we want to do without
regard for God and for what He has planned and purposed for our lives. Biblical
salvation has a beginning, but there are requirements of God we must meet if we
are to continue in our walks of faith and to have the hope of eternal life with
God.
[Matthew 7:21-23;
Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 9:23-26; John 8:31-32; John 15:1-12; Romans 6:16; Romans
8:24; Romans 11:17-24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2;
Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6,14-15;
Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5,9; 2 Peter 1:5-11; 2 Peter 2:20-22; 1 John 1:5-10; 1
John 2:3-6,24-25]
In other words, our salvation from sin is an ongoing process
throughout our lives which will not be complete until Jesus returns and He
takes His faithful bride to be with Him for eternity. And this is why we have
instructions for us to follow all throughout the New Testament writings in what
we are not to do (what we’re to put off) and with regard to what we are to be
doing (putting on) in daily practice. And so we need to read those
instructions, and by the grace of God and in the power of God at work within us
we must be walking in obedience to our Lord living holy lives, pleasing to God,
in moral purity.
Behold What Manner of Love
An Original Work / October 7, 2026
Christ’s
Free Servant, Sue J Love
The Great Redeemer
Lyrics by Francis
Foster, 1915
Music by Samuel W.
Beazley, 1915
How I love the great
Redeemer
Who is doing so much
for me;
With what joy I tell
the story
Of the love that
makes men free.
Till my earthly life
is ended,
I will send songs
above,
Then beside the
crystal sea
More and more my
soul shall be
Praising Jesus and
His love.
He has purchased my
redemption,
Rolled my burden of
sin away,
And is walking on
beside me,
Growing dearer day
by day.
That is why I sing
His praises,
That is why joy is
mine,
That is why
forevermore
On the everlasting
shore
I shall sing of love
divine.
Glory be to Him
forever!
Endless praises to
Christ the Lamb!
He has filled my
life with sunshine,
He has made me what
I am.
Oh, that everyone
would know Him,
Oh, that all would
adore!
Oh, that all would
trust the love
Of the mighty Friend
above
And be His
forevermore.
He is everything to
me, to me,
He is everything to
me,
And everything shall
always be;
I will never cease
to raise
A song of gladness
in His praise;
Here, and in the
world above,
My soul shall sing
of saving love;
Life and light and
joy is He,
The precious Friend
who died for me.
https://youtu.be/i6xzBPjROnY?si=JPBik1F0AF1SovRC
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