Sermon Tone Analysis

1 John 3:19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him.

(ESV)

“By this we shall know that we are of the truth” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), which is not translated (2) preposition en (ἐν), “by” (3) dative neuter singular form of the demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “this” (4) first person plural future middle indicative form of the verb ginōskō (γινώσκω), “we shall know” (5) conjunction hoti (ὅτι), “that” (6) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί), “we are” (7) preposition ek (ἐκ), “of” (8) articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun alētheia (ἀλήθεια), “the truth.”

The conjunction kai means “now” since the word is functioning as a marker of transition, which means that it is used to mark a transition from the sixth major section in First John which is contained in 1 John 3:11-18 to the seventh major section of this epistle, which is contained in 1 John 3:19-24.

The demonstrative pronoun houtos means “this” and is anaphoric which means that it is pointing to the previous exhortation in 1 John 3:18, which expresses the apostle John’s Spirit inspired desire that the recipients of First John unite with him in loving one another by means of action produced by obedience to the truth.

This word houtos is the object of the preposition en which is a marker of means indicating the means by which the action of the first person plural future middle indicative form of the verb ginōskō, “we shall know” is accomplished.

Therefore, this prepositional phrase indicates the means by which the recipients of First John and John can confirm for themselves that they are manifesting God’s attribute of love, which originates from obedience to the truth.

The verb ginōskō means, “to confirm” since John is attempting to inform his readers as to how they can be assured that are manifesting God’s attribute of love in their lives.

The first person plural form of this verb means “any one of us” since the word is an “inclusive” we and it is used in a distributive sense.

The future tense of ginōskō is a gnomic future, which expresses the idea that the act is true of any time.

The middle voice of this verb is an indirect middle voice or indirect reflexive middle.

This would indicate that each of John’s readers as the subject of the verb will, at any time, confirm “for themselves” that they are manifesting God’s attribute of love by providing their fellow-believer food, shelter and clothing when they are in need of such things.

The verb eimi means “to manifest a particular attribute,” which is God’s attribute of love, which is indicated by the prepositional phrase en toutō (ἐν τούτῳ), “by means of this,” and the prepositional phrase ek tēs alētheias (ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας), “originating from the truth.”

Therefore, the verb eimi is expressing the idea that by loving one’s fellow-believer by means of action produced by obedience to truth, any believer will at any time confirm for themselves that they “manifest an attribute” originating from obedience to the truth.

The noun alētheia means “truth” and refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s command recorded in John 13:34 and 15:12 requiring each and every church believer loving their fellow-believer as He has loved them.

The word contains the figure of metonymy as it did in 1 John 3:18 which means that truth is put for obedience to truth.

This is indicated by the fact that obedience to truth and in particular obedience to the command to love one another will produce actions in the life of the believer which manifest God’s attribute of love.

The believer will manifest God’s attribute of love in their life when they obey this command which will result in providing food, shelter and clothing when one’s fellow-believer is in need of such things.

The noun alētheia is the object of the preposition ek, which is a marker of source or origin of a particular thing.

This would be expressing the idea that by loving one’s fellow-believer by means of action produced by obedience to truth, any believer will at any time confirm for themselves that they manifest an attribute “originating from” obedience to the truth.

“And reassure our heart before him” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) preposition emprosthen (ἔμπροσθεν), “before” (3) genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him” (4) first person plural future active indicative form of the verb peithō (πείθω), “reassure” (5) articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun kardia (καρδία), “heart” (6) genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “our.”

This time the conjunction kai means “consequently” since it is used as a marker of result which means that it is introducing an assertion which presents the result of the previous one.

The verb peithō means “to assure” since the word pertains to giving oneself confidence based upon a particular course of conduct.

Therefore, the verb peithō is expressing the idea that any believer will assure their hearts before God as a result of loving their fellow-believer by means of action produced by obedience to truth.

The first person plural form of this verb means “each one of us” since the word is an “inclusive” we and it is used in a distributive sense.

The future tense of this verb peithō is a gnomic future, which expresses the idea that the act is true of any time.

The noun kardia means “heart” referring specifically to that aspect of the heart, which is the conscience.

The genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos means “him” referring to the Father since the word is the object of the improper preposition emprosthen, which is used of being in the presence of the Father while praying to Him.

1 John 3:19 Now, by means of this, any one of us will, at any time confirm for ourselves that we are manifesting the attribute originating from obedience to the truth.

Consequently, each one of us will at any time assure our hearts before Him.

(My translation)

1 John 3:19 begins the seventh major section in First John and which section ends in 1 John 3:24.

This section teaches that the believer can possess confidence at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church which will be conducted by the Lord Jesus Christ by obeying the Lord Jesus Christ’s command in John 13:34 and 15:12 to love one another as He has loved them.

1 John 3:19 contains a declarative statement which is followed by a result clause.

The former asserts that John and the recipients of First John will at any time confirm for themselves that they are manifesting the attribute originating from obedience to truth by loving each other by means of action produced by obedience to truth.

The declarative statement which begins 1 John 3:19 is teaching that by loving one’s fellow-believer by means of action produced by obedience to truth, the believer will at any time confirm for themselves that they are manifesting the attribute originating from obedience to the truth.

This attribute is God’s attribute of love since John taught the recipients of 1 John 3:18 that the believer must love one another by means of action produced by obedience to truth.

Therefore, John is associating obedience to truth with the command to love one another, thus, obedience to this command enables the believer to manifest God’s love in their life.

In other words, John is saying that the believer who obeys the truth and specifically the command to love one another will manifest God’s attribute of love in their life.

This corresponds to what John taught in 1 John 3:18, namely that God’s attribute of love is manifested in the life of the believer who loves their fellow-believer by means of action produced by obedience to truth and specifically the command to love one another.

“Truth” in 1 John 3:18-19 refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s command recorded in John 13:34 and 15:12 requiring each and every church believer loving their fellow-believer as He has loved them.

Now, when John asserts in the result clause in 1 John 3:19 that by loving one another by means of action produced by obedience to truth, the believer will assure their hearts before Him, he is speaking of not having a guilty conscience.

When John speaks of the believer experiencing assurance in 1 John 3:19, he is not speaking of assurance of one’s eternal salvation since this is never stated as a purpose in First John but rather, the assurance he mentions is related to prayer.

This is clearly indicated by the context.

First, in 1 John 3:21, John speaks of the believer possessing confidence before God and then, in 1 John 3:22, he teaches that the believer will possess confidence that they will receive their requests in prayer to God because they keep His commandments and do what pleases Him.

A comparison of these two verses reveals that John is associating the believer having confidence before God with prayer.

Lastly, in 1 John 3:23, John defines what he means by commandments.

The first is related to justification since it refers to the commandment the sinner must obey in order to be declared justified by the Father, namely the command to believe in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior.

The second is related to experiencing fellowship with God after justification since it refers to the commandment to love one another as Jesus loved the believer.

The prepositional phrase “before Him” refers to the believer being in the presence of the Father while in prayer, which is indicated by John statements in 1 John 3:21-23, which we just noted.