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.

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