1 John 3:21-23

‘Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God, and whatever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us commandment.'

On the assumption that they have convinced themselves that their response is genuine, he now goes on to outline its significance.

If their hearts do not now condemn them then they can have boldness in the presence of God (‘towards God'), and be sure that whatever they ask of Him they will receive, because they keep His commandments, and do what is pleasing in His sight. In other words, because they know that they are eager to do the will of God, they can have assurance that His work in their hearts is genuine, and can approach Him in prayer with confidence.

But we must beware of taking the promise too literally out of context. It is clearly not true that God will give us whatever we ask. If we ask for the things of the world, as opposed to what is necessary for living, that is contrary to the will of God. The promise is given only to those who keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight, for they will then ask for what is right. Their prayers will be for the extension of the Kingly Rule of God and, apart from that which is necessary for their functioning in His service, not for themselves. This is in line indeed with what Jesus taught them (Matthew 6:7). The point here is that they can be bold to seek His help in bringing about the extension of His Kingship, and in thwarting the false prophets. Compare John 14:13; John 15:7; John 15:16; John 16:23) where the promises were given to the Apostles in the light of their coming ministry. In one of these formulations (John 16:23) Jesus uses almost identical terminology to the present verse.

And what are His commandments? They are that they believe in His Son Jesus Christ (compare 1 John 2:22), and that they love one another (compare 1 John 2:8). The first is the old commandment ‘hear His word, come to the truth and receive eternal life', the second the new, ‘love your brothers' (1 John 2:7). Without the first the second would in fact be meaningless, because there would be no definition as to whom they were to love.

So the first commandment is to believe on His Son Jesus Christ, with all the consequences that follow. For those who believe on Him have eternal life (1 John 5:12; John 1:12; John 5:24; John 10:28) for His commandment is eternal life (John 12:50). Thus it is by believing in Him that they will have eternal life.

It is not enough to believe in God, he is saying. The test of a genuine faith towards God, as laid down by God, is that they believe in His Son Jesus Christ with all that that involves. That they accept Him as His only Son, the only begotten God (John 1:14). That they accept that to have known Him is to have known the Father (John 14:9; John 8:18). That they accept that all that the Father has is His, so that He can call all that is the Father's ‘Mine' (John 16:15). That they accept that all judgment has been committed to Him (John 5:22; John 5:26). That they accept the fact that He can make alive whom He will on equal terms with the Father (John 5:21). That they accept that He is equally deserving of honour as the Father (John 5:23). That they accept that He is the eternal ‘I am' (John 8:58). That they accept that the Holy Spirit of God does His bidding (John 15:26). That they accept the fact that He and the Father together come to make their dwellingplace in His own (John 16:7). That they accept that the Father has glorified Him with His own self and glory, the glory which They once shared together before creation (John 17:5). That they accept that as the Word He is God, and the Creator of all things (John 1:1). It was acceptance of all this which made Thomas cry out, ‘My Lord and my God' (John 20:28).

The second commandment is that they love one another. We note at once the parallel between these commandments and the two great commandments, that ‘You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength' and that ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself' (Mark 12:30), but here it is ‘believe in the name (nature, character, being) of His Son Jesus Christ' and ‘love one another'. Love is to flow upwards and outwards. This is the new Israel.