The Meaning of 1 John 3:21 Explained

1 John 3:21

KJV: Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

YLT: Beloved, if our heart may not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,

Darby: Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness towards God,

ASV: Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  [then] have we  confidence  toward  God. 

What does 1 John 3:21 Mean?

Context Summary

1 John 3:13-24 - Loving In Deed And In Truth
Love to the brethren is a sign that we have been born into the family. We may not like them all, yet we can love them. If we love, we live; and if we live in the deepest sense, we shall love; that is, we shall put others first, and our care for them will be tinged with the crimson of sacrifice. Love is not measured by the expressions of the lip or the emotion of the heart, but by the extent to which we will do or suffer.
The believer dares not affirm too much about himself, he is so unworthy and fickle; but God understands us and imputes to us what we would be. Mark in 1 John 3:22 the double condition of prevailing prayer. It is also clear from 1 John 3:23 that men can believe, if they will. God is prepared to impart to those who are wishful all that He commands. Augustine prayed thus: "Give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt." [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 John 3

1  He declares the singular love of God toward us, in making us his sons;
3  who therefore ought obediently to keep his commandments;
11  as also to love one another as brothers

Greek Commentary for 1 John 3:21

If our heart condemn us not [εαν η καρδια μη καταγινωσκηι]
Condition of third class with εαν μη — ean mē and present active subjunctive. The converse of the preceding, but not a claim to sinlessness, but the consciousness of fellowship in God‘s presence. [source]
Boldness toward God [παρρησιαν προς τον τεον]
Even in prayer (Hebrews 4:16). See also 1 John 2:28. [source]
Beloved []
The affectionate address is suggested by the preceding thought of tormenting self-accusation. [source]
Confidence [παῤῥησίαν]
Rev., boldness. See on 1 John 2:28. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 John 3:21

Hebrews 10:19 To enter into the holiest [εἰς τὴν εἴσοδον τῶν ἁγίων]
Lit. for the entering of the holiest. The phrase παρρησία εἰς boldnessunto, N.T.o Παρρησία with περὶ concerning John 16:25; with πρὸς with reference to, 2 Corinthians 7:4; 1 John 3:21; 1 John 5:14. Ἔισοδος in N.T. habitually of the act of entering. [source]
1 John 4:1 Beloved []
Again the recognition of danger from false spirits prompts this affectionate address. Compare 1 John 3:21. [source]
1 John 3:20 Condemn [καταγινώσκῃ]
The word occurs only three times in the New Testament; here, 1 John 3:21, and Galatians 2:11. It signifies (1.) To note accurately, usually in a bad sense. Hence to detect (Proverbs 28:11); compare Aristophanes: “Having observed ( καταγνοὺς ) the foibles of the old man” (“Knights,” 46). To form an unfavorable prejudice against. So Herodotus. Datis says to the Delians, “Why are ye fled, O holy men, having judged me ( καταγνόντες κατ ' ἐμεῦ ) in so unfriendly a way?” (vi., 97). (2.) To note judicially: to accuse: to accuse one's self. So Thucydides: “No one, when venturing on a perilous enterprise, ever yet passed a sentence of failure on himself ” ( καταγνοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μὴ περιέσεσθαι ; iii., 45). To give sentence, or condemn. To condemn to death. “Those who had fled they condemned to death” ( θάνατον καταγνόντες ; Thucydides, vi., 60). To decide a suit against one. So Aristophanes: “You judges have no maintenance if you will not decide against ( καταγνώσεσθε ) this suit” (“Knights,” 1360). In Galatians 2:11, it is said of Peter that, because of his concessions to the Jewish ritualists, κατεγνωσμένος ἦν hestood condemned or self-condemned (not as A.V., he was to be blamed ). His conduct was its own condemnation. This is the sense in this passage, the internal judgment of conscience. [source]
1 John 2:28 We may have confidence [σχῶμεν παῤῥησίαν]
Rev., boldness. For the phrase have boldness, see 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 5:14; Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 10:19; Philemon 1:8. For the word παῤῥησία boldnesssee on John 7:13; see on Acts 2:29. It is opposed, as here, to αἰσχύνομαι tobe ashamed, in Proverbs 13:5, where the Septuagint reads “a wicked man is ashamed ( αἰσχύνεται ) and shall not have boldness ( παῤῥησίαν ). Also in Philemon 1:20. Compare 2 Corinthians 3:12. The idea of free, open speech lies at the bottom of the word: coming before God's bar with nothing to conceal. The thought is embodied in the general confession of the Book of Common Prayer: “That we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our Heavenly Father, but confess them.” So John Wesley's Hymn:“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousnessMy beauty are, my glorious dress: 'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,-DIVIDER-
With joy shall I lift up my head.Bold shall I stand in Thy great day,For who aught to my charge shall lay? Fully absolved through these I am, - From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.” [source]

1 John 2:7 Beloved [αγαπητοι]
First instance of this favourite form of address in these Epistles (1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:7; 3 John 1:1, 3 John 1:2, 3 John 1:5, 3 John 1:11). [source]
1 John 3:20 Whereinsoever our heart condemn us [οτι εαν καταγινωσκηι ημων η καρδια]
A construction like οτι αν — hoti an whatever, in John 2:5; John 14:13. Καταγινωσκω — Kataginōskō occurs only three times in the N.T., here, 1 John 3:21; Galatians 2:11. It means to know something against one, to condemn. [source]
3 John 1:2 Beloved []
Compare the plural, 1 John 3:2, 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 John 3:21 mean?

Beloved if the heart of us not should condemn [us] confidence we have toward - God
Ἀγαπητοί ἐὰν καρδία ‹ἡμῶν› μὴ καταγινώσκῃ» παρρησίαν ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν

Ἀγαπητοί  Beloved 
Parse: Adjective, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀγαπητός  
Sense: beloved, esteemed, dear, favourite, worthy of love.
καρδία  heart 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: καρδία  
Sense: the heart.
‹ἡμῶν›  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
καταγινώσκῃ»  should  condemn  [us] 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: καταγινώσκω  
Sense: to find fault with, blame.
παρρησίαν  confidence 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: παρρησία  
Sense: freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech.
ἔχομεν  we  have 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: ἔχω  
Sense: to have, i.e. to hold.
πρὸς  toward 
Parse: Preposition
Root: πρός  
Sense: to the advantage of.
τὸν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεόν  God 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.