Amplified Bible
1 John 3:20
20whenever our heart convicts us [in guilt]; for God is greater than our heart and He knows all things [nothing is hidden from Him because we are in His hands].
1 John 3:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
- New International Version (NIV)If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
- English Standard Version (ESV)for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Context of 1 John 3:20
18Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words]. 19By this we will know [without any doubt] that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart and quiet our conscience before Him whenever our heart convicts us [in guilt]; for God is greater than our heart and He knows all things [nothing is hidden from Him because we are in His hands]. 21Beloved, if our heart does not convict us [of guilt], we have confidence [complete assurance and boldness] before God; 22and we receive from Him whatever we ask because we [carefully and consistently] keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight [habitually seeking to follow His plan for us].
Read all of 1 John 31 John 3:20 word by word
ὅτι ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν καὶ γινώσκει πάντα.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Forὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
- ifἐάνean · ifG1437
- ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- heartὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- heartκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
- condemn usκαταγινώσκωkataginōskō · to condemnG2607
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- greater thanμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- knowethγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
- all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956
Cross-references for 1 John 3:20
- Job 27:6I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go; My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
- John 8:9They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court.
- Acts 5:33Now when they heard this, they were infuriated and they intended to kill the apostles.
- Romans 2:14When Gentiles, who do not have the Law [since it was given only to Jews], do instinctively the things the Law requires [guided only by their conscience], they are a law to themselves, though they do not have the Law.
- 1 Corinthians 4:4I am aware of nothing against myself and I feel blameless, but I am not by this acquitted [before God]. It is the Lord who judges me.
- 1 Corinthians 14:24But if all prophesy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and an unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted [of his sins] by all, and he is called to account by all [because he can understand what is being said];
- 1 John 4:4Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].
- Job 33:12Look, let me answer you, in this you are not right or just; For God is greater and far superior to man.
- John 10:29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
- Hebrews 6:13For when God made the promise to Abraham, He swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear,
- Psalms 44:20If we had forgotten the name of our God Or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
- Psalms 90:8You have placed our wickedness before you, Our secret sins [which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence.
- Psalms 139:1O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
- Jeremiah 17:10I, the Lord, search and examine the mind, I test the heart, To give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
- Jeremiah 23:24“Can anyone hide himself in secret places So that I cannot see him?” says the Lord. “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
- John 2:24But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the superficiality and fickleness of human nature],
Commentaries on 1 John 3:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If our heart condemn us - If we be conscious that our love is feigned, we shall feel inwardly condemned in professing to have what we have not. And if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, for he knows every hypocritical winding and turning of the soul, he searches the heart, and tries the reins, and sees all the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the heart which we cannot see, and, if we could see them, could not comprehend them…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For if our heart condemn us - We cannot hope for peace from any expectation that our own hearts will never accuse us, or that we ourselves can approve of all that we have done. The reference here is not so much to our past lives, as to our present conduct and deportment. The object is to induce Christians so to live that their hearts will not condemn them for any secret sins, while the outward deportment may be unsullied. The general sentiment is, that if…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-21Verses 16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-22Those who truly love (3:16–18) can feel confident that God accepts them. This kind of love shows that their faith is real and that they have new life in Christ (see 4:7–8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Luther and Bengel take this verse as consoling the believer whom his heart condemns; and who, therefore, like Peter, appeals from conscience to Him who is greater than conscience. "Lord, Thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love Thee." Peter's conscience, though condemning him of his sin in denying the Lord, assured him of his love; but fearing the possibility, owing to his past fall, of deceiving himself, he appeals to the all-knowing God: so…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 3:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 John 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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