1 John 5:3

1 John 5:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
• New International Version (NIV)In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
• English Standard Version (ESV)For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Context of 1 John 5:3

1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him. 2This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, 4because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 5Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:3 word by word

αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηρῶμεν· καὶ αἱ ἐντολαὶ αὐτοῦ βαρεῖαι οὐκ εἰσίν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the loveὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• we keepτηρέωtēreō · to keep: observeG5083
• hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• commandmentsἐντολήentolē · commandmentG1785
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• notοὐou · noG3756
• grievousβαρύςbarus · weightyG926

Cross-references for 1 John 5:3

• Exodus 20:6but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.
• Deuteronomy 5:10but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.
• Deuteronomy 7:9Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.
• Deuteronomy 10:12“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?
• Daniel 9:4I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: Ah, Lord — the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands —
• Matthew 12:47Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
• John 14:15“If you love me, you will keep my commands.
• John 14:21The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
• John 15:10If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
• 2 John 1:6This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.
• Psalms 19:7The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.
• Psalms 119:45I will walk freely in an open place because I study your precepts.
• Proverbs 3:17Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful.
• Micah 6:8Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
• Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• Romans 7:12So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

Commentaries on 1 John 5:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3For this is the love of God - This the love of God necessarily produces. It is vain to pretend love to God while we live in opposition to his will. His commandments - To love him with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, are not grievous - are not burdensome; for no man is burdened with the duties which his own love imposes. The old proverb explains the meaning of the apostle's words, Love feels no loads. Love to God brings strength from God…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments - This constitutes true love; this furnishes the evidence of it. And his commandments are not grievous - Greek, “heavy” - ͂ bareiaithat is, difficult to be borne as a burden. See Matthew 11:30. The meaning is, that his laws are not unreasonable; the duties which he requires are not beyond our ability; his government is not oppressive. It is easy to obey God when the heart is right; and those who…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-5Those who believe that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God have been born spiritually as children of God (see John 20:31). The Spirit of God empowers them to love God and others. Their faith helps them obey God and resist the evil temptations in the world. Through faith, they can love and obey God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. this is--the love of God consists in this. not grievous--as so many think them. It is "the way of the transgressor" that "is hard." What makes them to the regenerate "not grievous," is faith which "overcometh the world" (1Jo 5:4): in proportion as faith is strong, the grievousness of God's commandments to the rebellious flesh is overcome. The reason why believers feel any degree of irksomeness in God's commandments is, they do not realize fully by…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 5:3

• Law
• Love
• Obedience
• Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Idol
• Children of God
• Hope
• John, the Epistles of
• Love
• Christ, Messiah

Commentaries on 1 John 5

• 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