What Does 1 John 3:14 Mean?
We know that we have crossed over out of death and into life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love his brother remains in death.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.THE KEY
Love is the visible evidence that the crossing from death into life is already complete.
THE MEANING
This verse meets you in how you receive another person: love is evidence that you have crossed from death into life. The crossing is already complete, while refusing love is described as abiding in death.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It exposes the lie that you can withhold love from a brother and still be abiding in life.
THE ROOT
μεταβεβήκαμεν
metabebēkamen
GROWS FROM
βαίνω
baínō
To go, step, or move.
“passed” in this verse is metabebēkamen. The verb μεταβαίνω (metabaínō, “to cross over”) pictures a crossing, not merely a changed label. Its completed form holds that crossing in view as already accomplished; love is the sign of that passage, not its purchase price.
ALSO GROWS
diabaínō: To cross over, pass through.
διαβαίνω
It carries the same movement across a boundary that the verse names between death and life.
básis: A step, footing, or base.
βάσις
It keeps the root’s sense of movement and footing in view: the verse speaks of a passage with a present result, not an abstract status.
THE PATTERN
The life of God becomes recognizable through love expressed toward others.
You shall not avenge, nor hold a grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes out of God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.THE THREAD
Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever hears and responds to my word, and leans his full weight on him who sent me, has the life of the ages, and does not come under the judgment, but has crossed over from death into life.John uses the same Greek verb μεταβαίνω (metabaínō, “to cross over”) for passing from death into life. Here the crossing is linked with hearing and trust; 1 John shows its visible sign in love for another.
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