Beloved, if our heart condemn us not - If we so live as to have an approving conscience - that is, if we indulge in no secret sin; if we discharge faithfully every known duty; if we submit without complaining to all the allotments of Divine Providence.

Then have we confidence toward God - Compare the I John 3:19; I John 2:28 notes; Acts 24:16 note. The apostle evidently does not mean that we have confidence toward God on the ground of what we do, as if it were meritorious, or as if it constituted a claim to his favor; but that we may so live as to have evidence of personal piety, and that we may look forward with a confident hope that we shall be accepted of him in the great day. The word here rendered "confidence" - ̓̔́ parrēsian - means properly "boldness;" usually boldness or openness in speaking our sentiments. See the notes at I John 2:28. The confidence or boldness which we have toward our Maker is founded solely on the evidence that he will graciously accept us as pardoned sinners; not in the belief that we deserve his favor.

Other Barnes' Notes entries containing 1 John 3:21:

Romans 14:22
1 John 5:14

 

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