20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
20 It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
21 And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God!
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
21 Dear friends, if we don't feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.
(Read 1 John 3:16-21)
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 his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 John 3:20
Commentary on 1 John 3:16-21
(Read 1 John 3:16-21)
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 his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to.