1 John 5:3

For ¹  this is the love of God: ²  that we keep his commandments. ³  And his commandments do not weigh us down,

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult.

The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.

For loving God is keeping his laws: and his laws are not hard.

For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

For ¹  this is the love of God: ²  that we keep his commandments. ³  And his commandments do not weigh us down,

¹ tn The force of the γάρ (gar) at the beginning of 5:3 is similar to another introductory formula used by the author of 1 John, καὶ αὕτη ἐστίν (kai Jauth estin; used in 1:5; 5:4, 11, and 14). The γάρ draws an inference based on the preceding statements, particularly the one in 5:2b, regarding the love of God. If in 5:2 loving God and keeping his commandments is the key to knowing that we love God’s children, it is important to define what the love of God involves, and this is what the author is doing in 5:3. In fact, as the following ἵνα (Jina) clause makes clear, loving God consists in keeping his commandments.

² tn Once again the genitive could be understood as (1) objective, (2) subjective, or (3) both. Here an objective sense is more likely (believers’ love for God) because in the previous verse it is clear that God is the object of believers’ love.

³ tn Contrary to the punctuation of NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, it is best to place a full stop (period) following τηρῶμεν (thrwmen) in 5:3. The subordinate clause introduced by ὅτι (Joti) at the beginning of 5:4 is related to the second half of 5:3 which begins with καί (kai). Καί is commonly used by the author to begin a new sentence, probably by analogy with the Hebrew vav consecutive.