1 John 3:2

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — John writes to a community he addresses as "Beloved," sandwiching this verse between their present identity (3:1) and the ethical demand that identity produces (3:3).

The words — οὔπω (oupō), "not yet," is the hinge: a negation of a completed revelation, marking a boundary the reader has not crossed. The perfect passive ἐφανερὼθη (ephanerōthē), "has been revealed," paired with that negation, stresses that the unveiling is an event that has not happened, not a gradual dimming.

The thread — Philippians 3:21 names the transformation of "lowly bodies" to be like Christ's glorious body; Colossians 3:4 ties the same appearing to believers appearing "with Him in glory"; 1 Corinthians 13:12 supplies the epistemic frame of seeing "face to face" versus "in a mirror."

Why it lands — The verse holds a present fact (you are God's child) beside a future that is still opaque, and the next verse (3:3) makes that tension costly: the hope is not comfort but a standard of purity.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Cross-references

Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Psalms 17:15 As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.
Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
1 Corinthians 15:49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
Revelation 22:4 They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
2 Peter 1:4 Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
1 Corinthians 2:9 Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”