Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 John 3:18-19

"[My] Little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth. Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him:" — 1 John 3:18-19 (ASV)

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Full assurance comes very much this way, by a practical carrying out of the law of love.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

You notice how the apostle constantly writes about knowing.

Take your pencil, and underline the word "know" in John's Epistles, and you will be surprised to find how frequently he uses it. He is not one of those who suppose, or fancy, or imagine, or have formed a certain hypothesis; but he knows, and he tells us what he knows, in order that we also may know. Love has a knowledge which is peculiarly her own, – a full assurance which none can take from her.