Chapter XXVII (continued, part 40)
gince, conversion, we make hlin a liar A gradation ; ti.
6, " we lie ;" v. 8, " we deceive ourselves;" worst of all, "we make Him a liar," by deaying His word that all men are sinners (cf. ch. 5. 10). Ms word Is not In us—" His woi-d," which is " the truth" (u. 8), accuses us truly; by denying
it we drive it from our hearts (cf. John 5. 3S). Our rejection of "His word " in respect to our being sinners, implies as the consequence our rejection of His word and will revealed in the law and Gospel as a whole ; for tliese throughout rest on the fact that we have sinned, and have siti,
(cf. ch.4. 14 ; and "the whole world," ch. 5. 19). "Thou, too, art part of the world, so that thine heart cannot deceive itself and think, The Lord died for Peter and Paul, but not for me.'' [Luther.] 3. hereby — Gi-ecA:, "in tliis.'' "It is herein, and herein only, that we know (present) that we have knowledge of (perfect ; once-for-all obtained and continuing knowledge of) Him" (r. 4, 18, 14). Tokens whereby to discern grace are frequently given in this EpiHtle. The Gnostics, by the .'spirit's prescient forewarning, are refuted, who boasted of know/edge, but set aside obedience. "Know Him," viz., as "the righteous" (v. 1,29); our "Advocate and Intercessor." keep—John's favourite word, instead of do, lit., to watch, guard, and keep safe as a precious thing; observing so as to keep. So Christ Him-
Ver. 1-29. The Advocacy of Christ is our Antidote TO Sin WHILST Walking IN THE IjIGUt; fob to Know God, we must Keep His Commandments and Love the Brethren, and not Love the World, nor Give Heed TO Antichrists, against whom our Safety is through THE Inward Anointing of God to Abide in God: So at Christ's Coming we shall not be Ashamed. 1. (Ch.5.
18.) My little children—The diminutive expresses the tender aft'eotlon of an aged pastor and spiritual father.
Mf/ own dear children, i. e., sons and dauglitei-s (Note, v. 12). these things—(Ch. 1. 6-10.) My purpose in writing what I have just written is, not that you should abuse them as giving a license to sin; but, on tlie contrary, "in order that ye may not sin at all " (the Gz-eefcaorist implying the absence not only of the habit, but of single acts of sin [AlroRDj). In order to " walk in the light" (ch. 1. 5, 7), the
self. Not faultless conformity, but hearty acceptance of, and willing subjeciion to, God's whole revealed will, is meant, commandments injunctions of faith, love, and oLiedience. John never uses "the law" to express the rule of Christian oliedience: he uses it as to the Mosaic law. 4. I know Greek, "I liave knouledge of (perfecti Him." Cf. with this verse ch. 1. 8. 5. Not merely repeating the proposition, v.'i, or asserting the merely opposite alternative ton. 4, but expanding the "know Him" of v.
first step is confession of «m(ch. 1.9), the next (ch. 2. 1) is that we shov\h\ forsake all sin. The Divine purpose has for its aim, eitlier to prevent the commission of, or to destroy
sin. [Bengel.] And—Connected with the former; Furthermore, " if any man sin," let him, whilst loathing and condemning it, not fear to go at once to God, the .Iiuliie, confessing it, for " we have an Advocate with Him." He
Into " in Him, verily (not as a matter of vain boasting)
is the love of (i. e., towards) God perfected," and " we are in Him." Love here answers to knowledge in v.',^. In proportion as we love God, in that same proportion we know Him, and vice versa, until our love and knowledge shall at-
is speaking of a believer's occasional sins of infirmily through Satan's fraud and malice. The use of "we " immediately afterwards implies tliat we all are liable to this, though not necessarily constrained to sin. we have an axlvocate — Advocacy is God's family Ijlessing; other blessings He grants to good and bad alike, but justifica-
tain their full maturity of perfection, his word His woi-d is one (Note, ch. 1. 5), and comprises His "commandments,'" which are many (v. Z). hereby—in our progress ing towards this ideal of perfected love and obedience. There is a gradation: u. 3, "know Him;" v. 5, "we are in Him ;" i'. 6, " abideth In Him ;" respectively, knowledge, fellowship, abiding constancy. [Bengel.] G. abldetli — Impl.ving a condition lasting, without intermission, and without end. He tliat saitli . . . ouglit—so that his deeds may be consistent with his words, even ng lie—believers readily supply the name, their hearts being fuPl of Him
llon, sanctification, continued intercession, and peace. He grants to His children alone, advocate— G»-ee/c, "para-
clete," the same term as is applied to the Holy Ghost, as the "other Comforter;" showing the unity of the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity. Christ is the Intercessor/or us above ; and, in His absence, here below the Holy Ghost Is the other Intercessor in us. Christ's advocacy \s Iniseparable from the Holy Spirit's com/oc^ and workingin
(cf. John 20. 15). " Even as He walked" when on earth, especially In respect to love. John delights in referring to Christ as the model man, with the words, "Even as He," &c. "It is not Christ's walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, that we are called on to imitate." [Luthek.] 7. Brethren—The oldest MSS. and versions read Instead, "Beloved," ajipropriate to the subject here, love, no new commandment viz., love, the main principle of walking as Christ walked, (i'. G), and that comm;indmenl, of which one exemplification is presently given, u. 9, 10, tlic love of brethren, ye Itad from tlie beginning—from the time that ye first heard the Gospel word prea<^hed. 8. a new commandment—it was "old," in that Christians as mwM had heard \l from the first; but "new" (Greek, kaine, \wl nea : new and different from the old legal precept), in tha'.
us, as tliespiritof Intercessory prayer, rightecus—As our "advocate," Christ Isnot a mere suppliantpetitioner. He pleads for us on the ground of justice, or righteor/sness, as well as mercy. Though He can say nothing good of us, He can say much for us. It is His righteousness, or obedience to tlie law, and endurance of its full penalty for us, on which He grounds His claim for our acquittal. The sense therefore is, " in that He is righteoi/s ;" in contrast to our
»in ("if any man sin "). The Fatlier, by raising Him from the dead, and setting Him at His own right, lias once for
all accepted Christ's claim for us. Therefore t he accuser's charges against God's children are vain. " The righteousness of Christ stands on our side; for God's righteousness
1h, In Jesus Christ, ours." [Luther.] 'Z. And Ue—(Jrepk, "And Himself." He Is our all-prevailing Advocate, l)erjiuse He Is //inwc?/ " the propitiation;" abstract, »h in 1 Corintliians 1. 30: He is to us all that is needed for proinliation " In belialf of our sins;" th/i propitiatory sacrfice, provided bj' the Vather's love, removing the eslraiigemeni, and appeasing the righteous wrath, on God s part, against
it was first o/rajVf/ promulgated with (,'hristianily ; tlioug!. the inner spirit of the law was love even to cn'-mics, yet ii was enveloped In some bitter precepts wliicli caused it to be temporarily almost unrecognized, till the Gospel came. Christianity first put love to brethren on the new and highest motive, instinctive love to Him who tirsi loved us,
We UJ'e to Love our Brethren, 1 JOHN II. and not to Love the Woria.
standing). He calls all to -whom he writes, " little »o»»«"
constraining us to love all, even enemies, thereby walking in llie Nieps of Him who loved us when enemies. So JesUs calls it " new," John IS. 34, 3-5, " Love one another as I Imve loved i/oii" {the new motive); lo. 12. wUlcli tiling
(cli..2. 1, Greek; 2.28; 3.18; 4.1; 5.21;; but only in v. 13 and 18 he uses the term "little chi'dren," or "infants." Our Lord, whose Spirit John so deeply drank into-, used to His di.sciples (John 13. 33) the term "little sons," or dear sons and daughters; but in .lohn 21.5, "little children." It is an undesigned coincidence with theKpistle here, that in John's Gospel somewhat similarly the
Is true in liim and in j-ou—"/n Christ all thin^'is are alway.s true, anj were so from the beginning; but in
Christ untl in iis conjointly the rnmyncvtdnient [\he love of brethren] is then true when we aclinowle#ge the truth which is in Him, and have the same flourishing in «»." [Be.ngel.] Alfoki) explains, " Which thing 'the fact that
classification, "Iambs, sheep, sheep," occurs, are forgiven—"have been, and are forgiven you:" all God's Sims and dauyhters alike enjoy this privilege. 13, 14. All three classes are first addressed in the present, "1 write;" then in the past fnorist) tense, "I wrote" (not "I have written;" moreover, in the oldest MSS. and versions, in the end of v. 13, it is past, " I wrote," not as Eng-
the KOinmaiulment is a new one) is true in Him ;u\<i in you, because the darkness is j)a.vit/!(7 aw«^, and the n ue li^iit is now shining, i.e., the commandment is a nor oiif, and this is true both in the case of Christ and in Ihecaseof you ; because in you the darkness is passing away, and in
lish Version, "I write"). Two classes, "lathers" and "young men," are addressed with the same words each time (except that the address to the young men has an addition expressing the source and means of their victory); but the "little sons" and "little children" are diflerently addressed, have known—and do know: so the Greek perfect means. The " I wrote" refers not to a former Epistle, but to this Epistle. It was an idiom to put the past tense, regarding the time from the reader's point of
Jlitn the true light is shining ; theretore, on botli accounts, the coniniaiid is a new one: new as regards you, because yon are newly come from darkness into light; new as regards Him, because He uttered it when He came into the
worl.l to lighten every man, and began that shining which even now continues." I prefer, as Bengel, to explain. The new commandment finds its truth in its practical reatizalion in the walk of Christians in union with Christ.
Cf. the use of "verily," v. b. John 4.42, "indeed;" 6.55. The repetition of "in" before "you," "in Him and in you," not " in Him and yon," implies that the love-commandment finds its realization st'j>a?'fiZe?^ . first it did so " in Him," and then it does so "in us," in so far as we now " also walk evei> as He walked ;" and yet it finds its realization also conjointly, by the two being united in one sentence, even as it is by virtue of the love-commandment having been first lulfilled in Hint, that it is also now ful-
view; when he should receive the Epistle the writing would be jmst. When he uses "I write," he speaks from
?iis own point of view, him tliat is from the beginning —Christ: "that which was from the beginning." overcome The fathers, appropriately to their age, are characterized by knou'lcdge. The young men, appropriately to theirs, by activity in conflict. The fathers, too, have conquered ; but now their active service is past, and they and the children alike are characterized by knoiving (the fathers know Christ, " Him that was from the beginning;" tfte children know the Father). The first thing that the little children realize is that God is their Father ; answering in the parallel clause to "little sons . . . your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake," the universal first privilege of all those really-dear sons of God. Thus this latter clause includes all, whereas the former clause refers to those more especially who are in the Jitat stage of spiritual life, "little children." Of course theso can only know the Father as theirs through the Son (Matthew 11. 27). It is beautiful to see how the fathers are characterized as reverting back to the first great truths of spiritual childhood, and the sum and ripest fruit of advanced experience, Ihe knowledge of Him that was from ihe beginning (twice repeated, v. 13, 14). Jlany of them had probably known ,h'sus in person, as well as by faith, youitg men . . . strong—made so out (if natural weakness, hence enabled to overcome " the strong man armed" through Him that is "stronger." Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. This term "overcome" is peculiarly John's, adopted from his loved Lord. It occurs sixteen times In the Apocalypse, six times in the First Epistle, only thrice in the (est of the New Testament. In order to overcome the world on the ground, and In the strength, of the blood of the Saviour, we must be willing, like Christ, to part with whatever of the world belongs to us : whence Immediately after "ye have overcome the wlck(>d one (the prince of the world)," it Is added, "Love not the world, neither the things ... In the world." and, Ac.—the secret of the young men's strength: the Gospel word, clothed with living power by the Spirit who abidetli poniianently In them; this is " the sword of the Spirit" wielded In prayerful waiting on (Jod. Contrast the mere physical strength of young men, Isaiah 40. .'!0,31.
filled i7i us, through His Spirit in us: cf. a similar case, John 20.17, "My Father and your Father:" by virtue of His being "My Father," He is also your p'ather. darkness is past—rather, as in ch. 2. 17, "Is passing away." It shall not be wholly "past" until "the Sun of righteousness" shall arise visibly: "the light is now shining" already, though but partially until the day bursts forth. 9-11. There isno mean between I if/ht and darkness, loveand hatred, life an<l death, God and the world; ^Jherever spiritual life is, however weak, there darkness and death no longer reign, and love supplants hatred; and Luke 9.50 liolds good: wherever life is not, there death, darkness, the
flesh, the world, hatred, however glossed over and hidden from man's observation, previul ; and Lnkt; 11. holds good. " Where love is not, there hatred is; lor the heart cannot remain a void." [Henoel.] In tlie li^ltt—as his proper element. Ikis brotlier — his neighbour, an<l especially those of the Chi istian brotherhood. The very title brother is a reason why love should be exercised, even until now—notwithstanding that "the true light already lias begun to shine" (I'. 8). 10. .\blding in love \a abiding In the lir/ht; for the Cospel light not only Illumines the understanding, but warms ihe h(!art into love, none occasion of Htuiubliii';— In contrast to "Ho that hateth his brother is In darkness, and walketli in darkness, and knoweth not whilher he goetli, because that ilarkness hath bllndeil his eyes." "In liiin who loves there 19 neither blindness nor occasion of stumblinri [to himself]: in him who does not love, there Is both hlindni'ss occasion ofstumhllng. He who hales his brolher. Is both a Sluinbliiig-bloek to himself, and stumbles against liiinnelf and everything within and without; In; who loves has an Inlmpeded path." [liicNGiot..] Joh'n has in mind Jesus' words, John 11.!), 10. Ai,t''OKi) wcdl says, "The light and Ihe darkness are within ourselves; admitted into us by tiie <'ye, whose Klngleness tills t he whoU; boily with light." 11. Is In dnrkiiesM . . . walketli — " is" marks
(^ral teaching prepared tlu's(> youths for the profitiible use o( the u'ord when (o iV^ n. " .\iil ichrlst cannot endanger you (i). 18), nor Satan tear from you the word of God." the wicked one—who, as "prince of this world," enthrals "the world" (u. 15-17; ch. 5. 10, Greek, " the wh'ked one"), especially the young. Christ came todestroy this " prince of the world." Hi'llevers achieve the 11 rst grand conquest over him when they pass from darkiu'ss to light, but afterwards they need to lualiitaln a continual krrj>ing of themselves from his assaults, looking to God by whom ulouo they are kept safe. IIisnuel thinks John refers
Ills continuing statk: lie has never come out of "the (no Greek) darkness:" "walketli" marks his outwaud WALK and acts. wUUhvv— Greek, "where;" including not only the dcstinalloii to u>hich,h\x\, the way whereby. Itutli blinded— I at her as Greek aorist, " bl 1 luh-d" of old. Ilarkness not only surrounds, but blinds him, and that a bliniliiess of long Klaiidlng. I'i, liitle vhlUtrnt— Greek, " little sons," or "dear soiisand daughlciN ." not the same
Greek as In v. 13, " Utile children," " Infants" (in ago and
We w e not io Love (lie Wm-ld, 1 JOHN II. but lo Beware of Wicked Seducen.
"little children," v. 12, or "little sons"). He who Is horn of God alone t urns lo God ; he who is of the worid lurus to the world; the soui'ces of love to G<k1 and love to tho workl, are irieconcilaldj' distinct. 17. Ilie world— with all who are of the world worldly, pnsscth away Greek, "is passing away" even now. tlie lust Uiertof-in its threefold nntnifestalioii (v. i(>j. lie tlmt docllt tl>e will of Goil—not his own JlesMy will, or the will of the ivorld, but tliat of God (v. 8, (j), especially in respect to love. albiiilfdi for ever—"even as God also abidetli lor ever" (wilh wiiom the godly is one; cl. I'salm oOi 19, "God, even He tiiat abidelli of old"): a InncomiiieiU, which Cyi'KIAN and Lucifer have added to the text without support of Gree/c MSS. In contrast to the tliree pujssing lusts of the woi lil, the doer of God's will has three abiding goods, "riches, honour, and life" (Proverbs 22. 4). 18. Little cliiidreM—.Same Greek as i', l.J ; children in aye. After
spiolally to the .remurkalile constancy exhibUcd by
yoiillis in l>oiiiiti;iir.s piTsecution. Also to the young mail whom Joliii, iiKi-r his ii'diiu Jroiii Paliiios, IctI wilh gbiKle, loving |jt r.su;isiu(i lo it'pnilMiK e. Tliis youdi liail been comiiiciiilfd hy in one oi iii.s (ouis ot supi rin-
teniieiicy, as a proniisini^ <iisi^iplc (<> ihc ovcr.sfers of the Church; he luicl lieeu, llicrelbre, CJtri liilly w;itciie<l U|) to b&ptisin. But {iHerwaids l eiyiiis loo much on Ijaptistnal
gra.ce, hejoineil evil associates, and Cell iVoni slep toslep down, till he becanie u capUiin of i()bl)ers. Wlien John, some j-eais after, revisited tliat Chnrcli, and heard of Ihe youth's sad fall, he liuslened to the reln al of Ihe J'ohbers, suttered himself lo be seized and taken into the captain's presence. The youth, slung l)y conscience an<l (he I'enienibraiice of foi rner years, tied away from the venerable apostle. Full of love the age(i father ra n afler bin), called on him to take couias;!-, and aniuinnei d to him forgiveness of his sins in the iiiinie of t.lirisl. The yoMlli was recoveritl lo the paths of t-'hrisi i.iiuty, and was the means of inducing many of his bad i^ssociati s lo repent and believe. [Cliomuns J\iA':xASORiyu>i, Qui.t dives xa(-
Vila Julhen aiul youny men were gone, " the last lime" with
its " nnuiy Antichrists" was about lo come smideuly on Uie children. "In this laul hour we all even still live." LLSkngel.] Kach successive age has had in it some of the signs of " the last time'' wliicli pi'ecedes Christ's coming, in order to keep the Church in continual waiting for the Lord. The connecLioii wilh v. 13-17 is. There are coming those seducers who ai<j of the world (ch. 4. 5), and would tempt you lo go out from us (o. IM) and deny Christ {v. 22). as y« liat e Uexiril—from tlie apostles, preachers of the Gi.Npel (e. (/., 2 The.ssahinians 2. S-IU; and in the region of Ephesus, Aels 20. '2!), oU). sUall come Greek, " Cometh,"
viisf c. 4. 2; EUSKHICS, IiA-vle-sid-atical HUIo,y, Hook .!. 'JO; Cmrvsostom, I Kj-.luii-Uaiiiii lu Tkvudwt:, )I.J 13. li<iv«: i»ot tlie vvorlil— thai lietli, in (he wick/d uiu: (ch. i>. 1.4), whom ye young nnii have overconie. Having once for
jdl, through Ja'dh, uoii-cuniij the wurld (ch.. J. t; ;». ij, c;;i'ty forward the coikjucsI l)y not loving it. "The world
liere means "man, and man's world" lAl.FOitJ)], in liis and its state as jnHftt from UoiL "God l;)ved [wilh the love of com/)rt*4v</rtJ the world," and we should feel
viz., out of his own place. AiUiehrist is interpreted in two ways: a false Christ (Matthew 24. 5,24), lit., " iiistead of Christ;" or an adoersary at Christ, lit., "aj/ai'uit Christ." As John never uses pseudo-Ckrhsl, or "false Christ," for
tlie same kind of luve f<M" the fallen world ; but we are not to feife liie world with coiti/eniiiUti/ and si/tnpalliy in its alii^nation from timl, we cannot have this latter kind of love for the God-estranged world, and yet have also " the love of the Father in" u.s. ii>eitUor — Greek, "nor yet." A man might deny in general that he lot'nd the world, whilst keenly lollowing some one of THE THING.S IX it: its riclii s, honours, or pleasures; this clause prevent-s him escaping irom colivictica. any man— tiierefore the warni ng, tiKiugli prima-
Aiiliehri.il, it is plain he means au adversary of Christ, claiming to himself what belongs to Christ, and wishing to sui)sLitute him.self for Christ as the supreme object of worship. He deuie-i Ike Hon, not merely, like the pope, act« in the name of the Son. 2 Thessaloniaiis 2. 4, "Who opposetJi himself {Greek, ASTi-keimenos) [to] all that is called God," deei<les this. For God's great truth, "God is man," he would subslilule his own lie, "man is God."' I'Tkencu.] are tttere Greek, "there have begun to be;" there have arisen. These " many Antichrists" answer to "the spirit of lawles-sue.ss {Greek) doth already work."
rily addressed to the young, applies lo all. love of—
i e., towards "the Father." The two, God and the (sinful) world, are so opposed, that both citnnot be congenially loved at once. IG. nil that in in tJie worldcan be cla.ssed under one or other of the ihr. e ; tlie world contains these and no more. Iiist of tiie flenJi— t. e., the lust which has its sestt and source in our lower animal nature. Satan tried thi.<( temptation the first on Christ: Luke 4. "Command this stone that it l>e made bread." Vouth is especially lial.ile to fleshly lusts. l««st of tSie eyes—the avenue througli which oulward things of the world, riches, pomp, and heauly, inllame us. Satan tried this temptation on Christ when he sliowed Him tlie kingdoms of the world in a mimieiit. l\y the lust of the eyes Uavid (2 Samuel 11. 2) and Achan fell (Joshua". 21).
'i"he Anlichrislian principle appeared then, as now, iu evil men and evil teachings and writings; but still "the Anlichrisl" means a hoslile /je?-4o«, even as "THKChrist"
is a personal Saviour. As "coineth" is used of Christ, so heie of Anlichrisl, the embodiment in his own person of all the Antichrislian features and spirit of those "many Antichrists" which iiave been, and are, his forerunners. John uses the singular of him. No other New Testament Wi iler u.ses ihe term. He prol)ably answers to " the little horn having the eyes of a man, and speaking great things" (Daniel 7. K, 2'i»; "the man of sin, son of perdition" (2 Thessaloniaiis 2.); "the beast ascending out ol the boltoialess pit" (Uevelalion 11.7; 17.S), or rather, "the false prophet," the same as " the seirond beast comizig up out of the earth" (Revelalion l.i. 11-18; 10.13). 19. out from lis—from our Christian communion. Not necessarily a formal secession or </oin(/ out: thus Home hasi spirilually yone out, though formally still of the Christian Church, not of its—by spiritual fellowship (ch. I. 3). "They are like bad humouis in the body of Christ, the Church: when they are vomited out, then the body is relieved; the body of Christ is now still under treatment, and has not yet attained the perfect soundness which it shall have only at the resurrection." [Augu.stink, Ep. John, Traet 3. 4. J they would . . . Itave coutliiued— Implying the indefeclibili ty of gi'ace in the elect. " Where God's call is effectual, there will be sure perseverance." [Calvin.] Still, it is no fatal necessity, bul a " voluntaiy necessity" [DmYMU.s], which causes men to remain, or else go from Ine body of Clirist. "We are eilher among the members, or else among the bad humours. It is of his own will that each is eilher an Antichrist, or lu
Cf. David's prayer, I'salni 119. o7; Job's resolve, Psalm 81.1; Matthew 5. 2S. The only good of worldly riches to the possessor i.-. the beholding them witli the eyes.
Cf. Luke 14. IS, " I must go and SEli; it." yi-l<Ie of life—
lit., arrogant ussumj/lioii : vainglorious display. J'ridewna Batan's sin whereby he fell, and forms the link between the two foes of man, the tjuorld (answering to the lust oj the eyeg) and the devil (as the lust of the Jlesh is the third foe). Satan tried this temptation on Christ in selling Him on the temple pinnacle that, in spiritual pride and presunipCion,on the ground of His p'ather's caie, He should cast Himself down. The same three foes appear in the three classes of soil on which the Divine .seed falls: The wayBide lieaiers, tlie devil; the thorns, the world; tlie rocky under-suil, the Jieish. The world's awful aiiULriiiUi/, the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," similarly is presented in Satan's temptation of Eve: "When she saw that the tree was goixl for Jooil, pleasant lo the ei/e.i, and a tree to be desired lo make one
uri,te" (one manileslation of "the pride of life," the desire to know above what God has revealed, Colossiaiis 2. 8, the pride of unsanctitled knowledge), of—does not spring from "the Father" (used in relation to thu piecediug
Clirisl." [A uousTiNE.J Still God's actings in elernal elecliou harmonize in a way inexplicable lo us, wilh maa'a
27ie Godly are Preserved by 1 JOHN II. Perseverance in Failh and HolineM
ginning-from the time of yonr first hearing the Gospel. remsniw—translate as before, "abide." ye also—in your turn, as distinguished from "that which ye have heard," the seed abiding in you. Cf. r. 27, "the anointing abideth in you ... ye shall abide in Him." Having taken into us the living seed of the truth concerning the Father and tho Son, we l)ecoine traiislurmed into the lilseness of Him whose seed we have taken into us. tl.5. this isthe promise Etei-nal life shall be the permanent consummation of thus a6icZ( (I (/ in the Son and in the Father(v. '24). Ixk— Greek, "Himself," Christ, "the Son" (cf. ch. 1. 1). promised— (John 3. 15, 36; 0. 40, 47, 57; 17. 2, 3.) 26. these tUliigs—(».
free agency and responsibility. It is men's own evil -vviU that chooses the v.-ay to liell ; it is God's free and sovereign grace that draws any to Himself and to lieaven. To God the latter shall ascribe wholly their salvation from first to last: the lormer shall reproach themselves alone, and not God's decree, with tlieir condemnation
(cli. 3. 9 ; 5. 18j. tl»at tUey were not all of lis—This trans-
lation would imply thai some c/ the Antichrists are of us.' 2Yanslaie, therefore, "That all (who are for a time among us) are not of us." Cf. 1 Corinthians 11. 19, "Tliere must be heresies among you, that they which are approved maybe made manifest among you." For "were" Some of the oldest MS.S. read " are." Such occasions test wlio
18-25.) have I written—Resumed from v. 21 and 14. seduce yon— I. e., are trying to .seduce or lead you into error. 27. Uwt—Greek, "And you (contrasting the believing readers with the seducers; the words and you stand prominent, the construction of the sentence following being altered, and no verb agreeing with ' and you,' until 'need not') . . . the anointing," &c. (resumed from y. 20). received of him—(John 1.16.) So we "are unto God a sweet savour of Clirist." abideth In yon—he tacitly thus admonishes them to say, when tempted by seducers, "The anointing abideth in us; we do not need a teacher [for we have the Holy Spirit as our teacher, Jeremiah
are, and who are not, the Lord's people. '-40. Bnt—Greek, "And." He here states the means which tliey as believers have wherewith to withstand Antichrists [v, 18),
viz., the chrism (so the Greek: a play upon similar sounds), or "anointing unguent," Vi2.,tlie Holy Spirit (more plainly mentioned further on, as in John's style, ch. 3. 21; 4.13;
5. 6), whicli they ("ye" is emphatical in contrast to those apostates, v. 19) h.ive " from tlie Holy One, Christ (John 1. 33; 3. U; 15. 26; 10. 14): "the righteous" {v. 1), "pure" (ch. 3. 3), "the Holy One" (Acts 3.14) "of God;" Mark 1. 24. Those anointed of God in Christ alone can
resist those anointed with the spirit of Satan, Antichrists, wlio would sever tliem from tlie Father and from tlio Son. Believers have tlie anointing Spirit from the Father a\%o, as well as from the Son; even as tlie Son is anointed therewith by the Father. Hence the Spirit is the token that we are in the Father and in tlie Son ; without it a man is none of Christ's. The material unguent of costliest ingredients, poured on the head of priests and Icings, typitied this spiritual unguent, derived from Christ, the Head, to us. His members. We can have no share in Him as Jesus, except we become truly Chris-
31. 34; Jolin 6. 4.5; 16. 13J ; it teaches us the truth; in that teaching we will abide." [Bengel.] and — and therefore. Goil is sufficient for tlieiu who are laughl of Him ; they are independent of all others, tlnrngh, of course, not declining; the Christian counsel of faitliful ministers. " Mutual communication Is not set aside, but approved of, in the case of those who are p;irlakers of the anointing in one body." [Bf;ni;kl | » »• sitmeanointUig which ye once for all re<-eived, and wliicli now still abides in you. of—"concerning." nil things—essential to salvation ; the point under discussion. Not that the believer
tians, and so be in Him as Chri.it, anointed with tliat unction from the Holy One. Tlie Spirit poured on Clirist the Head, is oy Him ditfused flirough all tlie members. "It appears that we all are tlie body of C/tn'.s/, because we all are anointed : and we all in Him are both Chri.it's and Christ, becjiuse in .«ome measure tlie wliole Chri.st
is made inlallible, for no believer here receives tlie Spirit in all its fulness, but only the measure needful for keeping him from soul-destroying error. So the Church, though having the Spirit in her, is not infallible (for many fallible members can never make an infall'hle whole), but is kept from ever wlioUy losing the saving trutli. no lie—as .\ntichristian teacliing, ye shall abide in him—(i'. 21. eml)—even as "the anointing abideth in jou." Tlie oldest MSS. read the impeiative, "Abide in Him." 2S. little children— (t'>-(?^^-, " little sons," as in v. 12; believers of every stage and age. abide in him Christ. John repeats his monition witli a loving appellation, as a father addressing dear (children, when— "if;" the uncertainty is not as to llie fact, but t/ie time. appear— ( " be manifested." we—both writer and readers, ashamed before hliii—/i/., "from Him ;'' slirink ba<'k/r()»» ashamed. Contrast "boldness in the day of judgnienl," ch. 4. 17; cf. (-11.3.21 ; 5. 14. In the Apcx'alypse (written, therefore. Uhnijki. thinks, subsequent lyl, Christ's coming Is rcpreseiitiMl as put olfto a greater distance. '29. The heailing of the second dirision of llie lipi.itle: " Go<l is rightei>us; therefore, every one that doelli riglileousiiess
is Head and body." ami — tlierefore. ye know nil things—needful for acting ariglit against Anticlirist's Beduclions, and for Christian life and gcxllim^ss. In tlie same measure as one hath the Spirit, in that measure (no more and no less) Iin? knows all these tilings. 31. becniisc ye know It, antl tliat, c^c.—Ye not mily know what
is the truth (concerning the Son and the Father, v. 13), but also are able to detect a lie as a thing opposed to the truth. For riglit (a straight line) is llie index of itsi li and of what is crooked. [Ksrius.] Tin: Greek is susceptible of AM'"OUD's Iraivtlation, "Because ye know it, and because no
iw, is of the truth " (lit., "every lie is exclu<led from being of the truth "). I therefore wrote (in this Epistle) to point out wliat the \u: is, and who the liars are. 'ii. a— Greek, "Who is the liar?" n'^., guilty of the lie Just mentioned
(v. 21). tlunt .Tesns U the Christ—the gran<l central trulli. this is Antichrist— f/ree/;, "the Antichrist ;" not however
is born of Hij^i." Love Is thegraiid lealure and principle of " righteousness " select(>d for discussion, ch. '2. 29 to 3. ^ If ye know . . . ye know— DisllncI Greek verbs: "if ye
iiere personal , but in the abstract; the ideal of AntU'lirist
Is " he that denieth the Father and the Son." To deny llu: latter is virtually to deny the former. Again, the truth aa to the Son must be held in Its inU grity ; to deny that Jesus is the Christ, or that He is the Son of (iod, or that He c-ame in the flesh. Invalidates the whole (Matthew 11.
ari' airare iiwi' in possession of the knowledge). . . ye dis-
rei n Of n")\ir4 hi'nd also that," Ac. Ye are alri'ady aware
lliat (J;<1 (" lie " includes both " the Father," of whom the believer r* born (end of tills verse, and ch. .'}. 1], niid " the Son," V. 1, '23) u righleoiiji, ye must necessarily, thereby, perceive also the consequence of that truth, rj'z., "that every one ! hat (lo(>th righteousness (and he alone ; tit., (he righleousnesssuch as the rigli teous ti(Kl approves) is born of Iliin." The righteous producelli the righteous. We are never said lo lie hmii again of Chri.il, but of God, with whom Christ Is ime. Hoi.i.AZi'n Al.FOun tlelines /Ac j-i.(//i<- fousne.is of Goil, " It Is the l>ivine energy by whose powet God wlllsiind does all things whicli ain coiitbrnialile to His eleriial la w, iiicscribes suilal)le laws lo Ills creature*,
27). 23. Greek, " Evei'y one who denieth the Son, h.ith not the I'^atlier either" (cli.4.2,3): "inasmuch asGod liatli given Himself to us wholly to be enjoyinl in Christ."
[(JAIA'IN.] lie tluit aekno}vl.eilgelh the Sim halli the Fallu r a/jo—These words ought not to be In Italics, as though they were not In the original; for t!.e oldest Greek Mss. have tliem. hath— wz., in his Hl)iiliug (losscsslon !is his "l>ortlon;" by living iicrsoiial " fellowsliip." ncknowleilfjeth—by open confession of (,'hrist. !44. I.rl that —
truth r(!specllng the; Father and the Son, regarded ns a seed not merely dropped In, but having taken root (cli. 3.
fuillls His promises ti> men, rewards the good, and puuIshes the ungodly." doeth—" For the graces (virtues) nr« practical, and have tliidr being in being pro<luced (In being exercised j ; tor when they have ceased to act, or ar»
0). ye—In the GVeeA standing eniphatlcally at the beginning of the sentence. Yk, therefore, acknowleilgc Die Sun,
a/i(/ so shall yt' have the Father aLso{v.Z\). from the hi530
'I'he Singular Love of God la ua. 1 J0H3S" III. We ought therefore to Obey Him.
like God in knowledge, and by that we fell; but being raised by Christ, we become truly like Him, by knowing Him as we are known, and by seeing Him as He is. [Pearson, Creed.] As the first immortality which Adam lost was to be able not to die, so the last shall be not to be able to die. As man's first free choice or will was to be able not to sin, so our last shall be not to be able to sin. [Augustine, Cicit. Dei, B. 22, c. 30.] The devil fell by aspiring to God's power; man, by aspiring to his knowledge ; but aspiring after God's goodness, we shall ever grow in His likeness. The transition from God the Father to " He," " Him," referring to" Christ (who alone is ever said in Scripture to be manifested ; not the Father, John 1.
only about to act, they have not even being." [CEccmemus.] "God is righteous, and therefore the source of righteousness; when then a man doetli righteousness, we know that tlie source of his rigliteousness is God, that consequently he has acquired by new birth from God that righteousness which he had not by nature. We argue from his doing righteousness, to liis being born oj God. The error of Pelagians is to conclude that doing righteousness
is a condition of becoming a child of God." [Ai>ford most
truly.] Cf. Luke 7. 47, 50 : Her mucli love evinced that her sins wej-e afo-eac/(/ forgiven ; not, were the condition oi her sins being forgiven.
18), im )lies the entire unity of the Fatiier and the Son. for, &c.—Continual beholding generates likeness (2 Corinthians 8. 18); as the face of the moon being always turned towards the sun, reflects its light and glory, see him—not in His innermost Godliead, but as manifested in Clirist. None but tlie pure can see the infinitely Pure One. In all these passages the Greek is the same verb, opsomal ; not denoting the action of seeing, but tlie state of him to whose eye or mind the oliject is presented; hence the Greek verb is always in the middle or rellexive voice, to perceive and inwardly appreciate. [Tittmann.] Our spiritual bodies will appreciate and recognize spiritual beings hereafter, as our natural bodies now do natural objects. 3. this hope-of being hereafter "like Him." Faillt and love, as well as Iwpe, occ ur v. 11, 23. in—ratlier, "(resting) upon Hiui;" gr()un<led on His promises, purifietli himself—by Christ's Spirit in him (John 15.5, end). " Thou puriliest tliyself, not of thyself, but of Him who comes that He may dwell in thee." [Augustine.] One's justification through failli is presupposed, as lie is pure—unsullied with any uncleanness. Tlie Second Person, by whom both the Law and Gospel were given. 4. Sin is incompatible with birth from God (v. 1-3). John often sets forth the same truth negatively, which he had before set forth pusilively. He had shown, birth from God involves self-purificali(ni ; he now »hows where sin, i. e., the want of self-purification, is, there is no birth from God. Whosoever Greek, " Every one who," &c. committeth sin—In contrast to v. S, "Everyman that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself;" and j). 7, "He that doetli righteousness." transgresseth . . . the law — Greek, "committeth transgression of law." God's law of purity; and so shows he has no such hope of being hereafter pure as God is pure, and, therefore, that he is not born of God. for Greek, "and." sin is . . . transgression of . . . law—definition of .sin in general. The Greek having the article to both, implies that they are convertible terms. The Greek "nin" (hamartla) is lit., a missing of the mark, God's will being that mark to be ever aimed at, "By the law is the knowledge of sin." The crookedness of a line is shown by being brought into juxtaposition with a straight ruler. 5. Additional proof of the incompatibility Of sin and sonsliip; the very object of Christ's manifestation in the flesh was to take away (by one act, and entirely, aorist) all sins, as the scapegoat did typically. nn*l—anotlier proof of the same, in liim is no sin—not "was," but "is," as in v. 7, " He is righteous," and v. 3, "He is pure." Therefore we are to be so. G. He reasons from Christ's own entire separation from sin, that those in him must also be separate from it. aljidetli in him as the branch in the vine, by vital union living by His
Ver. 1-24. Distinguishing Marks of the Children OF God and the Children of the Devil. Brotherly Love the Essence of True Righteousness. 1. Beliold —Calling attention, as to some wonderful exhibition, little as the world sees to admire. This verse is connected with the previous ch. 2. 29, thus : All our doing of righteousness
is a mere sign that God, of His matchless love, has adopted us as children ; it does not save us, but is a proof that we are saved of His grace, what manner of—of what surpassing excellence, how gracious on His part, how precious to us. love . . . liestowed—He does not say that God hath given us some gift, but love itself and the fountain of all honours, the heart itself, and that not for our works or elt'orts, but of His grace. [Luther.] that —"what manner of love;" resulting in, proved by, our being, &c. The immediate effect aimed at in the bestowal of this love is, ''that we should be called children of God." sliould be called—should have received the privilege of such a glorious title (though seeming so imaginary to the world), along with the glorious
reality. With God to call is to make really to be. Whoso great as God? What nearer relationship than that of sonsf Tlie oldest MSS. add, "And we are so" really. the»efo»-e— " on this account," because "we are (really) so." us—the (children, like the Father, tt knew him not—viz., the Father. " If they who regard not God, hold thee in any account, feel alarmed about thy state." [BenGel.] Contrast cli. 5. 1. The world's whole course is one great act of non-recognition of God. 'i. Beloved—by the Father, and therefore by me. now—In contrast to " not yet." We now already are really sons, though unrecognized as such l)y the world, and (as the consequence) we look for the visible manifestation of our sonship, which not yet has t.aken place, doth not yet appear Greek, " it hath not yet (at any time, Greek aorist) been visibly manifested what we shall be"—what further glory we shall attain by virtue of this our sonsliip. The "what" suggests a something inconceivably glorious. Imt—Omitted In the oldest MSS. Its insertion in English Version gives a wrong antithesis. It is not," We do nut yet knoxv mani-
festly what, &c., but we know," &c. Believers have some degree of the manifestation already, though the world ha/i
not. The connection Is, The manifestation to the world (A what we shall be, has not yet taken place; we know {\n general ; as a matter of rvell-assured knowledge ; so the Greek) that when (lit., " if ;" expressing no doubt as to the
fact, but only as to the time; also implying the coming preliminary fact, on which the consequence follov/s, Malachi 1.6; John 14.3) He (not " it," uiz., that wliich is not yet manifested [Alford]) shall be manifested (v. 5; ch. 2.
life, sinneth not—in so far as he abides in (Christ, so far
28), we shall he like Him (Christ; all sons have a substantial resemblance to their father, and Clirist, whom we shall be like, is "the express image of the Father's person," so that in resembling Christ, we shall resemljle the Father). We wait for the manifestation Hit., the apocalypse; the same term as is applied to Christ's own manifestation) o/ the sons of God. After our natural l)irlh, the new birth into the life of grace is needed, whi(-li is to be followed by the new birth into tlie life of glory; the Iwo latter alike are termed "the regeneration" (.Matthew I'J.
Is he free from all sin. The ideal of the Christian. The
life of sin and the life of God mutually exclude one another, just as (laikness and light. In matter of fact, believer* do fall into sins (ch. 1. 8-10; 2. 1, 2); but all sucll sins ai'e alien from the lite of God, and need Christ's cleansing blood, without application to which the life of Ciod could not be maintained. He siuneth not so long as he aliideth in Chi ist. whosoever slunetli hnth not seen lilui— Greek perfect , " has not seen, and does not see Him." Again thet(/ca/of Christian intuition and knowledge Is piesente<l (Matthew 7. 23). All sin as such is at variance with the notion of orie regenerated. N )t that " whosoever Isbitrayed into sins has never seen nor known God;"
2Si. 'i he resurrection of our bodies is a kind of coming out of the womb of tne earth, and being born into another life. Our first temptation was that we should be
We ougJd to Obey God 1 JOHN III. lZ7ie J^ruty of Loving One Anoiker.
man is the ruling principle of his true -self, though the old nature, not yet fullj/ deadened, rebels and sins. Contrast ch. 5. 18 with John 8. 34; cf. Psalm 18. 22, Zi; 32. 2, 3; 119.
oat in so far as sin exists, in thai degree the spiritual intuition and knowledge of God do not exist in him. iieltlttr —"not even." To see spiritually is a further step than to know ; for by knowing we come to seeing by vivid realization and experimentally. 7, 8. The same truth stated, with the addition that he who sins is, so far as he sins, "of thedevil." let no man deceive yoii—as Antinomians try to mislead men. i-igliteoniiness Greek, "the righteousness," viz., of Christ or God. lie that doetli ... is righteous— not his doing makes him righteous, but his
113, 176. The magnetic needle, the nature of which is always to point to the pole, is easily turned aside, but always reseeks the pole, children of the devil—(A'o/e, v.
8; Acts 13. 10.) There is no middle class between the children of God and the children of the devil, doetli not righteousness—Contrast ch. 2. 29. he that loveth not
Ills brother—(Ch. 4. 8)—a particular instance of that love which is the sum and fulfilment of all righteousness, .and the token (not loud professions, and even seemingly good works)that distinguislies Gott's children from the devil's. H. the message— "announcement," as of something good ; not a mere command, as the law. The Gospel v;i^>*- sage of Him who loved us, announced by His servants, is, that we love the brethren ; not here all mankind, but those who are our brethren in Christ, children of the same fam-
bei/ii/ ri!,}iteoiis (justified by the righteousness of God in Christ, Romans 10.3-10) makes him to do rigliteousness ; an Inversion common in familiar language, logical in real-
ity, though not in form, as in Luke 7. 47; John 8. 47. Works do not justify, but the justified man works. We infer from his doing righteousness that he is already righteous (i. e., has the true and only principle of doing
rigliteousness, viz., faith), and is therefore bom of God
ily of God, of whom we have been born anew. 1"4. who—
(v. 9); just as we might say, The tree that bears good fruit
not in the Greek, of that wicked one—translate, "evil one," to accord with " Because his own works were evil."
is a good tree, and has a living root; not that the fruit makes the tree and its root to be good, but it shows that they ai"e so. he—Christ. 8. He that comniitteth sin is of the devil—in contrast to "He that doetli righteousness," V. 7. He is a son of the devil {v. 10 ; John 8. 44). John does not, however, say, " born of the devil," as he does "boin of God," for "the devil begets none, nor does he create any; but whoever imitates the devil, becomes a child of the devil by imitating him, not by proper birth." [AuiiUSTiNE, Tract, 4. 10.] From the devil there is not generation, but corruption. [Bexoel.] slmieth from the beginnin-;—from the time that any began to sin [AlFohd]; from the lime tlial he became what he is, the
Cf. V. 8, " of the devil," in contrast to " of God," v. 10. slew
. . . hlnii because his own works were evil, and hia brother's righteous — through envy and hatred of his brother's piety, owing to which God accepted Abel's, but rejected Cain's oflering. Enmity from the first existed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the ser-
pent. 13. Man-el not—The marvel would be if the world
loveil you. the world—of whom Cain is the representa-
tive u'. 12). liate yon—as Cain hated even his own bro-
ther, and that to the extent of murdering him. The world
feels its bad works tacitly reproved by your good works, 14. V\'e—Emphatieal ; hated though we be by the world, we know what the world knows not. know—as an assured fact, passed changed our stale. Colossians 1. 13, "from the power of darkness . . . translated into the kingdom of His dear Son." from death unto Ute—lit., "out of the death (whicli enthrals the unregencrate) into
devil. He seems to have kept his first estate only a very short time-after his creation. [Bengel.] Since the fall of man [at the beginning of our world] thedevil is (cvo') sinning (thin is the force of "sinneth;" he has sinned from the beginning, is the cause of all sins, and still goes on Binning; present). As the author of sin, and prince of this world, he has never ceased to seduce man to sin. [IjUECKE.] destroy—break up and do away witli ; bruising and crushing the serpent's head, works of the devil —sin, and all its awful consequences. John arguesrChristians cannot do that which Christ came to destroy. 9. "Whosoever is horn of God lit., "Every one that is begotten of God." doth not coiiiiiilt sin—his higher na-
the life" (of the regenerate). A palpable coincidence of
langu.'ige and thought, the beloved disciple adopting his Lord's words. because we love the brethren — the ground, not of oav passing over out of death into life, but of our knowing that we have so. Love, on our part, is the
evidence of our justification and regeneration, not the
caii.^c of them. " Let each go to his own heart; if he find there love to the brethren, let him feel assured that he has passed from death unto life. Let him not mind that
ture, as one born or begotten of God, dolli not sin. 'J'o he begotten of God and to sin, are. stales mutually excluding one another. In so far as one sins, he makes it doubtful whether he be born of God. his seed—the living word of God, made by the Holy .Spirit tlie seed in us of a new life and the continual mean of sanel illcation. remnlneth —abidelh in him {Note, cf. v. G; John .5. .'IS). Tliis doi's not contradict oh. 1. 8, 9; the regenerate sliow tlie ultir incompatibility of sin with regeneration, by cleansing away every sin Into which they nniy be betrayed by the old nature, .at once in tlie blood uf Christ, cannot sin, !>»- cnu»e he Is horn of Uod—"Ix'cause it is of God Ihut he is born" (so tlie Greek order, as compared with tlie order of the same words In the beginning of the verse); not " because he was born of God" (the Greek Is perfect, which is
his glory Is only hidden ; when the Lord shall come, then
sliali he appear in glory. For he has vital energy, but It
is still winter-time; the root liasvlgour, but the branches
are as it were dry; within there is marrow which is vig-
orous, within are leaves, within fruits, but thi'y must wait for summer." [Augustine.] He tiiat loveUi notMost of the oldest MSS. omit " his brother," wliich makes
the statement more general, abldeth—still. In dratli— "in //it' (spiritual) death" (ending in eternal death) which
is the slate of all by nature. His want of /oi'c evidences
that no .saving change has passed over him. 15. huleth
—e(iulvalent to "loveth not" (V. 14); there is no medium between the two. "Love and hatred, like light and darkness, life and death, necessarily replace, as well as
present in meaning, notaorlst); It Is not said, Iiicau.se a man was once for all born of (1(k1 he never afterwards can sin; but, Because he is born of God, tlu' seed ablillng now in Him, he cninnot sin; so long as It energetically abides, sin can have no place. Cf. Genesis .'JO. il, Joseph, "How CAN I do this great wickedness and sin against God ?" The principle within me is at utter variance with
.necessarily exclude, one another." [Ai.eokd. | Is a murderer— ln'canse indulging in that passion, which, if fol-
lowed out to Us natural consequences, would make him
one. " W'liereas, v. 11) desires us to lay down our lives for
till! brethren ; duels reiiulre one (awful to say !) to risk his own Hie, rather than not deprive anotlurr o( life." [Bkn-
OKL.] (iod regards the Inward disposition as tantamount to the outward act whi<-h would How from it. Whomsoever one hates, one wishes to be dead, hath— such a one still "abldeth in death." It Is not his /(«ft«-a
It. The regeniM-ate life Is Incompatible with sin, and gives the believer a hatred for si n in every sliape, and an unceasing desire to resist It. "The child of God in this con-
flict receives Indeed wonndsdally, but never throws away his arms or makes peace with bis deadly foe." ILurilioii.] The exceptional sins Into which the regenerati^ «r(! sur-
state, but his present, which is referred to. He who hales (I. c., loveth not) his brother (v. 14), cannot In
this his present state have eternal life abiding In hlni.
prised, are owing to the new lll'e-prln<!lple being for a time sullered to lie dormant, and to the sword of the
in. What trui> love to the brethren Is, Illustrated by tho
love of (^lirlst to us. hereby —(;» ccfc, "herein." th« love ()/ (;o(/— I'he wonls "of God" are not in the origi-
Spirit not being drawn liislaiitly. Sin is ever acl Ive, but no longer reigns. The )io?-m(i/ direction ol the believ<M's
nal. Trunslale, "Wo arrive at the knowledge ol
energies Is against sin; the law of God after the Inward
We should Love Each Other in Deed and in Truth, 1 JOIIX III. and Believe on the Name of Jesus Christ.
love;" we apprehend what true love Vs. he—CI i lis!
tlie truth ') us (it is) because God is greater than our heart and knowetli all things.'" If our heart judges us unfavourably, we may be sure that He, knowing more than our heart knows, judges us more unfavourably still. [Alford.] A similar ellipsis ("it is") occurs 1 Corinthians 14.27; 2 Corinthians 1. 6; 8. 28. The condemning testimony of our conscience is not alone, but is the echo of the voice of Him who is greater and knoweth all things. Our hypocrisy in loving by word and tongue, not in deed and truth, does not escape even our conscience, though weak and knowing but little, how much less God who knows all tilings! Still the consolatory view may lie tlie riglit one. For the Greek for " we shall assure our hearts " (see JSote,
Bnd we—on our part, if absolutely needed for tlie glory of God, the good of the Chureli, or tlie salvalion of a brother, lives-Christ alone laid down His one li/e for us all • we ought to lay down our livgi severally for the
lives ol 'he bretlireii ; if not actually, at least virtually, by giving our time, care, labours, prayVrs, substance:
*^i\'ou iiobin, sed omnibus." Our life ougliL uol to be dearer to us than God's own Son was to Hini. The apostles and martyrs acted on this principle. 17. this woilil's goods
—HI., "livelihood" or substance. If we ouglit to lay ilown our lives for the bretliren (v. 16), how much more ought we not to withhold our sub/stance f secth—not merely casu-
v. 19), is gain over, persuade so as to be stilled, implying that there was a previous stale of self-condemnation by the heart {v. 21)), which, however, is got over by the consolatory thought, " God is greater than niy heart " which cotnlemns me, and " knows all things " (Greek ginoskei, " kmnrs," not kataginoskei, " condemns"), s\.r\Ci therefore knows my love and desire to serve Him, an,d knows my frame so as to pity my weakness of faith. This gaining over of t'le heart to peace is not so advanced a stage as the having confidence towards God which flows from a heart condemning ns nol. The first " because " thus applies to the tvi o alternate cases, V. 20, 21 (giving the ground of saying, that having lovewe shall gain over, or assure our minds before Him,
ally, i)ut deliberately contemplates as a spectator; Greek, " beholds." shuttet h up his bowels of compassio7i— wliicli had been momentarily opened by tlie spectacle of his brother's need. "Tlu^ bowels" mean the heart, the seat of compassion. Uow—Ilow is it possible that "the love of
(i. e., to) God d welleth ( (J reek, abideth) in liim Our super-
fluities should yield to tl)e necessities: our conit'orls, and even our necessaries in some measure, should yield
Iff the extreme wants of our brethren, "l-'aitli gives Christ to me; love flowing from faith gives me to iny m ijihbour." 18. When tlie venerable Jolm could no longer walk to the meetings of the Cliurcli, but was l)orne thither by his disciples, he alwaj's uttered the same address
to the Church; he reminded them of that one commandment which be had received from Christ Himself, as comprising all the rest, and forming the distin< lion of the new <',ovenant, "ily little children, love one another." When the brethren present, wearied of hearing the same
V. 19); the second " because" applies to the first alternate alone, VIZ., ?/ our heart eondomii us. When he reaches the si'cond alternate, r. 21, he states it i ndependentlji of the former " because" which had connected it with i'. 19, inasmuch as CONFIDENCE toward God is a farther stage than P'Tsunding our hearts, though always preceded by it. itl. Beloved—There is no contrasting the two cases, «.
tiling so often, asked why he always repeated the same thing, he replied, "Because it is the commandment of the Lord, and if this one thing be attained it is enougli." fjEKOME.] 18. in word Greek, "with word . . . ivilh tongue, but in deed and trutii." 19. hereby— G'vte/-, "herein;" in our loving in deed and in truth (v. IS), we know—The oldest M.ss. have " we siiall know," viz., if we
20, 21, because "Beloved" sufficiently marks the transition to the case of the brethren walking in the full ronfldence of love {v. 18). The two results of our being able tc "assure our hearts before Him " {v. 19), and of " our heart condemning us not" (of insincerity as to the truth in general, and as to love in particular) are, (1.) confidence toward God; (2.) a sure answer to our prayers. John does not mean that all whose heart does not condemn them, are therefore safe before God; for some have their conscience seared, others are ignorant of the truth, and it is not only sincerity, but sincerity in the trutli wliieh can save men. Christians are those meant here : knowing Christ's precepts and testing themselves by them, ii-i, we receive—as a matter of fact, according to His promise. Believers, as such, ask only what is in accordance with God's will; or if they ask what God wills not, they bow their will to God's will, and so God grants them either their request, or something better than it. beeatise we keep his commandments—Cf. Psalm 06. IS; 34. 15; 145.
fulfil the command (v. 18). of the truth—tliat we are real disciples of, and belonging to, the truth, as it is in Jesus: begotten of God with the word of truth. Having herein
the triUh radically, we shall be sure not to love merely in word and tongue (v. 18). assure lit., persuade, viz., so as to cease to condemn us ; satisfy the questionings and doubts Of our consciences as to whether we be accepted before God or not (cf. Matthew 28. 14; Acts 12. 20, " Having made Blastus their friend," til., "persuaded"). Tlie " heart," as the seat of the feelings, is our inward judge; the conscience, as the witness, acts either as our justifying advocate, or our condemning accuser, before God even now. John 8.
9, has "conscience," but the passage is omitted in most old MSS. John nowhere else uses the term conscience. Peter and Paul alone use it. before him—as in the sigiit of Him, the omniscient Searcher of hearts. Assurance is designed to be the ordinary experience !ind privilege of the believer. 20. Luther and Benget^ take this verse as consoling the believer whom his heart condemns; and who, therefore, like Peter, appeals from conscience to Him who is greater than conscieJice, *' Lord, thou knowest
IS, 19. Not as though our merits earned a hearing for our prayers, but when we are believers in Christ, all our works of faith being the fruit of His Spirit in us, are "pleasing in God's sight;" and our prayers being the voice of the same Spirit of God in us, naturally and necessarily are answered by Him. 33. Summing up of God's commandments under the Gospel dispensnlion in one commandment, this is his commanflment—singular: for faith and loveave not separate commandments, but are liidissolubly united. We cannot truly love one another witliout faith in Christ, nor can we truly believe in Him without love, believe—07ice /or aW; Greek aorlst. on the name of his Son—on all that is revealed in the Gospel concerning Him, and on Himself in respect to His person,
all things: thou knowest that I love thee." Peter's conscience, though condemning him of his sin in den.ving the Lord, assured lilm of his love ; but fearing the possi-
bility, owing to his past fall, of deceiving himself, he appeals to the all-knowing God : so Paul, 1 Corinthians -1. 8,
4. So if we be believers, even if our heart condemn us of sin in general,yet having the one sign of sonship, love, we may still assure our hearts (some oldest MS.S. read heart, v.
offices, and atoning work, as he—as Jesjis gave us commandment, a*, dwelletli In him—The believer d welleth In Christ, and he in him—Christ In the believer. Reciprocity. "Thus he returns to the great key-note of the Epistle, abide in Him, with which the former part concluded" (ch. 2. 28). hereby—" herein we (believers) know that He abideth In us, viz., from (the presence in us
19, as well as v. 20), as knowing that God is greater than our heart, and knowelh all things. But thus the same Greek is translated " because " in the beginning, and "(we know) that" in the middle of the verse, and If the verse were consolatory, It probably would have been, " Because even
If our heart condemn us," &c. Therefore translate, " Becat«e (rendering the reason why it has been stated In v. 19 to be so important to 'assure our hearts before Him ')
of) the Spirit which He hath given us." Thus he prepares, hy the mention of the true Spirit, for the transition to the false "spirit," ch. 4. 1-6; after which he returns again to the subject of love.
If our heart condemn {Greek, 'know [aught] against us:' answering by contrast to ' we shall know that we are of
The Manner nf TcMing False Prophets. 1 JOHN IV. He that Loveth not, Knoweth not God.
Satan and seduces into CTTor. 7. Resumption of the main theme (ch. 2. 29). Love, the sum of righteousness, is the
Ver. 1-21. Tests OF False Prophets. Love, tiik Test OF Birth from God, and the Necessary Fruit of Knowing His Great Love in Christ to its. 1. Beloved—Tlie alt'ectioiiale address wherewitli he calls tln ir
test of our being born of God. Love flows from a sense of God's love to^is: cf. v. 9 with cli. 3. 16, which v. 9 resumes; and V. 13 with ch. 3. 24, which similarly v. 13 resumes. At tlie same time, f. 7-21 is connected with the immediately preceding context, d. 2 setting forth Chri.<it's incarnation, t/ie great proof of God's iove (v. 10). Beloved an address appropriate to his subject, "love." love—a/J
attention, as to an inapoilanl subject, every spirit— which presents itself in tlie person of a propliet. Tlie
Spirit of trutli, and the spirit of error, speak by men's
love is from God as its fountain: especially that embodiment of love, God manifest in the flesh. The Father also is
spirits as their orgalis. Tliere is but one Spirit of trntli, and one spirit of Antichrist, try—by tlie tests (r. 2, 3). All believers are to do so : not merely ecclesiasi ics. Even an angel's message should be tested by the word of God: much more men's teachings, however holy the teachers may seem, because, &c.—tlie reason why we must "try," or test the spirits, many false prophets—Not " propliets" in the sense " foretellers," l)at organs of the spirit that inspires them, teaching accordingly either trutli or error: "many Anticlirists." are gone out—as if fiom God. into t!te world—said alike? of good and bad propliets CJ John 7). The world is easily seduced (i. 4, 5). a. "Here-
love (('. S). The Holy Ghost sheds lovea,s its first/c!<rt abroad
ill the heart, knoweth God—spiritually, experimentally, and habitually. 8. knoweth not Greek aorist: not only knoweth not now, but never knew, lias not once for all known God. God is love—There is no Greek article to
love, but to God ; therefore we cannot translate. Love is God, God is fundamentall.y and essentially love: not merely
i.sloving, for then John's argument would not stand; for the conclusion from the premises then would be this. This man is not loving: God is loving'; therefore he knoweth not God IN so far as God is loving; still he might know Him in His other attributes. But when we take love as God's essence, the argument is sound: This man doth not
in.", know . . . the Spirit of God—whether he l)e, or not, in tliose teachers professing to be moved by Him. Every spirit—t. e., Every teacher <:1-A\m\ng ins|)iration by THE Holy Spirit. confessetU—the truth is taken for granted as established. Man is required to co»i/n«.v it, i. e., in his teaching to profess it openly. Jesus Christ Is come in the flesh—a twofold trutli confessed, that Jesus
love, and therefore knows not love: God is essentially love, therefore he knoivs not God. 9. toward \xs— Greek, "in our case." sent Greek, "hath sent." into the world—
proof against Socinians, that the Son existed before He was "sent into the world." Otherwise, too. He could not have been our life (i-. 9), our "propitiation" (v. 10), or our ".Saviour"' (i'. 14). 11 is the grand proof of God's love. His having sent His only-begotten Son, that we might live through Him, who is the Life, and who h.as redeemed our forfeited
is the Christ, and that He is cnme (the Greek perfect im-
plies not a mere past historical fact, as the aorist would, but also the present continuance of the fact and its blessed
effects) in theflesh ("clothed with flesh :" not with a mere
«eeTO/;i(7 humanity, as the Docetre afterwards taught: He therefore was, previously, something far above flesh). His Jlesh implies His death for us, for only liy assuming
life; and it is also the grand motive to our mutual love. 10. Herein Is love love in tlie abstract: Love, in its
flesh could He die (for as God He could not), Hebrews li. !i,
liitihest ideal, is herein. The love was all on God's side, none on ours, not that we loved God—though so altopet her wort li.v of love, he loved us—though so altogether uiiwortli.v of love. The Greek aorist expresses. Not that we did any act of love at any lime to God, but that He did the act of love to us in sending Christ. 11. God's love to us is the grand motive for our love to one another (cl). 3,
10, U, 16; and His death implies His love for us (.loliii ir>.
13). To deny the reality of His flesh is to deny His love, and so cast away the root which produces all true love on the believer's part (v. 9-U, 19). Rome, by the doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, lienies Christ's projier liumanity. 3. confesseth not that .lesns Christ Is come lit tlie tlesli— Ii'.KN.EUS (3. S), Lucifer, Origen, on Slatthew 2.5. 14, and Vulgnte read, "livery
Hi). If—as we all admit as a fact. we. . . also—as being born of and therefore resembling our Father who is love. In proportion as we appreciate God's love to us, we love Him and also the brethren, the children (by regeneration) of the same God, the representatives of the unseen God. 1^. God, whom no man hath seen at any time, hath appointed His children as the risible recipieiils of our outward kindness which flows from love to Himself, "whom not having seen, we love." cf.
spirit which destroys (sets aside, or does aii fry icilh) Jesus
((Jlirist)." Cyprian and Polycarp support Knc/lish Version text. The oldest extant S'..S.S., which are, however, centuries alter Polycarp, ret-d, " Fvcry spirit that confesseth not.(i. e., refuses to confess) Jesus" (in His person, and all His olHces and divinity), omi tti iig " is coine in the flesh." ye have heard— from your Christian teachers, already Is It In the world—in the person of tlie false prophets (V. \). 4. Ye—Kinpliatical : Ye who confess .Jesns
7}ote, V. II, 19, 20. Thus v. 12 explains why, Instead (In
V. 11) of saying, " If God so loved us, we ouglitalso to love
(,'o(t," he said, "We ought also to lovo one am thrr." It we love one another, C>o<l dwelleth lit lis—for God is love ; and it must have been from Him dwelling m us that we drew the real love we bear to the brethren (v. 8, 16). John discusses this, «. l.S-10. his love—rather, "the love of (i.e., lo) Him" (ch. 2. .')), evinci'd by our love to HU representatives, our brethren. Is perfected lu us—John discusses this, v. 17-19. Cf. ch. 2. 5, " Is perfected," t. e., attains Its proper malurlt.v. i:i. " Herein." The token vouchsaled to us of God's dwelling {Greek, "abide" ) In us. IlKiugh we see Him not, is this, that He hath given us "ol His S|)irll" (ch. ,S. '24). 'Where the Spirit of God Is, there (iod is. One Spirit dwells in the Church: each believer receives a measiue "of" that Spirit in the proportion (;od IhiiiksHt. />(«'( is His rirst fruit Kialalians 5. '22). In Jesus alone (he Spirit dwelt without measure (.John 3.!i4), 14. And we— I'rimaril.v, tec apostles, I'lirlst's appointed