1 John 2:29 to 1 John 5:12. God is Love There seems to be no serious break in the Epistle from this point onwards until we reach the concluding verses which form a sort of summary (1 John 5:13-21). The key-word -love" is distributed, and not very unevenly, over the whole, from 1 John 3:1 to 1 John... [ Continue Reading ]
_what manner of_ The same word (ποταπός) occurs Matthew 8:27; Mark 13:1; Luke 1:29; Luke 7:39; 2 Peter 3:11: it always implies astonishment, and generally admiration. The radical signification is -of what country", the Latin _cujas_; which, however, is never used as its equivalent in the Vulgate, be... [ Continue Reading ]
_Beloved_ This form of address only occurs once in the first part of the Epistle (1 John 2:7), just where the subject of love appears for a few verses: it becomes the more common form of address (1 John 3:2_; 1Jn 3:21_, 1 John 4:1; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:11) now that the main subject is love. Similarl... [ Continue Reading ]
_that hath this hope in him_ This is certainly wrong: the preposition is -on", not -in", and -Him" is either the Father or Christ; probably the former. It is precisely the man who has the hope, _based upon_God, of one day being like Him, that purifies himself. For the construction -to have hope _on_... [ Continue Reading ]
As so often, the Apostle emphasizes his statement by giving the opposite case, and not the simple opposite, but an expansion of it. Instead of saying -every one that hath not this hope" he says EVERY ONE THAT DOETH _sin_. The A. V. not only obscures this antithesis by changing -every man" to -whosoe... [ Continue Reading ]
That sin is incompatible with Divine birth is still further enforced by two facts respecting the highest instance of Divine birth. The Son of God (1) entered the world of sense to put away all sin, (2) was Himself absolutely free from sin. _ye know_ The Apostle once more (1 John 2:21; 1 John 3:2) a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whosoever abideth_ Better, EVERY ONE THAT _abideth:_we have the same Greek form of expression here as in 1 John 2:23; 1 John 2:29 1 John 3:3-4; 1 John 3:9-10; 1 John 3:15; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:4; 1 John 5:18, and it is better [ Continue Reading ]
_Little children_ From the point of view of the present section, viz. the Divine parentage, the Apostle again warns his readers against the ruinous doctrine that religion and conduct can be separated, that to the spiritual man all conduct is alike. The renewed address, -Little children", adds solemn... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that committeth sin_ Better, as in 1 John 3:4, in order to bring out the full antithesis, _He that_ DOETH _sin_. -To do sin" is the exact opposite of -to do righteousness": as before, both substantives have the article in the Greek: see on 1 John 3:4. And, as before, the present participle indic... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the opposite of 1 John 3:8, as 1 John 3:8 of 1 John 3:7; but, as usual, not the plain opposite, but something deduced from it, is stated. _Whosoever is born of God_ Or, _Every one that_(see on 1 John 3:6) _is_ BEGOTTEN _of God_. Note the perfect tense; -every one that has been made and that... [ Continue Reading ]
_In this_ These words, like -for this cause" (1 John 3:1) refer to what precedes rather than to what follows: but here what follows is similar to what precedes, so that in any case -in this" means -by doing or not doing righteousness". _are manifest_ A man's principles are invisible, but their resu... [ Continue Reading ]
_For this is the message that ye heard, &c._ Or, BECAUSE _the message which ye heard from the beginning_ IS THIS: -this" is probably the predicate (see on 1 John 1:5). -From the beginning" as in 1 John 2:7: it was one of the very first things conveyed to them in their instruction in Christianity and... [ Continue Reading ]
A brother's love suggests its opposite, a brother's hate, and that in the typical instance of it, the fratricide Cain. _Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one_ Better, as R.V., _Not as_ CAIN WAS _of_ THE EVIL _one:_there is no -who" in the Greek, nor any pronoun before -the evil one." Here as in Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
Love and Hate: Life and Death _Marvel not, my brethren_ Comp. John 5:28; John 3:7. The antagonism between the light and the darkness, between God and the evil one, between righteousness and unrighteousness, has never ceased from the time of the first sin (1 John 3:8) and of the first murder (1 John... [ Continue Reading ]
Love means life and hate means death. _We know_ The pronoun is very emphatic: -the dark world which is full of devilish hate may think and do what it pleases about us; _we know_that we have left the atmosphere of death for one of life." This knowledge is part of our consciousness (οἴδαμεν) as Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whosoever hateth his brother_ Or, EVERY ONE THAT _hateth his brother_: see on 1 John 3:4. Quite as a matter of course S. John passes from not loving to hating. The crisis caused in the world by the coming of the light leaves no neutral ground: all is either light or darkness, of God or of the evil... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hereby perceive we the love of God_ Better, HEREIN KNOW WE LOVE: see on 1 John 2:3. The Greek is literally, -we have perceived," and therefore WE KNOW, as R. V., and there is no -of God". The A. V. here collects the errors of other Versions: Tyndale and Cranmer have -perceave", Wiclif and the Rhemi... [ Continue Reading ]
_But whoso hath this world's good_ Better, as R. V., _But whoso hath_ THE _world's_ GOODS. The -But" is full of meaning. -But not many of us are ever called upon to die for another: smaller sacrifices, however, may be demanded of us; and what if we fail to make them?" The word for -good" or -goods... [ Continue Reading ]
_My little children, let us not love in word_ S. John, as in 1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:13; 1 John 4:1; 1 John 4:7, hastens on to a practical application of what he has been stating as the principles of Christian Ethics; and in each case he prefaces his gentle exhortation with a word of tender address. -... [ Continue Reading ]
_And hereby we know_ Rather, HEREIN WE SHALL KNOW: the -and", though well supported, is probably not genuine, and the evidence for the future as against the present is overwhelming. -Herein" (ἐν τούτῳ) sometimes refers to what follows (_1Jn 3:16_, 1 John 4:2; 1 John 4:9), sometimes to what precedes... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if our heart condemn us_ It is possible to attach this to the preceding verse (reading ὅ τι ἐάν, a construction found Acts 3:23 and Galatians 5:10, and perhaps Colossians 3:17, for ὅτι ἐάν), and to render with R. V., WHEREINSOEVER _our heart condemn us_: but see next note. "A Christian's heart... [ Continue Reading ]
_Beloved_ See on 1 John 3:2. _if our heart condemn us not_ An argument _à fortiori_: if before God we can persuade conscience to acquit us, when it upbraids us, much more may we have assurance before Him, when it does _not_do so. It is not quite evident whether -condemn us not" means - _ceases_to c... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is so closely connected with the preceding one, that not more than a comma or semicolon should be placed between them. When a good conscience gives us boldness towards God our prayers are granted, for children in such relations to their heavenly Father cannot ask anything which He will re... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this is his commandment_ Or, _And His commandment is this_; see on 1 John 1:5. Here the singular is right: the various commandments, especially the two here named, faith and love, are summed up as one whole. This verse is the answer to those who would argue from the preceding verses that all th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he that keepeth his commandments_ This looks back to the same phrase in 1 John 3:22, not to the conclusion of 1 John 3:23, which is parenthetical. Therefore -His" means God's, not Christ's. _dwelleth in him_ Better, ABIDETH _in Him_: it is S. John's favourite word, which occurs twice in this ve... [ Continue Reading ]