1 John 5:18

We know This confident expression of the certitude of Christian faith stands at the beginning of each of these three verses and is the link which binds them together. We have had it twice before (1Jn 3:2; 1 John 3:14; comp. 1 John 2:20-21; 1 John 3:5; 1 John 3:15): and perhaps in all cases it is meant to mark the contrast between the real knowledge of the believer, which is based upon Divine revelation in Christ, and the spurious knowledge of the Gnostic, which is based upon human intelligence.

The triple -we know" at the close of the Epistle confirms the view that John 21:24 is by the Apostle's own hand, and not added by the Ephesian elders.

whosoever is born of God Better, as R.V., whosoever is begotten of God, It is the same verb, though not the same tense, as is used in the next clause: A.V. changes the verb and does not change the tense. The sentence is a return to the statement made in 1 John 3:9, where see notes. Once more the Apostle is not afraid of an apparent contradiction (see on 1 John 2:15). He has just been saying that if a Christian sins his brother will intercede for him; and now he says that the child of God does not sin. The one statement refers to possible but exceptional facts; the other to the habitual state. A child of God may sin; but his normal condition is one of resistance to sin.

but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself Rather, but the Begotten of God keepeth him. The first change depends upon a question of interpretation, the second on one of reading; and neither can be determined with certainty. The latter is the easier question and it throws light on the former. -Him" (αὐτόν), on the high authority of A 1 B and the Vulgate, seems to be rightly preferred by most editors to -himself" (ἑαυτόν). This -him" is the child of God spoken of in the first clause: who is it that -keepeth him"? Not the child of God himself, as A. V. leads us to suppose and many commentators explain, but the Son of God, the Only-Begotten. On any other interpretation S. John's marked change of tense appears arbitrary and confusing. Recipients of the Divine birth are always spoken of by S. John both in his Gospel and in his Epistle in the perfectparticiple (ὁ γεγεννημένος or τὸ γεγεννημένον); 1 John 3:9 1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:4; John 3:6; John 3:8; also the first clause here. In the present clause he abruptly changes to the aoristparticiple (ὁ γεννηθείς), which he uses nowhere else (comp. Matthew 1:20; Galatians 4:29). The force of the two tenses here seems to be this: the perfect expresses a permanent relation begun in the past and continued in the present; the aorist expresses a timeless relation, a mere fact: the one signifies the child of God as opposed to those who have not become His children; the other signifies the Son of God as opposed to the evil one. It is some confirmation of this view that in the Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly called the Nicene Creed, -begotten of the Father" (τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα) is the same form of expression as that used here for -begotten of God" (ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ). Moreover this interpretation produces another harmony between Gospel and Epistle. Christ both directly by His power and indirectly by His intercession -keepeth" the children of God: -I keptthem in Thy Name" (John 17:12); -I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15).

that wicked one toucheth him not Better, the evil one toucheth him not: see on 1 John 1:2 and 1 John 2:13. Strangely enough the Genevan Version has -that wycked man." The original is perhaps less strong than the English; -layeth not hold on him" (ἅπτεται); see on John 20:17. The evil one does assault him, but he gets no hold. -No one shall snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:28). -The ruler of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in Me" (John 14:30). Therefore whoever is in Christ is safe.