Our Present Dignity and Our Future Destiny. “See what unearthly love the Father hath given us, in order that we may be styled ‘children of God'; and so we are. It is for this reason that the world doth not recognise us, because it did not recognise Him. Beloved, now are we children of God, and it wa... [ Continue Reading ]
St. John has been speaking of the salvation which Jesus has brought His Propitiation and Advocacy, and he sees and would have his readers see in it an amazing expression of the love of God. _Cf._ John 3:16. ποταπός (ποδαπός), properly _cujas_, “of what country,” though approximating in late Greek to... [ Continue Reading ]
Having spoken of our present dignity, the Apostle goes on to speak of our future destiny. The Incarnation manifested our standing as children of God, but “it was not yet manifested what we shall be”. The aorist ἐφανερώθη (_cf._ ἔγνω in previous verse) refers to the historic manifestation in Jesus Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
The duty which our destiny imposes. ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, “resting on Him,” _i.e._, on God as Father. _Cf._ Luke 5:5 : ἐπὶ τῷ ῥήματί σου, “relying on Thy word”. ἐκεῖνος, Christ; see note on 1 John 2:6. ἁγνός also proves that the reference is to Christ. As distinguished from ἅγιος, which implies absolute and ess... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ ποι. τὴν ἁμ., the converse of ὁ ποι. τὴν δικ. (1 John 2:29). νόμος, the revelation of God's will, the Father's requirement of His children, an expression of the true law of their nature, ἡ ἁμ. ἐστ. ἡ ἀν.: the article in both subject and predicate make “sin” and “lawlessness” convertible and co-ext... [ Continue Reading ]
The Incompatibility of Sonship with Continuance in Sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Obligation of our Dignity as Children of God. “Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. And ye know that He was manifested that He might take away the sins; and sin in Him there is not. Every one that abideth in Him doth not keep sinning; every one that keepeth si... [ Continue Reading ]
The purpose of the Incarnation was to “take away the sins” atone for the sins of the past and prevent sins in the future, αἴρειν, properly “lift up and carry away” (_cf._ Mark 6:29; John 2:16), but the idea of expiation is involved since it is “the Lamb of God” that “taketh away the sins”. ἐκεῖνος,... [ Continue Reading ]
This seems a stark contradiction of 1 John 1:8 to 1 John 2:2. (1) St. Augustine first limits the statement: “In quantum in ipso manet, in tantum non peccat,” and then narrows the idea of “sin” by defining it as “not loving one's brother” (1 John 3:10). (2) St. Bernard (_De Nat. et Dign. Am. Div._ vi... [ Continue Reading ]
An affectionate warning against Nicolaitan Antinomianism (_cf._ note on 1 John 1:6-7). The Apostle cuts away vain pretences by a sharp principle: a righteous character expresses itself in righteous conduct. Christ (ἐκεῖνος) is the type. He was “the Son of God,” and if we are “children of God,” we mu... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ ποι. τὴν ἁμ., an emphatic and interpretative variation of ὁ ἁμαρτάνων “he that makes sin his business or practice”. ἐκ of parentage (_cf._ 1 John 3:9); “hoc est, ex patre diabolo” (Clem. Alex.). ἀπʼ ἀρχ., a vague phrase. In 1 John 1:1 “ere time began”; in 1 John 2:7; 1 John 3:11,“from the beginnin... [ Continue Reading ]
The Reason of the Impossibility of a Child of God continuing in Sin. The germ of the divine life has been implanted in our souls, and it grows a gradual process and subject to occasional retardations, yet sure, attaining at length to full fruition. The believer's lapses into sin are like the mischan... [ Continue Reading ]
The Evidence of Divine Sonship, _viz._, Human Brotherhood.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Apostle reiterates the “old commandment” (1 John 2:7-11) as not only the paramount duty of believers but the evidence of their divine sonship. He has said that the evidence lies in “doing righteousness,” and now he defines ποιεῖν δικαιοσύνην as ἀγαπᾶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ. See note on 1 John 2:9. T... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα ecbatic, expressing not the aim but simply the substance of the message. _Cf._ John 17:3. See Moulton's _Gram. of N.T. Gk._, p. 206; Moulton's _Winer_, p. 425.... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ καθὼς, κ. τ. λ., a loose, almost ungrammatical expression, analogous to John 6:58. Were there no οὐ, 1 John 3:11 might be regarded as a parenthesis: “he that loveth not his brother, even as Cain was, etc.”. The phrase is elliptical: “We must not hate our brethren, even as Cain was, etc.”. τοῦ πον... [ Continue Reading ]
It is natural that the world (see notes on 1 John 2:15; 1 John 3:1) should hate those whose lives contradict its maxims and condemn its practices. St. John frequently addresses his readers as τεκνία and ἀγαπητοί, here only as ἀδελφοί. The term suits the context, where he enforces love of the brethre... [ Continue Reading ]
The Secret of Assurance. “Wonder not, brethren, if the world hateth you. _We_ know that we have migrated out of the domain of death into the domain of life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in the domain of death. Everyone that hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know th... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡμεῖς emphatic: “Whatever the world may say, _we_ know”. The test is not its hatred but our love. μεταβεβήκαμεν, “have migrated”. The word is used of transition from one place to another (John 7:3; John 13:1), of passing from one form of government to another (Plat. _Rep._ 550 D), of the transmigrat... [ Continue Reading ]
An echo of the teaching of Jesus. See Matthew 5:21-22 and _cf._ Smith, _The Days of His Flesh_, pp. 96 98.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὴν ἀγάπην, “the thing called ‘love' ”. The love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord is the perfect type. Till the world saw that, it never knew what love is. ἐκεῖνος, Christ; see note on 1 John 2:6. ἡμεῖς emphatic, “we on our part”. ὀφείλομεν, see note on 1 John 2:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
Love must be practical. It is easy to “lay down one's life”: martyrdom is heroic and exhilarating; the difficulty lies in doing the little things, facing day by day the petty sacrifices and self-denials which no one notices and no one applauds. τόν βίον τοῦ κόσμου, “the livelihood of the world”; see... [ Continue Reading ]
Observe the transition from instrumental dative to preposition ἐν : “not with word and the tongue but in the midst of deed and truth” not in empty air but amid tangible realities. _Cf._ Bunyan, _Good News_ : “Practical love is best. Many love Christ with nothing but the lick of the tongue.” Sheridan... [ Continue Reading ]
A _crux interpretum_. Read τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν ὅ, τι ἐάν (_i.e._ ἄν), and take the subsequent ὅτι as “because”. The foregoing exhortation may have awakened a misgiving in our minds: “Am I loving as I ought?” Our failures in duty and service rise up before us, and “our heart condemns us”. So the Apostle... [ Continue Reading ]
παρρησίαν, see note on 1 John 2:28. ὃ ἐὰν αἰτῶμεν λαμβάνομεν, though not always in the form we expect or desire; the answer may be different from but it is always better than our prayer. St. Augustine draws a distinction between the hearing of prayer “ad salutem” and “ad voluntatem,” comparing the e... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cf._ our Lord's summary of the commandments in Matthew 22:34-40 = Mark 12:28-31, and observe the apostolic narrowing of τὸν πλησίον σου (_cf._ Luke 10:29-37) to ἀλλήλους, _i.e._ τούς ἀδελφούς (see note on 1 John 2:9). τῷ ὀνόματι, see note on 1 John 2:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὰς ἐντ. αὐτ., “the commandments of God,” resuming 1 John 3:22. _Cf._ 1 John 4:15. ἐκ, the assurance is begotten of the Spirit; see note on 1 John 2:21. οὗ for ὅ, by attraction to the case of the antecedent (_cf._ Luke 2:20; Revelation 18:6). ἔδωκεν, “gave,” _i.e._, when first we believed. For the t... [ Continue Reading ]