Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

1 John 5:4

The reason why “His commandments are not heavy”. Punctuate οὐκ εἰσίν, ὅτι πᾶν, κ. τ. λ. The neut. (πᾶν τὸ γεγ.) expresses the universality of the principle, “drückt die unbedingte Allgemeinheit noch stärker aus als ‘Jeder, der aus Gott geboren ist' ” (Rothe). Cf. John 3:6. τὸν κόσμον, the sum of all the forces antagonistic to the spiritual life. “Our faith” conquers the world by clinging to the eternal realities. “Every common day, he who would be a live child of the living has to fight the God-denying look of things, to believe that, in spite of their look, they are God's, and God is in them, and working his saving will in them” (Geo. MacDonald, Castle Warlock, xli.). St. John says first “is conquering” (νικᾷ) because the fight is in progress, then “that conquered” (ἡ νικήσασα) because the triumph is assured.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

1 John 5:4

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