CHAPTER 5 Ver. 1. _Every one that believeth_, with a living faith, which extends itself to charity, and worketh by love, _that Jesus is the Christ_, i.e., the Messiah, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, _is born of God_, by a divine and spiritual birth, which takes place by faith, love, and grac... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF S. JOHN.. CHAPTER 1 VER. 1. _That which was from the beginning_, &c. The beginning of this Epistle corresponds with the beginning of St. John's Gospel. Both here and there he sets forth the eternity and the Godhead of Christ, and next His Incarnation, these being the t... [ Continue Reading ]
But the word signifies not only His eternity, but His eternal generation, and (3.) His Godhead, for 'Being' or existence, as Elias Cretensis says, is peculiar (_proprium_) to God. For He is the fulness and boundlessness of being, a very boundless ocean of being. Whence Didymus (_in loc_.), S. Cyril... [ Continue Reading ]
_That ye also may have fellowship with us._ That is, in the same faith and Church of Christ, where all partake in the same sacraments. It means also that ye should make increase and advance in the faith. It signifies a continuous and growing act. For he speaks to the faithful who already belonged to... [ Continue Reading ]
_For every thing which is born of God_, &c. He proves what he had said that _His commandments are not heavy_, because the faithful, who are born again of faith, and charity, and are armed by God, overcome the world, _i.e._ the lusts and terrors of the world, which alone resist charity, and make the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because there are Three which bear witness in Heaven_, &c. S. John here more fully explains and confirms the testimony already adduced of the water, the blood and the spirit concerning Christ. The particle _because_ is partly confirmatory of what He had said in the 5th ver. that Jesus is the Son of... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there are three which give witness in earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Three_ (_tres_ in the _masc_.). He might have said _tria_ in the _neuter_, for the Greek _πνευ̃μα ϋδως αίμα_, are all in that gender. But he chose to say _tres_, to show that these three earthly witnesses concur... [ Continue Reading ]
_If we receive the witness of men_, &c. If we give credit to man's testimony, much more ought we to believe the witness of God concerning Christ. It is greater both in dignity and authority, in truth and certainty. For God infinitely surpasses all men and angels in majesty and veracity. He is the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
_He_ _that believeth in the Son of God hath the witness in himself._ 1st Because he hath in him the thing attested by God, namely this truth, that Christ is the Son of God. 2d. Because he hath in himself the very witness of God, and God Himself attesting. 3d. This testimony is the faith itself by... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this is the testimony_, &c. This means, 1st God hath not only testified that Christ is His Son, but also that He is our Saviour and Redeemer, so that he who believes in Him is justified, and receives the spiritual life of grace and glory. 2d. This very thing is the end and fruit of the testimo... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that hath the Son, i.e._, by faith, love, and obedience, _hath life_, of grace in fact, of glory in hope. He alludes to the words in his own Gospel, "He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." (J... [ Continue Reading ]
_These things I write unto you, that ye who believe in the name of the Son of God have eternal life._ The Greek adds, _that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God._ But this seems to be tautologous. The name of the Son of God is put for the thing signified, the Son of God Himself. There is an... [ Continue Reading ]
_He who knows his brother to sin a sin not unto death, let him ask, and life shall begiven him for him that sinneth not unto death._ (_S. Ambrose, lib._ 1 _de Penitent. c._ 9, and Tertullian, _de_ _Pudicit. c._ 2, read, _because he sinneth not to death_.) _There is a sin unto death_, &c. Instead of... [ Continue Reading ]
_A11_ _iniquity is sin, and there is a sin unto death_ : the Greek and Syriac add the negative proposition, _and there is a sin not unto death._ He opposes the two kinds of sin. Every iniquity is sin, but not every iniquity unto death, because it is a peculiar kind of sin which, as is said, is sin u... [ Continue Reading ]
_We know that every one who is born of God sinneth not, but the generation of God preserveth him._ The Latin translator reads, _γένεσις ε̉κ του̃ Θεου̃ τηζει̃ αυ̉τόν_. The present Greek reading is _γεννηθείς ε̉κ του̃ Θεου̃ τηζει̃ αυ̉τόν_, _i.e. he who is born of God keepeth himself_, viz., by the vir... [ Continue Reading ]
_And we know that the Son of God has come_, &c. S. Ambrose (_lib._ 1 _de Fid. c._ 7) reads, _hath appeared._ The Apostle now explains what he had said, that we are of God, and therefore have overcome the world and the wicked one; namely, that this has been done and is being done through Christ. God... [ Continue Reading ]
_Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen._ S. John gives this last admonition, because in that age idolatry was a great danger, and it was most needful to warn against it. For at that time the whole world lay in the wicked one, _i.e._ in idolatry, and so Christians who were recently conver... [ Continue Reading ]