My (1) little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an (a) advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1) It does not follow that we must give our wicked nature free rein, or sin much more freely, because our sins are cleansed by the blood... [ Continue Reading ]
And he is the (b) propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the (c) whole world. (b) Reconciliation and intercession go together, to give us to understand that he is both advocate and high priest. (c) For men of all sorts, of all ages, and all places, so that thi... [ Continue Reading ]
(2) And hereby we do know that we (e) know him, (e) if we keep his commandments. (2) He returns to the testimony of our union with God, that is, to sanctification, declaring what it is to walk in the light, that is, to keep God's commandments. By this it follows that holiness does not consist in th... [ Continue Reading ]
(3) He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (3) Holiness, that is, a life ordered according to the prescript of God's commandments, however weak we are, is of necessity joined with faith, that is, with the true knowledge of the Father in... [ Continue Reading ]
(4) But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the (f) love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in (g) him. (4) He that keeps God's commandments loves God indeed: He that loves God, is in God, or is joined together with God. Therefore he that keeps his commandments is in him. (f) Wherew... [ Continue Reading ]
(5) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (5) He that is one with Christ, must live his life, that is, must walk in his steps.... [ Continue Reading ]
(6) Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. (6) The apostle expounding the commandment of charity towards one another, tells first that when he urges holiness, he b... [ Continue Reading ]
(7) Again, a new commandment I write unto you, (h) which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. (7) He adds that the doctrine indeed is old, but it is in a way new, both in respect to Christ, and also to us: in whom he through the gospel, engr... [ Continue Reading ]
(8) He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. (8) Now he comes to the second table, that is, to charity towards one another, and denies that a man has true light in him, or is indeed regenerate and the son of God, who hates his brother: and such a one... [ Continue Reading ]
(i) I write unto you, (9) little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his (k) name's sake. (i) Therefore I write to you, because you are of their number whom God has reconciled to himself. (9) He returns again from the sanctification to remission of sins, because that free reconciliatio... [ Continue Reading ]
(10) I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him [that is] from the beginning. (11) I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. (12) I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. (10) He shows that this doctrine agrees to all ages, and first... [ Continue Reading ]
(13) I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him [that is] from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (13) He adds afterward in like order, as many exhortations: as if he sho... [ Continue Reading ]
(14) Love not the (l) world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the (m) love of the Father is not in him. (14) The world which is full of wicked desires, lusts or pleasures, and pride, is utterly hated by our heavenly Father. Therefore the Father and the world ca... [ Continue Reading ]
(15) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (15) He shows how much better it is to obey the Father's will, than the lusts of the world, by both their natures and unlike event.... [ Continue Reading ]
(16) (n) Little children, (17) it is the last time: (18) and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (16) Now, he turns himself to little children, which nonetheless are well instructed in the sum of religion, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
(19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, (o) they would [no doubt] have continued with us: (20) but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. (19) A digression against certain offences and stumbling blocks at which that y... [ Continue Reading ]
(21) But ye have an (p) unction from the (q) Holy One, and ye know all things. (21) Thirdly, he comforts them, to make them stand fast, as they are anointed by the Holy Spirit with the true knowledge of salvation. (p) The grace of the Holy Spirit, and this is a borrowed type of speech taken from t... [ Continue Reading ]
(22) I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (22) The taking away of an objection, He did not write these things to men who are ignorant of religion, but rather to those who know the truth well, yes so far that they are abl... [ Continue Reading ]
(23) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the (r) Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (23) He shows now plainly the false doctrine of the antichrist's, that is, that either they fight against the person of Christ, or his office, or both together and at once. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
(s) Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [ (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also]. (s) They deceive themselves, and also deceive others, who say that the Moslems and other infidels worship the same God that we do.... [ Continue Reading ]
(24) Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. (24) The whole preaching of the prophets and apostles is contrary to that doctrine, therefore it is... [ Continue Reading ]
(25) These [things] have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. (25) The same Spirit who endues the elect with the knowledge of the truth and sanctifies them, gives them the gift of perseverance, to continue to the end.... [ Continue Reading ]
But the (t) anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye (u) need not that any man teach you: but as the same (x) anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (t) The Spirit who you have received from Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
(26) And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (26) The conclusion both of the whole exhortation, and also of the former treatise.... [ Continue Reading ]
(27) If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. (27) A passing over to the treatise following, which tends to the same purpose, but yet is more ample, and handles the same matter in another way, for before he taught us to go from the effects to... [ Continue Reading ]