1 John 3:16

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. What true love to the brethren is, is illustrated by Christ's to us. HEREBY - `herein.' THE LOVE OF GOD. "Of God" is not in the original. Translate, 'We arrive at the knowledge of LOVE;' we apprehend what true love is. HE - Christ. AND WE - on our part, if necessary for the glory of God, the good of the Church, or the salvation of a brother. LIVES. Christ laid down His one life for us all: we ought to lay down our lives severally for the lives of the brethren: if not actually, at least virtually, by giving our time, care, prayers, substance: 'Non nobis, sed omnibus.' Our life ought not to be dearer to us than God's own Son was to Him. The apostles and martyrs acted on this principle....

16_Hereby perceive we_, or, _By this we know_. He now shews what true love is; for it would not have been enough to commend it, unless its power is understood. As an instance of perfect love, he sets before us the example of Christ; for he, by not sparing his own life, testified how much he loved us. This then is the mark to which he bids them to advance. The sum of what is said is, that our love is approved, when we transfer the love of ourselves to our brethren, so that every one, in a manner forgetting himself, should seek the good of others. (79) It is, indeed, certain, that we are far from being equal to Christ: but the Apostle recommends to us the imitation of him; for though we do not overtake him, it is yet meet, that we should follow his steps, though at a distance. Doubtless, since it was the Apostle’s object to beat down the vain boasting of hypocrites, who gloried that they h...

16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to....

Verse 16. _HEREBY PERCEIVE WE THE LOVE OF GOD_] This sixteenth verse of this third chapter of John's first epistle is, in the main, an exact counterpart of the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of St. John's gospel: _God so loved the world, that he gave_ _his only-begotten Son_, c. Here the apostle says, We perceive, εγνωκαμεν, _we have known_, the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. _Of God_ is not in the text, but it is preserved in one MS., and in two or three of the versions but though this does not establish its authenticity, yet τουθεου, _of God_, is necessarily understood, or τουχριστου, _of Christ_, as Erpen's _Arabic_ has it; or αυτουειςημας, _his love to us_, as is found in the Syriac. A higher proof than this of his love Christ could not have possibly given to the children of men. _WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR THE BRETHREN._] We should _risk_ our life...

HEREBY PERCEIVE WE THE LOVE OF GOD - The words “of God” are not in the original, and should not have been introduced into the translation, though they are found in the Latin Vulgate, and in the Genevan versions, and in one manuscript. They would naturally convey the idea that “God” laid down his life for us; or that God himself, in his divine nature, suffered. But this idea is not expressed in this passage as it is in the original, and of course no argument can be derived from it either to prove that Christ is God, or that the divine nature is capable of suffering. The original is much more expressive and emphatic than it is with this addition: “By this we know love;” that is, we know what true love is; we see a most affecting and striking illustration of its nature. “Love itself” - its real nature, its power, its sacrifices, its influences - was seen in its highest form, when the Son of...

EXPOSITION 1 JOHN 3:1 TO 1 JOHN 5:12 3. SECOND MAIN DIVISION. _God is Love._ 1 JOHN 3:1 (1) The _evidence of sonship. _Righteousness. 1 JOHN 3:1 The Divine birth is the outcome of the Divine love. 1 JOHN 3:1 BEHOLD WHAT MANNER OF LOVE! Ποταπός;_ _literally, "of what country," in the New Testament always implies amazement; but,

HEREBY PERCEIVE WE THE LOVE [OF GOD],.... The phrase "of God" is not in the Oriental versions, nor in the Greek copies, but is in the Complutensian edition, and in the Vulgate Latin version, and is favoured by the Syriac version, which reads, "by this we know his love to us"; and so the Ethiopic version, "by this we know his love". That is, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly and properly God, the great God, the mighty God, the true God, and God over all, blessed for ever. His love is manifested to his people, and perceived by them in various instances; but in nothing is it more clearly seen than in the following one: BECAUSE HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US: of the life of Christ, and his laying it down in the room of his people, John 15:13, which shows his love, his free grace and favour; for this arose not from any merit or worth in the persons he died for; not fro

I have read this chapter many times in your hearing, but we cannot read it too often, for it is full of the deepest and most important instruction. God grant that fresh light from above may shine upon it as we listen once more to the familiar words! 1 John 3:1. _Behold,_ If you never used your eyes to good purpose before, use them so now: 1 John 3:1. _What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:_ Let the truth of our adoption amaze us, the adoption of such unworthy ones as we were to so high a relationship «that we should be called the sons of God.» 1 John 3:1. Therefore the world knoweth not, because it knew him not.

IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE AS MANIFESTED BY THE CHILDREN OF GOD Chapter S 2:28-3:18 __ 1. The children of God and their coming manifestation (1 John 2:28 -1 John 3:3) 2. Sin and the new nature (1 John 3:4) 3. Righteousness and love (1 John 3:10) 1 John 2:28 -1 John 3:3 . The address to the babes in Christ ended with the 27th verse, and now once more he speaks of the teknia, the little children, by which all believers are meant. The exhorta

The hatred of the world is to be expected, but within the Christian brotherhood there must be love, manifesting itself in deeds of self-sacrifice in imitation of Christ's love. If we possess this spirit we shall be able to silence inward misgivings as to our standing before God, because we obey Him in that we believe in Christ and love one another. Such obedience ensures His indwelling, attested by the gift of His Spirit. 1 JOHN 3:14. The teaching is the same as in 1 John 2:9 f., except that the metaphor has been changed, and the soul's lack of correspondence with its spiritual environment is described as death. 1 John 3:15_ a_. An echo of...