1 John 3:23

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. God's commandments summed up in the one Gospel commandment. THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT - singular: for faith and love are not separate commandments, but indissolubly one. We cannot truly love one another without faith in Christ, nor truly believe in Him without love. BELIEVE - once for all [aorist, pisteusoomen (G4100), B; but 'Aleph (') A C, pisteuoomen, 'continually believe]. ON THE NAME OF HIS SON - all that is revealed in the Gospel concerning Him, and on Himself, in His person, offices, and atoning work. AS HE - Jesus....

23_And this is his commandment _He again accommodates a general truth to his own purpose. The meaning is, that such is the discord between us and God, that we are kept off from an access to him, except we are united by love to one another. At the same time he does not here commend love alone, as before, but joins it as the companion and attendant of faith. The Sophists by their glosses distort these words, as though liberty to pray were obtained by us, partly by faith and partly by works. As John requires us to keep God’s commandments that we may pray aright, and afterwards teaches us that this keeping refers to faith and love, they conclude, that from these two things ought we to derive confidence in prayer. But I have already several times reminded you, that the subject here is not how or by what means men may prepare themselves so that they may have confidence to pray to God, for he s...

22-24 When believers had confidence towards God, through the Spirit of adoption, and by faith in the great High Priest, they might ask what they would of their reconciled Father. They would receive it, if good for them. And as good-will to men was proclaimed from heaven, so good-will to men, particularly to the brethren, must be in the hearts of those who go to God and heaven. He who thus follows Christ, dwells in Him as his ark, refuge, and rest, and in the Father through him. This union between Christ and the souls of believers, is by the Spirit he has given them. A man may believe that God is gracious before he knows it; yet when faith has laid hold on the promises, it sets reason to work. This Spirit of God works a change; in all true Christians it changes from the power of Satan to the power of God. Consider, believer, how it changes thy heart. Dost not thou long for peace with God...

Verse 23. _THAT WE SHOULD BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF HIS SON_] We are commanded to believe on Christ, that for the sake of his passion and death we may be justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses; and being through him redeemed from the guilt of sin, restored to the Divine favour, and made partakers of the Holy Ghost, we are enabled to _love one_ _another as he gave us commandment_; for without a renewal of the heart, love to God and man is impossible, and this renewal comes by Christ Jesus....

AND THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT - His commandment, by way of eminence; the leading, principal thing which he enjoins on us; the commandment which lies at the foundation of all true obedience. THAT WE SHOULD BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST - See the notes at Mark 16:16. Compare John 16:1; Acts 16:31. AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER ... - This follows from the other, and hence they are mentioned as together constituting his commandment. Notes, John 13:35....

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,

AND THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT,.... Having mentioned the keeping of the commandments of God, the apostle proceeds to show what they are; that they are faith in Christ, and love to one another; which two are reduced to one, because they are inseparable; where the one is, the other is; faith works by love. THAT WE SHOULD BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST; Christ is the object of faith, and he is no, as he is Jesus, a Saviour; faith deals with him as such, and will have no other Saviour but he: and now to believe in him, is not merely to believe that he is the Son of God, the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world, that he is come in the flesh, has suffered, and died, and rose again from the dead, is ascended into heaven, and is set down at the right hand of God, makes intercession for his people, and will come again to judge the quick and dead; but it is to go forth in special and...

1 John 3:1. _Behold,_ For there is no greater wonder out of heaven than this: «Behold,» 1 John 3:1. _What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth it not, because it knew him not._ As we are called the sons of God, we are to be made like his only-begotten Son; and here is the beginning of the likeness, that, as the world did not know him, and therefore crucified him, so it does not know the other sons of God, and therefore spends its malice upon them whenever it can. Yet what a marvellous thing is this, what a wonder of divine condescension, that we who were the slaves of Satan, the children of disobedience, the heirs of wrath, should be called the sons of God! We can well accept the consequence of s

V. HEREBY WE KNOW Chapter S 3:19-5:13 _ 1. Hereby we know that we are of the truth (1 John 3:19)_ 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God (1 John 4:1) 3. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth and of error (1 John 4:5) 4. The Love manifested toward us (1 John 4:7) 5. The final tests as to the possession of eternal life (1 John 4:20; 1 John 5:1) 1 John 3:19 .

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...