1 John 3:11

For this is the message that ye heard, &c. Or, Because the message which ye heard from the beginning is this: -this" is probably the predicate (see on 1 John 1:5). -From the beginning" as in 1 John 2:7: it was one of the very first things conveyed to them in their instruction in Christianity and had been ceaselessly repeated, notably by the Apostle himself. Jerome tells us that during S. John's last years -Little children, love one another" was the one exhortation which, after he had become too old to preach, he never ceased to give. "It is the Lord's command," he said; "and if this is done, it is enough." -Love one another" addressed to Christians must primarily mean the love of Christians to fellow-Christians; and this shews what -loving his brother" must mean. But the love of Christians to non-Christians must certainly not be excluded: the arguments for enforcing brotherly love cover the case of love to all mankind.