INTRODUCTION TO 1 JOHN 3 In this chapter the apostle exhorts to a holy life and conversation in general, and to the exercise of brotherly love in particular. The former of these is urged from the consideration of the great blessing of adoption, which springs from the free love and favour of God, is... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD WHAT MANNER OF LOVE,.... See, take notice, consider, look by faith, with wonder and astonishment, and observe how great a favour, what an instance of matchless love, what a wonderful blessing of grace, THE FATHER HATH BESTOWED UPON US: the Father of Christ, and the Father of us in Christ, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BELOVED, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD,.... By adoption, secretly in God's predestination, and in the covenant of grace; and openly in regeneration, through faith in Christ, and by the testimony of the Spirit: AND IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE; though they are sons, they do not appear now as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND EVERY MAN THAT HATH THIS HOPE IN HIM,.... Or on him, Jesus Christ; for a true hope of that eternal happiness, which lies in likeness to Christ, and in the vision of him, is only founded on his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice: and this hope every man has not, only he who is born again... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER COMMITTETH SIN,.... This, in connection with what follows, is true of any sin, great or small, but here designs a course of sinning, a wilful, obstinate, persisting in sin: TRANSGRESSETH ALSO THE LAW; not of man, unless the law of men is founded on, and agrees with the law of God, for som... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE KNOW THAT HE WAS MANIFESTED,.... This is a truth of the Gospel the saints were well instructed in and acquainted with; that Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of God, who is here meant, who was with the Father, and lay in his bosom from all eternity, was in the fulness of time made manifest in th... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER ABIDETH IN HIM,.... As the branch in the vine, deriving all light, life, grace, holiness, wisdom, strength, joy, peace, and comfort from Christ; or dwells in him by faith, enjoys communion with him as a fruit of union to him; and stands fast in him, being rooted and grounded in him, and ab... [ Continue Reading ]
LITTLE CHILDREN, LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU,.... Neither by these doctrines, nor by wicked practices, drawing into the belief of the one, or into the performance of the other; suggesting, as the Gnostics did, that knowledge without practice was enough, and that it was no matter how a man lived, provided... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT COMMITTETH SIN IS OF THE DEVIL,.... Not everyone that sins, or commits acts of sin, then every man is of the devil, because no man lives without the commission of sin; but he who makes sin his constant business, and the employment of his life, whose life is a continued series of sinning, he... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER IS BORN OF GOD,.... In a figurative and spiritual sense; who are regenerated, or born from above; who are quickened by the grace of God, and have Christ formed in them; who are made partakers of the divine nature, and new creatures in Christ; which spiritual birth is not owing to men, to t... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THIS THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE MANIFEST,.... By regenerating grace, and not sinning, in the sense before explained, in consequence of it: adoption is an act of God's grace and sovereign will; it is secret in his own heart, and is secured in divine predestination, and in the covenant of grace, and i... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS IS THE MESSAGE,.... Sent from God by Christ, or what he in his ministry declared, and is the commandment which was so frequently urged by him, John 13:34; THAT YE HAVE HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING; of the preaching of the Gospel to them, and of their conversion; see 1 John 2:7; THAT WE SHOULD... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT AS CAIN,.... That is, let us not be like him, or do as he did, hate the brethren. The apostle illustrates brotherly love by its contrary, in the instance of Cain, who was the first instance and example of hatred of the brethren, and of fratricide, and a very detestable one, by which he would dis... [ Continue Reading ]
MARVEL NOT, MY BRETHREN, IF THE WORLD HATE YOU. By "the world" is meant the inhabitants of the world, the wicked part of them; these hate the saints, though without a cause, any just cause, and for no other reason, but because they are chosen and called out of the world, and do not live the wicked l... [ Continue Reading ]
WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE PASSED FROM DEATH TO LIFE,.... From a death in sin, a moral or spiritual death; which lies in a separation from God, Father, Son, and Spirit; in an alienation from the life of God; in a loss of the image of God, of righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, in which man was created... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER HATETH HIS BROTHER IS A MURDERER,.... A soul murderer, as the Ethiopic version renders it; not only of himself, for every sinner, by sinning, wrongs and destroys his own soul; but of his brother whom he hates: he is a murderer of him in his heart, even as he that lusts after a woman hath c... [ Continue Reading ]
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 ver... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHOSO HATH THIS WORLD'S GOOD,.... The possessions of this world, worldly substance, the temporal good things of it; for there are some things in it, which are honestly, pleasantly, and profitably good, when used lawfully, and not abused, otherwise they are to the owner's hurt: or "the living of... [ Continue Reading ]
MY LITTLE CHILDREN, LET US NOT LOVE IN WORD, NEITHER IN TONGUE,.... Which though it holds good of love to God, and to Jesus Christ, yet here is to be understood of love to the brethren, as the context shows; and so the Syriac version reads, "let us not love one another in word", c. that is, without... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEREBY WE KNOW THAT WE ARE OF THE TRUTH,.... By the saints loving one another in deed and in truth, they know, as the cause is known by the effect, that they are of God, who is the true God, the God of truth, and cannot lie, and is truth itself; that they are the children of God, and are born of... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF OUR HEART CONDEMN US,.... Of want of love to the brethren, and of hypocrisy in it, as well as of any other sin; for the conscience, which is meant by the heart here, is accuser, witness and judge; it accuses of the evil of sin, and is as good as a thousand witnesses; and upon its own testimon... [ Continue Reading ]
BELOVED, IF OUR HEART CONDEMN US NOT,.... Which must be understood, not of a stupidity of mind, as is in unregenerate men, who have no sense of sin, no sorrow for it, or remorse of conscience on account of it; or as is in them who are past feeling; having their consciences seared as with a red hot i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHATSOEVER WE ASK WE RECEIVE OF HIM,.... According to his promise, Matthew 7:7; that is, whatever is asked according to the will of God, in the name of Christ, and for his sake, and in faith, nothing wavering, but believing in God, in his covenant and promises, for these are provisos in the case... [ Continue Reading ]
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 lov... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT KEEPETH HIS COMMANDMENTS,.... Attends to those instructions and declarations concerning faith in Christ, and love to the brethren, and acts according to them: DWELLETH IN HIM, AND HE IN THEM; that is, he dwells in Christ, and Christ dwells in him; the same is said of believing in Christ... [ Continue Reading ]