32 - 1Jn 2:25
Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία, ἣν αὐτὸς ἐπηγγείλατο ἡμῖν, τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.
Now at length the apostle may regard his exhibition of the truth as completed and closed; he brings in the conclusion when he indicates that the abiding in our Lord is the final goal and issue of the whole saving institute of Christ. For we must be sure that the αὕτη [“this”] in the beginning of 1Jn 2:25 refers to this abiding in the Lord,—that is, to what goes before, not to what follows. It is indeed not to be disputed that, generally speaking, in propositions which are constituted like this of ours, St. John is accustomed to refer the demonstrative pronoun to what follows; but a grammatical necessity it is not, and the sense here forbids it. For if the αὕτη [“this”] is referred to the sequel, its meaning is the ζωὴαἰώνιος [“eternal life”]; and the thought would be, that eternal life is the promise given to us. But in that case the accusative τὴν ζωὴν [“the life”] would be a still greater difficulty than it is in the explanation we shall presently give; and, moreover, the apostle would then introduce into the close of the whole period two absolutely new ideas, without the least indication of their connection with what precedes. It is quite otherwise if we refer αὕτη [“this”] to what goes before: then the ζωὴαἰώνιος [“eternal life”] is essentially in apposition with ἐπαγγελία [“promise”], and put into the accusative only through attraction to the relative clause ἡἐπηγγείλαμεν [“what we proclaimed”]. From this, then, we derive a meaning as clear as it is appropriate: it is this, that the abiding in the Lord forms the contents of the promise of eternal life which Christ has given us. It is certainly true, again, that the words ἐπαγγελία [“promise”] and ἐπαγγέλλειν [“to announce”] are not generally current in the Johannaean idiom; and we do not find, in his Gospel, eternal life specified as the contents of the ἐπαγγελία [“promise”] of Christ,—that is, in any formal expression. It is indeed the goal to which He would conduct us, the end that He sets before us; and in this sense is a promise actually running through the whole of our Lord’s life and teaching. Particularly, there are two passages, out of many which treat of eternal life, which here come into consideration. One is in the sixth chapter, where Christ exhibits this life as the fruit of faith in Himself, Joh 6:40, John 6:47, John 6:54, while it comes further into view as the result of His words in us, compare Joh 6:68, ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχεις [“you have words of eternal life”]: precisely as here, in our passage, the ἀκούειντὸνλόγοναὐτοῦ [“to hear his word”] forms the presupposition for that abiding in Him which is the substantial meaning of the ζωὴαἰώνιος [“eternal life”]. The second is Joh 17:2-3, where eternal life consists in this, that γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸνκαὶ [“they may know you, the olly true God, and”] (and the addition following is the point concerned here) ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν [“Jesus Christ, whom tyou have sent”]. This γιγνώσκειν [“to know”] corresponds to the ὁμολογεῖναὐτόν [“to confess him”] in our present passage.—Thus the Lord has set forth eternal life as the final scope of His work; to this He will lead every man; and therefore it is called the promise which He hath given. And this promise, according to our present verse, He has fulfilled; this life we have received, inasmuch as He abideth in us and we in Him: the contents and meaning of the αὕτη [“this”]. This definition of the strict meaning of eternal life is the same—and this shows its correctness—which we found in the introduction to our Epistle, that is, in 1Jn 1:3, where fellowship with the Father and the Son is laid down as its substantial meaning. Moreover, it is very plain, from a consideration of our passage, how necessary it is that we should take αἰώνιος [“eternal”] not as a metaphysical, but as an ethical idea: it is not its super-temporal character, but the divinity of this life which is expressed by the term.