41 - 1Jn 3:7
Τεκνία, μηδεὶς πλανάτω ὑμᾶς. ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην, δίκαιός ἐστι, καθὼς ἐκεῖνος δίκαιός ἐστιν But this thought is too keen, too repellent to the natural man, for reception in this plain form, and without qualification. Hence follows the express exhortation not to be led astray by opposite and erroneous thoughts. The direct appeal by no means introduces a new thought; but here as everywhere its aim is to bring close home the apostolic utterance to the individual reader. The words μηδεὶς πλανάτω ὑμᾶς [“let no one deceive you”] lead at once to the supposition that the church was in danger of giving heed to such spirits of error; but we must not overlook the fact that the temptation to lower views is not supposed to lie in any definite relation to others and in any definite sect, but is always grounded on the thoughtlessness of the natural man. We are too often content with the consciousness that we stand in some special relation to the Lord, and come to regard sin as an unavoidable evil which is not so very hurtful as might be thought. In opposition to this, the apostle makes it emphatic that the only test, the only sure evidence, of the righteousness of believing is the righteousness of living: where the latter is wanting, there must be something fundamentally wrong in the former. The stress of the seventh verse lies on the ποιεῖν [“to do”]: he only is righteous whose righteousness is approved in act. As we read in Joh 3:31, ὁ ὢν ἐκ τῆς γῆς, ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐστι [“he who is of the earth is from the earth”],—he whose origin is the earth has in fact an earthly origin, bears its signature in himself,—so it is here with the ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην, δίκαιός ἐστι [“he who practices righteousness is righteous”]: he who is righteous must be simply righteous, and bear the stamp of righteousness on himself. It is then added that this righteousness, thus approving itself, makes us like the righteous Christ. This does not mean to say that by such a procedure we may attain to a specially distinguished kind of righteousness, such, namely, as Christ had; for the apostle in this present connection knows nothing about gradations in righteousness any more than he acknowledges gradations in sin. The clause καθώςκ.τ.λ. [“just as, etc.”] rather points back to 1Jn 3:3: there it was said that the goal of our earthly development is the ἁγνεία [“purity”] of Christ; and this we are supposed in the present words of St. John to reach in the doing of righteousness.