51 - 1Jn 3:21-22
Ἀγαπητοὶ, ἐὰν ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν μὴ καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν, παῤῥησίαν ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· καὶ ὃ ἐὰν αἰτῶμεν, λαμβάνομεν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηροῦμεν, καὶ τὰ ἀρεστὰ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ποιοῦμεν.
After the apostle has thus illustrated the one presupposition that we are in many ways conscious of sin, and has laid emphasis in connection with that upon brotherly love as token of a life of faith at least germinal in us, he now passes over to the second presupposition, ἐὰν ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν μὴ καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν [“if our heart does not condemn us”]. He obviously regards this case to be possible, as is plain not only from the conditional clause, itself, but also from his proceeding at once to base upon it the most important practical consequences. And in this he is found in accordance with St. Paul, who certainly and unconditionally gives himself the testimony, οὐδὲνἐμαυτῷσύνοιδα [“I am conscious of nothing against myself”] (1Co 4:4). It is indeed a noteworthy psychological fact, that in the hours of the most vivid consciousness of sin all former faith and love will seem to us no more than delusion; but, on the other hand, it is also in hours of more than ordinary elevated faith that we regard sin as under our feet. Of such hours as these last St. John here speaks. At such hours the παῤῥησία [“boldness”] as towards God appears in force. What we mentioned preliminarily in the explanation of the previous verse must again be brought to remembrance, that the point of view under which in 1Jn 2:28 the parrhesia is assumed is not regarded here: it is not the final judgment that is now concerned. Accordingly, it is clear that the section began with 1Jn 2:28 has not here reached its absolute, but only its relative end. That is to say, when the apostle was speaking of the judgment, which we in a certain sense are supposed to anticipate in ourselves after a preliminary and typical manner, the first effect was the question, what results to us as to our condition here below from a course of conduct thus or thus ordered: first, in the case of the imperfect (1Jn 3:20), a consolation springing from the consciousness of God’s nearness, at least affecting happily the present time (1Jn 3:2),—that is to say, a feeling of elevation, the παῤῥησία [“boldness”]. The having our prayers heard is exhibited as a result of this. It is clear from this, first, that the idea of confident speaking is prominent to St. John in the παῤῥησία [“boldness”]; as finally, before the Judge, so now before foe Father we have the consciousness of artless and perfect simplicity and freedom. Even at the last judgment we may conceive of a real παῤῥησία [“boldness”] as a joyous request: of such supplication as that which Christ once preferred on leaving the world, νῦν δόξασόν με σὺ πάτερ παρὰ σεαυτῷ [“now, you Father, glorify me with yourself” cf. Joh 17:5]. The remembrance of this word is here all the more appropriate, because not only shall we on that day ask to be transfigured into the glory of Christ, as He asked to be transfigured into the glory of the Father, but He also in the same way as we attained the παῤῥησία [“boldness”] of His supplication,—that is, through the confirmation of His divine Sonship by the work of perfected obedience (John 14:31), and of perfected love to man (John 13:1). That which was then the matter of Christ’s prayer offered ἐνπαῤῥησία [“with boldness”], that which will be the matter of our prayer at the end of the days, the δοξάζεσθαι [“to make glorious”], the full and absolute fellowship with our Lord, will naturally in some degree be the matter of our prayer even here.
But, on the other hand, the expression ὃἐὰναἰτῶμεν [“whatever we may ask”] points by its generality to a manifold supplication. Had St. John anything definite in his eye? When we bethink ourselves that in the last discourses of Christ to the disciples He reminded them of the confident prayer assured of its answer, and that in two ways, first, when He exhorted them both before and after to brotherly love (John 15:12-17); and, secondly, when He promised to them the Paraclete (John 16:23 ff.), thus showing that He referred to prayer for perfect brotherly love and perfect fellowship with the Father; moreover, that the high-priestly prayer of Jesus Himself partly referred to His own glorification and partly to that of his disciples; again, that in our Epistle, 1Jn 5:14, the certain assurance of prayer is again mentioned in connection with intercession for erring brethren,—remembering all this, we shall think it probable that in this passage also the apostle had in his mind these two sorts of petition, for the accomplishment of our own salvation and that of our brethren. Thus viewed, our verse assumes a position of definite and necessary importance in the whole section. To him that hath it shall be given: if you have once obtained this parrhesia, you will by virtue of it urge ever renewed supplications for the fulfilment of our salvation and the consummation of the kingdom of God, and so urge them that you will always obtain what you ask. ποιεῖν τὴνδικαιοσύνην [“to practice righteousness”], that is fellowship with God, and the ἀγάπη [“love”], fellowship with the brethren, were the conditions of the παῤῥησία [“boldness”]; and this again leads to an increased and deeper possession of those two elements of religious experience. The parrhesia and the answer of prayer are strictly correlative ideas. For the former rests upon the knowledge of my fellowship with God; the latter upon the fact that my will is one with the divine: essentially, therefore, they have the same foundation. it becomes probable that the clause with ὅτι [“that”], which gives the reason, will refer not only to the λαμβάνειν ὃἐὰναἰτῶμεν [“to receive whatever we may ask”], but to the two co-ordinated propositions of the former half of the verse. If we remember that τηρεῖν τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ [“to keep the commandments of God”] was a main idea of the first part of the Epistle, and that ποιεῖν [“to practice”] is made prominent in the second, but that the two parts are related as the internal to the external presentation, then we have perceived the relation of the two clauses in our verse.