1 John 3

Ver. 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.] Namely, upon us Christians. Dr. Wells. As if he had said, I have been exhorting you to secure to yourselves the privileges of your Christianity by the careful practice of its commands: a thing you cannot fail to do, would you seriously consider how noble and valuable a blessing it is to be made the children of God, members of His church, and imitators of His Divine excellencies. No wonder therefore the generality of mankind should have so despicable a notion of us Christians, while they have so little apprehension of the nature and will of that God, whose servants we are. Pyle.

— that we should be called the sons of God.] That we, the sons of disobedient and condemned Adam by natural generation, should be translated into the glorious liberty of the sons of God by adoption: that we, who were aliens, strangers, and enemies, should be assumed “unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,” Eph. iii. 15, and be made partakers of “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” Eph. i. 18. For as, in the legal adoption, the father hath as full and absolute power over his adopted son, as over his own issue, so, in the spiritual, the adopted sons have a clear and undoubted right of inheritance. He then, who hath “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself,” Eph. i. 5, hath thereby another kind of paternal relation, and so we receive “the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,” Rom. viii. 16. Bp. Pearson.

— for we shall see him as he is.] We shall have a clear and perfect knowledge of God, wherein consists our intellectual happiness; and shall be admitted into His immediate presence, where is all other happiness and glory, of which we are capable. Dr. Wells. It appears from these words of the Apostle, that the state of good men in the other world will carry with it a resemblance, not in degree, but in kind, to the absolutely perfect Being, in those perfections of which man is capable: and that these will be produced in us by “seeing God as He is;” that is, by a vastly more distinct and more full sight of Him, than the present condition of human nature will admit of. Bp. Conybeare.

&c.] This will shew us to be Christians indeed; and while the impartial testimony and inward sense of our own consciences assures of the sincere performance of our duty, we may safely conclude that God, the Searcher of hearts and Standard of all truth, will approve of and reward us. And on the contrary, whoever by the clear conviction of his own mind knows and feels himself to be a hypocritical transgressor of his moral duty, must be assured that God, who knows him better than he does himself, cannot fail to be his more severe judge and revenger. Pyle. 20. — if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.] If a man be conscious to himself of his own wickedness, yea, the very secret wickedness and hypocrisy of his heart, sure God Himself, who set up in every man this “candle” of conscience, as Solomon calls it, Prov. xx. 27, cannot be ignorant of it: He being the fountain of all knowledge, and all knowledge in the creature derivative from Him, and so knowing all things that are knowable by any creature, and infinitely more. Bp. Bull.

1 John 3:2

2. — we shall be like him.] In holiness as well as in

1 John 3:3

3. And every man that hath this hope] Of seeing Christ, and of being like Him, “purifieth himself.” The felicity, which the Gospel teacbeth us to expect in the world to come, is not that of a Mahometan paradise, in which animal pleasures are the chief enjoyments. The happiness of the children of God in the kingdom of their Father will consist in being like Christ, not only in respect of His immortality, but in respect of His transcendent virtues, especially His boundless benevolence. And the joy, which will flow from the possession and exercise of virtues similar to Christ’s, is so great, that no one, who hopes to become like Christ in virtue and happiness, will indulge himself in the unrestrained enjoyment of sensual pleasures; but will purify himself from the immoderate desire of those pleasures, in imitation of the purity of Christ. Dr. Macknight.

— purifieth himself.] Namely, from the lusts of the flesh, and from every sin. The Apostle, as Beza observes, does not say, ‘hath purified himself,’ but “purifieth himself;” to shew that it is a good man’s constant study to purify himself, because in this life no one can attain to perfect purity. By this text therefore, as well as by chap. i. 8, those fanatics are condemned, who imagine they are able to live without sin. Dr. Macknight.

Would God a better conformity to the example of His purity, than actually obtains, were to be found in the lives of nominal Christians! the numbers would be greater, which might entertain a reasonable hope that they shall be made like to Him when He appeareth. But thanks be to God, repentance, in this as in other cases, genuine, sincere repentance, shall stand the sinner in the stead of innocence: the sinner is allowed to wash the stains, even of these pollutions, in the Redeemer’s blood. Bp. Horsley.

1 John 3:4

4. Whosoever committeth sin] That is, who lives in the commission of it, lives in an opposition to the law of God. Dr. Whitby.

We ought obediently to keep God’s commandments. After Anno DOMINI 90. fested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

1 John 3:5

5.—to take away our sins.] Not only by suffering to remove the guilt of our past sins, but also to purify us from the power and dominion of it, that henceforth we might not serve sin, Rom. vi. 6; that being “free from sin” we might “live unto righteousness.” Dr. Whitby.

—and in him is no sin.] So that our likeness to Him must consist in ceasing from it. Dr. Whitby.

1 John 3:6

6.—sinneth not.] Doth not go on in a course and habit of sinning. He makes it his constant care and endeavour to avoid all sin. Burkitt. It is necessary to understand the expression with some such limitation, in order, both to make one Scripture consistent with another, (compare James iii. 2,) and even to reconcile this assertion to other passages in the Epistle before us; see chap. i. 8—10. Dr. Doddridge.

—hath not seen him, neither known him.] Has no true knowledge of the intent of Christ’s coming into the world, or of His doctrine here. Dr. Wells. “Whosoever sinneth” thus, hath no interest at all in Christ, neither hath truly believed in Him. Bp. Hall.

1 John 3:7

7.—let no man deceive you.] With pretensions that faith without righteousness will make you righteous before God. Dr. Whitby. The caution implies, that some pretenders to inspiration had endeavoured to deceive the brethren, by teaching what St. John here condemns: and being a solemn address of the Apostle it shews the importance of the matter which it introduces. Dr. Macknight.

—he that doeth righteousness is righteous.] The Scriptures speak of doing righteousness in two senses: 1st, in a legal sense, which consists in an exact obedience and fulfilling of the law; and thus there is “none righteous, no not one:” 2dly, in an evangelical sense, which means walking uprightly according to the rules of the Gospel, conscientiously avoiding all known sin, and performing every commanded duty, observing a constant course of holy actions, and making it our daily care to please God in all that we do. And it is the duty of every Christian, who would not be deceived as to his spiritual condition, to try himself by this infallible mark: “He that doeth righteousness is righteous:—whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,” ver. 10. Burkitt.

1 John 3:8

8. He that committeth sin is of the devil; &c.] He that gives himself over to the commission of sin, and makes it his willing practice, that man is not of God, but of the devil: for it is, and hath been, the trade of that wicked spirit, even from the beginning, ever since his fall, to sin against God, and to draw others into sin and condemnation with him. Bp. Hall.

Herein is the plain trial of our condition. If we are destitute of “the fruits of the Spirit,” it is bad: if we find them in our hearts and lives, we have proof enough of its being good, and need never disquiet ourselves for want of any other. Being able to tell the very moment when we became pious and virtuous, is not material, provided we are so now; and happiest of all are they, who remember not themselves ever to have been otherwise. All feelings are imaginary and deceitful, unless they be accompanied with that one, which the Apostle experienced and mentions; For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the

world," 2 Cor. i. 12. Our Saviour’s rule of “knowing every tree by its fruit,” Luke vi. 44, is the only sure way to judge of ourselves, as well as of others. And though we may perhaps be sometimes at a loss how to judge, or inclined, and even strongly, to fear the worst; yet if this arise not from presumptuous sins or habitual negligence, but merely from excessive humility or weakness of spirits, a modest diffidence will never hinder our future happiness, nor will a bold positiveness ever forward it. Good men may be cast down, and bad men elevated, without any reason. The former may see much in themselves to dislike; and yet God may see enough of what He approves to accept them: they may experience little joy in serving Him, and yet “walk” more completely “worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.” Col. i. 10, for doing it without the encouragement of a present reward. The latter, on the other hand, may build upon groundless fancies of their own, mistaking them for Divine communications; may be absolutely confident, wonderfully transported, yet find themselves at last fatally deceived. It is not therefore by their fears, or their hopes, or their raptures, that men are to judge of their spiritual condition. “Hereby,” saith St. John, “do we know that we know God, if we keep His commandments,” chap. ii. 3. “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous: he that committeth sin is of the devil.” Abp. Secker.

As therefore we are well assured, that repentance will re-instate us, and that obedience will continue us, in the Divine favour, according to the gracious terms of the Gospel, so let us likewise remember, that he, who wilfully and habitually committeth sin, whatever evidence of his new birth or justification, his adoption or acceptance, he may fancy himself possessed of, is actually no other than the servant of sin, and the slave of the devil. In short, virtue and vice, holiness and wickedness, Christ and Helial, can never, never unite together. If therefore we design ourselves to be the candidates for heaven, we must endeavour to acquire such qualifications as will render us fit for that holy place: because unless we really acquire them during the present state, the alternative is dreadful indeed: for “he who committeth sin is of the devil.” How shocking even to repeat; yet much more shocking to feel! to feel not only for a time, but for ever! Whereas on the contrary, “he who doeth righteousness is righteous, even as God is righteous:” righteous he is, because he will have, not only his manifold failings and imperfections all forgiven, through the mercies of the Gospel covenant, but even his deliberate sins and offences cancelled and blotted out on his sincere repentance: and what is still more than ever could have been thought of, much less petitioned for, he will find himself permitted to appear before God as “holy, unblameable, and unreprovenable in His sight,” Col. i. 22. Dean Tucker.

—For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.] Namely, that He might undo all that the devil had done, by recovering mankind out of that sinful estate to which the devil had brought them, and enabling them to resist the devil and all his temptations, so as to force him to fly

We are exhorted to love one another. After Anno DOMINI 90.

1 John 3:9

9, 10. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; &c.] As if he had said, In fine, while a man preserves his Christian principle, and answers the character of a true member of God’s church, he can never be guilty of deliberate and habitual vice. Make it therefore a sure test to whom a man belongs, in whose service he is listed, and from whom he may expect his wages, whether of God or the devil, by the good or wicked practices of his life, by his behaviour towards God and towards his brethren. Pyle.

The phrase “born of God” is not to be so taken here, as to denote the single transient act of regeneration; but rather a continued course, a permanent state, so that a regenerate man and a child of God are of the same meaning, and signify him that lives a pious and godly life, and continues to do so. For the phrase, “a child” or “son” of any kind of father, signifies a resemblance or similitude of inclinations and actions: as a child of the devil, Acts xiii. 10; sons of Belial, Judges xix. 22; children of Abraham, Gal. iii. 7. And so generally in this Epistle, he that is “born of God” signifies a man truly pious, an obedient servant of God: and such is the subject of this proposition here, when of such an one it is said, that “he cannot sin:” not affirming, that he cannot cease to be what he is, cannot fall off from the performance of his duty, of the possibility of which the many warnings and exhortations that are given to pious men are evidences, see chap. ii. 1; 1 Cor. x. 12; Heb. iii. 12; 2 Pet. iii. 17; but that remaining thus, a pious follower, imitator, and so “child of God,” he cannot yield deliberately to any kind of sin. Dr. Hammond.

1 John 3:13

13. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.] By what was said of Cain’s hatred to Abel, and the occasion of it, you may learn not to think it new or strange, if wicked men hate you, notwithstanding, or even upon account of, your piety and virtue. Dean Stanhope.

1 John 3:14

14, 15. We know that we have passed &c.] Meanwhile as charity in us is an evidence of our being true disciples of Christ, and entitled to the future happiness promised by the Gospel; so is such malice in them as sure a mark of their being still in a state of condemnation:

1 John 3:15

15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.] If we do a person no harm, yet if we wish him harm, St. John hath here determined the case, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” For indeed, hatred not only leads to murder, and too often, when indulged, produces it unexpectedly, but it is always, though perhaps for the most part in a lower degree, the very spirit of murder in the heart; and it is by our hearts that God will judge us. Abp. Secker.

1 John 3:16

16.—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.] The meaning of this and the following verse is, that the evidences of God’s love are so engaging, as even to render the sacrificing of our lives for a greater and general good a becoming instance of charity for them, who are zealous to imitate it in the just perfection. But if any, who ought not to refuse their very lives, shall yet be so sordid as not to impart their superfluities for the support of their brethren, whose hard case it is to want the necessaries of life: all the pretences, which such hard-hearted wretches make to the love of God, are manifestly false and hypocritical. Dean Stanhope.

The honour and advancement of the Gospel, by the influence of the example of those, who suffer for their constant adherence to the truth of it, is generally supposed to be that “laying down of our lives for the brethren,” to which St. John here pronounces us obliged. Dean Stanhope.

The extent and benefit of brotherly love. After Anno DOMINI 96. compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

1 John 3:22

22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him.] That is, shall receive: for the present tense is often used for the future, to shew the certainty of the thing spoken of. This general declaration must be limited by the conditions, which in other passages of Scripture are made necessary to our petitions being granted by God: such as, that we ask things agreeable to His will, chap. v. 14, 15; and that we ask them in faith, James i. 6; that is, in the full persuasion of the Divine wisdom and goodness, and with sincerity and resignation. Such prayers they who keep the commandments of God may hope will be heard, because they keep His commandments by habitually doing the things which are pleasing to Him. Dr. Macknight.

1 John 3:23

23. — That we should believe &c.] That is, true faith and true charity are the sum of that duty which God requires of us. Dean Stanhope. This and the following verse may be thus paraphrased: In short, true faith in the doctrine of Christ, and true charity to mankind, especially to our Christian brethren, is the sum total of our duty. And you, that have already duly performed it, have a sufficient pledge and commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.