1 John 5

says St. Paul, “have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Our blessed Lord has Himself told us, that “this is life eternal, that we may know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.” Bp. Sherlock.

14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: “In Him,” that is, in the Son of God. Is another part of the Epistle the same sentiment is repeated, but it is spoken of God: “We have confidence toward God, and whatever we ask, we receive of Him,” chap. iii. 21, 22. Can a man read these two passages, and doubt for a moment, whether his Saviour be the God that heareth prayer? Bp. Horne.

Those things, which are really, absolutely, universally good in themselves, Christ hath purchased for us with His own blood, and hath promised to give them to us upon our asking them in His name. The things of this life may, or may not, be good for us: and whether they be or not, we cannot tell, God only knows that: and therefore we must ask such things of Him, only with this proviso or condition, that He knows them to be good; or, as our Church expresseth it, “as may be most expedient for us.” But so far as any thing is so, we may confidently ask it, and believe that He will grant it to us. This is that which St. John here means, “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us:” for He hath plainly declared it to be His will, in that He hath promised to give us all things that are really good for us, so far as He Himself knows them to be so. “For He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly,” Ps. lxxxiv. 11. Bp. Beveridge.

— There is a sin unto death.] There seems to be no ground in Scripture for considering any degree or species of sin as at this time necessarily unpardonable, or beyond the efficacy of sincere repentance. When

God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

1 John 5:6

6. This is he that came by water and blood, &c.] Nor are the effects and influences of this great truth more excellent and noble, than is the ground and foundation of it strong and certain. The testimonies given Him at His baptism, when God by a voice from heaven declared Him to be His beloved Son, the Saviour of mankind: the miracles at His crucifixion, when at the shedding of His innocent blood we saw both water and blood come out of His side; the sun was darkened, the earth trembled, and the vail of the temple was rent: the signs and wonders done by Him, and by others in His name: these three, respectively denoted by “the water,” “the blood,” and “the Spirit,” are all testimonies of the authority of His Person and mission, most unexceptionable, as being evidences of that Holy Spirit that cannot deceive us. Pyle.

1 John 5:7

7. For there are three that bear record in heaven, &c.] Unto this main truth concerning Christ the Redeemer of the world there are six sufficient and undeniable witnesses: whereof three are in heaven, and three upon earth: those in heaven are the three sacred Persons in Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and these three are, in essence, one and the same God. Bp. Hall.

The Father bore witness both at Christ’s baptism and at His transfiguration, when with an audible voice He declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Word bore record of Himself, affirming frequently, plainly, and directly, that He was the Son of God, and making it manifest by His doctrine and miracles, that He came from the Father. The Spirit bore witness to this, partly by descending on Christ at His baptism, and partly by descending on His Apostles at the feast of Pentecost. Burkitt.

— these three are one.] Three Persons; one Being, one Jehovah, one God. Bp. Beveridge. Three, as evidently appears by the different offices, which they have graciously vouchsafed to undertake in the work of our redemption; one, in substance, and duration, and glory, and majesty, and power, and might, and dominion. Bp. Horne. The Apostle says, “These three are one;” one, in the unity of a consentient testimony; for that unity is all that is requisite to the purpose of the Apostle’s present argument. It is remarkable however, that he describes the unity of the testimony of the three celestial and the three terrestrial witnesses, in different terms; I conceive for this reason: of the latter, more could not be said with truth, than that they “agree in one;” for they are not one in nature and substance: but the Three in heaven being in substance and in nature one, he asserts the agreement of their testimony in terms which predicate their substantial unity, in which the consent of testimony is necessarily included; lest, if he applied no higher phrase to

record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:8

8. And there are three that bear witness in earth, &c.] Those three, that bear witness unto Him on earth, and seal up the truth of His promises unto us, are the water in baptism, by which we are cleansed from the filth of

God hath given to believers eternal life. The Christian’s confidence in prayer.

1 John 5:9

9. If we receive the witness of men, &c.] If the testimony of two or three men be thought sufficient to give credit to any matter in all courts of judicature, surely the testimony of that God, ver. 8, who cannot lie or deceive us, must be of greater force and strength to produce faith in us. Dr. Whitby.

1 John 5:10

10. — hath the witness in himself.] As having in himself that Spirit of God, which gives this testimony to Christ. Dr. Whitby. Hath God dwelling in him by faith, and therefore hath that Divine witness within himself. Bp. Hall. He findeth himself continually confirmed in his belief by the gifts and graces of that very Spirit, who in so ample a manner at first gave the testimony. Pyle.

1 John 5:11

11, 12. And this is the record, &c.] So then the sum of our Christianity is this: That God has promised and provided eternal happiness for good men; and that the indispensable condition of enjoying it is a sincere belief in Christ incarnate, and in His religion, by all to whom it and its evidences are fairly proposed. Pyle.

1 John 5:13

13. He that hath the Son hath life; &c.] If we reflect upon the holiness of God, and His hatred of sin and iniquity, and begin to fear that He can never be reconciled to sinners; let us take courage, the work is difficult, but the Son of God has undertaken it; and how great soever the distance between God and us is, yet through the Son we have access to Him. If we still fear for ourselves, that all may be again lost through our own weakness and inability to do good; even here help is at hand, the Spirit of God is our support, He is the pledge and earnest of our redemption. These being the necessary means of salvation, it was necessary to reveal to the world the doctrines concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit: and the belief of these doctrines is necessary to every Christian, as far as the right use of the means depends on the right faith and belief of the doctrines. “He that hath the Son,” says St. John, “hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life:” and again, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.” For since we can only come to the Father through the Son, to deny the Son is to cut off all communication between us and the Father. The same may be said of the blessed Spirit, through whom we are in Christ: “If any man,”

1 John 5:16

16. If any man see his brother sin a sin &c.] If any man see his brother fall into and continue in such a sin as may be capable of forgiveness, let him earnestly rise unto God for pardon of that offender; and God, who is great and infinite in mercy, shall graciously incline His ear to his prayers, and give remission and life to such an one. There is indeed a sin unto death, for which there is no forgiveness with God, because there is no capacity of repentance for it in the committer of it; I mean the sin against the Holy Ghost; when a man, having received the knowledge of the Gospel by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and professed the belief thereof, shall in a devilish malice wilfully blaspheme and persecute that known truth. Bp. Hall.

Or, the passage alludes to those temporal punishments for sin, which were more evidently inflicted in those times: and the sense of the passage may be given according to the following paraphrase, which is founded

The children of God distinguished from the world. After Anno DOMINI 96.

ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

1 John 5:18

18.— keepeth himself.] He suffers not any sin to have dominion over him, but takes care to preserve himself, through the assistance of Divine grace, from the deadly assaults of Satan. Burkitt.

1 John 5:20

20.— This is the true God, and eternal life.] This same Jesus Christ, you are to know and believe most assuredly, is no other than the true God and eternal life, both as having eternal life in Himself, and also as being the author of eternal life to all those who truly believe in Him. Dr. Wells. It is said in this place of the same Person, that “He is the true God and eternal life.” Now eternal life is thrice in this very chapter attributed to Jesus Christ, as the author and dispenser of it: see verses 11—13. As Christ therefore is meant by “eternal life,” of Him also it must be meant that He is “the true God.” Dr. Whitby, Burkitt.

Christ is not only termed in holy Scripture the God, but for a farther certainty “the true God:” and the same Apostle, who said “the Word was God,” lest any cavil should arise by any omission of an article, though so frequently neglected by all, even the most accurate authors, hath also assured us that He is the true God. For “we know” saith he, “that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true: and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Christ Jesus. This is the true God and eternal life.” As therefore we read in the Acts, chap. x. 36, of “the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ; He is Lord of all:” where it is acknowledged that “the Lord of all” is by the pronoun “He” joined unto Jesus Christ, the immediate, not unto “God,” the remote antecedent: so likewise here “the true God” is to be referred unto Christ, who stands next unto it, not unto the Father, spoken of indeed in the text, but at a distance. Wherefore since Jesus Christ is the immediate antecedent to which the relative may properly be referred; since the Son of God is He of whom the Apostle chiefly speaketh; since this is rendered as a reason, why “we are in Him that is true,” by being “in His Son,” to wit, because that Son “is the true God;” since in the language of St. John the constant title of our Saviour is “eternal life;” since all these reasons may be drawn out of the text itself, why the title of the true God should be attributed to the Son,

After Anno DOMINI 96.

and no one reason can be raised from thence why it should be referred to the Father: I can conclude no less, than that our Saviour is “the true God,” so styled in the Scriptures by way of eminency, with an article prefixed, as the first Christian writers, which immediately followed the Apostles, did both speak and write. Bp. Pearson.

This is an argument of the deity of Christ, which almost all those, who have written in its defence, have urged: and which, I think, none who have opposed it have so much as appeared to answer. Dr. Doddridge.

1 John 5:21

21. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.] The Apostle having asserted that “this,” namely Christ, “is

the true God,” immediately subjoins, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” The meaning of which is, That if Christ were not the true God, He must be an idol, because divine worship was paid to Him: and this is an explanation of his calling Christ “the true God,” namely, that whoever else pretends to it is an idol, and therefore we must worship none else. There is another part of this passage, which does plainly evidence the divinity of Christ, and that is, that “the Son of God hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true,” ver. 20. To give man understanding is an incommunicable attribute of God; and that is, past all subterfuge, attributed here to the Son. Leslie.

The following Chapters from The First Epistle General of John are appointed for Proper Lessons, or Epistles, on Sundays and Holydays:

CHAP. I… ver. 1-10, St. John the Evangelist,… Epistle. — III… — 1— 8, 6th Sunday after Epiphany,… ditto. — III… —13—24, 2d Sunday after Trinity,… ditto. — IV… — 1—14, Whit-Tuesday,… Evening. — IV… — 7—21, 1st Sunday after Trinity,… Epistle. — V… Trinity Sunday,… Evening. — V… — 4—12, 1st Sunday after Easter,… Epistle.