1 John 3

1 John 3:1

1 John 3:1. St. John has been speaking of the salvation which Jesus has brought— His Propitiation and Advocacy, and he sees and would have his readers see in it an amazing expression of the love of God. Cf. John 3:16. ποταπός (ποδαπός), properly cujas, “ of what country,” though approximating in late Greek to ποῖος, qualis, “ of what sort” (cf. Moulton, Gram, of N.T.

Gk., i. p. 95), retains something of its proper and original signification. The love of God in Christ is foreign to this world: “ from what far realm? what unearthly love?” Cf. Matthew 8:27 : “ What unearthly personage?” 2 Peter 3:11 : “ How other-worldly” . ἵνα, κ.τ.λ., the purpose of this amazing gift; a wise, holy love, concerned for our highest good; not simply that we may be saved from suffering and loss but “ in order that we may be styled ‘ children of God’ ” . And we have not only the name but the character: “ so we are” . Vulg. and Aug. give simus, as though reading ὦμεν for ἐσμὲν: “ that we should be styled and be” . Cf.

Aug.: “ Nam qui vocantur et non sunt, quid illis prodest nomen ubi res non est? Quam multi vocantur medici, qui curare non norunt? quam multi vocantur vigiles, qui tota nocte dormiunt?” διὰτοῦτο, not anticipative, of ὅτι, but retrospective: “ for this reason,” viz., because we are children of God. ὅτι explains the inference: “ (and no wonder) because it did not recognise Him,” i.e. the Father as revealed in His Son (cf. note on 1 John 2:29). We must accept what our high dignity as children of God involves in a world alienated from God. On ὁκόσμος see note on 1 John 2:15. Cf. Aug.: “ Jam cum auditis mundum in mala significatione, non intelligatis nisi dilectores mundi.… Ambulabat et ipse Dominus Jesus Christus, in carne erat Deus, latebat in infirmitate.

Et unde non est cognitus? Quia omnia peccata arguebat in hominibus. Illi amando delectationes peccatorum non agnoscebant Deum: amando quod febris suadebat, injuriam medico faciebant.”

1 John 3:2

1 John 3:2. Having spoken of our present dignity, the Apostle goes on to speak of our future destiny. The Incarnation manifested our standing as children of God, but “ it was not yet manifested what we shall be” . The aorist ἐφανερώθη (cf. ἔγνω in previous verse) refers to the historic manifestation in Jesus Christ. The N.T. says nothing definite about the nature of our future glory. With our present faculties we cannot conceive it.

It must be experienced to be understood. Jesus simply assures us of the felicity of the Father’ s House, and bids us take His word for it (cf. John 14:2). ἐὰνφανερωθῇ, “ if (cf. note on 1 John 2:28) it may be manifested,” taking up οὔπωἐφανερώθη. This obvious connection is decisive against the rendering “ if He shall be manifested” (cf. 1 John 2:28; Colossians 3:4). ὅτι, κ.τ.λ.: What we shall be was not manifested, but this we know that we shall be like Him. And how do we know it? From His promise that “ we shall see Him even as He is” (cf.

John 17:24). The argument is two-fold: (1) Vision of God implies likeness to Him in character and affection (cf. Matthew 5:8); (2) the vision of God transfigures (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18), even in this life. “ Ah! the Master is so fair, His smile so sweet to banished men, That they who meet it unaware Can never rest on earth again.” And how will it be when we “ see Him face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12)? St. Augustine expresses much of the Apostle’ s thought in a beautiful sentence: “ Tota vita Christiani boni sanctum desiderium est” .

1 John 3:3

1 John 3:3. The duty which our destiny imposes. ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, “ resting on Him,” i.e., on God as Father. Cf. Luke 5:5 : ἐπὶτῷῥήματίσου, “ relying on Thy word” . ἐκεῖνος, Christ; see note on 1 John 2:6. ἁγνός also proves that the reference is to Christ. As distinguished from ἅγιος, which implies absolute and essential purity, it denotes purity maintained with effort and fearfulness amid defilements and allurements, especially carnal. Cf.

Plat. Def.: ἁγνείαεὐλάβειατῶνπρὸςτοὺςθεούςἁμαρτημάτων· τῆςθεοῦτιμῆςκατὰφύσινθεραπεία. Suid.: ἐπίτασιςσωφροσύνης. God is called ἅγιος but never ἁγνός. Christ is ἁγνός because of His human experience. The duty of every one in view of his appearing before God, his presentation to the King, is ἁγνίζεινἑαυτόν, like the worshippers before the Feast (John 11:55), like the people before the Lord’ s manifestation at Sinai (Exodus 19:10-11, LXX).

It is his own work, not God’ s, or rather it is his and God’ s. Cf. Philippians 2:12-13. Aug.: “ Videte quemadmodum non abstulit liberum arbitrium, ut diceret, castificat semetipsum. Quis nos castificat nisi Deus? Sed Deus te nolentem non castificat.

Ergo quod adjungis voluntatem tuam Deo, castificas teipsum.”

1 John 3:4

1 John 3:4. ὁποι. τὴνἁμ., the converse of ὁποι. τὴνδικ. (1 John 2:29). νόμος, the revelation of God’ s will, the Father’ s requirement of His children, an expression of the true law of their nature, ἡἁμ. ἐστ. ἡἀν.: the article in both subject and predicate make “ sin” and “ lawlessness” convertible and co-extensive terms.

1 John 3:5

1 John 3:5. The purpose of the Incarnation was to “ take away the sins”— atone for the sins of the past and prevent sins in the future, αἴρειν, properly “ lift up and carry away” (cf. Mark 6:29; John 2:16), but the idea of expiation is involved since it is “ the Lamb of God” that “ taketh away the sins” . ἐκεῖνος, see note on 1 John 2:6. ἁμαρτία, “ sin,” i.e. the sinful principle: see note on 1 John 1:8.

1 John 3:6

1 John 3:6. This seems a stark contradiction of 1 John 1:8 to 1 John 2:2. (1) St. Augustine first limits the statement: “ In quantum in ipso manet, in tantum non peccat,” and then narrows the idea of “ sin” by defining it as “ not loving one’ s brother” (1 John 3:10). (2) St. Bernard (De Nat. et Dign. Am. Div. vi.) compares Romans 7:17; Romans 7:20 : “ secundum hoc quod natus est ex Deo, id est secundum interioris hominis rationem, in tantum non peccat, in quantum peccatum quod corpus mortis foris operatur, odit potius quam approbat, semine spiritualis nativitatis quo ex Deo natus est eum interius conservante” . (3) Romanists limit “ sin” to “ mortal sin” . (4) Many commentators say that St.

John is thinking only of the ideal. All these simply explain away the emphatic declaration. There is really no contradiction, and the Apostle’ s meaning appears when account is taken of the terms he employs with accurate precision. In the earlier passage he says that there is indwelling sin in the believer. The sinful principle (ἁμαρτία) remains, and it manifests its presence by lapses from holiness— occasional sins, definite, isolated acts of sin. This is the force ot the aorists, ἁμάρτητε, ἁμάρτῃ in 1 John 2:1.

Here he uses the present ἁμαρτάνειν (varied by ποιεῖντὴνἁμαρτίαν) with the implication of continuance in sin. The distinction between present and aorist is well exemplified by Matt. 6 11: δὸςσήμερον as contrasted with Luke 11:3 : δίδουτὸκαθʼ ἡμέραν, and Matthew 14:22 : ἐμβῆναι … καὶπροάγειν. The distinction was obvious to St. John’ s Greek readers, and they would feel no difficulty when he said, on the one hand: ἐάντιςἁμάρτῃ, Παράκλητονἔχομεν, and, on the other: πᾶςὁἁμαρτάνωνοὐχἑώρακεναὐτόν. The believer may fall into sin but he will not walk in it. “ Hath not seen Him,” because he is “ in the darkness” (cf. 1 John 1:5-7).

1 John 3:7

1 John 3:7. An affectionate warning against Nicolaitan Antinomianism (cf. note on 1 John 1:6-7). The Apostle cuts away vain pretences by a sharp principle: a righteous character expresses itself in righteous conduct. Christ (ἐκεῖνος) is the type. He was “ the Son of God,” and if we are “ children of God,” we must be like Him.

1 John 3:8

1 John 3:8. ὁποι. τὴνἁμ., an emphatic and interpretative variation of ὁἁμαρτάνων—“ he that makes sin his business or practice” . ἐκ of parentage (cf. 1 John 3:9); “ hoc est, ex patre diabolo” (Clem. Alex.). ἀπʼ ἀρχ., a vague phrase. In 1 John 1:1 “ ere time began” ; in 1 John 2:7, 1 John 3:11,“ from the beginning of your Christian life” . Here “ from the beginning of his diabolic career” ; “ a quo peccare cœpit incontrovertibiliter in peccando perseverans” (Clem. Alex.). λύσῃ, “ loose,” metaphorically of “ loosening a bond,” “ relaxing an obligation” (Matthew 5:19; John 5:18), “ pulling to pieces” (John 2:19).

1 John 3:9

1 John 3:9. The Reason of the Impossibility of a Child of God continuing in Sin. The germ of the divine life has been implanted in our souls, and it grows— a gradual process and subject to occasional retardations, yet sure, attaining at length to full fruition. The believer’ s lapses into sin are like the mischances of the weather which hinder the seed’ s growth. The growth of a living seed may be checked temporarily; if there be no growth, there is no life. This is the distinction between ἐάντιςἁμάρτῃ and ὁἁμαρτάνων. Alexander in Speaker’ s Comm. understands: “ His seed,” i.e., whosoever is born of God (cf. Isaiah 53:10; Isaiah 66:22), “ abideth in Him,” i.e., in God. This is Pauline but not Johannine. “ He cannot keep sinning,” as the seed cannot cease growing.

1 John 3:10

1 John 3:10. The Apostle reiterates the “ old commandment” (1 John 2:7-11) as not only the paramount duty of believers but the evidence of their divine sonship. He has said that the evidence lies in “ doing righteousness,” and now he defines ποιεῖνδικαιοσύνην as ἀγαπᾶντὸνἀδελφὸναὐτοῦ. See note on 1 John 2:9. The “ righteousness” of the Pharisees consisted in ritual observance, that of Jesus in love. δίκαιος had the meaning “ kind,” “ sweetly reasonable” . See Hatch, Ess. in Bib. Gk., p. 50 ff. On Matthew 1:19 St. Chrysostom remarks: δίκαιονἐνταῦθατὸνἐνάρετονἐνἅπασιλέγει. ἔστιμὲνγὰρδικαιοσύνηκαὶτὸμὴπλεονεκτεῖν· ἔστιδὲκαὶἡκαθόλουἀρετή.… δίκαιοςοὖνὢν, τούτεστιχρηστὸςκαὶἐπιεικής.

1 John 3:11

1 John 3:11. ἵνα ecbatic, expressing not the aim but simply the substance of the message. Cf. John 17:3. See Moulton’ s Gram. of N.T. Gk., p. 206; Moulton’ s Winer, p. 425.

1 John 3:12

1 John 3:12. οὐκαθὼς, κ.τ.λ., a loose, almost ungrammatical expression, analogous to John 6:58. Were there no οὐ, 1 John 3:11 might be regarded as a parenthesis: “ he that loveth not his brother, even as Cain was, etc.” . The phrase is elliptical: “ We must not hate our brethren, even as Cain was, etc.” . τοῦπον., see note on 1 John 2:18. ἔσφαξεν, a strong word, “ slaughtered,” “ butchered,” properly by cutting the throat (jugulare), like an ox in the shambles.

1 John 3:13

1 John 3:13. It is natural that the world (see notes on 1 John 2:15, 1 John 3:1) should hate those whose lives contradict its maxims and condemn its practices. St. John frequently addresses his readers as τεκνία and ἀγαπητοί, here only as ἀδελφοί. The term suits the context, where he enforces love of the brethren. It is no wonder if the world hate us, and its judgment is not decisive. Nevertheless our business is not to be hated by the world, but to commend Jesus to it and win it. We must not impute to the world’ s hostility to goodness the consequences of our own unamiability or tactlessness. “ It is not martyrdom to pay bills that one has run into one’ s self” (Geo. Eliot).

1 John 3:14

1 John 3:14. ἡμεῖς emphatic: “ Whatever the world may say, we know” . The test is not its hatred but our love. μεταβεβήκαμεν, “ have migrated” . The word is used of transition from one place to another (John 7:3; John 13:1), of passing from one form of government to another (Plat. Rep. 550 D), of the transmigration of souls (Luc. Gall. 4).

1 John 3:15

1 John 3:15. An echo of the teaching of Jesus. See Matthew 5:21-22 and cf. Smith, The Days of His Flesh, pp. 96– 98.

1 John 3:16

1 John 3:16. τὴνἀγάπην, “ the thing called ‘ love’ ” . The love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord is the perfect type. Till the world saw that, it never knew what love is. ἐκεῖνος, Christ; see note on 1 John 2:6. ἡμεῖς emphatic, “ we on our part” . ὀφείλομεν, see note on 1 John 2:6.

1 John 3:17

1 John 3:17. Love must be practical. It is easy to “ lay down one’ s life” : martyrdom is heroic and exhilarating; the difficulty lies in doing the little things, facing day by day the petty sacrifices and self-denials which no one notices and no one applauds. τόνβίοντοῦκόσμου, “ the livelihood of the world” ; see note on 1 John 2:16. θεωρῇ, of a moving spectacle; cf. Matthew 27:55. κλείσῃ, schliesst: the metaphor is locking the chamber of the heart instead of flinging it wide open and lavishing its treasures. σπλάγχνα, ψΗϊΐΝξΔιν, viscera, “ the inward parts,” viewed by the ancients as the seat of the affections. Cf. Colossians 3:12 : σπλάγχναοἰκτιρμοῦ. ἡἀγ. τ. Θ., “ love for God” (objective genitive), inspired by and answering to the love which God feels (subjective genitive). Cf. note on 1 John 2:5.

1 John 3:18

1 John 3:18. Observe the transition from instrumental dative to preposition ἐν: “ not with word and the tongue but in the midst of deed and truth”— not in empty air but amid tangible realities. Cf. Bunyan, Good News: “ Practical love is best. Many love Christ with nothing but the lick of the tongue.” Sheridan, Sch. for Scand. v. i.: “ He appears to have as much speculative benevolence as any private gentleman in the kingdom, though he is seldom so sensual as to indulge himself in the exercise of it” .

1 John 3:19-20

1 John 3:19-20. A crux interpretum. Read τὴνκαρδίανἡμῶνὅ, τιἐάν (i.e. ἄν), and take the subsequent ὅτι as “ because” . The foregoing exhortation may have awakened a misgiving in our minds: “ Am I loving as I ought?” Our failures in duty and service rise up before us, and “ our heart condemns us” . So the Apostle furnishes a grand reassurance: “ Herein shall we get to know that we are of the Truth, and in His presence shall assure our heart, whereinsoever our heart may condemn us, because, etc.” . The reassurance is two-fold: (1) The worst that is in us is known to God (cf.

Aug.: Cor tuum abscondis ab homine; a Deo absconde si potes), and still He cares for us and desires us. Our discovery has been an open secret to Him all along. (2) He “ readeth everything”— sees the deepest things, and these are the real things. This is the true test of a man: Is the deepest that is in him the best? Is he better than he seems? His failures lie on the surface: is there a desire for goodness deep down in his soul? Is he glad to escape from superficial judgments and be judged by God who “ readeth everything,” who sees “ with larger other eyes than ours, to make allowance for us all” ?

Cf. F. W. Robertson, Lett. lvi.: “ I remember an anecdote of Thomas Scott having said to his curate, who was rather agitated on having to preach before him, ‘ Well, sir, why should you be afraid before me, when you are not afraid before God?’ But how very easy it was to answer! He had only to say, God is not jealous, nor envious, nor censorious; besides, God can make allowances” . So Browning:— “ Thoughts hardly to be packed Into a narrow act, Fancies that broke through language and escaped; All I could never be, All, men ignored in me, This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher shaped.” ἔμπροσθεναὐτοῦ, and what matter how we appear ἔμπροσθεντῶνἀνθρώπων (Matthew 6:1.)? πείσομεν, “ persuade,’ i.e. pacify, win the confidence, soothe the alarm, of our heart. Cf. Matthew 28:14. Otherwise: “ we shall persuade our heart … that greater is God” . But how can love for the brethren yield this inference? γινώσκειπάντα, “ readeth every secret” . Cf.

John 2:25. A quite different and less satisfying sense is got by punctuating τὴνκαρδίανἡμῶν. ὅτιἐάν, κ.τ.λ. The second ὅτι is then a difficulty and has been dealt with in three ways: (1) It has been ignored as redundant: “ For if our heart condemn us, God is greater, etc.” (A.V. fortified by the omission of the participle in some inferior MSS.). (2) An ellipse has been assumed— either of the substantive verb: “ because if our heart condemns us, (it is) because God, etc.” (Alford), or of δῆλον (Field, who compares 1 Timothy 6:7): “ it is plain that God, etc.” (3) ὅτι has been conjecturally emended into ἔτι (Steph., Bez.): “ still greater is God, etc.” .

1 John 3:21-22

1 John 3:21-22. παρρησίαν, see note on 1 John 2:28. ὃἐὰναἰτῶμενλαμβάνομεν, though not always in the form we expect or desire; the answer may be different from but it is always better than our prayer. St. Augustine draws a distinction between the hearing of prayer “ ad salutem” and “ ad voluntatem,” comparing the experience of St. Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7-9): “ Rogasti, clamasti, terclamasti: ipsum semel quod clamasti audivi, non averti aures meas a te; novi quid faciam; tu vis auferri medicamentum quo ureris; ego novi infirmitatem qua gravaris. Ergo iste ad salutem exauditus est, ad voluntatem non est exauditus.… Tu morbum confitearis, ille medicamentum adhibeat.” Cf. Juan de Avila: “ Go to prayer rather to hearken than to speak. Bend humbly and lovingly before God, expecting.” τηροῦμεν, see note on 1 John 2:3.

1 John 3:23

1 John 3:23. Cf. our Lord’ s summary of the commandments in Matthew 22:34-40 = Mark 12:28-31, and observe the apostolic narrowing of τὸνπλησίονσου (cf. Luke 10:29-37) to ἀλλήλους, i.e. τούςἀδελφούς (see note on 1 John 2:9). τῷὀνόματι, see note on 1 John 2:12.

1 John 3:24

1 John 3:24. τὰςἐντ. αὐτ., “ the commandments of God,” resuming 1 John 3:22. Cf. 1 John 4:15. ἐκ, the assurance is begotten of the Spirit; see note on 1 John 2:21. οὗ for ὅ, by attraction to the case of the antecedent (cf. Luke 2:20; Revelation 18:6). ἔδωκεν, “ gave,” i.e., when first we believed. For the thought cf. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13-14; also Romans 8:15-16.