This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall 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.
And we know 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 Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1. Whosoever believeth He confirms by another reason, that faith and brotherly love are united; for since God regenerates us by faith he must necessarily be loved by us as a Father; and this love embraces all his children. Then faith cannot be separated from love.
The first truth is, that all born of God, believe that Jesus is the Christ; where, again, you see that Christ alone is set forth as the object of faith, as in him it finds righteousness, life, and every blessing that can be desired, and God in all that he is. (89) Hence the only true way of believing is when we direct our minds to him. Besides, to believe that he is the Christ, is to hope from him all those things which have been promised as to the Messiah.
Nor is the title, Christ, given him here without reason, for it designates the office to which he was appointed by the Father. As, under the Law, the full restoration of all things, righteousness and happiness, were promised through the Messiah; so at this day the whole of this is more clearly set forth in the gospel. Then Jesus cannot be received as Christ, except salvation be sought from him, since for this end he was sent by the Father, and is daily offered to us.
Hence the Apostle declares that all they who really believe have been born of God; for faith is far above the reach of the human mind, so that we must be drawn to Christ by our heavenly Father; for not any of us can ascend to him by his own strength. And this is what the Apostle teaches us in his Gospel, when he says, that those who believe in the name of the only-begotten, were not born of blood nor of the flesh. (Joh 1:13.) And Paul says, that we are endued, not with the spirit of this world, but with the Spirit that is from God, that we may know the things given us by him. (1Co 2:12.) For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the mind conceived, the reward laid up for those who love God; but the Spirit alone penetrates into this mystery. And further, as Christ is given to us for sanctification, and brings with it the Spirit of regeneration, in short, as he unites us to his own body, it is also another reason why no one can have faith, except he is born of God.
Loveth him also that is begotten of him Augustine and some others of the ancients have applied this to Christ, but not correctly. For though the Apostle uses the singular number, yet he includes all the faithful; and the context plainly shows that his purpose was no other than to trace up brotherly love to faith as its fountain. It is, indeed, an argument drawn from the common course of nature; but what is seen among men is transferred to God. (90)
But we must observe, that the Apostle does not so speak of the faithful only, and pass by those who are without, as though the former are alone to be loved, and no care and no account to be had for the latter; but he teaches us as it were by this first exercise to love all without exception, when he bids us to make a beginning with the godly. (91)
(89) Literally, “and the whole God — totum Deum .” — Ed.
(90) The literal rendering of the verse is as follows, —
“Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and every one who loves the begetter loves also the begotten by him.” — Ed.
(91) The subject no doubt is love to the brethren throughout; and this passage shews this most clearly. Love to all is evidently a duty, but it is not taught here. — Ed.
2. By this we know He briefly shows in these words what true love is, even that which is towards God. He has hitherto taught us that there is never a true love to God, except when our brethren are also loved; for this is ever its effect. But he now teaches us that men are rightly and duly loved, when God holds the primacy. And it is a necessary definition; for it often happens, that we love men apart from God, as unholy and carnal friendships regard only private advantages or some other vanishing objects. As, then, he had referred first to the effect, so he now refers to the cause; for his purpose is to shew that mutual love ought to be in such a way cultivated that God may be honored.
To the love of God he joins the keeping of the law, and justly so; for when we love God as our Father and Lord, reverence must necessarily be connected with love. Besides, God cannot be separated from himself. As, then, he is the fountain of all righteousness and equity, he who loves him must necessarily have his heart prepared to render obedience to righteousness. The love of God, then, is not idle or inactive. (92)
But from this passage we also learn what is the keeping of the law. For if, when constrained only by fear, we obey God by keeping his commandments, we are very far off from true obedience. Then, the first thing is, that our hearts should be devoted to God in willing reverence, and then, that our life should be formed according to the rule of the law. This is what Moses meant when, in giving a summary of the law, he said,
“O Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to love him and to obey him?” (Deu 10:12.)
(92) The love of God,” here clearly means love to God: it is the love of which God is the object. — Ed.
3. His commandments are not grievous This has been added, lest difficulties, as it is usually the case, should damp or lessen our zeal. For they who with a cheerful mind and great ardor have pursued a godly and holy life, afterwards grow weary, finding their strength inadequate. Therefore John, in order to rouse our efforts, says that God’s commandments are not grievous.
But it may, on the other hand, be objected and said that we have found it far otherwise by experience, and that Scripture testifies that the yoke of the law is insupportable. (Act 15:2.) The reason also is evident, for as the denial of self is, as it were, a prelude to the keeping of the law, can we say that it is easy for a man to deny himself? nay, since the law is spiritual, as Paul, in Rom 7:14, teaches us, and we are nothing but flesh, there must be a great discord between us and the law of God. To this I answer, that this difficulty does not arise from the nature of the law, but from our corrupt flesh; and this is what Paul expressly declares; for after having said that it was impossible for the Law to confer righteousness on us, he immediately throws the blame on our flesh.
This explanation fully reconciles what is said by Paul and by David, which apparently seems wholly contradictory. Paul makes the law the master of death, declares that it effects nothing but to bring on us the wrath of God, that it was given to increase sin, that it lives in order to kill us. David, on the other hand, says that it is sweeter than honey, and more desirable than gold; and among other recommendations he mentions the following — that it cheers hearts, converts to the Lord, and quickens. But Paul compares the law with the corrupt nature of man; hence arises the conflict: but David shews how they think and feel whom God by his Spirit has renewed; hence the sweetness and delight of which the flesh knows nothing. And John has not omitted this difference; for he confines to God’s children these words, God’s commandments are not grievous, lest any one should take them literally; and he intimates that, it comes through the power of the Spirit, that it is not grievous nor wearisome to us to obey God.
The question, however, seems not as yet to be fully answered; for the faithful, though ruled by the Spirit, of God, yet, carry on a hard contest with their own flesh; and how muchsoever they may toil, they yet hardly perform the half of their duty; nay, they almost fail under their burden, as though they stood, as they say, between the sanctuary and the steep. We see how Paul groaned as one held captive, and exclaimed that he was wretched, because he could not fully serve God. My reply to this is, that the law is said to be easy, as far as we are endued with heavenly power, and overcome the lusts of the flesh. For however the flesh may resist, yet the faithful find that there is no real enjoyment except in following God.
It must further be observed, that John does not speak of the law only, which contains nothing but commands, but connects with it the paternal indulgence of God, by which the rigor of the law is mitigated. As, then, we know that we are graciously forgiven by the Lord, when our works do not come up to the law, this renders us far more prompt to obey, according to what we find in Psa 130:4,
“With thee is propitiation, that thou mayest be feared.”
Hence, then, is the facility of keeping the law, because the faithful, being sustained by pardon, do not despond when they come short of what they ought to be. The Apostle, in the meantime, reminds us that we must fight, in order that we may serve the Lord; for the whole world hinders us to go where the Lord calls us. Then, he only keeps the law who courageously resists the world.
4. This is the victory As he had said that all who are born of God overcome the world, he also sets forth the way of overcoming it. For it might be still asked, whence comes this victory? He then makes the victory over the world to depend on faith. (93)
This passage is remarkable, for though Satan continually repeats his dreadful and horrible onsets, yet the Spirit of God, declaring that we are beyond the reach of danger, removes fear, and animates us to fight with courage. And the past time is more emphatical than the present or the future; for he says, that has overcome, in order that we might feel certain, as though the enemy had been already put to flight. It is, indeed, true, that our warfare continues through life, that our conflicts are daily, nay, that new and various battles are every moment on every side stirred up against us by the enemy; but as God does not arm us only for one day, and as faith is not that of one day, but is the perpetual work of the Holy Spirit, we are already partakers of victory, as though we had already conquered.
This confidence does not, however, introduce indifference, but renders us always anxiously intent on fighting. For the Lord thus bids his people to be certain, while yet he would not have them to be secure; but on the contrary, he declares that they have already overcome, in order that they may fight more courageously and more strenuously.
The term world has here a wide meaning, for it includes whatever is adverse to the Spirit of God: thus, the corruption of our nature is a part of the world; all lusts, all the crafts of Satan, in short, whatever leads us away from God. Having such a force to contend with, we have an immense war to carry on, and we should have been already conquered before coming to the contest, and we should be conquered a hundred times daily, had not God promised to us the victory. But God encourages us to fight by promising us the victory. But as this promise secures to us perpetually the invincible power of God, so, on the other hand, it annihilates all the strength of men. For the Apostle does not teach us here that God only brings some help to us, so that being aided by him, we may be sufficiently able to resist; but he makes victory to depend on faith alone; and faith receives from another that by which it overcomes. They then take away from God what is his own, who sing triumph to their own power.
(93) The words literally are, —
“For every thing begotten by God overcomes the world,” etc. The neuter gender is used for the masculine, “every thing” for “every one,” as in the first verse; or according to כל in Hebrew, it is used in a plural sense, for πάντες as in Joh 17:2, “that all (πᾶν) which thou hast given him, he should give them (αὐτοῖς) eternal life.”
Macknight and others have said that the neuter gender is used in order to comprehend all sorts of persons, males and females, young and old, Jews and Gentiles, bond or free. Why, then, was not the neuter gender used in the first verse? It is clearly a peculiarity of style, and nothing else, and ought not to be retained in a translation.
“Victory” stands for that which brings victory, the effect for the cause; or it may designate the person, as νίκη means sometimes the goddess of victory. — “And this the conqueress who conquers the world, even our faith.” — Ed
5. Who is he that overcometh the world This is a reason for the previous sentence; that is, we conquer by faith, because we derive strength from Christ; as Paul also says,
“I can do all things through him that strengtheneth me,”
(Phi 4:13.)
He only then can conquer Satan and the world, and not succumb to his own flesh, who, diffident as to himself, recumbs on Christ’s power alone. For byfaith he means a real apprehension of Christ, or an effectual laying hold on him, by which we apply his power to ourselves.
6. This is he that came That our faith may rest safely on Christ, he says the real substance of the shadows of the law appears in him. For I doubt not but that he alludes by the words water and blood to the ancient rites of the law. The comparison, moreover, is intended for this end, not only that we may know that the Law of Moses was abolished by the coming of Christ, but that we may seek in him the fulfillment of those things which the ceremonies formerly typified. And though they were of various kinds, yet under these two the Apostle denotes the whole perfection of holiness and righteousness, for by water was all filth washed away, so that men might come before God pure and clean, and by blood was expiation made, and a pledge given of a full reconciliation with God; but the law only adumbrated by external symbols what was to be really and fully performed by the Messiah.
John then fitly proves that Jesus is the Christ of the Lord formerly promised, because he brought with him that by which he sanctifies us wholly.
And, indeed, as to the blood by which Christ reconciled God, there is no doubt, but how he came by water may be questioned. But that the reference is to baptism is not probable. I certainly think that John sets forth here the fruit and effect of what he recorded in the Gospel history; for what he says there, that water and blood flowed from the side of Christ, is no doubt to be deemed a miracle. I know that such a thing does happen naturally to the dead; but it happened through God’s purpose, that Christ’s side became the fountain of blood and water, in order that the faithful may know that cleansing (of which the ancient baptisms were types) is found in him, and that they might know that what all the sprinklings of blood formerly presignified was fulfilled. On this subject we dwelt more at large on the ninth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
And it is the Spirit that beareth witness He shews in this clause how the faithful know and feel the power of Christ, even because the Spirit renders them certain; and that their faith might not vacillate, he adds, that a full and real firmness or stability is produced by the testimony of the Spirit. And he calls the Spirit truth, because his authority is indubitable, and ought to be abundantly sufficient for us.
7. There are three than bear record in heaven The whole of this verse has been by some omitted. Jerome thinks that this has happened through design rather than through mistake, and that indeed only on the part of the Latins. But as even the Greek copies do not agree, I dare not assert any thing on the subject. Since, however, the passage flows better when this clause is added, and as I see that it is found in the best and most approved copies, I am inclined to receive it as the true reading. (94) And the meaning would be, that God, in order to confirm most abundantly our faith in Christ, testifies in three ways that we ought to acquiesce in him. For as our faith acknowledges three persons in the one divine essence, so it is called in so really ways to Christ that it may rest on him.
When he says, These three are one, he refers not to essence, but on the contrary to consent; as though he had said that the Father and his eternal Word and Spirit harmoniously testify the same thing respecting Christ. Hence some copies have εἰς ἓν, “for one.” But though you read ἓν εἰσιν, as in other copies, yet there is no doubt but that the Father, the Word and the Spirit are said to be one, in the same sense in which afterwards the blood and the water and the Spirit are said to agree in one.
But as the Spirit, who is one witness, is mentioned twice, it seems to be an unnecessary repetition. To this I reply, that since he testifies of Christ in various ways, a twofold testimony is fitly ascribed to him. For the Father, together with his eternal Wisdom and Spirit, declares Jesus to be the Christ as it were authoritatively, then, in this ease, the sole majesty of the deity is to be considered by us. But as the Spirit, dwelling in our hearts, is an earnest, a pledge, and a seal, to confirm that decree, so he thus again speaks on earth by his grace.
But inasmuch as all do not receive this reading, I will therefore so expound what follows, as though the Apostle referred to the witnesses only on the earth.
(94) Calvin probably refers to printed copies in his day, and not to Greek MSS. As far as the authority of MSS. and versions and quotations goes, the passage is spurious, for it is not found in any of the Greek MSS prior to the 16. h century, nor in any of the early versions, except the Latin, nor in some of the copies of that version; nor is it quoted by any of the early Greek fathers, nor by early Latin fathers, except a very few, and even their quotations have been disputed. These are facts which no refined conjectures can upset; and it is to be regretted that learned men, such as the late Bishop Burgess, should have labored and toiled in an attempt so hopeless as to establish the genuineness of this verse, or rather of a part of this verse, and of the beginning of the following. The whole passage is as follows, the spurious part being put within crotchets, —
7. “For there are three who bear witness [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one:
8. And there are three who bear witness in earth,] the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree in one.”
As to the construction of the passage, as far as grammar and sense are concerned, it may do with or without the interpolation equally the same. What has been said to the contrary on this point, seems to be nothing of a decisive character, in no way sufficient to shew that the words are not spurious. Indeed, the passage reads better without the interpolated words; and as to the sense, that is, the sense in which they are commonly taken by the advocates of their genuineness, it has no connection whatever with the general drift of the passage. — Ed.
8. There are three He applies what had been said of water and blood to it’s own purpose, in order that they who reject Christ might have no excuse; for by testimonies abundantly strong and clear, he proves that it is he who had been formerly promised, inasmuch as water and blood, being the pledges and the effects of salvation, really testify that he had been sent by God. He adds a third witness, the Holy Spirit, who yet holds the first place, for without him the wafer and blood would have flowed without any benefit; for it is he who seals on our hearts the testimony of the water and blood; it is he who by his power makes the fruit of Christ’s death to come to us; yea, he makes the blood shed for our redemption to penetrate into our hearts, or, to say all in one word, he makes Christ with all his blessings to become ours. So Paul, in Rom 1:4, after having said that Christ by his resurrection manifested himself to be the Son of God, immediately adds, “Through the sanctification of the Spirit.” For whatever signs of divine glory may shine forth in Christ, they would yet be obscure to us and escape our vision, were not the Holy Spirit to open for us the eyes of faith.
Readers may now understand why John adduced the Spirit as a witness together with the water and the blood, even because it is the peculiar office of the Spirit, to cleanse our consciences by the blood of Christ, to cause the cleansing effected by it to be efficacious. On this subject some remarks are made at the beginning of the Second Epistle of Peter, (95) where he uses nearly the same mode of speaking, that is, that the Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. (96)
But from these words we may learn, that faith does not lay hold on a bare or an empty Christ, but that his power is at the same time vivifying. For to what purpose has Christ been sent on the earth, except to reconcile God by the sacrifice of his death? except the office of washing had been allotted to him by the Father?
It may however be objected, that the distinction here mentioned is superfluous, because Christ cleansed us by expiating our sins; then the Apostle mentions the same thing twice. I indeed allow that cleansing is included in expiation; therefore I made no difference between the water and the blood, as though they were distinct; but if any one of us considers his own infirmity, he will readily acknowledge that it is not in vain or without reason that blood is distinguished from the water. Besides, the Apostle, as it has been stated, alludes to the rites of the law; and God, on account of human infirmity, had formerly appointed, not only sacrifices, but also washings. And the Apostle meant distinctly to show that the reality of both has been exhibited in Christ, and on this account he had said before, “Not by water only,” for he means, that not only some part of our salvation is found in Christ, but the whole of it, so that nothing is to be sought elsewhere.
(95) Although the commentary in 2Peter1:9 seems to be close to whatCalvin is talking of here, it may be that perhaps the First Epistle of Peter might be the one he had in mind. - fj.
(96) If we exclude the words deemed interpolated, we may read the passage thus:
“This is he who came with water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not with water only, but with water and blood: the Spirit also beareth witness, for (or seeing that) the Spirit is truth (or, is true); because there are three who bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one.
We see hence a reason why the Spirit is said to be true, even because he is not alone, for the water and the blood concur with him. Thus a testimony is formed consistently with the requirement of the law. We hence also see the import of what is stated when the testimony of men is mentioned, as though he had said, The testimony of three men is received as valid, how much more valid is the testimony of God, which has three witnesses in its behalf? It is called God’s testimony, because the witnesses have been ordered and appointed by him.
When it is said that he came with water and blood, the meaning is, that he came, having water and blood; the proposition διὰ has sometimes this meaning, and it is changed in the second clause into ἐν. We meet with similar instances in 2Co 3:11, and in 2Co 4:11. See Rom 2:27
According to this construction, the explanation of Calvin is alone the right one, that the water means cleansing, and the blood expiation, the terms being borrowed from the rites of the law; and a reference is also made to the law when the witness of men is mentioned. — Ed.
9. If we receive the witness, or testimony, of men He proves, reasoning from the less to the greater, how ungrateful men are when they reject Christ, who has been approved, as he has related, by God; for if in worldly affairs we stand to the words of men, who may lie and deceive, how unreasonable it is that God should have less credit given to him, when sitting as it were on his own throne, where he is the supreme judge. Then our own corruption alone prevents us to receive Christ,, since he gives us full proof for believing in his power. Besides, he calls not only that the testimony of God which the Spirit imprints on our hearts, but also that which we derive from the water and the blood. For that power of cleansing and expiating was not earthly, but heavenly. Hence the blood of Christ is not to be estimated according to the common manner of men; but we must rather look to the design of God, who ordained it for blotting out sins, and also to that divine efficacy which flows from it.
9. For this is the witness, or testimony, of God The particle ὅτι does not mean here the cause, but is to be taken as explanatory; for the Apostle, after having reminded us that God deserves to be believed much more than men, now adds, that we can have no faith in God, except by believing in Christ, because God sets him alone before us and makes us to stand in him. He hence infers that we believe safely and with tranquil minds in Christ, because God by his authority warrants our faith. He does not say that God speaks outwardly, but that every one of the godly feels within that God is the author of his faith. It hence appears how different from faith is a fading opinion dependent on something else.
10.He that believeth not As the faithful possess this benefit, that they know themselves to be beyond the danger of erring, because they have God as their foundation; so he makes the ungodly to be guilty of extreme blasphemy, because they charge God with falsehood. Doubtless nothing is more valued by God than his own truth, therefore no wrong more atrocious can be done to him, than to rob him of this honor. Then in order to induce us to believe, he takes an argument from the opposite side; for if to make God a liar be a horrible and execrable impiety, because then what especially belongs to him is taken away, who would not dread to withhold faith from the gospel, in which God would have himself to be counted singularly true and faithful? This ought to be carefully observed.
Some wonder why God commends faith so much, why unbelief is so severely condemned. But the glory of God is implicated in this; for since he designed to shew a special instance of his truth in the gospel, all they who reject Christ there offered to them, leave nothing to him. Therefore, though we may grant that a man in other parts of his life is like an angel, yet his sanctity is diabolical as long as he rejects Christ. Thus we see some under the Papacy vastly pleased with the mere mask of sanctity, while they still most obstinately resist the gospel. Let us then understand, that it is the beginning of true religion, obediently to embrace this doctrine, which he has so strongly confirmed by his testimony.
11That God hath given us eternal life Having now set forth the benefit, he invites us to believe. It is, indeed, a reverence due to God, immediately to receive, as beyond controversy, whatever he declares to us. But since he freely offers life to us, our ingratitude will be intolerable, except with prompt faith we receive a doctrine so sweet and so lovely. And, doubtless, the words of the Apostle are intended to shew, that we ought, not only reverently to obey the gospel, lest we should affront God; but, that we ought to love it, because it brings to us eternal life. We hence also learn what is especially to be sought in the gospel, even the free gift of salvation; for that God there exhorts us to repentance and fear, ought not to be separated from the grace of Christ.
But the Apostle, that he might keep us together in Christ, again repeats that life is found in him; as though he had said, that no other way of obtaining life has been appointed for us by God the Father. And the Apostle, indeed, briefly includes here three things: that we are all given up to death until God in his gratuitous favor restores us to life; for he plainly declares that life is a gift from God: and hence also it follows that we are destitute of it, and that it cannot be acquired by merits; secondly, he teaches us that this life is conferred on us by the gospel, because there the goodness and the paternal love of God is made known to us; lastly, he says that we cannot otherwise become partakers of this life than by believing in Christ.
12He that hath not the Son This is a confirmation of the last sentence. It ought, indeed, to have been sufficient, that God made life to be in none but in Christ, that it might be sought in him; but lest any one should turn away to another, he excludes all from the hope of life who seek it not in Christ. We know what it is to have Christ, for he is possessed by faith. He then shews that all who are separated from the body of Christ are without life.
But this seems inconsistent with reason; for history shews that there have been great men, endued with heroic virtues, who yet were wholly unacquainted with Christ; and it seems unreasonable that men of so great eminence had no honor. To this I answer, that we are greatly mistaken if we think that whatever is eminent in our eyes is approved by God; for, as it is said in Luke,
“What is highly esteemed by men is an abomination with God.” (Luk 16:15)
For as the filthiness of the heart is hid from us, we are satisfied with the external appearance; but God sees that under this is concealed the foulest filth. It is, therefore, no wonder if specious virtues, flowing from an impure heart, and tending to no right end, have an ill odor to him. Besides, whence comes purity, whence a genuine regard for religion, except from the Spirit of Christ? There is, then, nothing worthy of praise except in Christ.
There is, further, another reason which removes every doubt; for the righteousness of men is in the remission of sins. If you take away this, the sure curse of God and eternal death awaits all. Christ alone is he who reconciles the Father to us, as he has once for all pacified him by the sacrifice of the cross. It hence follows, that God is propitious to none but in Christ, nor is there righteousness but in him.
Were any one to object and say, that Cornelius, as mentioned by Luke, (Act 10:2,) was accepted of God before he was called to the faith of the gospel: to this I answer shortly, that God sometimes so deals with us, that the seed of faith appears immediately on the first day. Cornelius had no clear and distinct knowledge of Christ; but as he had some perception of God’s mercy, he must at the same time understand something of a Mediator. But as God acts in ways hidden and wonderful, let us disregard those speculations which profit nothing, and hold only to that plain way of salvation, which he has made known to us.
13These things have I written unto you As there ought to be a daily progress in faith, so he says that he wrote to those who had already believed, so that they might believe more firmly and with greater certainty, and thus enjoy a fuller confidence as to eternal life. Then the use of doctrine is, not only to initiate the ignorant in the knowledge of Christ, but also to confirm those more and more who have been already taught. It therefore becomes us assiduously to attend to the duty of learning, that our faith may increase through the whole course of our life. For there are still in us many remnants of unbelief, and so weak is our faith that what we believe is not yet really believed except there be a fuller confirmation.
But we ought to observe the way in which faith is confirmed, even by having the office and power of Christ explained to us. For the Apostle says that he wrote these things, that is, that eternal life is to be sought nowhere else but in Christ, in order that they who were believers already might believe, that is, make progress in believing. It is therefore the duty of a godly teacher, in order to confirm disciples in the faith, to extol as much as possible the grace of Christ, so that being satisfied with that, we may seek nothing else.
As the Papists obscure this truth in various ways, and extenuate it, they shew sufficiently by this one thing that they care for nothing less than for the right doctrine of faith; yea, on this account, their schools ought to be more shunned than all the Scyllas and Charybdises in the world; for hardly any one can enter them without a sure shipwreck to his faith.
The Apostle teaches further in this passage, that Christ is the peculiar object of faith, and that to the faith which we have in his name is annexed the hope of salvation. For in this case the end of believing is, that we become the children and the heirs of God.
14And this is the confidence He commends the faith which he mentioned by its fruit, or he shews that in which our confidence especially is, that is, that the godly dare confidently to call on God; as also Paul speaks in Eph 3:12, that we have by faith access to God with confidence; and also in Rom 8:15, that the Spirit gives us a mouth to cry Abba, Father. And doubtless, were we driven away from an access to God, nothing could make us more miserable; but, on the other hand, provided this asylum be opened to us, we should be happy even in extreme evils; nay, this one thing renders our troubles blessed, because we surely know that God will be our deliverer, and relying on his paternal love towards us, we flee to him.
Let us, then, bear in mind this declaration of the Apostle, that calling on God is the chief trial of our faith, and that God is not rightly nor in faith called upon except we be fully persuaded that our prayers will not be in vain. For the Apostle denies that those who, being doubtful, hesitate, are endued with faith.
It hence appears that the doctrine of faith is buried and nearly extinct under the Papacy, for all certainty is taken away. They indeed mutter many prayers, and prattle much about praying to God; but they pray with doubtful and fluctuating hearts, and bid us to pray; and yet they even condemn this confidence which the Apostle requires as necessary.
According to his will By this expression he meant by the way to remind us what is the right way or rule of praying, even when men subject their own wishes to God. For though God has promised to do whatsoever his people may ask, yet he does not allow them an unbridled liberty to ask whatever may come to their minds; but he has at the same time prescribed to them a law according to which they are to pray. And doubtless nothing is better for us than this restriction; for if it was allowed to every one of us to ask what he pleased, and if God were to indulge us in our wishes, it would be to provide very badly for us. For what may be expedient we know not; nay, we boil over with corrupt and hurtful desires. But God supplies a twofold remedy, lest we should pray otherwise than according to what his own will has prescribed; for he teaches us by his word what he would have us to ask, and he has also set over us his Spirit as our guide and ruler, to restrain our feelings, so as not to suffer them to wander beyond due bounds. For what or how to pray, we know not, says Paul, but the Spirit helpeth our infirmity, and excites in us unutterable groans. (Rom 8:26.) We ought also to ask the mouth of the Lord to direct and guide our prayers; for God in his promises has fixed for us, as it has been said, the right way of praying.
15And if we know This is not a superfluous repetition, as it seems to be; for what the Apostle declared in general respecting the success of prayer, he now affirms in a special manner that the godly pray or ask for nothing from God but what they obtain. But when he says that all the petitions of the faithful are heard, he speaks of right and humble petitions, and such as are consistent with the rule of obedience. For the faithful do not give loose reins to their desires, nor indulge in anything that may please them, but always regard in their prayers what God commands.
This, then, is an application of the general doctrine to the special and private benefit of every one, lest the faithful should doubt that God is propitious to prayers of each individual, so that with quiet minds they may wait until the Lord should perform what they pray for, and that being thus relieved from all trouble and anxiety, they may cast on God the burden of their cares. This ease and security ought not, however, to abate in them their earnestness in prayer, for he who is certain of a happy event ought not to abstain from praying to God. For the certainty of faith by no means generates indifference or sloth. The Apostle meant; that every one should be tranquil in these necessities when he has deposited his sighs in the bosom of God.
16If any man The Apostle extends still further the benefits of that faith which he has mentioned, so that our prayers may also avail for our brethren. It is a great thing, that as soon as we are oppressed, God kindly invites us to himself, and is ready to give us help; but that he hears us asking for others, is no small confirmation to our faith in order that we may be fully assured that we shall never meet with a repulse in our own case.
The Apostle in the meantime exhorts us to be mutually solicitous for the salvation of one another; and he would also have us to regard the falls of the brethren as stimulants to prayer. And surely it is an iron hardness to be touched with no pity, when we see souls redeemed by Christ’s blood going to ruin. But he shews that there is at hand a remedy, by which brethren can aid brethren. He who will pray for the perishing, will, he says, restore life to him; though the words, “he shall give,” may be applied to God, as though it was said, God will grant to your prayers the life of a brother. But the sense will still be the same, that the prayers of the faithful so far avail as to rescue a brother from death. If we understand man to be intended, that he will give life to a brother, it is a hyperbolical expression; it however contains nothing inconsistent; for what is given to us by the gratuitous goodness of God, yea, what is granted to others for our sake, we are said to give to others. So great a benefit ought to stimulate us not a little to ask for our brethren the forgiveness of sins. And when the Apostle recommends sympathy to us, he at the same time reminds us how much we ought to avoid the cruelty of condemning our brethren, or an extreme rigor in despairing of their salvation.
A sin which is not unto death That we may not cast away all hope of the salvation of those who sin, he shews that God does not so grievously punish their falls as to repudiate them. It hence follows that we ought to deem them brethren, since God retains them in the number of his children. For he denies that sins are to death, not only those by which the saints daily offend, but even when it happens that God’s wrath is grievously provoked by them. For as long as room for pardon is left, death does not wholly retain its dominion.
The Apostle, however, does not here distinguish between venial and mortal sin, as it was afterwards commonly done. For altogether foolish is that distinction which prevails under the Papacy. The Sorbons acknowledge that there is hardly a mortal sin, except there be the grossest baseness, such as may be, as it were, tangible. Thus in venial sins they think that there may be the greatest filth, if hidden in the soul. In short, they suppose that all the fruits of original sin, provided they appear not outwardly, are washed away by the slight sprinkling of holy water! And what wonder is it, since they regard not as blasphemous sins, doubts respecting God’s grace, or any lusts or evil desires, except they are consented to? If the soul of man be assailed by unbelief, if impatience tempts him to rage against God, whatever monstrous lusts may allure him, all these are to the Papists lighter than to be deemed sins, at least after baptism. It is then no wonder, that they make venial offenses of the greatest crimes; for they weigh them in their own balance and not in the balance of God.
But among the faithful this ought to be an indubitable truth, that whatever is contrary to God’s law is sin, and in its nature mortal; for where there is a transgression of the law, there is sin and death.
What, then, is the meaning of the Apostle? He denies that sins are mortal, which, though worthy of death, are yet not thus punished by God. He therefore does not estimate sins in themselves, but forms a judgment of them according to the paternal kindness of God, which pardons the guilt, where yet the fault is. In short, God does not give over to death those whom he has restored to life, though it depends not on them that they are not alienated from life.
There is a sin unto death I have already said that the sin to which there is no hope of pardon left, is thus called. But it may be asked, what this is; for it must be very atrocious, when God thus so severely punishes it. It may be gathered from the context, that it is not, as they say, a partial fall, or a transgression of a single commandment, but apostasy, by which men wholly alienate themselves from God. For the Apostle afterwards adds, that the children of God do not sin, that is, that they do not forsake God, and wholly surrender themselves to Satan, to be his slaves. Such a defection, it is no wonder that it is mortal; for God never thus deprives his own people of the grace of the Spirit; but they ever retain some spark of true religion. They must then be reprobate and given up to destruction, who thus fall away so as to have no fear of God.
Were any one to ask, whether the door of salvation is closed against their repentance; the answer is obvious, that as they are given up to a reprobate mind, and are destitute of the Holy Spirit, they cannot do anything else, than with obstinate minds, become worse and worse, and add sins to sins. Moreover, as the sin and blasphemy against the Spirit ever brings with it a defection of this kind, there is no doubt but that it is here pointed out.
But it may be asked again, by what evidences can we know that a man’s fall is fatal; for except the knowledge of this was certain, in vain would the Apostle have made this exception, that they were not to pray for a sin of this kind. It is then right to determine sometimes, whether the fallen is without hope, or whether there is still a place for a remedy. This, indeed, is what I allow, and what is evident beyond dispute from this passage; but as this very seldom happens, and as God sets before us the infinite riches of his grace, and bids us to be merciful according to his own example, we ought not rashly to conclude that any one has brought on himself the judgment of eternal death; on the contrary, love should dispose us to hope well. But if the impiety of some appear to us not otherwise than hopeless, as though the Lord pointed it out by the finger, we ought not to contend with the just judgment of God, or seek to be more merciful than he is.
17All unrighteousness This passage may be explained variously. If you take it adversatively, the sense would not be unsuitable, “Though all unrighteousness is sin, yet every sin is not unto death.” And equally suitable is another meaning, “As sin is every unrighteousness, hence it follows that every sin is not unto death.” Some take all unrighteousness for complete unrighteousness, as though the Apostle had said, that the sin of which he spoke was the summit of unrighteousness. I, however, am more disposed to embrace the first or the second explanation; and as the result is nearly the same, I leave it to the judgment of readers to determine which of the two is the more appropriate.
18We know that whosoever is born of God If you suppose that God’s children are wholly pure and free from all sin, as the fanatics contend, then the Apostle is inconsistent with himself; for he would thus take away the duty of mutual prayer among brethren. Then he says that those sin not who do not wholly fall away from the grace of God; and hence he inferred that prayer ought to be made for all the children of God, because they sin not unto death. A proof is added, that every one, born of God, keeps himself, that is, keeps himself in the fear of God; nor does he suffer himself to be so led away, as to lose all sense of religion, and to surrender himself wholly to the devil and the flesh.
For when he says, that he is not touched by that wicked one, reference is made to a deadly wound; for the children of God do not remain untouched by the assaults of Satan, but they ward off his strokes by the shield of faith, so that they do not penetrate into the heart. Hence spiritual life is never extinguished in them. This is not to sin. Though the faithful indeed fall through the infirmity of the flesh, yet they groan under the burden of sin, loathe themselves, and cease not to fear God.
Keepeth himself. What properly belongs to God he transfers to us; for were any one of us the keeper of his own salvation, it would be a miserable protection. Therefore Christ asks the Father to keep us, intimating that it is not done by our own strength. The advocates of freewill lay hold on this expression, that they may thence prove, that we are preserved from sin, partly by God’s grace, and partly by our own power. But they do not perceive that the faithful have not from themselves the power of preservation of which the Apostle speaks. Nor does he, indeed, speak of their power, as though they could keep themselves by their own strength; but he only shews that they ought to resist Satan, so that they may never be fatally wounded by his darts. And we know that we fight with no other weapons but those of God. Hence the faithful keep themselves from sin, as far as they are kept by God. (Joh 17:11.)
19We are of God He deduces an exhortation from his previous doctrine; for what he had declared in common as to the children of God, he now applies to those he was writing to; and this he did, to stimulate them to beware of sin, and to encourage them to repel the onsets of Satan.
Let readers observe, that it is only true faith, that applies to us, so to speak, the grace of God; for the Apostle acknowledges none as faithful, but those who have the dignity of being God’s children. Nor does he indeed put probable conjecture, as the Sophists speak, for confidence; for he says that we know. The meaning is, that as we have been born of God, we ought to strive to prove by our separation from the world, and by the sanctity of our life, that we have not been in vain called to so great all honor.
Now, this is an admonition very necessary for all the godly; for wherever they turn their eyes, Satan has his allurements prepared, by which he seeks to draw them away from God. It would then be difficult for them to hold on in their course, were they not so to value their calling as to disregard all the hindrances of the world. Then, in order to be well prepared for the contest, these two things must be borne in mind, that the world is wicked, and that our calling is from God.
Under the term world, the Apostle no doubt includes the whole human race. By saying that it lieth in the wicked one, he represents it as being under the dominion of Satan. There is then no reason why we should hesitate to shun the world, which condemns God and delivers up itself into the bondage of Satan: nor is there a reason why we should fear its enmity, because it is alienated from God. In short, since corruption pervades all nature, the faithful ought to study self-denial; and since nothing is seen in the world but wickedness and corruption, they must necessarily disregard flesh and blood that they may follow God. At the same time the other thing ought to be added, that God is he who has called them, that under this protection they may oppose all the machinations of the world and Satan.
20And we know that the Son of God is come As the children of God are assailed on every side, he, as we have said, encourages and exhorts them to persevere in resisting their enemies, and for this reason, because they fight under the banner of God, and certainly know that they are ruled by his Spirit; but he now reminds them where this knowledge is especially to be found.
He then says that God has been so made known to us, that now there is no reason for doubting. The Apostle does not without reason dwell on this point; for except our faith is really founded on God, we shall never stand firm in the contest. For this purpose the Apostle shews that we have obtained through Christ a sure knowledge of the true God, so that we may not fluctuate in uncertainty.
By true God he does not mean one who tells the truth, but him who is really God; and he so calls him to distinguishing him from all idols. Thus true is in opposition to what is fictitious; for it is ἀληθινὸς, and not ἀληθής A similar passage is in John
“This is eternal life, to know thee,
the only true God,
and him whom thou hast sent,
Jesus Christ.”
(Joh 17:3)
And he justly ascribes to Christ this office of illuminating our minds as to the knowledge of God. For, as he is the only true image of the invisible God, as he is the only interpreter of the Father, as he is the only guide of life, yea, as he is the life and light of the world and the truth, as soon as we depart from him, we necessarily become vain in our own devices.
And Christ is said to have given us an understanding, not only because he shews us in the gospel what sort of being is the true God, and also illuminates us by his Spirit; but because in Christ himself we have God manifested in the flesh, as Paul says, since in him dwells all the fullness of the Deity, and are hid all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom. (Col 2:9.) Thus it is that the face of God in a manner appears to us in Christ; not that there was no knowledge, or a doubtful knowledge of God, before the coming of Christ,, but that now he manifests himself more fully and more clearly. And this is what Paul says in 2Co 4:6, that
God, who formerly commanded light to shine out of darkness at the creation of the world, hath now shone in our hearts through the brightness of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Christ.
And it must be observed, that this gift is peculiar to the elect. Christ, indeed, kindles for all indiscriminately the torch of his gospel; but all have not the eyes of their minds opened to see it, but on the contrary Satan spreads the veil of blindness over many. Then the Apostle means the light which Christ kindles within in the hearts of his people, and which when once kindled, is never extinguished, though in some it may for a time be smothered.
We are in him that is true By these words he reminds us how efficacious is that knowledge which he mentions, even because by it we are united to Christ; and become one with God; for it has a living root, fixed in the heart, by which it comes that God lives in us and we in him. As he says, without a copulative, that: we are in him that is true, in his Son, he seems to express the manner of our union with God, as though he had said, that we are in God through Christ. (97)
This is the true God Though the Arians have attempted to elude this passage, and some agree with them at this day, yet we have here a remarkable testimony to the divinity of Christ. The Arians apply this passage to the Father, as though the Apostle should again repeat that he is the true God. But nothing could be more frigid than such a repetition. It has already twice testified that the true God is he who has been made known to us in Christ, why should he again add, This is the true God ? It applies, indeed, most suitably to Christ; for after having taught us that Christ is the guide by whose hand we are led to God, he now, by way of amplifying, affirms that Christ is that God, lest we should think that we are to seek further; and he confirms this view by what is added, and eternal life. It is doubtless the same that is spoken of, as being the true God and eternal life. I pass by this, that the relative οὗτος usually refers to the last person. I say, then, that Christ is properly called eternal life; and that this mode of speaking perpetually occurs in John, no one can deny.
The meaning is, that when we have Christ, we enjoy the true and eternal God, for nowhere else is he to be sought; and, secondly, that we become thus partakers of eternal life, because it is offered to us in Christ though hid in the Father. The origin of life is, indeed, the Father; but the fountain from which we are to draw it, is Christ.
(97) It is rendered by some, “through his Son Jesus Christ.” Our version, “even in his Son Jesus Christ,” seems not to be right, as it makes “him that is true,” to be the Son, while the reference is to God, as in the previous clause. The true meaning would be thus conveyed, “And we are in the true God, being in his Son Jesus Christ;” for to be in Christ, is to be in God. Three MSS., the Vulgate, and several of the Fathers, read thus, “and we are in his true Son Jesus Christ”. — Ed.
21Keep yourselves from idols Though this be a separate sentence, yet it is as it were an appendix to the preceding doctrine. For the vivifying light of the Gospel ought to scatter and dissipate, not only darkness, but also all mists, from the minds of the godly. The Apostle not only condemns idolatry, but commands us to beware of all images and idols; by which he intimates, that the worship of God cannot continue uncorrupted and pure whenever men begin to be in love with idols or images. For so innate in us is superstition, that the least occasion will infect us with its contagion. Dry wood will not so easily burn when coals are put under it, as idolatry will lay hold on and engross the minds of men, when an occasion is given to them. And who does not see that images are the sparks? What sparks do I say? nay, rather torches, which are sufficient to set the whole world on fire.
The Apostle at the same time does not only speak of statues, but also of altars, and includes all the instruments of superstitions. Moreover, the Papists are ridiculous, who pervert this passage and apply it to the statues of Jupiter and Mercury and the like, as though the Apostle did not teach generally, that there is a corruption of religion whenever a corporeal form is ascribed to God, or whenever statues and pictures form a part of his worship. Let us then remember that we ought carefully to continue in the spiritual worship of God, so as to banish far from us everything that may turn us aside to gross and carnal superstitions.
1Jn 5:1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ- The apostle had been shewingthe inseparable union between the love of their Christian brother and the love of God: here he shews who was their Christian brother;-every one who believed that Jesus is the Christ, that is, with the heart unto righteousness. This the unbelieving Jews and Heathens openly denied; this the false prophets also, and their disciples, did, in effect deny, and did not therefore love the Christian brethren. St. John has in this epistle given three marks of their being born again: First, Their believing this fundamental article of Christianity, that Jesus is the Messiah, or their acknowledging or receiving him as such: Secondly, Their experiencing and practising holiness or righteousness, and being saved from the dominion of sin. Thirdly, That one particular virtue of loving the Christian brethren, is mentioned, ch. 1Jn 4:7 and in the latter part of this verse, as another mark of a man's being born of God: from all which it appears, that if a man acknowledges Jesus to be the Christ, enjoys his pardoning love, and makes conscience of living accordingly, he is, in scripture language, born of God, or a child of God. It is true, that he who loveth God, will love his eternal Son Jesus Christ; but by him that is begotten of him, is not here meant Jesus Christ, but everytrue Christian; for, though it is in the singular number, the connection shews that it was intended to signify Christians, as they are the children of God by faith, and imitators of the divine holiness, see 1Jn 5:2.Whoever professes to love God, the Father of Christians, is obliged to love Christians, who are his children, and who resemble their heavenly Father. He who loves holiness, loves God; and he who loves God, loves the image of God wherever it appears.
1Jn 5:2. By this we know, &c.- St. John has often intimated, that the love of the Christian brethren, who are the children of God, is a sign or evidence of our love to God; and it appears highly reasonable, that what is visible, should be a sign or evidence of what is invisible. But here he seems to argue the contrary way; namely, that our love to God is a sign or evidence of our love to the children of God, or the Christian brethren. Now it may be objected, "How can what is invisible be looked upon as a sign or evidence of what is visible." In answer towhich, let it be considered, that the friendships of the world are too often confederacies in vice, or leagues in pleasure;andthatChristiansmayloveoneanotherfromnaturalaffection,relationship, temporal interest, or some other worldly motive; but loving them from such considerations, is not that peculiar love of the brethren which the gospel requires. It may be said, "How then shall we know that we love them spiritually and as Christians?" The apostle has here answered that very question: for, having declared, 1Jn 5:1 that he who loveth God, the Father of Christians, is obliged to love Christians, who are his children, he here adds, "By this we may know that our love to Christians is of the right sort, when it proceeds from a love to God, and a sincere desire to keep his commandments; among which this of loving the Christian brethren is none of the least." A love to Christians, which has an extensive piety and virtue for its basis, must be highly valuable; Mat 12:50. A man who lives in any vice, or who does not so love God, as to make conscience of keeping all his commandments, may be assured that his love to Christians is not of the right sort: but wherever there is extensive virtue and piety, there is the best proof of the genuineness of any one single grace or virtue, and particularly of our love to Christians, who are the children of God.
1Jn 5:3. For this is the love of God,- The love of God is a principle in the heart of a regenerated man, which leads him to keep the commandments of God; and which cannot be visibly manifested any other way; for, whatever some men may pretend, there is no true love of God without keeping his commandments. The Christians to whom St. John wrote, might perhaps be ready to object, "You exhort us to keep the commandments of God; but that is either impossible, or at least cannot be done without very great difficulty:" Now St. John knew well that the notion of God's commands being impossible, or grievous and burdensome, tended todiscourage men from attempting to keep them, and therefore would be of very bad consequence: for that reason he added, And his commands are not grievous, that is, under the power of Divine grace which all true believers possess. But the commandment which St. John had more particularly in his eye, was that of love to the Christian brethren. Real Christians behave through grace as their religion directs, and therefore are the most amiable persons in the world; and the love of such lovely objects is certainly delightful; but the commandments of Christ in general are not grievous; they are the kind counsels of the wisest Father, and the best Friend; who had nothing else in view in giving us such commandments, but the advancing our true dignity, perfection, and happiness. Instead of being burdensome, religion is to the regenerated man the joy and delight of his soul; his meat and drink, his daily business, and unspeakable pleasure, see Pro 3:13-18. By the connection between 1Jn 5:3-4 it appears, that this last clause is a meiosis; that is, much less is expressed than was intended; for so far are the commandments of God from being grievous, that they are most delightful and excellent.
1Jn 5:4-5. For whatsoever is born of God, &c.- That is, every child of God. The connection of this with the preceding verse stands thus: "His commandments are not grievous; because in observing them we gain a victory through grace over this world, our grand enemy; and nothing can be accounted grievous which produces so much good." The principle by which they overcame, was faith in the infinite merit and intercession of Christ. It may be proper just to take a view of the advantages which true Christians have for gaining the victory over this world, by means of that faith which is of the operation of the Spirit of God: Whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God, or the Messiah, that great Personage, who was with God, and was God, eternally lay in the bosom of the Father, and came from him; and who promised a glorious and happy immortality unto all persevering believers; who lived the most exemplarylife; worked great numbers of unquestionable, glorious, and beneficent miracles; had a real body, and really suffered and died as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world, sealing his doctrine with his own blood, and offering his life as a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling favour unto God; rose again from the dead, and after that, was exalted in his mediatorial kingdom to the right hand of God, a Prince and a Saviour; and who has all power committed unto him both in heaven and upon earth; particularly power to raise the dead, to judge the whole world, to punish the impenitent with everlasting misery, and to render eternal rewards unto his faithful servants;-Whoever firmly believes these things through theSpirit of God, what may he not be expected to do or suffer, to avoid the future punishment, and obtain the transcendent rewards which God hath graciously promised to them that love him?-What can this world offer him of equal value? What evil can it threaten him with, to deter him fromsuch a pursuit? When it opposes him, how complete a victory may he gain in the power of Divine grace!
1Jn 5:6. This is he that came by water and blood- St. John, 1Jn 5:5 as well as often elsewhere, intimated that Jesus was the Christ, and that the belief of that article was of the highest moment. Here he is proceeding to the grand evidences of that important truth. The Spirit alone is here said to bear witness, because he was the principal witness; but, 1Jn 5:8 the water and the blood are represented as witnesses, together with the Spirit. In Joh 19:34 the water and blood which came out of Christ's side when he was pierced with the spear, were a clear proof of the reality of his death, and might have taught the Docetae that he had a real body, and really suffered and died; and consequently that his resurrection was a real resurrection.
1Jn 5:7. For there are three, &c.- "For there are three divine Persons, the habitation of whose glory is in heaven, who from thence bear their united testimony to the incarnate Saviour. The first is God the Father, who said of Christ at his baptism and transfiguration (Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5.), This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; and (Rom 1:4.) declared him to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead: the second is the eternal uncreated Word himself, who was ever God with the Father (Joh 1:1.); and said, I and my Father are one (Joh 10:30.); and often asserted his office as well as divine character in the plainest terms, and appealed for the truth of it to the miracles which he wrought by his own power: the third of these heavenly witnesses is the Holy Spirit, who gave abundant attestations to our blessed Lord, as the only Saviour, by his visible descent upon him at his baptism (Luk 3:22.), and by his coming from the exalted Messiah in heaven to bear witness to him, and to spread his name, kingdom, and glory in the world. And thesethree heavenly witnesses, though personally distinct in a manner that infinitely transcends all our ideas, are essentially one divine Being, one thing (εν εισι ), or one God, in distinction from, and in oppositionto, all nominal or pretended deities, which by nature are no gods (Gal 4:8.)." I have entered very fully into a critical view of this text in my Preface to this Epistle, and shall therefore only add the following remarks: If we drop this verse, and join the 8th to the 6th, there is a considerable tautology, and the beauty and propriety of the connection are lost, as may appear to any who attentively read the 6th and 8th verses together, leaving out the 7th, and they do not give us near so noble an introduction of the witnesses, as our reading (which, I have no doubt, is the true canonical one) does: nor do they make that visible opposition to some witness or witnesses elsewhere, which is manifestly suggested in the words and there are three that bear witness in earth, 1Jn 5:8. But all stands in a natural and elegant order, if we take in the 7th verse, which is very agreeable and almost peculiar to the style of our apostle, who, of all others, delights in these titles, the Father and the Word, and who is the only sacred writer that records our Lord's words, in which he speaks of the Spirit's testifying of him, and glorifying him, by receiving of his things and shewing them to his disciples, and says, I and my Father are one (Joh 10:30; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:14.). The Trinitarians therefore had less occasion to interpolate this verse, than the Anti-trinitarians had to take it out of the sacred canon, if any, on either side, can be supposed to have been so very wicked as to make such an attempt: and it is much more likely that some transcriber might, through the similarity of the beginning of the 7th and 8th verses, or through some obscurity in the writing of that part of his copy, carelessly slip over the 7th, than that any should be so daring as designedly to add it to the text: and it can scarcely be thought that the apostle, in representing the foundation of the Christian'sfaith, and the various testimonies which were given to Christ, should omit the supreme testimony; and yet with a reference to the before-recited witnesses should add, 1Jn 5:9. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, though, according to the Arian sense of the 8th verse, no immediate witness of God had been mentioned before, if we leave out the 7th verse. But, as I have observed in my Preface, we have alsoa thousand other texts which, directly or indirectly, establish the Personality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in the supreme Godhead.
1Jn 5:8. And there are three that bear witness in earth, &c.- "And in concurring testimony with these three divine Persons in heaven, who subsist in the unity of the Godhead, and have given their distinct attestations to the saving office ofChrist, there are three practical witnesses to the same upon earth. One of these lies in the miraculous gifts and saving graces of the Holy Spirit: another is the spotless purity of Christ's human nature and life (Heb 7:26.), and his holy doctrine, by means of which the souls of believers are sanctified, and cleansed, as it were, with clean water (Joh 17:17. 1Pe 1:22. Eze 36:25.), as was signified, not only by John's baptism, which pointed to Christ for this benefit (Mat 3:11.); but also by our Lord's own institution of the standing ordinance of Christian baptism in the name of the sacred Three, which is a solemn and holy dedication of the baptized to the Son, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost: and the third of these witnesses is the Blood of the New Testament; which was shed for many for the remission of sins, as represented in the Lord's supper (Mat 26:28.), and is applied to purge the consciences of true believers from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 9:14.); and these three, though they be not one in nature or essence, nor are to be considered personally, as the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost are; yet they harmoniously agree (u949?ις το εν ) unto the bearing of one and the same practical testimony among themselves on earth, and with the adorable Three in heaven, as to Christ's being the divine and only Saviour of sinners." The whole context shews, that the witness here given to Christ, relates most immediately to his character as the great Messiah, or incarnate Son of God; and therefore he, as the Word, denoting his divine nature, under which he is mentioned as a witness to this character, 1Jn 5:7 is a proper witness of it as either the Father or the Spirit: and I take the Spirit in this verse to relate, not to his personal attestation to this character of Christ, which he gave as one of the witnesses in heaven, 1Jn 5:7 but to his gifts and graces, since that which is born of the Spirit is called spirit (Joh 3:6.), and these witness to Christ on earth, as they appear, and evidently operate in and by the subjects of them on earth, in confirmation of the doctrine of the gospel concerning him.
1Jn 5:9. If we receive the witness of men, &c.- "Now if, according to what is written in the law of God, we readily admit of, and depend upon, the testimony of two or three credible witnesses among men (Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15 comp. Mat 18:16. 2Co 13:1. Heb 10:28.), and they are judged sufficient to determine all controversies about human affairs in any court of judicature; we may be much more sure that the infallible testimony of God the Father, Son, and Spirit in heaven, as well as of those three other witnesses, by divine appointment, on earth, ought to be unquestionably and absolutely depended upon: for this is the testimony of that God who cannot lie, and who in these various ways has given it concerning his only-begotten and eternal Son, with regard to his being the true Messiah."
1Jn 5:10. Hath the witness in himself:- "He who upon this testimony cordially believeth in the Son of God,has not only an external evidence to produce, which may suffice, under the Spirit of God, for the conviction or condemnation of the unawakened world, but he also hath the witness within himself: the happy change that it makes in the whole state of his soul, manifests the excellence and reality of its object." The reader may find this sense of the passage finely illustrated, to his great improvement and satisfaction, in Dr. Watts's Sermons on the text, vol. 1: serm. 1, &c.
1Jn 5:11. And this is the record, &c.- The phrase 'Η μαρτυρια seems here to signify, not the evidence of testimony, but the thing proved or testified of. So ch. 1Jn 2:25. This is the promise, that is, the thing promised. The verse may be thus paraphrased: "And this is the substance andabridgment of this testimony, that the blessed God has, in his infinite condescension and bounty, given unto us the promises of eternal life; and this life is in his Son; purchased by him, and laid up in him, to be bestowed on all his faithful saints; and therefore only to be obtained through him."
1Jn 5:12. He that hath the Son, &c.- "He, who is vitally united to the Son of God, as his Head andRedeemer, through faith in him, is already spiritually alive: and he who has not an interest in theSon of God has not this spiritual life, whatever proud conceit he may entertain of his own merits and excellencies; but, on the contrary, remains exposed to the righteous displeasure of God, and under a sentence of eternal death."
1Jn 5:13. These things have I written unto you, &c.- This verse is by some looked upon as a summing up of the principal part of this epistle, in which St. John professes that he wrote, not to the false prophets and their disciples, (for very probably he despaired of doing any good to them,) but to the true Christians, to put them in mind that everlasting life was depending; to let them know that they had a title to it, as long as they continued to believe with the heart unto righteousness; and to incite them to persevere in the true faith, and in a holy Christian practice, notwithstanding the attempts of the seducers, who were many and zealous. The latter part of the sentence means, That you may continue to believe, or believe more firmly on the name, in the merits, intercession, love, and power, of the Son of God. See Joh 2:11; Joh 11:15; Joh 20:31.
1Jn 5:14-15. And this is the confidence, &c.- "And we who really believe in him, have this satisfaction and holy boldness, that whatever we present our petitions to God for, with faith in Christ's name, after such a manner as is agreeable to his holy will, according to the notices that he has given of it in the declarations, precepts, and promises of his word, he mercifully attends to, and favourably regards the voice of our supplications. Joh 16:23-24. Jam 1:5-6. And if we are well satisfied that he graciouslycondescends, for Christ's sake, to hearken to our humble, fervent prayers, we may certainly thence conclude, that whatever we thus beg of him, he will grant as may be most for his glory and our good: for it is always his will, that his faithful people should be truly happy, and be supplied with every necessary good."
1Jn 5:16-17.- In the apostolic age, the power of working miracles was very common; and in this conclusion of his epistle St. John gives directions to the Christians, to whom that power was granted. They could not indeed work a miracle till they had an impulse of the Spirit to suggest to them that God would hear their prayer, and at their request miraculously cure the diseased. And St. John seems here to order them to wait for the impulse of the Spirit, before they attempted to work a miracle. Such Christian professors as experienced and lived the Christian life, were in no danger of falling under any remarkable divine judgment; but from 1Co 11:30. Jam 5:14; Jam 5:20 and this place, it appears, that some professed Christians behaved irregularly, and thereby drew down upon themselves some diseases, as judgments from God. Some were punished with diseases that ended in temporal death; others, whose offences were not so aggravated, and who truly repented, were to be miraculously cured, and their diseases not to end in death. In such cases, the Christians who had the power of working miracles, had a divine impulse to direct them to pray for their offending Christian brother; and when they so prayed, according to the will of God suggested to them in that manner, God, at their request, granted life unto their Christian brother, who had sinned a sin not unto death. After this, St. John takes notice of the advantages which Christians had above the rest of the world; and concludeswith cautioning them against falling into any act of idolatry, to which their heathen neighbours, who were then very numerous, would be likely enough to tempt them; and perhaps that is mentioned in this place, as having been one of the sins which had drawn down remarkable diseases upon some of the offending Christians. See ch. 1Jn 3:22 and on Jam 5:15; Jam 5:20.
If any man see his brother sin, &c.- "If a Christian, by an impulse of the Spirit, perceives that any Christian brother has sinned such a sin as to draw down upon himself a disease which is not to end in death, but to be miraculously cured by him; then let him pray to God through Jesus Christ, and God, in answer to his prayer, will grant life and perfect health unto such Christian as hath sinned a sin which is not unto death. There is a sin which draws down a disease upon Christians, that is to end in death; I do not say or mean that any Christian shall pray for that; because in such a case God would not hear his prayer, nor miraculously cure his Christian brother at his request." Some by a sin unto death understand apostacy from the Christian religion.
1Jn 5:18. We know that whosoever is born of God, &c.- "We, who have received Christ, and enjoy his gracious presence, are well assured, both from the word of God and from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, that whoever is really regenerated by the Spirit of God, and continues in that grace, does not live in the practice of any known iniquity whatsoever, either internally or externally; but he who is spiritually begotten of God, and so born again, has an utter detestation of, and abiding contrariety of heart against, such ways of sinning, insomuch, that by watchfulness and prayer, and by strength derived from Christ, he takes care to keep himself from them: and Satan, that wicked spirit, has not power to influence him in such a manner, as to lead him into sin."
1Jn 5:19. And we know that we are of God, &c.- "And we are well satisfied that we are so born of God, as to be partakers of a divine nature, which is a powerful and abiding principle of all holiness; and that we are the children of God, in a peculiar relation to him; and that we side with him: and we know that all the rest of mankind, who are strangers to the new birth, and make up the greater part of this world, continue voluntarily under the power of sin, and of the wicked one (εν τω πονερω ), and must be ranked under him as their head and prince, who works in the children of disobedience (Eph 2:2.)." Doddridge is of opinion, that the word κειται, lieth, alludes to the circumstance of a body which lies slain, in which sense it is often used by Homer: and on this interpretation it gives us a most affecting idea of the great miseryand helpless state of mankind by nature,fallen by the stroke of this formidable enemy, the wicked one, and insulted over by him as his prey: but our comfort is, that the grace of God is offered to all, and is sufficient for the salvation of all who will embrace and improve it.
1Jn 5:20. And we know that the son of God is come, &c.- "And from all the undoubted proofs before insisted on, we certainly know that Jesus, the Son of God, has assumed human nature, and actually came into this lower world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb 9:26.); and we know by our own happy experience, that he has not only given us an external revelation in his word, but has enlightened the eyes of our minds by an internal operation of his Spirit, that we might have a saving knowledge of him who is Truth itself: and we are vitally united to him, who, in all that he has said, is the true and faithful witness (Rev 1:5.), even Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God. This Jesus (ουτος ), in his original nature, is the only living and true God, together with the Father and the Spirit; and he is the purchaser and giver of spiritual and eternal life to all his faithful saints."
1Jn 5:21. Keep yourselves from idols- "Upon the whole then, my dear children, whom I as affectionately love as a father does his tender babes, let all these considerations engage you to abstain from every appearance of fellowship with pagans in their idolatrous worship of false gods, from all use of images, as representations of the Deity, or as mediums of worship, and from every idol of your own hearts; and consider Christ as the true God (1Jn 5:20.), that you may be secured against idolatry in the worship which you pay to him. So may it be, to his and his Father's glory, and to your own comfort and salvation! In testimony of my desire and hope of its being so, I heartily say, Amen!" It seems highly probable, from the connection, that falling into some acts of idolatry, such perhaps as feasting upon the heathen sacrifices, and even in the idols' temple, were some of the crimes for which the Christians had been punished with extraordinary diseases: some unto death, and some not unto death. How amazing is it, that the church of Rome should so directly break the commands of God, by falling into idolatry in such a variety of kinds, and to so high a degree, when it was one grand design of the Jewish and Christian revelation to condemn idolatry, and banish it from the face of the earth! That corrupt church is, indeed, the mother of abominations, or of idolatries, and has taken in a great part of the ancient heathen superstition and idolatry; palliating it with the thin disguise of worshipping Christian saints instead of the ancient heathen gods.
Inferences.-Let us regard the grand question, on which our life, our eternal life, is suspended! I mean, whether we have, or have not, the Son of God? Let us then examine into this important matter with the greater attention. Let us hearken to, and receive the testimony of God, as comprehended in this one word, that God hath given us, even to us, dying, perishing men, eternal life; and this life is in his Son. Let us receive this transcendent gift with all humility and thankfulness; and so much the rather, as it is given us in him. By firmly believing this, we shall conquer the world, and gain a victory of an infinitely different and more exalted nature, than they who are strangers to Christ, or who reject him, ever have done, or can possibly do.
May our steadfast faith in him furnish us with a substantial attestation that we are born of God; and may we prove it to be sincere, by loving the children of God, and by keeping all his commandments. We must surely acknowledge, that his commandments are reasonable; and if we have a genuine love to God existing in our hearts, it will render the observance of them pleasant and delightful. And if we are not possessed of that evidence of love, which arises from a disposition to obedience, let us remember, he has fairly and frequently warned us, that no other expressions of love, how fervent and pathetic soever, will be accepted or allowed by him. That our faith may be confirmed, and our love awakened, let us often look to Christ, as coming by water and by blood. Let us meditate on that mysterious stream of blood and water, which came forth from his wounded side. Let us solemnly remind ourselves of the baptismal water, in which we were washed, and of the sacred cup, the communion of the blood of Christ, referring to this great important event. And while we are contemplating the memorial of his humility, let us also consider him as one with the Father and the Holy Spirit; and as each of the sacred Three join their testimony to the truth of the gospel, and join their kind offices for supplying to us the invaluable blessings of it, let us joyfully ascribe glory to each, world without end. Amen.
REFLECTIONS.-1st, The apostle shews, 1. The genuine marks of a child of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, the true Messiah, placing his whole dependance for pardon, life, and salvation, upon him, is born of God, adopted into his blessed family, and dignified with the title of a son and heir of the Almighty: and every one that loveth him that begat, the blessed God, the Author of all grace to his believing people, loveth him also that is begotten of him, and delights in his image wherever it appears.
2. By this we know that we love the children God, as his children, and purely for his sake, when we love God unfeignedly, and keep his commandments, from a principle of faith which worketh by love. For this is the love of God, the most undoubted evidence of it, that we keep his commandments; counting them all holy, just, and good, and having respect unto them without partiality or hypocrisy: and his commandments are not grievous; love makes the labour light, and the obedience cheerful and willing.
3. This is what will gain the conquest over an ensnaring world. For whatsoever is born of God, and partakes of a new and divine nature, overcometh the world, and triumphs over both its terrors and allurements: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith, which realizing unseen and eternal things, stamps vanity upon all present objects; and, deriving strength from the Redeemer's fulness, enables us to be more than conquerors over all our trials. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? who, dependant upon him for life and salvation, holds on his heavenly way, and is neither to be seduced nor terrified from his holy profession? Lord, give and increase this victorious faith!
2nd, Faith in the divine Messiah, being of such essential consequence to our souls, we have the foundation on which this faith is built.
1. This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood: he at his baptism entered upon his office, and on the cross finished the great atonement; and the blood and water which flowed from his wounded side, declared the purposes of his coming, both to pay a ransom for our sins, and to cleanse us from the defilement of them, by the renovation of our natures through the mighty energy of his Spirit; for which glorious purpose faith looks to Jesus Christ, as appointed of the Father to his mediatorial office, and able and willing in these respects to perfect the salvation of his faithful people.
2. Christ has the strongest attestation borne to his divine person and character. It is the Spirit that beareth witness to the consciences of believers, and in the miraculous powers bestowed at that time on the ministers of the gospel; because the Spirit is truth itself, and his testimony cannot deceive. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; the Father, at his baptism and transfiguration, bore witness to the Son; the Son repeatedly asserted his own divine glory and office, and appealed to the miracles that he wrought, for a proof of the truth of what he advanced: the Holy Ghost, by his descent on Jesus at his baptism, and by the miraculous powers with which he invested the apostles and others, added his full attestation to the great Redeemer: and these three, though personally distinct, are in essence one. And there are three that bear witness in earth; the Spirit, in his gifts and graces; and the water, wherewith every believer is baptized in the name of the Son of God, as a divine Person (see the Annotations); and the blood, which Jesus shed upon the cross, and of which he instituted in his last supper a constant memorial to be observed in his church: and these three agree in one, and bear testimony to the divine character of our adored Immanuel, and to the complete Redemption provided by him for all his faithful saints. If we receive the witness of men, attesting any fact; and every court of human judicature admits their oath and evidence as satisfactory; the witness of God is greater, which Father, Son, and Spirit, severally bear to the dignity and glory of the Lord Jesus, and with whom the appointed witnesses on earth agree; for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son, as the true and divine Messiah, whom we by faith and love must embrace, and in whom alone salvation can be attained.
3rdly, We have,
1. The happy state of the true believer. He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself; he feels the suitableness of the Saviour to his state of guilt and misery, and knows, by happy experience, his excellence, fulness, and all-sufficiency: he walks in the light of the Son of God, and can say to him continually, My Lord, and, My God. He that believeth not God, and receiveth not his testimony concerning his only-begotten Son, hath made him a liar, and denied his truth, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son, and submits not to the witness which he hath borne to the character of Jesus as the true Messiah.
2. The Fountain of his felicity. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, the earnest and foretaste of it through the Redeemer's infinite merit; and this life is in his Son, purchased by him, treasured up in him, and communicated from him to his believing people. He that hath the Son, who is by faith united to him, and interested in the merit of his Blood, hath life; hath spiritual life here, and possesses a title to eternal life hereafter; and he that hath not the Son of God, who does not by faith embrace him, and derive grace from him, and feel an interest in his death, hath not life, is more or less dead in trespasses and sins, and the wrath of God abideth upon him.
3. The knowledge which he has of his invaluable privileges. These things have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, this glorious foretaste of it, and may rejoice in this excellent gift of God; and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God; engaged more steadfastly to cleave to him, and, with unshaken perseverance, maintaining your holy profession. Note; (1.) Those who have life in Christ Jesus, know it: the Lord seal this knowledge to our consciences! (2.) They who have begun well, should be encouraged to persevere, assured that, in this case, their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.
4thly, The apostle adds, to all the other blessings flowing from faith in Christ,
1. Access to God in prayer, and the sure answer to all our petitions. And this is the confidence that we have in him, and the boldness to approach a throne of grace; that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us; accepts our prayers, and will grant our requests. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him, in manner, time, and measure bestowed, as he sees most for his own glory and our good. Note; (1.) If we would obtain an answer to our prayers, God's revealed will must be the rule of them. (2.) When we pray in faith, we may confidently rest ourselves upon God's promise: he will hear and help us.
2. Our prayers for others, as well as for ourselves, shall meet with kind acceptance. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death; though it deserves death as its wages; he shall ask God to pardon his offending brother, and he shall, in answer to his prayer, give him life for them that sin not unto death. But see this subject fully considered in the Annotations.
5thly, The apostle concludes,
1. With a recapitulation of the believer's privileges and practice. We know that whosoever is born of God, sinneth not, he cannot, as a child of God, wilfully sin; but he that is begotten of God, and is thus a partaker of a new and divine nature, keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not; the power of sin and Satan is broken, and he enjoys constant dominion over sin, and at least ardently longs for the entire annihilation of it.
2. He mentions their happy separation from the world. And we know that we are of God; his children, renewed in the spirit of our minds, and living separate from the corrupt mass of mankind: and the whole world, besides those who are born of God, lieth in wickedness, (εν τω πονηρω, ) in the wicked one, under his power, influence, and dominion, and must, if they die in this state, be condemned together with him. Note; It is most indubitably certain, that the far greater part of the world, even of the Christian world, lieth in wickedness; and as certain, that, if they die impenitent, they will perish everlastingly. It becomes us therefore seriously to inquire, whether we are of the world; for, if so, we must be condemned with the world.
3. They knew the Son of God, and enjoyed a blessed union with him. And we know that the Son of God is come, in the human nature, to take away our sins by the sacrifice of himself; and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, by his Spirit opening the eyes of our minds, and shining into our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of his glory: and we are in him that is true, vitally united to him who is the truth itself; even in his Son Jesus Christ, as living members of his mystical body. And this Jesus is the true God, the self-existent Jehovah, and eternal life; the purchaser, fountain, and bestower of it on all his faithful people; and they who perseveringly know him now by faith, will live eternally with him in glory. Note; Either Jesus Christ is the true God, or the Scriptures are a fiction.
*.* The Reader is referred to the different Authors mentioned often already.
